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News Frenemies Unite Against Common ISIS Threat Anna Cheshire, staff writer In a brief, televised speech on Sept. 10, President Obama said, “I will not hesi tate to take action against ISIL [aka ISIS] in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.” Many journal ists and political commentators suggested that this was an empty threat from a Presi dent who had failed to take action against the group after it beheaded two American reporters. However, less than two weeks later, on Sept. 22, in a move that sur prised his critics, the President did take decisive “action” by ordering the U.S. military to launch a series of airstrikes against ISIS targets in the Middle East. Additionally surprising was the unprecedented dis play of solidarity, in a region known for fierce infighting, when five Arab states ^ (Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan ■ and the United Arab Emirates) joined the U.S. led coalition and carried out their own military campaigns against the terror network. In a Sept. 25 article, CNN’s Political Commentator Pe ter Beinhart said, “It’s a remarkable diplo matic achievement. I don’t think it was ex pected that there would be this much Arab support.” And the support continues. TIME, com reports that since the strikes began, Denmark, Belgium, Australia and France have all joined the coalition and pledged to “bolster” American efforts. In a 524 to 43 Parliamentary vote, the United King dom also joined the alliance. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said, “The brutal ity is staggering. Beheadings, crucifixions, the gouging out of eyes, the use of rape as a weapon, the slaughter of children. There isn’t a ‘walk on by’ option.” As the week has progressed, and with growing support for the cause, the U.S. and other countries have continued to carry out numerous attacks against ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. Using Tomahawk missiles. Predator drones, attack planes and the brand new $350 million F-22 Rap tor bomber, the assaults have been highly selective and concentrated on hard targets such as armories, training facilities and communication centers. The Syrian city of Raqqa, a longtime ISIS stronghold and pseudo capital of the organization, was hit particularly hard. Aleppo, another Syr ian city, also came under attack because of its support of the Khorasan Group, who, according to CNN, “is a splinter al Qa eda group actively plotting against a U.S. homeland target and Western targets” and potentially more dangerous to America than ISIS. ISIS has responded to the airstrikes by releasing two propaganda videos enti tled “Flames of War.” These films display images of wounded soldiers begging for their lives and seek to both recruit new members to the organization and warn of forthcoming attacks on the US and the Western world. According to Reuters, an unidentified ISIS rebel has said, “These at tacks will be answered.” Perhaps as an answer to his critics, maybe to justify U.S. actions, or possibly to state his absolute intention to see this line of action to its fruition. President Qbama said in a Sept. 24 speech to the Unit ed Nations General Assembly, we are, “at a crossroads between war and peace; between dis order and integra tion; between fear and hope. The ter rorist group known as ISIL must be degraded and ulti mately destroyed.” He went on to ad dress the atrocities committed by ISIS, saying, “No God condones this ter ror. No grievance justifips^ .the„se„„^e,-,. tions. There can be *'* no reasoning — no via Getty Images negotiation ^th this brand of evil. The only language un derstood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to disman tle this network of death...Those who have joined ISIL should leave the battlefield while they can.” Summing up the week’s events and laying out the road ahead, the President emphasized the need for the world to con tinue to aid American efforts against ISIS. He said, “If there was ever a challenge in our interconnected world that cannot be met by one nation alone, it is this.” Freshman Election Results Sarah Cullen, staff Writer Congratulations to the following students who were elected in this year’s freshman elections! Alex Hewson - President Kayla Burton - Vice President Shonda Mitchell - Treasurer Starr Sirucek - Secretary Baileigh Jones & Ashley Brown - Cornhuskin’ Co-Chairs Karla Salgado & Hedaya Megeed - Stunt Co-Chairs Caroline Hale - Honor Council Representative Ellen Cleary - Student Life Representative Caroline Bass & Megan Munson - Senate Representatives As a reminder, there are still tons of leadership roles and oppor tunities left for Elections Board Representatives, Honor Council, Senate, Student Life and Class Historian. Good luck and have a great first year!
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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