(Daily Beast) Barbie Latza Nadeau - Last weekend in Italy, the threat of ISIS in Libya hit home with a new video addressed to "the nation signed with the blood of the cross" and the warning, "we are south of Rome." Libya is just 109 miles away from the island of Lampedusa and 300 miles from Sicily. In October, the cover story in ISIS' Dabiq magazine detailed how the group will conquer Rome, complete with a photo of a black jihadist flag flying over St. Peter's Square. "We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women," said the article. "Every Muslim should get out of his house, find a crusader and kill him." Italy has only 5,000 troops that are even close to deployable, according to the defense ministry, and its military budget was cut by 40% two years ago. Moreover, in 2014 more than 170,000 migrants arrived from Libya and Turkey, the highest number ever recorded. The Office of Migration in Rome says there could be as many as half a million people waiting to come to Italy.
2015-02-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive