Fox News Pentagon claims no advance warning of Egyptian airstrikes against ISIS in Libya In a reminder that relations with Egypt have remained strained since the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, the Pentagon said Wednesday it was not given any advance warning by the Egyptian air force before it conducted airstrikes against ISIS training camps in eastern Libya Monday. "We weren't notified ahead of time. We didn't participate or support them in any way, and we're not taking a position on it," Rear Admiral John Kirby said during a Pentagon briefing. It's so complex that Egypt does not fly as part of the 12-nation anti-ISIS coalition countering ISIS in Iraq and Syria, making it until now a nominal member of the 60-nation, anti-ISIS coalition. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/18/pentagon-claims-no-advance-warning-egyptian-airstrikes-against-isis-in-libya/ The Daily Beast U.S. Won't Back Egypt's Attacks on ISIS Two long-time allies are attacking ISIS—and growing frustrated with one another. That's good news for the so-called Islamic State. The Obama administration was given multiple chances Wednesday to endorse along-time ally's airstrikes on America's biggest enemy at the moment, the so-called Islamic State. Over and over again, Obama's aides declined to back Egypt's military operation against ISIS. It's another sign of the growing strain between the United States and Egypt, once one of its closest friends in the Middle East. This shouldn't be a complete surprise; Cairo, after all, didn't tell Washington about its strikes on the ISIS hotbed of Derna, Libya. Still, Wednesday's disconnect was jarring. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest passed on a reporter's question about an endorsement of Egypt's growing campaign against ISIS. So did State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "We are neither condemning nor condoning" the Egyptian strikes, is all one U.S. official would tell The Daily Beast. In other words, these once-close nations are now fighting separate campaigns against their mutual foe. And that could prove to be very good news for ISIS. The rift between U.S. and the region's most populous country portends of another division that ISIS could exploit, this time for its expansion into northern Africa and the broader Middle East. U.S. officials privately said they do not have a better idea for confronting the threat and the ongoing strains between the two nations has led to a breakdown of trust. "The Egyptian military, in particular, is very frustrated with us," one U.S. government official explained to the Daily Beast. "It is mutual frustration." At a briefing with reporters Wednesday, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby called the relationship with Egypt "complicated." "We are constantly reviewing our relationship with Egypt," Kirby said. Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/18/u-s-won-t-back-egypt-s-attacks-on-isis.html The New York Times From a Private School in Cairo to ISIS Killing Fields in Syria There is no single path that leads to jihad, but in exploring Mr. Yaken's life, signposts emerge. There are influences familiar and easy to discuss, like a lack of economic opportunity and a renewed sense of political alienation, especially among youths. But there are also more delicate subjects — less often publicly debated, let alone dissected — like the increasingly conservative thinking that defines the faith for many Muslims today, or sexual repression among young people who are taught that their physical and emotional desires can bring them eternal damnation. "Sometimes I feel like I could have ended up like that," said Hossam Atef, 20, one of Mr. Yaken's closest friends in Egypt. "As a young man, you are always torn. You always want both this life and the afterlife." And then, already vulnerable and torn, Mr. Yaken lost a close friend in a motorcycle accident. This was in March 2012, amid the prelude to Egypt's first democratic presidential election. His business dreams were sinking, and the streets were filled with Islamic slogans promoting the candidates of the Muslim Brotherhood. Shaken, Mr. Yaken decided to turn to religion. He grew his beard, he stopped going to parties, he refused to take pictures with his shirt off and he unfriended all the women he knew on Facebook. But his newfound commitment to religion had not yet veered in the direction of militancy and jihad. "Islam found what he was looking for," Mr. el-Ghandour said wistfully. "A life free of the sins he renounced, a greater cause, an Islamic state." Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/middleeast/from-a-private-school-in-cairo-to-isis-killing-fields-in-syria-video.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=1
