October 4th, 2018 
(Institute for the Study of War) — The Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) is reconstituting a capable insurgent force in Iraq and Syria despite efforts to prevent its recovery by the U.S. Anti-ISIS Coalition. The U.S. Department of Defense stated in August 2018 that ISIS retains nearly 30,000 fighters across Iraq and Syria and is “more capable” than Al-Qaeda in Iraq – ISIS’s predecessor – at its peak in 2006 – 2007. ISIS is waging an effective campaign to reestablish durable support zones while raising funds and rebuilding command-and-control over its remnant forces. On its current trajectory, ISIS could regain sufficient strength to mount a renewed insurgency that once again threatens to overmatch local security forces in both Iraq and Syria. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is issuing a map update depicting ISIS’s current operating areas based on an analysis of its activity from January 1, 2018 to October 1, 2018.
It's All About Muhammad
A blog and a book about why Muslims do what they do
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"If it were in my power, I would require every American to read It’s All About Muhammad." -- Alan Caruba
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IN THIS POWERFUL time travel fantasy, an Iranian sickened by the injustices he sees all around him wishes he could experience the true Islam of Muhammad and his cousin Ali, whom Iranians consider the forefather of Shia Islam. Author F.W. Burleigh gives the protagonist his wish and sends him to 7th century Arabia, first as a slave and then as Muhammad’s scribe. After witnessing Islam’s founder commit a series of horrific atrocities, he loses his faith and becomes a warner of what is to come out of Arabia. He is trapped in Mecca at the time of Muhammad's invasion and is about to be beheaded when he returns to present day Iran in such a way that shows he is the Mahdi—the long-awaited Imam of Time. But what he has to say to his contemporaries brings the rage of Iran’s clerical rulers down on him.