Peace Advocates: If Trump Wanted To Help Syrians, He Would Lift Refugee Ban & Fund Humanitarian Aid

We continue our roundtable discussion on Syria after the United States carried out a missile attack on a Syrian airfield, saying it was a response to a chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people, including at least 30 children. Syria denies carrying out the attack. "Both these superpowers … do not give a damn about Syrian self-determination nor justice for Syrians," says Yazan al-Saadi, a Syrian-Canadian writer who joins us from Beirut. "We do want something that will be positive for the Syrian people," adds Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CodePink. "That means immediately lifting of the Trump ban on Syrian refugees coming to the United States, of funding of the $5 billion that the U.N. says is desperately needed to help the humanitarian crisis facing the Syrian refugees, and demand that the U.S. work with Russia to finally come to a ceasefire and work for a political solution." We are also joined by Alia Malek, journalist and former human rights lawyer, and Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Peter Kassig: Idealistic Aid Worker Who Converted to Islam in Captivity

Mr Kassig had founded his own relief group, delivering
medical aid in conflict zones

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Parents of former US Army Ranger, the latest Western hostage to be threatened with murder by Isil extremists, says "Our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom"

Peter Kassig, the latest hostage to be threatened with murder by Islamist extremists, is an American veteran who served in Iraq and whose decision to convert to Islam in captivity has so far failed to save his life.

Mr Kassig, 26, is shown kneeling on the ground in an orange jumpsuit at the end of footage showing the murder of Alan Henning, a British aid worker.

A masked member of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) says he will become the fifth Westerner to be killed if the US-led coalition does not halt its bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Yet like Mr Henning, who was kidnapped delivering aid to Syrians, Mr Kassig's path to the Middle East suggests Isil's propaganda machine will have to to gloss over his humanitarian work in the region. And it will also have to contend with his desire to learn more about the Middle East and conversion to Islam. » | Rob Crilly, New York, and Josie Ensor | Saturday, October 04, 2014

Iraq Crisis: Cameron Says Islamist Threat Is 'UK Problem'

David Cameron announced extra humanitarian aid for Iraq
during Prime Minister's Questions

BBC: Ignoring the threat from Islamist extremism in the Middle East and parts of Africa will "come back to hit the UK", David Cameron has warned.

The prime minister told MPs that it would be wrong to think the crisis in Iraq was "nothing to do" with the UK.

Encouraging governments to be more inclusive and helping to "close down ungoverned spaces" would stop the conditions for terrorism flourishing.

Mr Cameron also announced extra humanitarian aid for Iraq.

The prime minister, who was chairing a meeting of the National Security Council on Wednesday, has ruled out military intervention in support of the government of Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, in response to attacks by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) fighters.

'Patient'

The fighting between ISIS and Iraqi security forces, who are supported by Shia militias, has focused around the city of Baquba, 60km (35 miles) from Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, while Iraq's largest oil refinery is also under attack.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron said it was up to the Iraqi security forces to "push back" ISIS fighters and also urged the government to do more to reconcile Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups.

"I disagree with those people who think this is nothing to do with us and if they want to have some sort of extreme Islamist regime in the middle of Iraq it won't affect us. It will," he told the Commons.

"The people in that regime, as well as trying to take territory, are also planning to attack us here at home in the United Kingdom." » | Wednesday, June 18, 2014