The Islamic State (ISIS) is deepening its stake in Sirte, Libya and has posted billboards that warn women to wear the burka and get rid of sins, such as perfumed clothes and garments that bear brand names.
Violation of the ISIS orders could result in barbaric punishment.
The ISIS explains that Sharia law helps women so that do not descend into the pit of vulgarity by attracting lurid eyes of the opposite sex.
Some shopkeepers in ISIS-held cities have been ordered to put veils on their mannequins.
The billboards, in Arabic, warn women against see-through and loose-fitting clothes, and to cover all body parts. They may not wear clothes with name brands or clothes worn by men or non-believers in Islam. Designs on clothes also are forbidden lest they attract attention. Ditto for perfumed clothes.
This is the same Sirte that is the hometown of Muammar Qaddafi, who was in the cross hairs by President Barack Obama when he invaded Libya in 2011. He got rid of Qaddafi, and now what is left of Libya is trying to get rid of the Islamic State. Seven more civilians and soldiers were killed in Benghazi on Tuesday.
Remember Benghazi? Hillary Clinton wishes you don’t remember. That is where terrorists murdered U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in an attack. Clinton has hidden her Benghazi-related e-mails under her private account.
Benghazi now is a theatre of street warfare between the army and the ISIS.
President Barack Obama also might want to forget about Libya. After criticizing previous American invasions, here is what he said in 2011 when he ordered the invasion into Libya:
In just one month, the United States has worked with our international partners to mobilize a broad coalition, secure an international mandate to protect civilians, stop an advancing army, prevent a massacre, and establish a no-fly zone with our allies and partners.
To lend some perspective on how rapidly this military and diplomatic response came together, when people were being brutalized in Bosnia in the 1990s, it took the international community more than a year to intervene with air power to protect civilians. It took us 31 days.
It took the United States only 31 days to “protect” civilians and clear the way for anarchy, followed by the Islamic State (ISIS), a carbon copy of the ouster of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. His exit was encouraged by President Obama and followed by anarchy and the brutal rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, now replaced by the equally brutal Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regime.
ISIS no longer is a local terrorist group redistricted to Iraq and Syria. Besides its affiliate in the Sinai, it has established a strong army in Libya.
One Benghazi-based activist, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IBTimes that many jihadi groups “have given allegiance to the Islamic State because there is virtually no Ansar Al-Sharia now; they have all converted to become Islamic State.
“Islamic State has franchised its ideology and fighters began joining it here at the beginning of this year. As the period of this conflict has worn on, more foreign fighters have come to Benghazi.”