Hi there, !
Today Wed 03/11/2015 Tue 03/10/2015 Mon 03/09/2015 Sun 03/08/2015 Sat 03/07/2015 Fri 03/06/2015 Thu 03/05/2015 Archives
Rantburg
533794 articles and 1862256 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 64 articles and 130 comments as of 18:14.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Boko Haram leader pledges allegiance to IS
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 20:09 Hupineger Glomomp52169 [5] 
5 20:23 Sputh Glavimp5376 [6] 
0 [4] 
0 [4] 
0 [6] 
0 [6] 
4 16:35 Frank G [2] 
0 [6] 
1 01:02 chris [1] 
0 [6] 
0 [6] 
2 22:29 JosephMendiola [6] 
0 [5] 
0 [6] 
0 [6] 
3 13:24 Pappy [2] 
3 19:38 Alaska Paul [6] 
2 14:17 Sandra "Fluke me!" Fluke [5] 
2 22:56 JosephMendiola [9] 
0 [] 
3 21:27 JosephMendiola [5] 
7 19:36 Thavins Clase8010 [5] 
2 16:03 chris [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
12 22:39 Hupineger Glomomp52169 [5]
1 21:01 Varmint Phoque7206 [7]
0 [2]
1 22:43 Oscar Thavick9761 [4]
3 14:43 dlr [4]
1 14:40 dlr []
0 [6]
0 [8]
2 06:42 Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 []
0 [2]
0 [3]
0 [1]
0 [2]
3 22:24 JosephMendiola [20]
0 [3]
0 []
1 11:31 Frank G [4]
0 [6]
2 15:06 dlr [2]
0 [3]
0 []
1 15:24 g(r)omgoru [4]
0 [2]
1 22:26 JosephMendiola [8]
3 11:02 chris [1]
0 [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 22:02 Thing From Snowy Mountain [5]
1 17:10 Frank G [4]
3 12:04 Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 [2]
4 19:12 ed in texas [12]
0 [8]
0 [6]
5 17:28 g(r)omgoru [2]
6 21:43 CrazyFool [8]
0 [2]
3 20:19 SteveS [6]
10 23:16 JosephMendiola [7]
Page 4: Opinion
13 23:05 Sheater Thud2458 [6]
2 22:07 trailing wife [7]
0 [4]
Page 6: Politix
10 22:48 OldSpook [4]
Afghanistan
Female ALP Commander Helps ANA In Helmand Operation
[Tolo News] The Sistani village in Marja district of southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
has been cleared of Death Eaters with the help of a female Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander as part of "Zulfiqar" operation which is successfully underway, officials said.

The Helmand Police Chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhail told TOLOnews that at least 50 gunnies had been killed and maimed in the operation in Sistani village which was launched four days ago after the Taliban gunnies attacked police shells.

After fighting the whole night the with Taliban myrmidons, the female ALP commander Feroza was then helped by the security forces to push back the attackers from the area, Mullahkhail said.

"Taliban attacked the security posts and seized them but I stood there and kept fighting with them," Feroza said.

She added that her 13 family members were also serving in ALP and would not quit battling as long as the Taliban existed in their area.

Mullahkhail confirmed that the control of whole village was retaken from the Taliban after three days of fierce battle, leaving 26 Taliban gunnies dead including four commanders.

"The bodies of four Taliban capos are lying on the ground along with their weapons," Mullahkhail said, adding 24 gunnies were maimed in the fighting.

The police forces who took part in the operation after fighting in Sangin district said they were helped by the Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers after being surrounded for three days.

"We resisted and finally suppressed them," a police soldier said.

The Zulfiqar operation was launched three weeks ago in Sangin and other northern parts of Helmand which was then expanded to the southern parts, clearing several villages from myrmidons.

Sangin is one of the most insecure districts of Helmand which is also a major route for narcotics and drug trade, providing funding for insurgency.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Egypt to Reopen Rafah Crossing with Gaza
[AnNahar] Egypt will reopen its Rafah border crossing with Gazoo for two days from Monday, for the fourth time since it was closed after a suicide kaboom, security officials said.

The terminal was shut after the bombing in the Sinai Peninsula in October killed 30 soldiers, and has since been reopened three times.

The only access point to the Gazoo Strip not controlled by Israel will reopen on Monday and Tuesday to allow Paleostinians stranded on both sides to cross.

Paleostinians who travel through Rafah are mostly students heading to universities in Egypt or beyond, and those seeking medical treatment.

October's attack also led to a state of emergency and curfew being imposed in some parts of North Sinai where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency.

The army has also created a wide buffer zone along the border with Gazoo aimed at preventing infiltration by bully boys.

Despite these measures, on January 29 another 30 people were killed when rockets and a boom-mobile targeted a military base and other security posts in North Sinai.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a jihadist movement affiliated to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group that has seized territory in Syria and Iraq, has claimed most of the attacks in North Sinai, including those in October and January.

It says its attacks are retaliation for a brutal government crackdown on supporters of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the army in July 2013.

The military has said that in February 172 bully boyz were killed in joint police and army operations in the peninsula.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  How soon before the scum try to storm the crossing with weapons or bombs this time?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/08/2015 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  They're Paleos. It's genetic
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2015 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  g(r)om's theorem to be tested again?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/08/2015 13:24 Comments || Top||


New Egypt interior minister makes security changes
Egypt’s newly-appointed interior minister on Friday made a series of appointments to top security posts as his country battles militants who seek to topple the Cairo government, Al Arabia reported.

General Magdi Abdel Ghaffar appointed new people to the posts of assistant minister for the national security division as well as the assistant minister for the Sinai region, the northern part of which is the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency, Reuters quoted state news agency MENA as saying. Replacements were also made to the post of assistant minister for the general security department and heads of security in Cairo, Giza and a number of other governorates.

On Thursday, Egypt replaced the powerful Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim who spearheaded a deadly crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammad Mursi and the latest anti-terrorism campaign across the country. The removal of Ibrahim, who was appointed by Mursi, follows mounting criticism of the failure of security forces to prevent militant attacks that have surged since the Islamist leader's ouster in 2013.

Ibrahim himself survived an assassination attempt in September 2013 while on way to his office in the capital.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Fear, Violence, Kidnapping: Life for Women under Boko Haram
[AnNahar] When Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
attacks made life at home unbearable, Rebecca Samuel was confronted with a stark choice that any mother would struggle to make.

Her family had decided to leave the remote town of Chibok, northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, in March 2014 because of the persistent threats from the Islamist myrmidons.

But Samuel decided that her 17-year-old daughter Sarah should stay back for an extra month to take her final secondary school exams.

On April 14, Boko Haram gunnies stormed Sarah's school, kidnapping her and 275 of her classmates. Fifty-seven girls escaped, but the rest, including Sarah, have not been heard from since.

"Every day I am crying," said Samuel, 36, who had been living with her family as refugees in neighboring Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
before relocating to Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

But while the Chibok abductions remain the most prominent attack of the six-year insurgency, they represent only a fraction of the atrocities inflicted on women and girls in the bitter conflict.

Human Rights Watch
... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge....
(HRW) last year estimated that the rebels had kidnapped more than 500 women and girls since 2009, including those seized from Chibok but the figure could be much higher.

Female hostages have been forced into marriage, raped and been made to work as domestic slaves for Death Eater fighters. Some recounted being deployed to carry ammunition on the front line.

Other women forced to run from attacks have trekked for days through the northeast's harsh bushlands, sometimes with infants strapped to their backs.

And, in a new tactic widely reviled even by other jihadists, Boko Haram has over the last 10 months increasingly used females, including maidens of tender years, as human bombs in attacks across the north.

A 33-year-old woman was beaten to death on Sunday at a market in northern Bauchi state following suspicion that she had explosives strapped to her body.

HRW and other experts say the incidents of females and other "vulnerable groups" being targeted has risen dramatically since Boko Haram began facing increased military pressure in 2013.

Overall, the plight facing women in the rebels' stronghold is "a picture of violence and intimidation", Jacob Zenn and Elizabeth Pearson wrote in the U.S. Journal of Terrorism Research.

Hauwa Mohammed was one of 158 hostages released by Boko Haram on January 23, two weeks after their abduction from the village of Katarko, in northeast Yobe state.

"I was full of rage and hatred against (the Islamists)," said Mohammed, recounting her time in captivity.

She said her mind was fixated on what the captors might do to her three daughters, who were also kidnapped, as all the hostages faced pressure to swear allegiance to Boko Haram.

"How could I ever subscribe to this ideology that supports killing, wanton destruction, kidnap and rape?" Mohammed told AFP in an interview after her release.

She could not explain why the turbans chose to release the group but noted that countless others have been far less fortunate.

"I pray for all the women they are holding captive to be freed from the life of horror they are going through," she said.

The insurgency in northern Nigeria, which has killed more than 13,000 people since 2009, has also thrown the spotlight on the deeper societal crisis in the impoverished region, including grave gender disparities.

Roughly half of Nigeria's 173 million people live in the predominantly Moslem north of the country.

Only three percent of females from the north complete secondary school, the British Council said in a 2012 report, which was researched before the insurgency crippled the region and forced school closures in parts of the northeast.

More than two-thirds of girls aged 15-19 were unable to read a sentence, compared to less than 10 percent in the mostly Christian south, according to the report.

Most observers agree that Nigeria not only needs to contain Boko Haram militarily but also implement an aggressive program to kickstart development in the north and empower both and men and women to resist the myrmidons' radical, violent agenda.

For now, peace in northern Nigeria seems like a distant dream for Samuel, who often attends the daily marches in Abuja on behalf of the Chibok hostages, organized by the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Sarah spent her 18th birthday in December in captivity, possibly as a forced bride after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed to sell the Chibok hostages as "slaves" and to "marry them off".

"It is difficult," her mother said simply. "Only God can help us."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Meanwhile, at the Oscars...
Posted by: Pappy || 03/08/2015 13:24 Comments || Top||

#2  But... but....but... Are they denied free and unlimited access to Birth Control like that Evil HitlerBush?
Posted by: Sandra "Fluke me!" Fluke || 03/08/2015 14:17 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Bahrainis stage rally demanding release of Sheikh Salman, political prisoners
[Iran Press TV] Protesters in Bahrain have staged fresh anti-regime rallies, demanding the release of prominent opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman from prison. Protests were held Saturday in the northern villages of al-Daih and al-Musalla with demonstrators demanding the immediate release of Salman and other political prisoners.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Hadi considers Aden not Sana'a as Yemen capital: Aide
[Iran Press TV] Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi regards the southern port city of Aden as the Arab country's capital, an aide says.

The aide, quoting Hadi, said on Saturday that Aden became the capital of the Arab country when the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
fighters took control of Sana'a last September.

The Yemeni president's claim is totally symbolic as moving the capital requires a change in the Arab country's constitution.

Some Persian Gulf Arab states have already relocated their embassies from Sana'a to Aden.

Hadi, along with the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, stepped down in late January, but the Yemeni parliament did not approve the president's resignation.

Last month, the Houthi Ansarullah movement dissolved the parliament and announced a constitutional declaration on the Transitional National Council.

The constitutional declaration said that the council will be set up to elect the presidential council in a bid to end the country's persisting political deadlock.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Bangladesh seizes $1.4 million in gold from Nork diplomat
Dhaka -- Bangladesh's customs officers caught a North Korean diplomat trying to smuggle an estimated $1.4 million worth of gold into the country, a senior official said on Friday.
It won't balance the B'desh budget but it will certainly assist the RAB office fund...
"We recovered the gold both in the form of bar and ornaments from Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka," said Moinul Khan, the Director General of the Custom Intelligence department, adding the gold weighed about 27 kilograms in total.

The diplomat was released but Bangladesh is seeking to press charges.

Moinul told Reuters that the diplomat was passing through the green channel from Dhaka's international airport - Hazrat Shahjalal International airport - on a late arriving Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore. The customs officials at the airport wanted to scan his hand luggage.
That's a little strange. I thought one left diplomats' luggage strictly alone...
"He told our officials that there was nothing to scan," said Najibur Rahman, chairman of the National Board of Revenue.

"Later we informed our foreign ministry and he was released on Friday under the Vienna Convention," Najibur told Reuters.

A case has been filed against him with the customs department, Moinul said. "We have also initiated the process to file a criminal case against him."
"We're also snickering at him, which bothers the North Koreans more than anything."
The official said that in recent months the smuggling of gold increased mainly from Dubai, but this was the first instance of a diplomat carrying gold.

The North Korean government will be informed soon and further action will be taken through government channels, Moinul said.
What's the over/under on Sonny's life when he steps off the plane in Pyongyang?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll take the under!
Posted by: Raj || 03/08/2015 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I doubt he could step off the plane.
Posted by: chris || 03/08/2015 16:03 Comments || Top||


Europe
Migrants from Syria, African nations swamp Europe
The 'migrants', of course, aren't happy. They have grievances and it's the job of the Y'urp-peons to address those grievances, and pronto. Chop-chop and all that, and don't forget to grovel...
Madrid -- The European Union is immersed in a full-fledged migration crisis.

Some officials are even floating the idea of a multinational border guard to deal with the hundreds of thousands arriving from war-torn countries like Syria, poor nations in Africa and non-EU neighbours like Kosovo.
The EU is a multi-national entity. Why shouldn't it have a multi-national border guard? Indeed, guarding the borders is a splendid idea for any entity.
With no signs the flow will let up anytime soon, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, said on Thursday that dealing with migration “cries out for more thoughtful and coordinated action” between EU countries.
By which he means that the EU is to give in, settle all the 'migrants' per UN rules, and pay the UN handsomely to boot...
“The notion of ghost ships drifting on autopilot towards the coasts of Europe in the hopes that coast guards will rescue the people on board and the hideous sight of men and women tearing their flesh on barbed-wire fences in a desperate, and sometimes lethal, attempt to clamber into Europe and find a better, more peaceful life: Such scenes are simply intolerable,” Zeid said in Geneva.
How about keeping the migrants in the lands in which they were born and thumping the heads of their rulers?
Italy has turned into the prime human smuggling route into Europe because its southern island of Lampedusa lies just 290 kilometres from the coast of lawless Libya, where the absence of a functioning government is feeding a thriving trade in human trafficking.
The "absence of a functioning government" will be a recurring theme in this sad tale, though it has escaped the notice of the UN high commissioner...
Migrants and asylum seekers pay thousands of dollars each
Where did they get the money? If I had 'thousands of dollars' in a place like Mauritania, or Zimbabwe, or Somalia, I think I could live decently enough (I'm a simple man with simple pleasures). Why are they leaving? Oh right, it's the "absence of a functioning government thing...
to climb into unseaworthy boats or rubber rafts to try to cross the Mediterranean. Migrants say the armed Libya-based smugglers, who often advertise on social media, are ruthless — some have forced their human cargo to leave even when seas are dangerously rough.

An astonishing 170,000 made the journey to Italy last year, most rescued at sea by Italy’s coast guard and navy and cargo ships — and the torrent has only increased since January.
170K migrants times a couple thousand dollars each -- do the math, folks, someone is getting rich.
On Wednesday, a flotilla of ships saved more than 1,000 migrants while 10 others died, some of the hundreds or more who die or drown annually on the route.

For years, Italy has been urging the European Union to help stem the flow of migrants with more ships, aircraft or funding — pointing out that most of those rescued intend to reach relatives or jobs in other European countries.
Alas, Italy, it's your job to step up. Perhaps if you surrounded Lampedusa with sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads the job would be a tad simpler...
This year, an EU patrol mission known as Triton replaced Italy’s Mare Nostrum air and sea mission that had saved tens of thousands of lives. But the UN and some refugee organizations have called for renewed humanitarian patrols of the Mediterranean, arguing that Triton only monitors European waters and the southernmost borders.
And of course, the Euros will have to pay for it...
“We are facing the worst crisis in a long time in the European Union,” Matthias Ruete, the head of the EU’s migration office, told EU lawmakers on Wednesday. “I think we have lost at the moment the European citizen, in terms of having faith in the European asylum and migration system.”
No, really? When did you figure that out?
Turkey now houses well over 1.5. million refugees from the war in Syria and has spent more than $5 billion caring for them. But with limited economic opportunities for Arabic-speaking Syrians in Turkey, many are seeking routes into Western Europe — and that means via Greece.
1.5 million refugees: even if most are women and kiddies, there's a fair number of men. Arm and train them and have them return to seize a small portion of Syria. Then put the refugees back into that portion and tell them to defend themselves, build a new nation (one with a functioning government), and get on with living. If they need pointers they can check out how the Kurds have managed over the millennia...
Tens of thousands cross into Greece from Turkey every year — with that number reaching a record of 22,339 people during from July-September last year. Dozens cross by boat to Greek islands almost every day — a flow that has increased since Bulgaria and Greece stepped up monitoring their land borders with Turkey.

Even though it’s not a member of the 28-nation EU, Turkey this week appealed for EU help to combat the phenomenon of “ghost ships.” Two cargo ships were picked up in the Mediterranean a few months ago, speeding on autopilot toward the Italian coast with more than 1,000 migrants locked up on board. Authorities had to intervene to keep the ships from crashing into the coast.
There's your problem right there, Turkey -- you're depending on the Y'urp-peons. That's a recipe for failure...
The EU has been seeking an explanation from Turkey as to how the ships could have left the southeast port of Mersin and sailed for Italy without Turkish authorities noticing.
"Umm, they left early in the morning?"
Turkey’s ambassador in Brussels, Selim Yenel, said the cargo ships were operating outside of Turkey’s jurisdiction in international waters — and smugglers had ferried the migrants out to them from points along the Turkish coast. Catching the small feeder boats often “depends on how much intelligence we can gather and then sharing it with our counterparts,” Yenel said, adding that “these guys get under the radar, literally.”

Coming from as far away as Afghanistan and Syria and as close as economically hard-hit Kosovo, migrants have turned the Hungarian border into a booming illegal transit route. In the last two months alone, thousands a week have been walking through the fields and forests of Serbia to try to slip across the border into Hungary, which is part of the EU’s borderless-free zone.

Hungary received 42,800 asylum seekers in 2014, compared with 18,900 in 2013 and just 2,157 in 2012. About half were from Kosovo. The flow has slowed to 100-150 migrants daily over the last several weeks due to tighter border controls and increased cooperation between Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany.

Each week last year, hundreds of mostly sub-Saharan African men stormed the towering, barbed-wire fences that separate Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco. The migrants live in rudimentary camps on a nearby mountain before staging well-organized, pre-dawn attacks on the fences.
Spain might consider giving up its North African enclaves -- not sure they're worth the trouble.
At least 2,100 made it across in 70 attempts in 2014, but many more were intercepted by Spanish and Moroccan police. Many are aiming to eventually reach other European countries, in part because Spain’s unemployment rate stands at 24 per cent and is much higher for immigrants.
It's almost as bad as Mauritania...
Morocco last month cleared out the migrant camps on Mount Gourougou overlooking Melilla, arresting hundreds and shipping many on buses to remote parts of the country. Since then, the number of fence stormings has dropped dramatically.
So when the local police cooperate things get better. Hmm, there has to be a lesson in that somewhere for the Y'urp-peons...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If they immigrants have thousands of dollars to spend, why don't they just get a tourist visa and buy an airline ticket? It's not like anyone checks and makes sure they leave again at the end of the visa period.
Posted by: dlr || 03/08/2015 14:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Not just RUSSIA + CHINA + INDIA, + SSSSHHH ... CCCCCCC their Nukes, now is it???

* See also WAFF > "GREEK POPULATION WILL SHRINK FROM 11.045MILYUHN TO 8.50MILYUHN IN 2060". | [Aging +] POPULATION DROP WILL RAISE GREEK AGE OF RETIREMENT TO OVER 70.

Besides the USA, methinks we've found another Country whom will also NOT be sealing their borders agz illegal immigration, even it means Jihad-happy Islamist Jihadists sneakily sneek into their Country + Region.

COMMIE-SOCIALIST NATIONAL + WORLD ORDER IS THE PRIORITY, NOT THE GLOBAL JIHAD OR NUCLEAR GLOBAL JIHAD.

* TOPIX > [Independent.UK] BRITISH ARMY COULD BE REDUCED TO 50,000 TROOPS, DEFENCE EXPERT WARNS.

Out of a possible post-Cuts low of 115,000 tote Servicemember or Uniformed Personnel for all of the UK Armed Forces.

ARISE, US-BORN US-RAISED UK-COMMONWEALTH AMERICAN QUEEN MADONNA, ARISE!

YOUR FATHER, NOSTRADAMUS' "SERPENTRION" = HE-OF-MANY-NAMES COMMANDS YOU.

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > DER SPEIGEL: BREEDLOVE'S BELLICOSITY: GERMANY CONCERNED ABOUT NATO'S AGGRESSIVE STANCE ON UKRAINE.

USAF General Philip Breedlove, US' Top NATO Commander.

The [Nuclear?]"GERMAN/GERMANY QUESTION" goes on.

* RUSSIA TODAY > FRENCH PM [Valls] PREDICTS 10,000 EUROPEANS TO JOIN ISIS BEFORE END OF 2015, to include 5,000 by this Summer.

* WAFF > POSTER THREAD: WHY LITHUANIA IS DOOMED TO BE DEVOURED BY RUSSIA.

Putin + Eurasian Customs Union versus SSSSHHHH ... CCCCC NATO-EU.

You know, the HARD BOYZ.

WEHELL, I'M CONFUSED, THE MSM-NET SAID EX-SOVIET GEORGIA WAS NEXT AFTER THE CRIMEA????
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2015 22:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Ohio terror suspect says he would've shot Obama, attacked Israeli embassy
[Ynet] US Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
supporter says he planned to carry out plot to plant pipe bombs on US Capitol, Israeli Embassy in Washington 'because of continued American aggression against out people'.


An Ohio man claiming sympathy with Islamic State holy warriors and charged with plotting to attack the US Capitol said in a television interview that he would have shot President Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
in the head.

Christopher Cornell, 20, told Cincinnati's FOX 19 WXIX TV that if he had not been locked away
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
by FBI agents in January, he would have carried out an alleged plot to plant pipe bombs on the Capitol and at the Israeli Embassy.

"What would I have done? I would have took my gun, I would have put it to Obama's head and I would have pulled the trigger," Cornell, of Cincinnati, said in a telephone interview from the Boone County, Kentucky, jail aired on Friday.

"Then I would have released more bullets on the Senate and the House of Representative members, and I would have attacked the Israeli Embassy and various other buildings full of kafir (a Moslem term for infidel) who want to wage war against us Moslems and shed our blood. That's what would happen," he said.
Full of grand, impossible dreams, that one.
Cornell, who repeatedly identified himself as Moslem, said he wanted to carry out the attack because of "the continued American aggression against our people and the fact that America, specifically President B.O., wants to wage war against Islamic State."

He said: "They might say I'm a terrorist, but you know we see American troops as Lions of Islam as well, coming to our land, stealing our resources and killing our people, raping our women."

Cornell, 20, grew up in the Cincinnati suburbs and still lived with his parents. He said support of the Islamic State group is widespread.

"We're here in Ohio. We're in every state," he said. "We're more organized than you think."

At times what seemed like a nervous chuckle punctuated his responses.
Betcha this one turns out to be one of those mentally unstable, lonely lone wolves, known only to his psychiatrist, whose disease led him to jihad instead of the Archangel Michael, space aliens, or his true identity as Napoleon.
He said he would do whatever the Islamic State group asked of him, including beheading Americans, and predicted "there will be many, many attacks."

A federal indictment charges Cornell with two counts that carry possible sentences of up to 20 years each upon conviction: attempted murder of babus government employees and officials and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. He also faces a firearms-related charge. He has pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
and awaits trial in Cincinnati.

Cornell was arrested after he researched how to make pipe bombs, purchased a rifle and ammunition and made plans to travel to Washington to carry out the plot, according to court testimony from an FBI informant.

He is being held without bail. The charges include attempted murder of government officials, possession of a firearm to commit a crime and solicitation to commit a violent crime.

"I got orders from the brothers overseas because I'm with the Islamic State.
Did the orders come through his computer, perchance?
My brothers over there, in Syria and Iraq, gave me specific orders to carry out jihad in the West, so I did so," Cornell said.

Islamic State holy warriors rule a self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security warned police on Thursday about US youths wanting to join the Islamic State in the Middle East.

Cornell began plotting the attack in August, according to his indictment. He was arrested after he posted on Twitter that he supported Islamic State.

According to court documents, Cornell met with an FBI informant to discuss his plans.
Iran PressTV adds:
Christopher Lee Cornell called WXIX-TV, a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, from the Kentucky prison where he's being held.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The man is insane, but I don't know which part is the most nuts...
Posted by: Snerong Clunk7821 || 03/08/2015 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't know which part is the most nuts

Shoot Obama AND attack Israeli Embassy?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/08/2015 11:00 Comments || Top||

#3  One of those a distraction?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/08/2015 13:28 Comments || Top||

#4  "My plan was to attack the Jooo Embassy when Obama visited, but he won't even talk to them much less visit them"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/08/2015 16:35 Comments || Top||


Why Was ISIS Terror Operative Nihad Rosic Arrested in Plainfield, Indiana?
PJMedia's Patrick Poole does a masterful job laying out the connections. With lots of links, so you can check his sources for yourself, dear Reader.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  Why Was ISIS Terror Operative Nihad Rosic Arrested in Plainfield, Indiana?

just a guess but, did he take a wrong turn on I-81 ?
Posted by: Snerong Clunk7821 || 03/08/2015 3:04 Comments || Top||

#2  *** cough **** cough **** Missed left turn at Albugurque [or Penn State] *** cough **** ...

D *** NGED AM APPLE FRITTER.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2015 22:29 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Govt finally finds lawyer to prosecute Lakhvi
[DAWN] As the criminal mastermind of the Mumbai attacks case steps up efforts to secure his acquittal, the federal government has decided to hand over the case to another prosecutor, in the hopes he may be able to jumpstart the long-dragging trial of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

An official close to the investigation of the Mumbai attacks case told Dawn that Lahore-based lawyer Misbahul Hassan Qazi has been nominated to prosecute Lakhvi in the case.

"The interior secretary had given approval for the appointment of Advocate Misbahul Hassan Qazi as special prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case and has forwarded a summary to the law ministry to issue a notification," he said.

The official said that if appointed, Mr Qazi would be the third special prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case.

An advocate of the Supreme Court, he has earlier served the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a senior prosecutor.

Advocate Qazi confirmed to Dawn that being a professional lawyer, he was on good terms with the attorney general, but did not comment on his appointment in the Mumbai attacks case, saying instead that he had dealt with criminal proceedings and had earlier been engaged in trials before Anti Terrorism Courts.

Currently, there are two special prosecutors namely Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry and Syed Abuzar Husnain Pirzada, dealing with the Mumbai attacks case.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Operations to continue until militancy is eliminated: Gen Raheel
[DAWN] Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar on Saturday, where he was briefed on progress made in the ongoing Zarb-i-Azb and Khyber-1 operations, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asim Bajwa said on his Twitter account.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Three fresh cases raise year's polio count to 16
[DAWN] Three more cases have been confirmed by the Polio Virology Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, raising this year's count to 16.

A Ministry of National Health Services official said the new cases were reported from Loralai in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, Dadu in Sindh and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
He said the detection was surprising because during winter polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
virus became less active because of low temperature.

In 2015, seven cases have been reported from KP, five from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and two each from Sindh and Balochistan.

On March 4, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that international travel restriction for Pak nationals had been extended for another three months because the country had failed to stop "exporting" poliovirus.
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistan Wants 'Battlefield' Nukes to Use against Indian Troops
"We anticipate that Pakistan will continue [its] development of new delivery systems, including cruise missiles and close-range 'battlefield' nuclear weapons to augment its existing ballistic missiles," Stewart said during his opening statement, according to an official transcript.

Tactical nuclear weapons are low-yield, short-range nuclear missiles designed for use against opposing troops on the battlefield, rather than against enemy cities like strategic nuclear weapons. Both the U.S. and Soviet Union deployed them in Europe (among other places) during the Cold War, and Washington and Moscow continue to deploy them today. They are not covered in existing U.S.-Russian arms control treaties like New START.
Are they anything like suitcase nukes? As I recall, the little ones need frequent and very technical maintenance, or they quickly become lovely paperweights. Are Pakistani technicians up to both frequent and very technical?
Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp52169 || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a definite difference between 'battlefield' and 'suitcase'. Either way, they are both needy lil' critters - as are all nuclear weapons - and as such (given the realities of inshallah maintenance) there's going to be a disturbingly high chance of either a fizzle or a flat-out no fire.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/08/2015 7:41 Comments || Top||

#2  there's going to be a disturbingly high chance of either a fizzle or a flat-out no fire.

Not disturbing to Indian troops, one assumes, though the Saudi inventory control men will not be pleased. Thanks, Mike.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 10:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Just what you need, small easily transportable nukes in a countries that make government corruption a requirement for the job. What could go wrong?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/08/2015 10:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Pak has a death wish
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/08/2015 14:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Pak has a death wish

Part of the predominant religion there, AP.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/08/2015 14:48 Comments || Top||

#6  BTW. Presently in Barrow, Alaska. -8F. Global warming not observed. People hunting seals with AR-15s, heh
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/08/2015 19:32 Comments || Top||

#7  How are the palm tree doing Alaska Paul, still swaying in the breeze ?

Posted by: Thavins Clase8010 || 03/08/2015 19:36 Comments || Top||


Iraq
New Player in the ISIS War: Christian Gazillionaire Foster Friess
[Daily Beast] He's best known for bankrolling Republicans Rick Santorum and Scott Walker afloat, but Foster Friess has a new cause a long way from D.C.
Walker was asked recently how he planned to raise the necessary funding for the upcoming race. He responded by saying "funding was not an issue."
Republican megadonor Foster Friess is shifting his sights from political campaigns to a military campaign: to fight ISIS and save Kurdish lives.

Behind the scenes, the conservative Christian has been traveling to the Middle East to support the vulnerable Kurdish minority in Iraq, and then coming back to the U.S. to lobby for arming and training their militias, known as the Peshmerga. These forces are on the front lines of the war with ISIS.

"They are fighting our fight and we have treated them disgracefully in terms of the armaments we have provided. Not only am I embarrassed to be an American, I'm actually ashamed," Friess told The Daily Beast. Arming the Kurds, he added, would help "defeat a ghastly evil that is running amok."

Some pro-Kurdish advocates have interpreted Friess's interest to mean that he wants to raise a volunteer military force to aid the Kurds, or arm them through private funds. But Friess told The Daily Beast that is not on the table, at least not for now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/08/2015 07:24 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Are you now or have ever been associated with Foster Friess" soon to be a part of the oligarchy lexicon.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/08/2015 9:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure you're right, Procopius2k. Perhaps the next president will support the Kurds directly, but I don't think that's on the table for the current resident of the White House -- he's leaving that to Germany, et al. Good for Mr. Friess.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  We should give the Kurds decent arms. For fighting ISIS when no one else would, the Kurds deserve to have their own independent state.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/08/2015 18:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh, c'mon. Sumbuddy's putin me on, here. Reelee? Foster Friess?
Posted by: Anice Nim || 03/08/2015 19:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, at least its not Tastee Freez

Posted by: Sputh Glavimp5376 || 03/08/2015 20:23 Comments || Top||


UNESCO, ISESCO condemn ISIL demolition of Iraq's Hatra
[Iran Press TV] The United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) have denounced the demolition of Iraq's ancient city of Hatra by ISIL Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
terrorists.

"This is a direct attack against the history of Islamic Arab cities, and it confirms the role of destruction of heritage in the propaganda of myrmidon groups," said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri in a joint statement on Saturday.

According to Iraqi officials and residents, the ISIL holy warriors carried out two kabooms at the site of Hatra earlier in the day and then began bulldozing the 2,000-year-old city, which is located about 110 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of the bad boy-held city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
"The destruction of Hatra marks a turning point in the appalling strategy of cultural cleansing underway in Iraq," the statement added.


The officials also expressed their preparedness to "respond to this emergency and stand ready to assist the Iraqi authorities in any possible way."

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirmed the attack, saying, "The slow support of the international community to Iraq has encouraged holy warriors to commit another crime of damaging and stealing antiquities in Hatra."

The destruction came two days after the ISIL "bulldozed" the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, south of Mosul. UNESCO denounced the attack as "cultural cleansing" and said "the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime."
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  I'm sure IS really gives a damn.
Posted by: chris || 03/08/2015 1:02 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Iran general and 10,000 troops, within six miles of Israeli border
"This dangerous development may lead to a fast-spreading regional war in the Middle East. An Iranian blitzkrieg against the Golan Heights would trigger Israeli defenses in depth in Syria. Iran could potentially bring more than 100,000 Basiji into the battle, as well as IRGC troops. If Israel is directly threatened, it may well resort to unconventional weapons, and even launch a counter-attack against Iran itself. In previous wars Israel has counter-attacked into Syria and Egypt.

This news comes amid signs of further American concessions in nuclear negotiations with Iran. However, Iran's aggression in Syria may torpedo the nuclear talks. Nobody could possibly believe in Iranian good faith in the face of an attack against Israel, more than 1,000 miles from the Iranian border.


Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp52169 || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Apparently, "Never Again" does not translate into Farcey.
Posted by: Anice Nim || 03/08/2015 19:55 Comments || Top||

#2  MOSSAD + Commando Ops aside, Israel at present cannot strike at Iran's Nucprogs save through LRBMS + Airpower - even iff attempted, the IDAF may not be able to get all of Iran's NucPlexes - surface + underground - at once as Iran has facilities outside the range of the IDAF's longest-ranged strike aircraft.

PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, IN THIS AGE OF OWG GLOBALISM CAN ISRAEL TRUST OWG CO-SUPERPOWER IRAN TO FACILITATE ME PEACE BETWEEN ARAB-MUSLIMS AND JEWS, + TO SUPPRESS + KEEP DANGEROUS NUCTECHS [Nukes-WMDS] FROM THE HANDS OF THE JIAHD-HAPPY HARD BOYZ - ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU APPARENTLY DOESN'T THINK SO.

Ultimately, does Israel also trust IRAN to NOT do a "PUTIN/UKRAINE" MilAction ala Ukraine-Crimea Crisis, + TRUST OWG MIGHTY "RED LINE" DEFENDER ANTI-US US GLOBALIST POTUS OBAMA TO PROTECT AND DEFEND ISRAEL SHOULD A WORST-CASE EXISTENTIAL SCENARIO OCCUR???

Will Globalist POTUS Obama defend Israel, or PCorrectly-Deniably allow future Co-Superpower Sibling IRAN to expand its sphere of influence in lieu of the US + at the expense of US ally Israel's national, territorial integrity???

Not necessarily to destroy Israel completely at this time, although many ordinary Muslims will like that, but more to reverse or inverse the current Israel-Paleo "status quo" - instead of the Paleo-only "West Bank-Gaza", you may see any POST-ISRAEL-VS-IRAN WAR surviving Israelis heavily confined or restricted to an Israeli-only "East Bank" of Jerusalem andor other minor areas widin an Iranian-dominated Paleo State of Palestine - TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF ISRAELI-ONLY AREAS TO COME LATER IN PARALLEL WID CONTINUING US MILPOL OR GEOPOL DECLINE???

* As a reminder, many Analysts believe that Israel would've been de facto defeated in the 1973 Yom Kippur War iff then-POTUS Richard Nixon had NOT sent in massive amounts of Military Aid to shore Israel up + threaten direct US military intervention - MANY ARABS-MUSLIMS INCLUDING OSAMA BIN LADEN, ETAL. REMEMBER THIS POINT VERY VERY V-E-R-Y WELL.

AGAIN, PRAY HARD + KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED THE OWG GLOBALISTS DON'T MISCALCULATE BECAUSE IT WILL BE THE HEAD(S) OF THE US-WEST/ALLIES IFF THEY DO - LITERALLY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2015 21:16 Comments || Top||

#3  As an old Adage says, "Whomever controls a Nation's army controls the State".

* OSAMA BIN LADEN, ETAL. = To defeat Israel andor the JudeoChristian West one must defeat the US. One way to defeat the US is to have Anti-American American Political, etc. Leader(s) in charge of the US Armed Forces, i.e. the DIRECT MILITARY RESPONSE OF THE US, OR IN ALTERNATE THE LACK OF SAME.

WHAT MORE OWG GLOBALISM WHERE THE POST-WW2, POST-COLD WAR, + POST-9-11 "SOLE" SUPERPOWER USA IS ALREADY PRE-DESIRED OR PRE-INTENDED TO UNILATERALLYY FALL BACK OR PULL BACK IN STRATEGIC SELF-RETREAT ACROSS THE WORLD???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2015 21:27 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
How Syria's Christians stopped turning the other cheek
[Telegraph] New Christian militia goes into battle against Isil - but pays a high price
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian Detainee H. Confesses to Heading Armed Groups, Combating Leb Army in Arsal
[AnNahar] The army announced on Saturday that it had placed in durance vile
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in February a Syrian national who confessed to belonging to armed terrorist groups.

Hassan Mohammed Jamil Harba,
Hence the designation H.
who was detained on February 27, admitted to heading an gang that was active in the outskirts of Flita and Arsal in the eastern Bekaa area.

He has since been referred to the concerned judicial authorities.

Harba was also part of the group that launched an assault against an army checkpoint in Arsal's Wadi al-Hosn region.

The attack took place in August when Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front groups overran Arsal and engaged in battles with the army.

A number of servicemen were kidnapped from the town in the wake of the fighting. A few have since been released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.

The army communique added that in light of the kidnapping, Harba and his group launched an attack against a military checkpoint in the Wadi Hmeid area in Arsal. He failed to seize control of it, but waged several other consequent attacks against it.

In September, Harba announced his allegiance to a terrorist group and was appointed its security chief in Arsal.

He was handed seven explosives, each weighing three kilograms, with the aim of planting them at army positions. He succeeded in placing an explosive and detonating it on al-Masyada road.
One down as planned, though there is no mention of damage or casualties. perhaps it is an oversight...
Another explosive was placed near the Hariri clinic in Arsal, but a military expert managed to dismantle it.
Fail.
The suspect planted another explosive on the Wadi Ata road in Arsal, but it failed to detonate.
Fail again.
Furthermore, Harba is also accused of parking a booby-trapped vehicle in Arsal, but it too did not detonate.
Fail yet again.
The army managed to dismantle the bomb.
Shall we count that as a fourth fail, dear Reader?
In addition, said the military statement, the detainee confessed to attempting to target members of the Fleiti family through a booby-trapped vehicle in Arsal.
It sounds like he didn't succeed. Fail number four or five, depending. Not many of the original seven bombs left...
He also admitted to killing a number of Syrians in the outskirts of Arsal.

Moreover, he revealed the identity of a number of individuals who are tasked with booby-trapping cars and the names of others linked to terrorist activity.
The interrogation team is starting to look a bit harassed, what with all the interrogations lined up due to Terrorist G..
Earlier this week, the Army Intelligence arrested a Syrian national who was involved in the Arsal festivities and the abduction of the servicemen.
That one is not Detainee H.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Report: Detained Syrian Terrorist G. Denies Involvement in Execution of Servicemen
[AnNahar] A Syrian member of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group, who was placed in durance vile
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
earlier this week, denied that he was involved in the execution of Lebanese servicemen who were kidnapped in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It said that Hassan Ghurelli
Hence the designation G.
repeatedly denied to Sherlocks his involvement in the executions despite being confronted by Syrian detainee confessions who had mentioned his name in the killings.

Army Intelligence arrested Ghurelli, also known as Abu Harith al-Ansari, on March 3 from Farhat Hospital in the eastern Bekaa town of Jeb Jennine.

He was receiving treatment to head injuries he sustained in battles with the army in the Ras Baalbek region in Bekaa on February 23.

He managed to receive the medical treatment through the aid of Lebanese who are cooperating with takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
groups, said As Safir.

He had reportedly told the army that he sustained his injury in a cycle of violence accident.

Ghurelli had nearly managed to be discharged from hospital to return to the terrorist groups in the outskirts of Arsal had it not been for information being relayed to the Army Intelligence from the hospital that he was present at the facility.

The news prompted the army to re-interrogate him and verify the claims over his injuries, added As Safir.

The arrival of the army took him by surprise and he soon confessed to his deeds, it reported.

He confessed that in 2014 he was part of an gang that was overseeing al-Zamrani crossing that was receiving its orders from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front group.

In mid-summer of 2014, he, along with most of the members of that gang, joined the ranks of the Islamic State.

Ghurelli was at the head of a group that seized the Arsal servicemen, said As Safir.

He informed Sherlocks that he was a witness to the executions of Ali al-Sayyed and Abbas Medlej, adding that he also helped in burying them.

He also confessed to receiving training from IS-affiliated groups, saying that he was aware of a number of operations they had carried out against the army and civilian areas in Leb.

He gave information on the structure and hierarchy of the terrorist groups present in the outskirts of Arsal and al-Qalamoun region.

In light of his confessions, a number of Syrian refugee encampments in the Bekaa were raided on Friday.
More fun for the interrogation team...
On his role in the August festivities with the army in Arsal, the daily An Nahar Saturday said that Ghurelli led a terrorist group in attacking a military post in the Wadi al-Hosn area in Arsal, where he killed a number of soldiers.

He confessed to personally transporting soldier Ali Qassem al-Ali from Arsal.

The fate of the soldier remained unknown for some time until news of his death in the wake of the battles was announced recently.

Ghurelli confirmed claims that al-Ali was initially beheaded with his body later being shot by terrorists, a high-ranking security source told An Nahar.

Military Examining Judge Imad al-Zein interrogated Ghurelli and issued an arrest warrant and charges against him, said As Safir.

Some charges carry the death penalty if he is convicted.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged him with belonging to an armed terrorist group, taking part in battling the army, and kidnapping military personnel.

In August, bully boyz from the IS and al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front overran Arsal where they engaged in brief festivities with the army.

They withdrew from the town at the end of the fighting, but kidnapped with them a number of servicemen.

A few were released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.

The IS and al-Nusra Front want to exchange the captives with Islamist prisoners in Leb and Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Amos: Syrian Refugees Make up 25 to 30 Percent of Lebanon's Population
[AnNahar] United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos concluded on Friday a two-day visit to Leb during which she addressed the burden Syrian refugees are posing on the country, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

She told the daily that the refugees comprise around 25 to 30 percent of Leb's population.

Such figures would pose a massive burden on any country's infrastructure, she remarked.

The Lebanese government is trying to meet the needs of its people and it is also feels like it has to manage the tensions that are emerging on the ground as a result of the burden, noted Amos.

These issues were brought up during her talks with Lebanese officials during her visit.

She stressed the need for international support for Leb to tackle the burden, as well as the need to resolve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible.

Asked if talks addressed the possibility of setting up refugee camps for the Syrians, Amos said that this issue was not brought up during her visit, but was mentioned in previous ones.

Questions remain over whether the Lebanese government is willing set up the camps, she explained, while noting that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees cooperated with the government in Jordan to set up such camps in the kingdom.

On the strict measures taken on the border to restrict the number of refugees pouring into Leb, Amos said that they respect international humanitarian laws.

She added however that Leb requires more support in coping with the burden of the refugees.

There are more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Leb. Well over half of them are living in insecure dwellings -- up from a third last year. The country has struggled to cope with their burden since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in March 2011.

In February, the U.N. refugee chief, Antonio Guterres, has called for more financial assistance for Leb and other countries hosting Syrian refugees, saying it is "absurd" for the tiny country not to enjoy World Bank grants

"Countries like Leb and Jordan need much more financial assistance -- not only to local refugee hosting communities, but also through government budget support for necessary structural investments in health systems, education, water supply, electricity and other public infrastructure cracking under the huge pressure," Guterres told the Security Council.

"Bilateral and multilateral donors, and international financial institutions, must review existing criteria and priorities. It is absurd, for example, that Leb has no access to World Bank grants because it is considered a middle-income country," said the head of the UNHCR.

The upcoming Kuwait III conference will play a determining role in stabilizing the situation in the refugee hosting countries because international support has been far from keeping pace with the magnitude of needs, he said.
Everyone has troubles, and the price of oil remains low.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
'Jihadi John' apologizes to family for trouble he has caused them
[Haaretz] Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Islamic State executioner "Jihadi John," has apologized to his family for the shame and scrutiny he has brought on them after being identified as the masked militant.
Does that mean he has to commit seppukku now? Is there gonna be a vid?
Posted by: Fred || 03/08/2015 13:31 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Does that mean he has to commit seppukku now?

Yes!
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/08/2015 18:31 Comments || Top||

#2  There seems to be some disagreement about killing yourself in Islam. Some say suicide is a major sin. Others say that suicide while engaged in jihad is not. Whatever the case, I think this turd who besmirches the name John ought to be on the receiving end of an honor killing.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/08/2015 18:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Interesting development, but it would be far more emotive if it were disclosed that he came from a politically-incorrect or oppressive "x"-stein family.

The libs would be clamoring to give him press time which would ultimately shift to an increasingly lib-sympathetic backstory.

The persona of "Jihadi John" would then, somehow, morph into the Joooooos fault.
Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp52169 || 03/08/2015 20:09 Comments || Top||


Promises of Love, Jobs for Foreign Recruits in IS 'Utopia'
[AnNahar] It has become known for horrific images of beheadings and torture, but the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group is trying to lure foreign recruits to its "caliphate" with promises of adventure, homes, jobs -- even love.

Using sophisticated recruitment techniques, the jihadists have attracted hundreds of supporters from Western countries to the swathes of territory they have seized in Syria and Iraq.

In the beginning, these efforts focused on luring young men to join the ranks of jihadist fighters.

But IS is increasingly targeting young Western women, as dramatically illustrated last month when three British teenaged girls bravely ran away from their London homes to join the jihadists.

Experts say many are shocked by what they find in IS territory, but by then it is too late.

"IS sells its Islamic utopia to these young men and women," said Lina Khatib, head of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center in Beirut.

"It tells them that this is the only real Islamic state in the world, and that they can become important figures in it."

Experts say the number of Westerners who have traveled to the "caliphate", which is more than twice the size of Jordan and home to about six million people, is about 3,000, including roughly 550 women.

In the latest high-profile case, three close friends from London -- a 16-year-old and two 15-year-old girls -- are believed to have crossed into Syria last month after flying to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
from London.

One of them is believed to have been in contact with Aqsa Mahmood, a woman from Glasgow, Scotland, who reportedly travelled to Syria last year to marry an IS fighter.

Mahmood's English-language blog -- "Diary of a Muhajirah" (Diary of a Traveler) -- has become a key source of IS propaganda aimed at women.

"We don't pay rent here. Houses are given for free. We pay neither electric nor water bills. We are given monthly groceries. Spaghetti, pasta, can foods, rice, eggs," Mahmood wrote in one recent post.

Work is available too, she said, for women who want jobs in education and health care.

Marriage in IS territory also has its perks, Mahmood has written.

IS fighters receive "seven days off" as part of the wedding celebrations and new brides can choose their own dowry -- but instead of requests for jewelery, they ask for Kalashnikovs.

"Newly married couples are given $700 as a gift," Mahmood wrote. "We don't have fireworks but we celebrate the wedding by gunshots and lots of takbeer," or shouts of "holy shit! Allahu akbar" (God is greatest).

A picture featured on her site of a bearded fighter and his new wife, dressed in a full white veil, was captioned: "Till martyrdom do us part."

Responding to a question from a young girl conflicted about leaving her boyfriend and moving to Syria, Mahmood wrote: "I promise, that one day someone will hug you so tightly and fix back all the broken pieces -- Yes, it's your halal husband."

The term halal is used to describe things -- from people to food and services -- that comply with Islamic religious requirements.

Other IS recruitment tools, such as its online English-language magazine Dabiq, also tout the benefits available to arriving foreigners.

"There are plenty of homes and resources to cover you and your family," the magazine has written. According to Iraqi officials, IS has redistributed to fighters any homes vacated by civilians fleeing the group's takeover.

In its own version of classified ads, Dabiq advertised that IS needs "judges, people with military or administrative skills, doctors, and engineers" to travel to its territory.

Carnegie's Khatib said it was clear that propagandists like Mahmood were working under the supervision of IS.

"If she's real, then there's no doubt that the Islamic State group supervises her," she said. "She's one of their recruitment tools."

"These girls join this organization looking for adventure... and some of them live in an imaginary world, dreaming of marrying fighters," Hassan Hassan, author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror", told AFP.

But once they have joined the ranks of IS, experts said, young recruits will find that trying to leave may cost them their lives.

More than 120 people were killed between October and December for trying to leave IS territory, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group.

"I conducted interviews with two young men who came back from (IS-held) Raqa and other areas, and it was clear they were resentful and felt like they had been tricked," Khatib said.
It was no doubt slightly different in the old days of last year when the Caliphate was expanding unopposed, the loot was endless, and the foreigners few.
Instead of the Islamic utopia IS had promised, these young men encountered an area whose governance "was based on oppression and tells them not to think".

"They felt like they had been sold an empty project."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/08/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Welcome to IS' Age of Aquarius, a few of the words will have to be changed, like "Peace Jihad will guide the planet" but, hey, they made it to their "1969"

Posted by: Zenobia Gray4658 || 03/08/2015 9:55 Comments || Top||

#2  "-- even love"

Young men, just watch out for who's gonna be lovin' YOU, that's all.

Beards might tickle a bit when they're rubbing up and down your back.

Yeah, I know that's kinda sick
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/08/2015 11:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Step right up and enter the Islamic peace processor. [nice knowing you....suckers]
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/08/2015 19:38 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
27[untagged]
14Islamic State
4Govt of Pakistan
3Govt of Iraq
2Hamas
2Arab Spring
2Boko Haram
2Govt of Iran
1Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Commies
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Salafists
1Taliban
1TTP

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2015-03-08
  Boko Haram leader pledges allegiance to IS
Sat 2015-03-07
  Advancing Iraq troops enter al-Dour
Fri 2015-03-06
  Blast hits Nusra Front in Syria, kills commander
Thu 2015-03-05
  Pakistani man found guilty in al-Qaeda plot to attack NYC subway
Wed 2015-03-04
  Turkish ISIL agent charged with running underage Syrian prostitution ring
Tue 2015-03-03
  Bibi Netanyahu’s Speech: Liveblog
Mon 2015-03-02
  Iraq Launches Offensive on ISIS North of Baghdad
Sun 2015-03-01
  Egyptian court declares Hamas a 'terrorist organization'
Sat 2015-02-28
  Boko Haram Fighters Turn to Cannibalism in Nigerian Forest
Fri 2015-02-27
  Third alleged accomplice in Copenhagen shootings arrested
Thu 2015-02-26
  Islamic State video shows destruction of ancient Iraqi artefacts
Wed 2015-02-25
  SECURITY MoD: Iraqi forces liberate most of al-Baghdadi, Anbar
Tue 2015-02-24
  ISIS executes three of its leaders for cowardice in Diyali
Mon 2015-02-23
  Libya: ISIS claims it bombed Iran envoy's residence
Sun 2015-02-22
  Hotel staffers arrested after deadly bombing


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
3.138.116.20
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (26)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (3)    (0)    Politix (1)