On 24 AUG 15 NEC-SE posted the article: The Curse of Internal Contradictions: Dempsey’s Speech on the Middle East Angers Friends, Emboldens Enemies.  In the article we looked at the comments made by U.S. Army General Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff, who addressed the conflict in the Middle East in terms meant to provide the strategic framework for defeating ISIL.  During his speech GEN Dempsey asserted that “the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is just the most recent manifestation of an underlying set of instabilities, inequities and ideologies that will be around for at least 20 years.

Given the current news our assessment which we gave in the article seems to be on target.  NEC-SE stated: “When Dempsey characterizes ISIL as “just the most recent manifestation of an underlying set of instabilities, inequities and ideologies that will be around for at least 20 years,” what the Middle East hears is a man who does not seem to grasp that 1) the enemy should no longer be referred to as ISIL but as IS; and that 2) in 20 years’ time the Islamic State will have evolved from being an Islamic State into an Islamic Caliphate with all the trappings of sovereign statehood including national boundaries, a functioning economy, an army, and a strategic plan for territorial expansion.”

http://nec-se.webbar312.net/2015/08/24/the-curse-of-internal-contradictions-dempseys-speech-on-the-middle-east-angers-friends-emboldens-enemies-2/

“The Islamic State group (IS) announced the launch of its own currency in a video posted online at the weekend, saying it would release Muslims from “enslavement by satanic banks”. The jihadist group showcased its gold, silver and copper coins in an hour-long video released on Saturday, touting the “return of the Gold Dinar” – a currency originally used in the early days of Islam. The announcement comes two months after IS first released pictures of the new currency it planned to use in the so-called “Caliphate”, a territory carved out of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria. It marks another step in the group’s efforts to establish itself as a functioning state.
The IS group already boasts of its own territory, armed forces, services (including schools and hospitals), and judicial system. It also raises taxes – the “jizzieh, imposed on religious minorities – in the areas it controls.”
“FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr, an expert on jihadist networks, said the currency’s launch followed a double imperative for the IS group, which has amassed a war chest of millions of dollars through tax collection, seizing oil refineries, smuggling and kidnappings for ransom.” (Coordination Center)

http://www.france24.com/en/20150831-islamic-state-group-launches-own-currency-free-satanic-banks