James Clapper: We underestimated the Islamic State’s ‘will to fight’

The Washington Post 

By David Ignatius Opinion writer September 18

The United States has made the same mistake in evaluating fighters from the Islamic State that it did in Vietnam — underestimating the enemy’s will, according to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.

Scottish Vote on Independence Starts

Referendum Will Determine Whether Scotland Splits From the U.K.

The Wall Street Journal

By JASON DOUGLAS, JENNY GROSS and CASSIE WERBER

Updated Sept. 18, 2014 5:40 a.m. ET

EDINBURGH—Voters in Scotland on Thursday began casting their ballots in a historic referendum on whether to go it alone as an independent country or remain part of the U.K.

ECB hands out cheap credit to banks to boost economy

BY EVA TAYLOR AND JOHN O'DONNELL

FRANKFURT Thu Sep 18, 2014 5:35am EDT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank handed out the first of its new four-year loans to banks on Thursday, the flagship tool in a new stimulus package it hopes will stave off price deflation and revive the ailing euro zone economy.

Ten Things to Know About Scotland's Independence Referendum

BY ALASTAIR JAMIESON

NBCnews

NDON -- Britain is under 72 hours away from a once-in-a-lifetime vote on Scottish independence that could break up the 307-year-old United Kingdom, splitting apart one of America’s key global allies. With polls suggesting that a Scottish split from the rest of Britain is a real possibility, lawmakers including Prime Minister David Cameron are making urgent appeals to save Britain its biggest constitutional upheaval since the Wars of Independence that led to the creation of the United States.

What will be voted on?

Dollar drops to two week-low vs euro ahead of Fed outcome

BY GERTRUDE CHAVEZ-DREYFUSS

NEW YORK Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:49pm EDT

…"If Scotland becomes separate from the UK, it will most likely become a member of the EU. When it does, it will realise it cannot be 'independent, ever, because many aspects of life (political and economic) will be dictated by Brussels," said SLJ's Jen…

Ratings upgrade subdues Greek yields, Irish supply eyed

Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:56am EDT

Reuters

* Investors buoyed by S&P ratings lift

* PM Samaras says Greece will not need third bailout

* Fed meeting, Scotland vote pose volatility risks

* Spain's bonds claws back ground after torrid week (Updates prices, adds analyst comment)

By John Geddie

Ukrainian president offers rebels major concessions to end uprising

By Anthony Faiola September 15 at 2:36 PM

KIEV, UKRAINE — President Petro Poroshenko on Monday proposed a series of major concessions to end the uprising by pro-Russian rebels in restive eastern Ukraine, offering the separatists a broad amnesty and special self-governance status for territories they occupy.

The proposal also includes protections for the Russian language and would allow the separatist-controlled regions to elect their own judges, create their own police forces and cultivate deeper ties to Russia — while remaining part of Ukraine.

Greece deserves respect for holding to its word

September 15 at 5:35 PM

Letters To The Editor

The Washington Post

Instead of applauding Greece for meeting its responsibility to NATO during a time of unprecedented economic crisis, Charles Lane chose to take an unnecessary, sarcastic swipe at the United States’ longtime ally in his Sept. 4 op-ed column, “ Bombs or benefits? ”

During the crisis, Greece has resisted compromising its defense budget. It is one of four NATO members to meet the alliance’s mandated standard to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Greece spends nearly 2.3 percent.

Obama’s advantages as a reluctant warrior

By David Ignatius Opinion writer September 11

The Washington Post

President Obama certainly didn’t go looking for another war in the Middle East. Indeed, he contorted himself almost to the breaking point to avoid one. But as he explained to the country Wednesday night, he had no choice but to respond with “strength and resolve” to the barbarous Islamic State that is ravaging Iraq and Syria.

Obama’s decision to combat the Islamic State offers him a chance to reset U.S. leadership and his own presidency after growing doubt at home and abroad about what, if anything, he was willing to fight for. His innate cautiousness is now actually a reassurance that he’ll fight this war sensibly, partnering with allies in the region, in a way that doesn’t needlessly exacerbate the United States’ problems with the Muslim world.

Το κόστος των προτάσεων

ΜΠΑΜΠΗΣ ΠΑΠΑΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ

Δημοσιεύθηκε στον ιστότοπο της εφ. Καθημερινή http://www.kathimerini.gr/782209/opinion/epikairothta/politikh/to-kostos-twn-protasewn

Πριν από λίγες ημέρες, ο Γιάννης Δραγασάκης, υπεύθυνος για τη σύνταξη του προγράμματος, ανακοίνωσε ότι το κόμμα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ θα προωθούσε, αν ήταν κυβέρνηση, ειδικό πρόγραμμα απασχόλησης ύψους 5 δισ. ευρώ, ώστε να δημιουργηθούν 200 με 300 χιλιάδες θέσεις εργασίας.

Πρόχειρος υπολογισμός δείχνει ότι οι υπολογισμοί των οικονομολόγων της αντιπολίτευσης στηρίζονται σε ένα κόστος μεταξύ 16 και 25 χιλιάδες για κάθε μια θέση εργασίας.

Φαίνεται ότι στην αντιπολίτευση βρήκαν τη «φιλοσοφική λίθο»

Longtime Rivals Look to Team Up to Confront ISIS

The New York Times

By TIM ARANGOSEPT. 9, 2014

BAGHDAD — As the United States and its allies look to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, longtime adversaries with a common fear of the radical movement are scrambling to see if they can cooperate to defeat the rising threat.

The jihadist group known as ISIS has so far thrived in part because its enemies are also enemies of one another, a reality that has complicated efforts to muster a strong response to its rampage. That factor has been a crucial consideration in war planning in capitals as diverse as Tehran and Washington, London and Damascus. But the potential threat has also forced a re-examination of centuries old tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds and Turks.

Cease-fire in Ukraine threatened as fighting breaks out in east

The Washington Post

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine struggled to maintain a tenuous cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels after a series of repeated breaches Sunday, even as the government here faced the equally daunting task of selling the peace plan to the nation.

Firefights broke out near the rebel-held city of Donetsk as well as east of the key port city of Mariupol, eyewitnesses said. Yet Ukrainian officials maintained that in general, the truce, which went into effect Friday evening, was holding.

“The Ukrainian government still believes in the cease-fire ­despite the violations,” said Volodymyr Poleviy, deputy spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security Defense Council.

Destroying ISIS May Take Years, U.S. Officials Say

By ERIC SCHMITT, MICHAEL R. GORDON and HELENE COOPERSEPT. 7, 2014

The New  York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to carry out a campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria that may take three years to complete, requiring a sustained effort that could last until after President Obama has left office, according to senior administration officials.

The first phase, an air campaign with nearly 145 airstrikes in the past month, is already underway to protect ethnic and religious minorities and American diplomatic, intelligence and military personnel, and their facilities, as well as to begin rolling back ISIS gains in northern and western Iraq.

The next phase, which would begin sometime after Iraq forms a more inclusive government, scheduled this week, is expected to involve an intensified effort to train, advise or equip the Iraqi military, Kurdish fighters and possibly members of Sunni tribes.

US air strikes push Isis back from strategic Iraqi dam

Warplanes wipe out Islamist forces trying to attack Haditha dam in western province of Anbar

The Guardian

US warplanes have carried out five strikes on Islamist insurgents menacing Iraq’s Haditha dam, witnesses and officials said, widening what President Barack Obama called a campaign to curb and ultimately defeat the militants.

Obama has branded Islamic State (Isis) forces an acute threat to the west as well as the Middle East and said that key Nato allies stood ready to back Washington in action against the group, which has seized expanses of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and declared a border-blurring religious caliphate.

Official: Russian forces back rebels with tanks in eastern Ukraine

By Victoria Butenko, Laura Smith-Spark and Diana Magnay, CNN

August 28, 2014 -- Updated 1010 GMT (1810 HKT)

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Pro-Moscow rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, backed by Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, battled government forces on two fronts Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said.

The fighting was taking place southeast of Donetsk, and along the nation's southern coast in the town of Novoazovsk, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Russian border, according to Mykhailo Lysenko, the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Donbas battalion.

"This is a full-scale invasion," Lysenko said, referring to the fighting in the south.

In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Ukraine's Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting.

Pentagon warns that Isis has global aspirations as US continues Iraq strikes

US effort to build international coalition against Isis advanced, as UK and six other nations agreed to arm the Kurdish peshmerga

The Guardian

Spencer Ackerman in New York

The Pentagon warned on Tuesday that Islamic State (Isis) militants have global aspirations, ratcheting up already dire US rhetoric against the jihadist army that has overrun much of Iraq and Syria.

U.S. Mobilizes Allies to Widen Assault on ISIS

By HELENE COOPER and MARK LANDLERAUG. 26, 2014

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The United States has begun to mobilize a broad coalition of allies behind potential American military action in Syria and is moving toward expanded airstrikes in northern Iraq, administration officials said on Tuesday.

President Obama, the officials said, was broadening his campaign against the Sunni militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and nearing a decision to authorize airstrikes and airdrops of food and water around the northern Iraqi town of Amerli, home to members of Iraq’s Turkmen minority. The town of 12,000 has been under siege for more than two months by the militants.

“Rooting out a cancer like ISIL won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick,” Mr. Obama said in a speech on Tuesday to the American Legion in Charlotte, N.C., using an alternative name for ISIS. He said that the United States was building a coalition to “take the fight to these barbaric terrorists,” and that the militants would be “no match” for a united international community.

Ukraine crisis: 'Column from Russia' crosses border

25 August 2014 Last updated at 17:28 GMT Share this pagePrint

BBC

The Ukrainian military says it has clashed with rebel armoured vehicles that crossed from Russia and headed to the south-eastern port of Mariupol.

One commander said rebels might be trying to open up a new southern front. Russia did not comment on the issue.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko voiced his "extreme concern" about the alleged crossing, his office said.

More than 2,000 people have died in fighting between Ukrainian forces and the separatists in recent months.

Obama Approves Air Surveillance of ISIS in Syria

By MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPERAUG. 25, 2014

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama has authorized surveillance flights over Syria, a precursor to potential airstrikes there, but a mounting concern for the White House is how to target the Sunni extremists without helping President Bashar al-Assad.

Defense officials said Monday evening that the Pentagon was sending in manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Syria, using a combination of aircraft, including drones and possibly U2 spy planes. Mr. Obama approved the flights over the weekend, a senior administration official said.

The flights are a significant step toward direct American military action in Syria, an intervention that could alter the battlefield in the nation’s three-year civil war.

An American-Led Coalition Can Defeat ISIS

U.S. air power and special forces are essential, but so is a political and economic strategy. It's also time to give Qatar an ultimatum.

By JACK KEANE And DANIELLE PLETKA

Aug. 24, 2014 6:27 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

Two months ago we laid out a plan on these pages to bring Iraq back from the abyss of terrorist domination, turn the tide in the Syria conflict, and crush the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The need for such a plan is now more urgent as ISIS has since advanced dramatically, the Iraqi army and Kurdish militia initially performed poorly, and the terror group has threatened to kill more Americans as it did James Foley last week.