Is

Latest Stories

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, July 26, 2015. Assad says he supports any political dialogue to end his country's civil war even if its effects are limited. But he says any initiative that is not based on fighting &quot;terrorism&quot; will be &quot;hollow&quot; and &quot;meaningless.&quot; (SANA via AP)

Syria’s embattled president admits manpower shortage

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

An Islamic State militant distributes plastic bags full of stationery and other gifts to young students at a school in Mosul, northern Iraq. (Associated Press)

Islamic State forces children to practice beheadings on dolls

By Zeina Karam and Bram Janssen - Associated Press

In this photo released on June 23, 2015, by a website of Islamic State militants, an Islamic State militant looks through the scope of his rifle in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Though best known for its horrific brutalities — from its grotesque killings of captives to enslavement of women — the Islamic State group has proved to be a highly organized and flexible fighting force, according to senior Iraqi military and intelligence officials and Syrian Kurdish commanders on the front lines. (Militant website via AP)

Islamic State’s secret to its success: Shock troops who fight to the death

By Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Bassem Mroue - Associated Press

Kurdish women, one waving a flag of the outlawed Kurdish rebel group, the PKK, right, flash the V-sign and applaud while lining the road, as the convoy carrying the body of Hanim Dabaan, killed in fighting with the militants of the Islamic State group in Kobani, Syria, is driven by through Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, June 11, 2015. Keith Broomfield, 20 from Massachusetts, died June 3 in battle in a Syrian village near Kobani, making him likely the first U.S. citizen to die fighting alongside Kurds against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Islamic State fighters kill 200 civilians in Kobani, Syria, activists say

By Hamza Hendawi - Associated Press

In this photo provided by the Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Kurdish fighters of the YPG, sit on their pickup in the town of Ein Eissa, north of Raqqa city, Syria, Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Kurdish fighters and their allies have captured an Islamic State group military base in northern Syria under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes bringing them closer than ever to the extremists de facto capital of Raqqa, activists said Tuesday. (The Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units via AP)

Kurds keep up offensive against extremists in northern Syria

By HAMZA HENDAWI - Associated Press

Survivors tell of life under Islamic State rule

By Zeina Karam, Vivian Salama and Bram Janssen and Lee Keath - Associated Press

In this photo released on May 20, 2015, provided by the Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Kurdish fighters of the YPG, flash victory signs as they sit on their pickup on their way to battle against the Islamic State, near Kezwan mountain, northeast Syria. In contrast to the failures of the Iraqi army, in Syria Kurdish fighters are on the march against the Islamic State group, capturing towns and villages in an oil-rich swath of the country's northeast in recent days, under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes. (The Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units via AP)

Kurdish fighters in Syria on the march against IS militants

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

Local residents and Sunni tribal fighters welcome newly arriving Iraqi Shiite Hezbollah Brigade militiamen, brandishing their flag, who are joining the fight against Islamic State group militants in Khalidiya, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo)

Iraq announces launch of operation to drive Islamic State from Anbar

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

FILE - This file photo released on Sunday, May 17, 2015, by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows the general view of the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, northeast of Damascus, Syria. Members of the Islamic State group have captured the ancient town raising fears that the extremists will destroy its archaeological sites that have stood for two millennia. Palmyra, home to one of the Middle East's most famous UNESCO world heritage sites, was under full control of militants on Thursday after troops withdrew to nearby bases. (SANA via AP, File)

Syrian official: Islamic State militants in Palmyra’s museum

By ALBERT AJI and SARAH EL DEEB - Associated Press

Islamic State forces capture, kill dozens in Syria’s Palmyra

Associated Press

In this picture released on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, by the website of Islamic State militants, an Islamic State fighter fires his weapon during a battle against Syrian government forces on a road between Homs and Palmyra, Syria. Islamic State militants overran the famed archaeological site at Palmyra early on Thursday, just hours after seizing the central Syrian town, activists and officials said, raising concerns the extremists might destroy some of the priceless ruins as they have done in neighboring Iraq. (The website of Islamic State militants via AP)

Islamic State in control of Palmyra ruins, Syrian activists say

By Bassem Mroue - Associated Press

The Islamic State's latest mass-beheading video purports to show the executions of dozens of Ethiopian Christians against multiple backdrops — including one replete with blood-colored waves lapping up from the Mediterranean. (Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: Counter-jihad information war stifled by bureaucracy

By Bill Gertz

Iraqi security forces hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured during an operation outside Amirli, some 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct. 7, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

CLAUDE SALHANI: How to get serious with ISIS

By Claude Salhani

A Syrian Kurdish refugee child from the Kobani area, peers from a tent on a cold morning at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Islamic State group ousted from Syria’s Kobani; Kurds celebrate victory

By Zeina Karam - Associated Press

This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, a militant extremist group, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the Islamic State group with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Activists say that Islamic State fighters have shot down a warplane believed to be from the U.S.-led coalition over Syria. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group)

Islamic State captures Jordanian pilot in Syria after crash

By Omar Akour and Bassem Mroue - Associated Press

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, listens to Pope Francis' speech at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Friday, Nov. 28, 2014. Pope Francis condemned the Islamic State assault on Christians and other religions minorities in Iraq and Syria as he arrived Friday in neighboring Turkey to encourage Muslim leaders to take a stronger stand against extremists who twist religion to justify terrorism. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Pope urges more Muslim opposition to IS in Turkey

By Nicole Winfield and Suzan Fraser - Associated Press

President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to the media before a meeting with his cabinet members in the White House Cabinet Room in Washington, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

BRUCE FEIN: Head injuries or method in the madness?

By Bruce Fein