Caroline Jimenez, Erika Tabor, Omar Amin, Nehal Mascarenhas

ENG 352
November 2nd 2014
Current Events Project
The advancement of technology has provided society with the means of viewing and
being more aware of the current events occurring throughout the world. Prior to the invention of
the television, news was reported by radio. Although the public was knowledgeable about the
events, somehow the ability to see what is actually going on, places the events into perspective.
The two current events which we believe are of great significance in society are the protests
occurring in Hong Kong and attempts to control and eliminate the ISIS organization.
The communist party has been in power in China since the revolution of 1949. The party
has enforced a number of restrictions since then including control of the media. Protests for fully
democratic elections started last week and the state propaganda machine had to wait for
instructions from the leadership on what they should do about the protests. Controlling the
newspapers, the Communist Flagship newspaper has displayed a number of commentaries about
the democratic protests. One commentary to explain the protesters thinking was, "respecting the
will and interests of the majority is the common essence of all democracies." These protesters are
peaceful and have not shown any signs of non-violent civil disobedience and the media has made
them seem to the public as violent protests.
The government has such control over the media in China that the public is receiving all
of their information from the CCVT, which is controlled by the communist party. The
information they are getting is not accurate by any means. Pictures of these protests are edited in
order to make them seem violent and a potential threat. The Chinese equivalent to twitter, Weibo,
has also been fixed so any searches made regarding the protests will come back with a return
error message. In addition, Instagram has been blocked in order to prevent circulation of any
photos from the protests. The protestors are being given no voice whatsoever and are being
made to look like criminals. The Chinese government is doing whatever they can to make these
protesters look violent and make it so their efforts arent shared with the public.
Terrorism is defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
with two main
characteristics: violent acts dangerous to human life and acts intended to affect conduct of
government ("Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code"). Most of these violent acts are
intended to create fear; perpetrated for a religious, political, or ideological goal. After the
September 11th events, public interest in terrorism peaked, however as the years have passed the
threat and concern has seemed to decrease. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, has brought
back the feelings of fear and insecurity.
ISIS is known as a splinter group of Al-Qaeda and has control of hundreds of miles from
Syrias Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad ("ISIS Fast Facts") Beginning in 2004 the ISIS
group began to develop and over the years the progression of their control and violence has
escalated. The various events conducted by ISIS were taking control of the Shaer gas field after
killing 270 people, the decapitation of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, and the beheading of
hostage Alan Henning ("ISIS Fast Facts")The peak in violence shows the threat the ISIS group
poses to not only the Iraqi and Syrian people but to the world.
The terrorist organization ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has shocked,
horrified and disgusted people all over the world with their reckless humanitarian abuse, coldblooded massacres and bloodlust-driven acquisition of strategic areas. Perhaps the most

conspicuous of their recent operations would be the Islamic State fighters threats to overrun
Anbar, a key province in western Iraq. In case they succeed, it would undoubtedly be a colossal
triumph for the jihadists and a cringe-worthy impediment for the US-led coalition targeting the
group.
First questions first. Of all places, why Anbar? Anbar is a place that holds not just
tactical, but also a figurative connotation to the ISIS. It is essentially a vast expanse of desert
interweaved by major roadways leading to key cities for the ISIS like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and
most importantly, Syria. It comes as no surprise that the extremist group has a copious hoard of
munitions. But capturing Anbar would further add to that stash by giving the militants army
installations. It would also facilitate them to establish a supply line, thereby channeling arms and
rebels from the areas right from Syria to the western fringes to Baghdad like Abu Ghraib, which
are already under its gamut of control. At present, the above mentioned supply line is interjected
by government-controlled areas of Ramadi and Haditha. It would essentially morph into a
strategic base for their operation, which would be extremely challenging to reclaim once seized.
In a parallel symbolic context, capturing Anbar would be an emotional win for the jihadists. ISIS
is an off-shoot of the Iraq-originated terrorist organizational-Qaeda, whose birthplace was Anbar,
thereby attaching a lot of importance to the province.
The ISIS has annexed villages and towns in Anbar, inundated army posts and police
stations in a very systematic manner and also launched attacks on the provincial capital Ramadi.
To some extent though, the Iraqi government exercised authority albeit in small areas over the
majority-Sunni area. The Iraqi forces have been at the receiving end of various setbacks, like
losing two army bases.
Here is where the US lent a helping hand to the Iraqi troops in Anbar by providing
support to them and also launching attacks with the aid of warplanes and attack helicopters to hit
more than 40 ISIS targets if the U.S. Central Command data is to be believed. However, this call
for the American ground troops triggered fissures anew in Anbar, threatening to weaken the
already rickety alliance of Iraqi forces working with tribal battalions to battle the ISISs assaults.
The assault was instrumental in combating an attack on the Haditha dam, which exhibits the
jihadists quest to control Iraqs water supply. In spite of all this, the impetus of the extremists
went unimpeded, which is still reinforcing its troops in Anbar. Probably the most disquieting of
its activities would be its advance on Ramadi, which lies just 80 miles to the west of Baghdad,
which is figuratively the head- defeat it, and the rest of Anbar collapses. The Anbar officials
caution that they are rapidly losing their grip owing to an insurgency which is meticulously
organized and well-ordered.
To rise up to the occasion, the US stepped up its airstrikes in Anbar, with the Military
reporting that ten targets have been hit in Iraq and 13 strikes have been conducted in Syria with
the assistance of allied fighter aircrafts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In the initial stages of
the revamped assaults on the ISIS, a berm near the Fallujah dam which was exploited to deluge
waterways and control water supplies was hit by US warplanes. It struck oil refineries to
demolish the financing of the ISIS, and extinguishing its ability to assemble, refine and
transporting crude oil by employing U.S. B-1 bomber aircraft which was flown in from the
American airbase in Qatar. It also fixed other diverse targets in both Iraq and Syria. In Syria,
Kobani is the site where the maximum level of warring intensity was witnessed, thus making it
an obvious target for the US military to launch eleven of its Syrian strikes, hitting 20 ISIS
strategic battle points in the process, five vehicles and two buildings used by the extremist group.

The next in the agenda was Beiji, which is the site of Iraqs largest oil refinery. A strike
was directed to its south, which collapsed an ISIS frontier. The US military also hit a massive
ISIS entity, a reinforced, armored truck and a border checkpoint with two strikes. There were
also assaults on the east portion of Fallujah aimed at an ISIS command post and a large unit. To
the west of the Mosul dam, another attack was initiated which wrecked an ammunition truck
belonging to the ISIS.
Attacks of this magnitude open some passage ways where it is still possible that Anbar
could fall, the relief being that the Islamic State troops would not stand to gain anything from it
or any advantage whatsoever. All these strikes focus on just one point- weaken the ISIS and to
reclaim the cities lost to them, terminating the atrocities and manslaughter in the process.
In an attempt to reduce the growing control of the ISIS militant group the United States is
playing a major role in leading air strikes in Iraq and Syria. On Sunday October 26 th, 12 strikes
occurred in Iraq and 5 in Syria (Air Strikes Hit near Kobani). Overall the goal is to avoid the
expansion of the ISIS militants in control of Syria and Iraq in order to protect civilians. The ISIS
group is expanding very quickly and has many participants from around the world including the
United States. The ISIS group is a current event of significant importance due to the deaths of
many civilians and the risk of terrorism reaching the United States once again. In conclusion the
public needs to understand that although the violence has not happened here, as ISIS gains more
control the attacks may begin to expand around the world.

"Air Strikes Hit near Kobani and Mosul Dam as US-led Coalition Targets Isis." The Guardian26
Oct. 2014. Guardian News and Media. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/usnews/2014/oct/26/us-air-strikes-isis-iraq-syria-kobani-saudi-arabia>.
"ISIS Fast Facts." CNN World. Cable News Network, 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/>.
"Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code." The Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI.gov. Web.
26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition>.
Articles:
http://m.wsj.com/articles/u-s-steps-up-airstrikes-in-iraqs-anbar-province-1413732164?mobile=y
http://m.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-tightens-its-grip-on-iraqs-anbar-province-1413124154?
mobile=y
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-state-fighters-are-threatening-tooverrun-iraqs-anbar-province/2014/10/09/34b302f0-84e4-4d73-b220-2d91161363e5_story.html