MUST-READS

• Journalist Deaths
  Militant in Syria beheading videos identified: FBI

  A masked Islamic State militant seen wielding a knife in videos at the beheading of two Americans has been identified, FBI Director James Comey said on Thursday, but he declined to give the person's name or nationality. The videos released in August and September of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff showed a masked Islamic State militant brandishing a knife and speaking English with a British accent.

• Sectarianism
  The limits of the ‘sectarian’ framing in Yemen

  It was 2005 when my Yemeni friends first started talking seriously about their fears that the Houthis would march on the capital of Sanaa. The Houthis were never closer than the nearby province of Amran back then. There was a media blackout, and most of our information came from journalist friends who were in and around the city of Saada, then the center of the conflict, distributing news via SMS.

• Agriculture
  Saudi’s Alamoudi plans $500m Ethiopia investment

  Horizon Plantations Ethiopia will train workers, improve roads and replace washing units at the Limmu and Bebeka coffee plantations, Bloomberg reported, quoting general operations director Kemal Mohammed.

• Extremism
  Saudi court sentences 3 to death on terror charges

  Riyadh’s specialized terrorism court sentenced three Saudis to death on Monday, and handed down prison terms to 20 more on charges related to terrorism, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

• Syrian Rebel Training
  Opinion: Training the Syrian Opposition: So, What’s The Plan?

  Indeed, Syrian rebels are likely more motivated to fight Assad than to counter ISIL. Such an approach would require rehabilitating the Geneva process for a Syrian political transition and synchronizing the pace of opposition military gains with political negotiations. The Syrian opposition army would need more robust capabilities, deeper capacity, sustainment plans, and new doctrine to fight on multiple fronts and ensure that its successes endure — all of which necessitate a greater coalition commitment of trainers, advisors, funding, and equipment, not to mention political will.

• U.S.-Saudi and ISIS
  Deal With Saudis Paved Way for Syrian Airstrikes

  Wary of a repeat of Mr. Obama's earlier reversal, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates decided on a strategy aimed at making it harder for Mr. Obama to change course. "Whatever they ask for, you say 'yes,'" an adviser to the Gulf bloc said of its strategy. "The goal was not to give them any reason to slow down or back out."

  • Wall Street Journal - Participation in Syrian Airstrikes Reflects Saudi Fears
• Counter Insurgency
  Opinion: Is COIN No Longer Relevant?

  The movement away from COIN doctrine is also a reflection of the now-popular sentiment that it didn’t work in the post-9/11 period any better than it did during the Vietnam War, the same conflict from which so many complained we didn’t retain hard-learned lessons in COIN.

• North Africa
  Egypt’s border with Libya, Sudan ripe for Islamic State expansion

  Egypt may be interested in fighting its own battles, or at least not opening up new international fronts that would stretch its armed forces when it needs them here, but the reality is that the frontline against IS is everywhere.

• Israeli Policy
  Netanyahu: Saudi peace initiative is for a bygone era

  Obviously referring to the Saudi proposal’s call for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, including returning the Golan Heights to Syria, Netanyahu noted that this plan was made “before the takeover of Syria by al-Qaida on the Golan Heights.”

  Asked whether he thinks the initiative is now irrelevant, he replied, “What is relevant is the fact that there is a new recognition among major countries in the Middle East that Israel is not their mortal enemy, to say the least, but is a potential ally in addressing the common challenges.”

• Arab Bank and Hamas
  Arab Bank found liable by US court in Hamas attacks

  A New York jury has found Arab Bank liable for providing material support to Hamas. As a result, the Jordan-based bank must provide compensation to victims of nearly two dozen terrorist attacks that Hamas carried out in Israel and Palestine in the early 2000s.

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