October 22, 2014 The Signal page 7
Nation & W rld
Bombings continue as ISIS attacks Kobani By Roman Orsini Staff Writer
Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have undertaken an assault on the Syrian town of Kobani earlier this month, which lies along the Turkish border. The introduction of U.S. bombings have obstructed the militants’ progress and caused the Jihadist group heavy casualties, according to Pentagon officials. Kobani is the latest city ISIS fighters have set in their sights. The militants control roughly a third of Iraq, including its second largest city, Mosul, according to Business Insider. The latest offensive into Syria reflects the expansionist aims of the Islamic State, which has risen to power amidst the chaos created by the Syrian civil war and the breakdown of Iraq between its Sunni, Shia and Kurdish populations. “The enemy has made a decision to make Kobani his main effort,” said General Lloyd Austin of U.S. Central Command, responsible for Middle East operations. Large numbers of ISIS fighters have descended upon the town and have “created a rather target-rich environment … for American and coalition air strikes,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
ISIS continues to besiege the town in spite of ongoing airstrikes. Its advance seems to be stalled, but not reversed. Austin has said that despite airstrikes, “it’s highly possible that Kobani may fall.” ISIS rose to international infamy this year for its brutal mass murders and conquests in Iraq and Syria. Roughly 5,500 Iraqis have been killed since ISIS started its military campaign, according to The New York Times. The group also filmed the beheadings of several American and European journalists, using the films in its social media campaign to recruit more fighters. On Friday, Aug. 8, the U.S. began bombing ISIS targets in Iraq and expanded to Syria this month. According to the BBC, roughly 480 strikes have been conducted against ISIS, targeting armored vehicles, weapons stocks and military installations. U.S. bombings helped local Iraqi and Kurdish forces recapture the strategic Mosul Dam from ISIS, which is the fourth largest dam in the Middle East, and a significant generator of electricity for Iraq’s North. In the western Anbar Province, Apache helicopters were used to attack ISIS formations at low altitudes, as bombers would have posed a greater risk to allied fighters on the ground. However, the newest battle in Syria points to the limitations
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Smoke rises following a strike in Kobani, Syria during fighting between Syrian Kurds and ISIS. of air power alone in countering ISIS. Kurdish leader Idris Nassan said that “(the) international community cannot defeat ISIS by just hitting them from the sky. They have to help the people who are fighting.” Debate is ongoing within the U.S. government as to which parties to arm, if any, in this increasingly sectarian war and whether American soldiers should return to Iraq and fight ISIS on the ground.
Oregon scientists prepare for the next big megaquake
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Construction workers check the damage after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco. By Candace Kellner Correspondent
On Oct. 17, 1989, Loma Prieta, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, took the lives of 63 people in San Francisco. To this day, Oregon, as well as other West Coast states, are worrying whether they are prepared to face another megaquake.
The NJ Report
public structures, offers an incentive to encourage Oregon private sectors to advance seismic resilience and updates its public policies to increase preparedness. Using scientific research on prehistoric earthquakes, scientists like Chris Goldfinger, a marine geologist and professor at Oregon State University, can predict the probability of another monstrous earthquake. According to Goldfinger, the south end of the fault line that Oregon sits on rattles on a 240-year quake cycle. The collected data shows that these quakes have a magnitude between high sevens and low eights. Goldfinger told CNN that Oregon is currently “300 years into a 240-year cycle.” However, on the north end of the fault line, where the majority of Oregon’s population resides, there is an estimated 500-year cycle. Although there is still plenty of time before the next earthquake, there is a considerable amount of work in store for Oregon. The institutions have been very cooperative in preparing their facilities. The Oregon Legislature is already preparing a task force to formulate specific recommendations for action in the 2015 state legislation.
Around the World: Iraq
Iraq lawmakers approve defense ministers
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These activists protest over legalizing marijuana in Trenton.
Over 250 activists and community members gathered at the steps of the New Jersey Statehouse to show their support for legalizing marijuana on Sunday, Oct. 19. The event culminated with many participants publicly smoking marijuana. A handful of state troopers were monitoring the event, but it did not appear that any arrests were made. All information from AP
Chief scientist and geologist at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Ian Madin told CNN that Oregon is highly susceptible to experiencing earthquakes because of its location on a huge fault line that separates two of the Earth’s tectonic plates. The fault line could one day produce a massive earthquake, causing immense destruction to the Northwest region of the U.S. This large-scale earthquake, also known as a megaquake, would consist of a violent shake that lasts for several minutes. If the quake is powerful enough, it can lead to landslides, tsunamis and floods. According to Madin, Oregon’s mountainous terrain and position near the coast makes it highly susceptible to these additional disasters. The Oregon Resilience Plan determined that a worse-case scenario would result in approximately 10,000 deaths and power outages that could last for several months to several years. The economic losses would amount to approximately $30 billion. Based on its findings in the Oregon Resilience Plan, the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission recommends that Oregon takes a statewide inventory of its critical buildings, launches a program of capital investment to renovate Oregon’s
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi lawmakers approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s remaining Cabinet nominees on Saturday, including for the critical defense and interior portfolios, completing the formation of a government that will strive to push the Islamic State extremist group out of the sprawling territory it has seized in recent months. Control over the two powerful security ministries has long been a source of tension among Iraq’s feuding political factions. The U.S. and other allies have been pushing for a more representative government that can reach out to Sunnis, who felt marginalized by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Sunni discontent is widely seen as having fueled the IS group’s dramatic advances in Iraq since June, when it captured the country’s second largest city Mosul. Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni lawmaker from Mosul, was selected for the post of defense minister, by a vote of 175-85. He had served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s military and holds a PhD in political science. Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, a Shiite lawmaker with al-Abadi’s State of Law political bloc, was approved
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Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, left, and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby answer questions at a news conference. as minister of interior by a 197-63 vote. He holds degrees from universities in both Tehran and London and he is currently pursuing a PhD in political science in Baghdad. He was a long-time opponent of Saddam and was detained in 1979. Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish politician and Iraq’s long-serving foreign minister, was named minister of finance, having previously been voted in as deputy prime minister. Shiite lawmaker Adel Fahd al-Shirshab was named tourism
minister, and Kurdish lawmaker Bayan Nouri was appointed minister of women’s affairs. Iraq is facing its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, with the Islamic State group in control of about a third of the country. Iraq’s U.S.-trained and equipped armed forces collapsed in the face of the militants’ advance, abandoning heavy weapons that the extremist group is now using in battles across both Iraq and Syria.