Globe Trot: Will Obama befriend Iran to fight ISIS?

IRAN: As the U.S. continues its air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria, some lawmakers and security experts are urging the White House to remember the threat from Iran. Thirty GOP senators recently sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, warning the administration against unacceptable nuclear concessions to the Iranian regime.

An editorial in the Chicago Tribune raised similar concerns, and pointed out that the Obama administration is considering potentially disastrous concessions to Iran in exchange for the regime’s help in combating ISIS. Concessions reportedly include allowing Tehran to keep all of its 20,000 centrifuges if Iranian officials agree to disconnect some of them so they won’t produce nuclear material. The obvious problem: The centrifuges could be easily reconnected to produce as much nuclear material as Iran wants.

As a Nov. 24 deadline approaches for a nuclear deal with Iran, the Tribune said Obama should be clear if Iran tries to cut a deal in exchange for help against ISIS:

“The White House response should be crisp: No deal. Iran already has ample incentive to help its allies in Iraq and Syria repel Islamic State terrorists. The fallout from a deal that puts the world’s most fearsome weapons in the mullahs’ hands would be even more dangerous than Islamic State savagery.”

ISIS: Speaking of Islamic State savagery, militants also threatened to behead captive American aid worker Peter Kassig, a former U.S. Army ranger once stationed in Iraq after they beheaded another British aid worker last week. Kassig, 26, returned to the Middle East to deliver aid to Syrians and had converted to Islam before his capture. In a June letter during his captivity, Kassig told his parents: “I am scared to die.”

Beheading victim Alan Henning, 47, was a taxi driver from Manchester, England, who had traveled to Syria with a group of volunteers last December to deliver food and water to refugees of the country’s civil war. Militants kidnapped Henning the day after Christmas.

“Alan had gone to Syria to help get aid to people of all faiths in their hour of need,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron. “The fact that he was taken hostage when trying to help others and now murdered demonstrates that there are no limits to the depravity of these ISIL terrorists.”

EBOLA: Efforts continue in Liberia and other West Africa nations to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak. One of the most critical pieces of equipment in combating Ebola’s spread is also a simple one: rubber gloves. Health officials estimate only 63 percent of Liberian hospitals were stocked with sterile gloves before the outbreak.

Other critical efforts include local churches educating congregations about the Ebola virus. The mission group SIM reports on the efforts of the Free Pentecostal Mission Church in the Chickensoup Factory district of Monrovia. (The district is named after a defunct powdered-soup factory in the area.)

Congregants avoid the usual Sunday morning rituals of handshakes and embraces, but a local nurse offers weekly updates on how to seek treatment and prevent Ebola’s spread. And the congregation continues to pray. “Lord, we are tired of this situation,” prayed Reverend Joseph T.S. Menjor on a recent Sunday. “We are calling on you to cast this abomination from our country. Jesus, we want our land to be free of Ebola.”