[VOA] WASHINGTON - One of the Islamic State terror group's media divisions is promising supporters that a major announcement is on the way ‐ the first of its kind since the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a U.S. raid on Sunday.
IS's Al-Furqan Foundation started promoting the announcement at midday Wednesday. "We've all become Jehovah's Witnesses, so, expect to see us in your doorways"
"Coming Soon ... By the Willingness of Allah the Almighty," the announcement said, without sharing details.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications, said supporters quickly began distributing the poster on social media platforms, with some expressing hope that Baghdadi was still alive while others were preparing to celebrate his martyrdom. IS official media operatives have been issuing their usual news updates on operations in Syria, Iraq and around the world, but they have been silent so far about the fate of Baghdadi, who was killed by U.S. special forces in a raid on a compound in Barisha in Syria's Idlib province.
page 3
FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned of indications that IS was preparing to make increased use of women and children.
"We know that ISIS has started to take advantage of women in operational planning and trying to recruit youth, some of them in these displacement camps," Wray said. "That's going to present all kinds of problems for us and our partners."
What an exciting time for the UK, who just welcomed the daesh women and children back with open arms.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/30/2019 20:13
Comments ||
Top||
#3
It may be late, but this is definitely the headline of the day. Good find, Dron66046. Normally we would have held a late submission for tomorrow, but this definitely deserved to be bumped up to today. Let’s keep an eye out for the actual announcement.
Cameras malfunctioned. Both guards were asleep. Epstein was not deemed a suicide risk. Injuries consistent with homicide. Cellmate tried to strangle him two weeks earlier. Awaiting DNA from ligature.
Nothing to see here. We've had our best people on it. It's a clear -cut case of suicide (sarc).
[FoxNews] The body of disgraced money man and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan federal prison cell in August, bore telltale signs of homicide despite an official ruling that he killed himself, a pioneering forensic pathologist revealed to "Fox & Friends" in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
The bombshell claim by Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner who has worked on high-profile cases during a five-decade medical career, is certain to reignite suspicions that surfaced immediately after Epstein, who was awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls, was discovered dead in his cell on Aug. 10. Baden, who was hired by Epstein’s brother and observed the autopsy, told Fox News its findings are more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging. He noted that the 66-year-old Epstein had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, specifically the thyroid cartilage or Adam’s apple, as well as one fracture on the left hyoid bone above the Adam’s apple, Baden told Fox News.
[Jpost] NATO welcomes the withdrawal of Ukrainian and Russian-backed rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, urging Russia to implement the Minsk peace agreements, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.
Ukraine and the rebel forces started the disengagement process on Tuesday in Zolote, a town in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
Ukrainian forces have been fighting the rebels in the Donbass region in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people. Both sides have agreed to modest troop withdrawals, but these have been disrupted many times by ceasefire violations. Meanwhile US Congress tries Trump in secret trial over his interference with Ukraine.
An IDF soldier was sentenced to one month in prison by a military court for the death of a Palestinian teenager during the weekly Gaza border riots last year.
The soldier, a sniper from the Givati Brigade, was convicted as part of a plea bargain after he pleaded guilty for "disobeying an order leading to a threat to life or health," the IDF said in a statement.
On July 13 2018, the sniper opened fire at 15-year-old Othman Helles as he was climbing the Gaza security fence during the weekly "Great Return March" protests, "without obtaining permission from his commanders [and] while not following the rules of engagement or the instructions given to him earlier," the statement continued.
As part of the plea bargain, the soldier was sentenced to one month in prison ‐ to be served by labor ‐ as well as probation and being demoted in rank to private.
[Free Beacon] Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said he would support leveraging American aid to Israel to pressure the country into changing its policies.
Sanders argued the United States should threaten to withhold aid if Israel did not pledge to surrender territory to Palestinian political authorities. The Vermont senator told former Obama administration officials Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes that the United States should demand the "Israeli government sit down with the Palestinian people and negotiate an agreement that works for all parties."
"I would use the leverage. $3.8 billion is a lot of money, and we cannot give it carte blanche to the Israeli government or for that matter to any government at all," he said. "We have a right to demand respect for human rights and democracy."
Multiple Democratic presidential candidates have pledged to withhold funding to Israel if the country did not implement a two-party state. Vietor asked the Vermont senator how he would leverage American aid to end what Sanders has described as an "absolutely inhumane" and "unacceptable" situation in Gaza.
"We have a right to say to the Israeli government that the United States of America and our taxpayers and our people believe in human rights, we believe in democracy, we will not accept authoritarianism or racism," Sanders said.
#1
Unless of course they do exactly as we tell them. Bernie has the prepared list of requirements in one of his pockets. An Ambassador Hunter Biden could easily oversee the effort.
#6
This goofy fossil's viewpoint on all matters international dates to the early '80s.
In his addled, wasp-stung little brain, Kissinger is still the Nat'l. Security Advisor-- the Great Satan dictating US foreign policy-- Ortega and the Sandinistas are the vanguard, Sharon is the Great Satan's mideastern puppet and a Nuclear Freeze is the urgent remedy to what ails us.
"You must understand, $3.8 b is something which I shall be seeing for the first time in my entire miserable life ! I'm not gonna just let it fucking go ?!"
John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff who also headed Homeland Security, wants Democrats who have criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for enforcing the law to "go to hell."
Asked by Larry O’Connor for his podcast about the long list of liberal House and Senate members who want to abolish ICE, Kelly, a former Marine Corps general, said, "They can go to hell. These are good people."
He added, "The members of Congress who say those kinds of things, first of all, they don’t believe it, but they can go to hell because those people are doing within the law and within humanity exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and they focus on illegal aliens that are criminals."
Kelly, who at Homeland Security was the top immigration officer, also ripped "sanctuary cities" for protecting illegal immigrants who are charged with crimes.
"The sanctuary cities, it’s just astounding, but it’s political, it has nothing to do with reality. You know, ’Trump’s a bad guy, everything he does is a bad guy. He’s anti-immigration.’ He’s not," said Kelly, explaining that the nation lets 1.1 million legal immigrants in every year.
He added, "Illegal aliens are a different story entirely, and as I used to say to the Congress all the time, ’If you don’t like what we’re doing, or ICE is doing, or what DHS is doing, then change the law. But don’t rant and rave to me about how these are bad people. These are good people.’"
Wow that’s pretty blunt. And I like it!
I also like how he defends Trump, noting that he’s not anti-immigration as Democrats like to portray him.
Kelly also suggests that Democrats who are against ICE don’t even really mean it, that it’s all politics. He’s probably right about that. But whether the mean it or not, it is their position and they must be defeated.
[LI] In October 2019, CodePink took another in a long line of trips to the Islamic Republic of Iran on the premise of promoting peace.
The latest trip, even more so than the prior trips, amounted to a whitewash of Iranian human rights violations, particularly towards women. The CodePink group was led by National Co-Director Ariel Gold, and included several of her Ithaca (NY) anti-Israel activist friends, including Beth Harris and Amber Gilewski. (In the featured image, these three are circled, from left to right, Harris, Gold and Gilewski.)
The group supplicated themselves by wearing hijabs and chadors at a time Iranian women are being imprisoned and murdered for protesting forced veiling. The group also exploited the small remnant of a once thriving Jewish community, mostly driven into exile by Islamist persecution, to provide cover for the deep genocidal anti-Semitism of the Mullah regime.
Unlike Gold’s trips to Israel, where she disrupted prayers at the Western Wall and participated in protests, there were no public displays of protest against the repressive Iranian regime or at Muslim places of worship.
#1
Unlike Gold’s trips to Israel, where she disrupted prayers at the Western Wall and participated in protests, there were no public displays of protest
Of course not! Israel uses piano wire for... pianos.
[Jpost] The Israeli Defense Forces arrested 19 people in the West Bank overnight.
The IDF troops along with security services, Border Police and Israeli police said the suspects were wanted for terrorist activity, popular terrorism and violent violations against civilians and security forces.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces killed 8 Talibs during the operations in Daykundi and Paktiya provinces, the military officials said.
The officials further added that the Special Forces also arrested 5 Talibs during the same operations.
The Special Forces killed 7 snuffies during the operation in Gizab district of Daykundi province, the officials said, adding that they also destroyed a cache of weapons.
The officials also added that the Special Forces killed a Taliban ...Arabic for students... Death Eater and arrested 5 others during two separate raids in Sayyid Karam district of Pakitya.
The Special Forces also destroyed 2 caches of weapons during the two raids, the officials added.
[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish authorities have detained 43 people suspected of belonging to Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and of plotting attacks targeting celebrations of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... 's national day on Tuesday, police and state media said.
The detentions came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria, near the Ottoman Turkish border.
The suspects were detained in Istanbul and the northwestern province of Bursa in three separate operations, according to a police statement and the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Three of the suspects who were believed to have been preparing an attack to disrupt Republic Day celebrations in Istanbul, were detained on Tuesday, Anadolu said.
It said anti-terror and intelligence units established that the suspects had been in contact with people who would provide logistic support for the attack.
Anadolu said another 26 suspected Islamic State members were detained in Bursa on Tuesday. It said 12 of them were Syrian nationals and that proceedings were underway to deport them. The other 14 suspects were sent to the police, it added.
Ottoman Turkish police later said a further 14 suspected jihadists, three of them Ottoman Turkish nationals, were detained in Istanbul. It said the suspects were planning to attack the celebrations in Istanbul following al-Baghdadi's death, but did not elaborate.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2019
05:32 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[KhaamaPress] The Pak military claims the Afghan troops shelled Chitral district with mortars and heavy machine gun wounding six soldiers and five civilians.
According to a statement released by Pak military, a clash broke out between Afghan and Pak forces along Durand Line close to Chitral and Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan.
The statement further added that the Pak forces also responded to the fire but the clash stopped after engagement at the military level.
This comes as a similar a clash broke out between the Afghan and Pak forces in Nari district of Kunar province on Sunday afternoon which lasted for several hours.
[AlAhram] Egyptian security forces killed 13 murderous Moslems during a raid on a hideout in the border North Sinai region on Tuesday, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The holy warriors were killed during an exchange of fire with the security forces carrying out the raid on the hideout in El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai, the ministry said.
Police found weapons and explosives in the terrorists’ possession, the statement added.
Egyptian officials said a police conscript has been killed in a jihadist attack in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
They said the attack, which took place late on Monday in the town Sheikh Zuweid, also wounded three policemen who were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Separately, the officials said security forces killed 13 suspected fighters in a raid on Tuesday in the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish’ el-Obour neighborhood.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2019
05:32 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[20 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[IsraelTimes] Serviceman agrees to plea deal, admits to opening fire without the required approval at a Paleostinian teenager scaling the security fence during border protests.
[IsraelTimes] Russia has informed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... that Kurdish fighters in Syria have completed their withdrawal from areas near the border, in accordance with a deal agreed between Ankara and Moscow, President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... said Tuesday.
"Russia informed our competent authorities of the terror groups’ complete withdrawal from there," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara marking Turkey’s Republic Day
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2019
05:32 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
...also known as Usama Darwich Hamade, 53, and Issam Darwich Hamade. Osama, "Prince Sam" to his friends, is a dual Lebanese-South African citizen; Issam holds both Lebanese and British passports...
charged with conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the US to the Iran-backed group.
Federal prosecutors say two brothers charged with conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the US to Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Leb are "dangerous" and should remain in jug while they await trial, according to a court document filed Monday.
Osama and Issam Hamade are charged with conspiracy to violate US export laws. Osama Hamade is also charged with smuggling. Prosecutors say that from 2009 to 2013, the Lebanese brothers repeatedly acquired sophisticated technology for drones then illegally exported them to Hezbollah, which most Western governments consider a terrorist organization.
The Hamades were arrested in February 2018 in South Africa and were recently extradited to the US. They will appear in a federal court in Minnesota on Tuesday for a hearing to determine whether they will be released pending trial. A third defendant, Samir Ahmed Berro,
...known to his friends as "Tony", for reasons that passeth understanding. He has dual Lebanese and British citizenships...
remains on the lam.
An attorney for Issam Hamade said in a court filing that his client was a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces, not Hezbollah. An attorney for Osama Hamade made no comment ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
According to an indictment, the parts included inertial measurement units, which can be used to track an aircraft’s position, and digital compasses, which can be paired with the inertial measurement units for drone guidance systems. The parts also included a jet engine and 20 piston engines.
Prosecutors wrote that Hezbollah has used drones for many years and that the brothers "present a danger to the United States, and to other communities around the world."
Prosecutors painted Osama Hamade as a "violent, drunken, gun-toting thug" who threatened to kill a government witness and his family by cutting him "to pieces" and once bragged that he cut off his gardener’s arms and bashed his gardener’s skull after an apparent theft.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone that was flying at an "irregular altitude" over the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The military said fighter jets were scrambled when the aircraft was detected and they shot it down.
"An unmanned aircraft flying was detected flying at an irregular altitude over the Gaza Strip. IDF fighter jets were sent toward it and they intercepted it," the army said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear who was operating the drone.
In general, the Israeli military does not interfere with drones flying over the Gaza Strip unless they approach the border or fly at especially high altitudes.
The incident came after a series of false alarms around Gaza in which rocket sirens were apparently triggered by terror groups’ training exercises in the coastal enclave.
[Jpost] Who are the faces behind the dire warnings from Israel’s top military officer of "multiple enemies on multiple fronts"?
Senior defense officials have warned that Israel is facing an Iranian storm that is coming closer to her borders. But who are the men behind the storm? And what has Israel done to stop them?
#1
Actually, Soleimani is Mossad agent - that's how he survived all these Israeli "assassination attempts". He's being groomed to replace Ayatollah-cracy with military dictatorship. And, eventually, restore Zoroastrianism in Iran.
[TTAG - ht AOSHQ] From the Firearms Policy Coalition . . .
Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced a victory in its case against the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Mayor Bill Peduto. FPC was joined by co-plaintiffs Firearm Owners Against Crime (FOAC), Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF), and three individual gun owners. The plaintiffs were represented by Joshua Prince of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C. The opinion and order issued by Judge Joseph M. James, holding that "Ordinances 2018-1218, 2018-1219, 2018-1220 are void and unenforceable," is available online at PittsburghCase.com.
"I am delighted that Judge James' decision today appropriately struck down the City of Pittsburgh's unlawful firearm ordinances and signage," said attorney Joshua Prince. "The City's gun control sought to eviscerate the inviolate right of the residents of the Commonwealth to keep and bear arms and ensnare law-abiding citizens through a patchwork of laws. Today, Judge James made clear that Mayor Peduto and the Pittsburgh City Council are neither above the law nor a special class of citizens that may violate the law with impunity."
"We look forward to Judge James issuing a decision on Allegheny County Sportsmen's League's contempt petition against the City of Pittsburgh and District Attorney Zappala filing criminal charges against Mayor Peduto and the City Council Members who enacted these illegal ordinances," Prince concluded.
"Pennsylvania's preemption statute serves an important purpose, to ensure that Pennsylvanians are not subjected to a patchwork of illogical and inconsistent rules and regulations pertaining to the firearms they chose to employ," explained FPC Director of Legal Strategy, Adam Kraut.
"The City of Pittsburgh, along with support from the billionaire funded Everytown for Gun Safety, decided to waste City taxpayers' money by knowingly violating Pennsylvania law," Kraut continued. "Fortunately for those who favor individual liberty and the rule of law, the Court held what everyone already knew to be true‐state law ‘preempts any local regulation pertaining to the regulation of firearms.' "
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2019
04:29 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mayor Santy Clause whiskers and the "peoples city council" got kicked in the nads by the judge. The DA is shirking his duty to charge them with disobeying the state preemption law. So glad I left the Peoples Democratic Republic of Pennsyltuckey.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/30/2019 8:10
Comments ||
Top||
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State supporters have responded with silence and disbelief days after the death of their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, suggesting a breakdown in the command structure of the Sunni militant group trying to agree on a successor. "Listen up! #3! You're on!"
There has been no official statement or mourning on Baghdadi on Islamic State’s (IS) official Telegram channel since U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday his killing at the hands of special operations forces in northwestern Syria.
Its Amaq news agency Telegram has been continuing business as usual, posting since Sunday more than 30 claims of attacks in Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq praising its fighters.
There has also been less chatter among jihadist supporters on social media compared to the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011 and other militant leaders.
Analysts said the remains of Islamic State’s leadership were in a state of shock probably trying to keep the group together and agree on a successor before confirming Baghdadi’s killing.
"There is probably right now chaos inside what is left of the leadership. Key aides have been killed and documents destroyed," said Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi expert on militant groups.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
10/30/2019
04:28 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[19 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Immigration arrests at the U.S. border with Mexico soared 88 percent in fiscal 2019 in what U.S. officials on Tuesday labeled a crisis while unveiling their latest measure to combat the trend: expediting the deportation of asylum seekers.
The number of people apprehended or turned away at the border actually fell in September to the lowest monthly total of the year, to 52,546, down 64% from a peak in May as migration typically slows during the hot summer months.
But the total still rose 4% over the same month a year ago, and border arrests for the fiscal year ending in September reached an 11-year high. Southern border apprehensions and rejections combined totaled 977,509.
Nearly half all those detained in September were children or families, many of them led by human-trafficking cartels, said Robert Perez, deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Maybe not as appealing like killing ISIS head, but (IMO) a lot more long term effective
Banks in Malaysia are closing the accounts of Iranian individuals and companies, nearly a dozen affected people told Reuters, in a sign that U.S. sanctions are having a far-reaching impact on citizens of the Islamic republic.
Although Malaysian banks seemed to be more cautious in dealing with Iranians than those elsewhere, some Iranians and one embassy official said, there were "mass closures" in the Southeast Asian country in recent months.
The banks were being "more Catholic than the Pope," said university lecturer Behrang Samadi, who is among an estimated 10,000 Iranians living in Malaysia and learnt in August that his bank, CIMB, would close his 14-year-old account. Pretty loose definition given the Marxist extremist Francis
[Washington Examiner] Michelle Obama spoke out against "white flight" in a recent interview, saying she experienced it as a kid and that it remains a problem.
"As families like ours ‐ upstanding families like ours who were doing everything we were supposed to do and better. As we moved in, white folks moved out because they were afraid of what our families represented," the former first lady said Tuesday at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago.
"I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us ... This family, with all the values that you read about, you were running from us. And you’re still running because we’re no different than the immigrant families that are moving in," she continued. "The families that are coming from other places to try to do better. But, because we can so easily wash over who we really were ‐ because of the color of our skin, because of the texture of our hair ‐ that’s what divides countries, artificial things."
Obama, 55, said she grew up with a "sense of justice" and understood from a young age that white people were fleeing her neighborhood.
She talked about the issue of white flight in her bestselling book Becoming. Obama noted that she grew up in South Side of Chicago while her husband came to the South Side by choice. Pretty accurate assessment, I'd say. But it implies some sort of fault on the part of whites, rather than good sense. There's a tipping point in racial balance, as two different cultures (not skin colors or hair textures) have to accommodate each other. You can make the different parties white:black, or Christian:Moslem, Anglo:Hispanic, pick a dissimilar pair. 9:1 there's likely no friction, 1:9 the left hand party's feeling outnumbered. It's worse than most with black:white, though Moslem:Christian's not far behind (see Somali neighborhoods in Michigan, and Turk neighborhoods in Berlin, Syrian resettlement areas most places in Germany or Sweden). The more culturally aggressive culture sees the more sedate (as in law-abiding) culture as prey.
#3
I think the whites should fight instead of flee. Drive the coloreds into their ghettos and deprive them of the right to over-representation on basis of color. Their tribal culture of disrepect and revolt should be mocked, insulted and crushed into accepting nationalism as the main.
There should exist at least a modicum of armed and opposing civilian population that seeks this outcome. Someone from whom only the State can save wakandans.
#4
They never do address the flight of upper and middle class blacks from the inner city to the suburbs. Desegregation allowed that and when it did the environment that would not tolerate destructive and self limiting behaviors disappeared. Look in the mirror!
#8
Plenty of actual Africans in my neighborhood. Both my neighbors in fact, they are nice, good people. Even got asked to clear their backyard when their husky went crazy (He had a new possum friend cornered and was excited). We are nice to our neighbors and they are nice to us. Our neighborhood has many nationalities in it and yet we find they are all also proud Texans. They don't want ferals infesting our neighborhood anymore than we do.
#9
Someone should ask her what gentrification means. Oh, that's when whites move into black neighborhoods that are no longer hell-holes. The opposite of white flight which is when whites (and blacks that are able) leave neighborhoods they see going down hill fast.
Race is not a factor, economics is, but I wouldn't expect someone who sees everything through teh filter of race to understand that.
#11
Gentrification going very strong in Atlanta. Sporadic pi**ing and moaning, but I've not heard of anyone burning their handsome real estate offer letters or closing checks.
#12
while her husband came to the South Side by choice.
Political grifter seeking his rotten borough.
Race hustlers, the pair of them. Mike seethes with resentment; Zero the opportunist makes connections with even shittier people: Ayres the terrorist. The race-baiting nutjob preacher. Jarrett the professional Grifter-Hack.
God, what shitty people our political class has thrown up these last 30 years.
#19
Plenty of blacks and hispanics in my neighborhood. All the blacks do is argue with each other all the time. Hispanics stick too themselves and do the family thing. My sweet self gets along with everyone.
Posted by: chris ||
10/30/2019 15:02
Comments ||
Top||
#20
"Get back here, you racist bastards!"
Like the "Please mentor me at the risk getting #MeTooed" movement, this is about making sure the marks never get away.
#21
Before I came to live in a tiny desert town (population: weird), I lived in a majority black neighborhood in a large city (I'm white). Had bars on my windows, kept a revolver close at hand, and had my valuables in a safe - just like my black neighbors on either side. That was just the reality of the place. I liked living there for the most part. Liked to people for the most part. I didn't leave because of them. We ALL left because Mexican and Guatemalan families offered us so much money for our homes that we couldn't resist! I went to Nevada, they mostly went to Vallejo further up the delta.
Personally, as a neighbor I'm never afraid of what any upstanding family of any kind is doing. It's the not-so-upstanding families of any variety that worry me.
[The Federalist] House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is overseeing the ongoing illegitimate impeachment inquiry set in motion by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is reportedly telling witnesses testifying not to answer questions asked by Republican lawmakers.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., slammed the hidden process claiming Schiff was instructing witnesses testifying behind the closed doors of the SCIF not to answer questions asked by Republican members.
"He’s directing witnesses not to answer questions that he doesn’t want the witness to answer if they’re asked by Republicans," Scalise charged. "He’s not cut off one Democrat. He’s not interrupted one Democrat and told a witness not to answer Democrat members’ questions but today he started telling witnesses not to answer questions by certain Republicans."
#7
The rolling Schiffshow makes you feel like you're reliving all the goofy comedies from the 1960s: Get Smart
Strangelove
Courtroom farce from Woody Allen's Bananas
#8
One question that Schiff barred a witness from answering reportedly came from Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, who asked Vindman to disclose the individuals with whom he shared information about the July 25 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.
“Adam Schiff says, ‘no-no-no we’re not going to let him answer that question,’” Jordan said as reported by Fox News.
Vindman is the leak. He needs to go to jail.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 12:06
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Vindman is the leak.
But he said he wasn’t the leak, and he only shared the transcript with a few people. And he was wearing his full dress uniform with all the service ribbons, so he must have been telling the truth.
[Breitbart] National Security Council (NSC) official Alexander Vindman showed up to testify Tuesday as part of the Democrats’ closed-door impeachment inquiry into President Trump in full military uniform.
This is despite not wearing one to work every day at the NSC, according to several sources.
Although Vindman is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, he is serving an assignment at the NSC as the director for European Affairs. According to sources at the NSC, Vindman does not wear his uniform to work at the NSC, where the standard dress is business wear.
One source said he donned the uniform "just for show." The source pointed out that Vindman was ironically wearing a presidential service badge on his uniform ‐ as he testifies on his concerns about Trump’s handling of Ukraine policy.
Vindman’s opening statement, which was leaked to the New York Times the night before his testimony, showed he was concerned that Ukraine helping investigate former Vice President Joe Biden would jeopardize bipartisan U.S. support for Ukraine.
According to the Times, Vindman, who was born in Ukraine and is fluent in Ukrainian and Russia, may have served as an informal adviser to Ukrainian officials looking for advice on how to deal with Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate corruption by Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
According to the paper: "His heritage gave Colonel Vindman, who is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian, unique insight into Mr. Trump’s pressure campaign; on numerous occasions, Ukrainian officials sought him out for advice about how to deal with Mr. Giuliani."
John Yoo, a former Bush administration Justice Department official, said Monday evening on Fox News’ "Ingraham Angle" that he found it "astounding" that Vindman would be advising Ukrainian officials against Trump’s interests.
"You know, some people might call that espionage," Yoo said.
Some mainstream media journalists noted Vindman arrived in "full uniform" and criticized those who questioned Vindman’s loyalty to the U.S.
#3
While unseemly, the wearing of the uniform is not the issue. Please correct me if I am wrong, but voluntarily appearing before a partisan Democrat kangaroo court without military authorization and legal council is the issue.
Was he obligated to speak due to an official subpoena or at the direction of this chain of command...POTUS, NSC, Pentagon, State Department? What am I missing ?
#6
I don't see any flags (so to speak) with regard to his record, assignments, decorations, etc. Looks fairly standard. If you run across a copy of his Officer Record Brief (ORB), that might provide additional information (specific position held, leadership, command, etc.)
His loyalty, or lack thereof, to the Commander in Chief cannot be questioned. It would appear he has no plans for future service or promotions, possibly only retirement. Ranger Hall of Fame....probably a non-start.
Please don't take offense, but the Russian connection and FAO placement and multiple assignments bothers me a bit. Dead-end for an Infantry officer, Battalion, Brigade, promotion to General Officer (GO), division command.... or it once was.
#8
We can't say he never showed courage under fire or didn't take shrapnel in a fight. That'd be uncharitable. All that doesn't give him the right to backstab his CinC though.
#9
You know, this cannot be acceptable to any army. If encouraged, this will be a precedent for so much shit it will be impossible to keep disgruntled or greedy bastards from holding administrations to ransom.
#10
No. I mean is he a real officer or a staff puke?
Because if he ever commanded anything except a secretarial pool, IMO, it would've been in his newspaper interview alongside the other boasts (in US military you can take all kinds of courses without being a part of that unit - means zip).
#11
Ref #7: Something about his eyes and his words tells me this guy is a deepState prop though.
Foreign Area Assignment (FAO) is (or was) voluntary. Leaders generally seek troop leading or leadership positions. He had all the tickets for a future Army leader, Airborne Ranger, CIB. His interests and objectives were obviously political in nature.
#16
Your guide on the ribbons. Note that the stuff below the purple heart are generally for good performance for a tour at rank level (sort of like a gold star handed out by your teacher).
#17
Perspective of a life-long civilian: He used the uniform as a prop, to color the weight of his "testimony," which is a disgrace. The whole sh*tshow is being choreographed and I'm sure wardrobe told him to wear it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/30/2019 8:06
Comments ||
Top||
#18
Get you. Wish I could say we don't have the type in Israel - but, of course, we do.
#26
So the uniform of an FAO is really not an issue. They wear suits during their normal workday in an effort to lower the visibility and not be defined by the uniform. The FAOs traditionally work at embassies, state department buildings and other 3 letter agencies that all have desired attire policies. This is nothing new. His wearing the uniform to testify at congress is also appropriate. He should be in uniform when testifying. So far so good.
His public second guessing a sitting president while monitoring a phone conversation is a crime. He released TS communication in an office to a coworker. He should, at the very least lose his TS clearance. There is a process for FAOs if they hear a diplomat go off script. He was to report it using classified channels. He also has the IG to take it to. None of which he did, because he knew he would get hammered for bringing personal opinions to a national strategic conversation between two presidents.
His own statement admits he put the Ukraine's better interest above that of the president and the United States when he commented on any investigation could get congress to act against the Ukraine. This means to me his loyalty or concerns for Ukraine influenced his performance and he had really no true knowledge of what the president was asking the Ukrainian president for, except what he heard at the water cooler or on MSNBC. We have a term for him and its called going native. His country or effort and his programs became more important than our national security. He might have, or still, love America, but he failed our nation. He forgot what side of the conversation he represents, and now his disgrace to the uniform and our nation is all over the news for all to see. In the FAO world he will be used as an example of what not to be.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/30/2019 12:05
Comments ||
Top||
#27
In the FAO world he will be used as an example of what not to be.
Ouch. The rest of 49 Pan’s thoughts on the subject are scathing, but that final sentence ties up his judgement of our Lt. Colonel with a beautiful bow.
Yeah. Except that Nora Roberts on CBS News last night was breathlessly hailing his testimony as a "bombshell" and the "last nail in the coffin" when all he really had to say is that he disagrees with Trump so he leaked. The news is not the news anymore. Nora Roberts is like a carnival barker at the shitshow.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 14:31
Comments ||
Top||
#29
See Donald Sensing's comments on Lt. Col. Vindman. http://senseofevents.blogspot.com/2019/10/lt-col-vindman-is-tool.html#links
As 49 Pan said, at the least this tool should lose his security clearance and be dismissed from the NSC. He went to Congress in direct violation of orders from the White House. He should be court-martialed just for that alone. He won't be, of course, but should be.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/30/2019 17:08
Comments ||
Top||
#30
Clearly gunning for a cushy six-figure gig on cable as an "analyst"
[Breitbart] Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) said Tuesday that he will likely vote against a resolution by House Democrats to formalize their secret impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, prompting more uncertainly around whether Thursday’s expected vote will go on as planned.
Asked by NBC News reporter Alex Moe if he supports the measure, Van Drew replied: "I would imagine that I’m not voting for it." Van Drew, whose district President Trump won in 2016, is among roughly a dozen House Democrats who oppose the impeachment inquiry. "I have long maintained the position that the impeachment or potential impeachment would not be good for Democrats or Republicans," the lawmaker told Fox News in September.
The House announced Monday that it will move Thursday to determine whether to establish impeachment inquiry procedures into President Trump. The text of the resolution was not immediately released, but House Rule Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) said it would "provide a clear path forward" on the impeachment inquiry.
However, even before Van Drew’s comments, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) had already poured some cold water on plans to vote for the measure Thursday, telling reporters on Capitol Hill: "We’re going to have to consider whether or not it’s ready to go on Thursday. I hope that’s the case."
#1
Whether it passes or fails, what effect will it have on the Kangaroos?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/30/2019 10:09
Comments ||
Top||
#2
If it fails then it totally delegitimizes everything that Schifferbrains is doing.
The fact the majority whip doesn't want to vote on Thursday means he's afraid it will fail and he wants more time to put pressure on wobbly purple district representatives.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 12:45
Comments ||
Top||
#3
BTW, Mr. Hoyer looks awfully sad, old and tired in this picture.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 12:49
Comments ||
Top||
#4
The way I understand it Pelosi calling for a vote means that all of the Democrats in the primary campaign (except Biden and Budageg) have to stop campaigning and return to vote or else explain to the zealots why they didn't vote for impeachment.
Basically she kneecapped them and gave Biden a leg up.
Two Taliban terrorists killed in an encounter with ANP in Khowaja Baba region, Shahr-e-Safa district of Zabul. ANP seized one motorcycle used by the militants. Read More: https://t.co/pwbPyFGcKgpic.twitter.com/Iki0kpYlm5
[DAWN] THE public opening of the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Biennale 2019 on Sunday was marred by controversy when unknown men forced the partial closure of one of the installations at Frere Hall.
In hindsight, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
The ’offending’ exhibit by Adeela SLearned Elders of Islamn was a requiem for the hundreds of victims of alleged ’encounter specialist’ Rao Anwar. Evidently, the disgraced former SSP still enjoys the support and protection of certain quarters capable of acting secretly and with impunity. Instead, the evening ended with a hapless KMC official attempting to defend the indefensible before a presser held by members of civil society in protest.
Worse still, by yesterday morning, the rest of the exhibit had been vandalised. Later that evening, the KB19 team released a craven statement distancing itself from the artwork.
Among the feeble excuses made by some against this exhibit’s display is that it tarnished Pakistain’s and its law enforcement’s image. But it was this fiasco and the events which inspired the artwork that do actual damage to our credibility. Such claims are premised on the notion that art should be milquetoast and apolitical ‐ unless, of course, its politics are nationalistic.
What happened at Frere Hall is a chilling illustration of how insecure the powerful are of their own populace, the desperate lengths to which they will go to police them, and the surrender and collusion of the country’s elites in the face of such pressures. The organisers should recall that trying to delink art and politics invariably backfires, as recent controversies involving Contemporary Istanbul and the Whitney Biennial have shown.
The relentless assaults on artistic and academic freedom in Pakistain by depoliticising and controlling all areas of knowledge and cultural production must be resisted. Politics is not a crime; free expression is a constitutional right. Now that the KB19 team has spoken, those responsible for this blatant censorship and vandalism must reveal themselves. Citizens have a direct stake in public art, and are owed an official explanation.
U.S. election law prohibits foreign nationals from making those sorts of political contributions. But the donations Sheikh Mohammed Al Rahbani tried to send to Obama’s inaugural committee were funneled through a seasoned straw donor, the records and the AP analysis show.
That intermediary, Imaad Zuberi, agreed this month to plead guilty to making illegal campaign contributions to several American political candidates on behalf of foreign nationals. He is also set to plead guilty to concealing his work as a foreign agent as he lobbied high-level U.S. government officials.
Zuberi, a jet-setting fundraiser and venture capitalist, has raised millions of dollars for Democrats and Republicans alike over the years. Prosecutors say he has worked on behalf of several foreigners, not just Rahbani.
He served as a top fundraiser for both Obama and Hillary Clinton during their presidential runs, including stints on both of their campaign finance committees, before switching his support to President Donald Trump immediately after his 2016 victory, pumping nearly $1 million into the Republican’s inaugural committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
Iraqi forces are cutting off electricity to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and firing tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of Iraqis gathering for a fifth day of protests, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reports.https://t.co/j4mCnl7yEMpic.twitter.com/rBl55OaIAo
Iraqi security forces are cordoning off Nisour Square in central Baghdad with barbed wires to prevent hundreds of protesters from gathering near the area.https://t.co/j4mCnl7yEMpic.twitter.com/U15aI9lITM
Surge of at least 8 #Russian nuclear submarines put to sea in drill. The aim of the massive operation is to get as far out to the North Atlantic as possible without being discovered by #NATOhttps://t.co/cjI0DSEbFV
[Al Jazeera] Cries of celebration went up across Leb on Tuesday as protesters demanding the fall of the government celebrated Prime Minister Saad Hariri ...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.... 's resignation - though most said this was merely an initial victory in a long-term battle.
"It's a good first step but we're still going to stay in the streets," Pierre Mouzannar, a 21-year old filmmaker told Al Jazeera in central Beirut. "Hariri is part of the problem but he's not all of the problem ... I don't think anyone thinks we're done."
For many demonstrators in the capital, the news of Hariri's resignation was an important boost in their nearly two-week protest movement following a day of street brawls instigated by supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement party.
Hundreds of men, most wearing black, beat protesters and destroyed protest encampments in central Beirut before Hariri's televised address, eventually retreating after security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
"Hariri isn't the one who's sending his people to beat us up and destroy what we have. Those people are still in Parliament and we need to finish what we've started there," Mouzannar said, sitting next to a tent being reconstructed by protesters.
On a nearby road leading to Riad al-Solh square, Saba, a 21-year old event planner, was painting Lebanese flags on the faces of passersby. "He should have resigned earlier, but better late than never - and we got what we wanted," she said.
But she, too, said Hariri's resignation by no means satisfied her hopes for the unprecedented movement she was part of. "Step two is to get back the money politicians have stolen from us. Then we will hold everyone accountable, and God is on our side," she said.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Moscow has not received official confirmation of the elimination of leader of the ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... * terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, front man for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated.
"No, we have no confirmation", Peskov said in response to a corresponding question.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Russian presidential front man Dmitry Peskov said a day earlier the Kremlin believes it will be possible to talk about Trump’s serious contribution to the fight against terrorism if the death of al-Baghdadi is confirmed.
The statement comes after Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said during a press briefing on 28 October that the United States is not prepared to release video or photos of the US special forces raid of al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria.
On 27 October, US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... announced that US forces hunted down al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province.
Trump said al-Baghdadi blew up himself and three accompanying children by detonating a boom jacket when he was trapped at the end of a tunnel. The Russian Defence Ministry said that it had possessed no reliable data regarding the US operation and had reasons to question its credibility.
Pretty impressive visual link from the Guardian.
The US began to receive intelligence on the whereabouts of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi about a month ago, according to Donald Trump. Intelligence officials were able to scope out his exact location ‐ near the village of Barisha in north-west Syria ‐ two weeks ago, and Trump was made aware of the planned raid at the end of last week. Nicely done, and good catch, B
Posted by: Besoeker ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
As a military robot crept towards him and a dog was dispatched to subdue him, Baghdadi was confronted by a dead end.
Prosecuting our enemies with robots and dogs - now that's the 21st century I was expecting!
#3
If the scale is right I measure 350 miles from Erbil to Barisha.
An arc path over Turkey would make it closer to 400 miles (that would be a two hour flight and close to the range of the Chinook).
They had to get gas or did they continue on to Incerlik air base.
I hope they got the nucs out of there by the way.
What was the quip pro quo with Erdogan?
#5
So weird to read a fact-based article in Al-Guardian about the US military, of all things, that does not take cheap shots at America. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop...and it never did. Major WTF.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
10/30/2019 13:18
Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] NAWAZ Sharif’s illness managed to overshadow the Azadi march temporarily. The bail in quick succession from two high courts ‐ the Islamabad High Court has only granted bail till today when the case will be heard again ‐ has been a source of relief for many concerned about his health and safety, as well as about the political system being driven by vengeance.
Yet, it is unfortunate that the ensuing debate continues to be focused on the immediate. Much of the conversation is focused on Nawaz Sharif ...served two three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... ’s health, deal rumours, an unequal system in which the health of a few, powerful prisoners matters more than all of them, and what or who is responsible for the deterioration in the former prime minister’s health. Few focused on the larger issue of a political elite so obsessed with the past that its present is consumed by ill-thought-out efforts to punish old wrongdoings by securing the convictions of its predecessors.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[30 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Breitbart] A Kurdish general revealed Monday that an informant stole the underwear of ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to prove to his credibility U.S. intelligence.
And interesting choice...
Speaking to NBC News, Gen. Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said his intelligence unit had a source who was privy to the layout of al-Baghdadi’s secret compound near the Ottoman Turkish border. According to Abdi, the source passed along such details to U.S. Special Ops, who used it to formulate their plans to strike the terror chief’s hideout over the weekend. Al-Baghdadi: "Chattel? Have you seen my Tommy John's?"
Chattel: "Yes, you've worn them every day for the last two weeks. (Ewwww)"
"The source, whom Abdi described as one of al-Baghdadi’s security advisers,
“He was named Mohammed or Mahmoud... something like that.”
proved to U.S. intelligence that he had direct access to al-Baghdadi this summer by turning over the ISIS leader’s used underwear and later a sample of his blood,"
The used panties I understand (though ick!), but I can’t imagine the level of tradecraft that allowed him to take a blood sample from the miscreant and walk out with it.
NBC News reports. "U.S. intelligence tested those samples and got positive DNA matches for al-Baghdadi, kicking the hunt into high gear. The informant stole the underwear about three months ago and the blood sample was taken roughly one month ago, a Kurdish official said."
The revelation comes after President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...... confirmed Sunday morning that al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. military operation in northwest Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
So, from now on, major terrorists will have sequential numbers dyed into their underwear (maybe UPC code) and constantly scan their laundry inventory for missing briefs. If one is missing they then high tale it to another war venue?
#5
Have we heard from the animal rights types yet ? For sending in ramboesque doggies to war ? Activism should be arriving in the form of a documentary about their 'plight' anytime now.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/30/2019 13:10
Comments ||
Top||
#10
mullah
I was thinking of that same episode of South Park
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/30/2019 13:21
Comments ||
Top||
#11
The used panties I understand (though ick!), but I can’t imagine the level of tradecraft that allowed him to take a blood sample from the miscreant and walk out with it.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday for a resolution calling on President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... to impose sanctions and other restrictions on The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor... and Ottoman Turkish officials over its offensive in northern Syria.
House members voted 403-16 in favor of the legislation, part of an effort by both Democrats and many of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress to push Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... ’s government to end, and not resume, its offensive against Kurdish forces who helped US troops battle ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... Death Eaters.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
Posted as a comment last evening by our HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim liaison fella:
[American Greatness] The weekend raid that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named after Kayla Mueller, an American aid worker killed in Syria in 2015 while being held captive by the sadistic ISIS leader. During his Sunday morning announcement from the White House, President Trump twice invoked Mueller’s name in addition to the names of other Americans murdered under the Islamic State’s ongoing reign of terror. According to reports from some of his escaped victims, Baghdadi took Mueller as his secret bride in 2013. "We were told Kayla was tortured, that she was the property of al-Baghdadi," her parents said in an August 2015 interview.
Mueller was raped repeatedly by the ISIS caliph, then killed in February 2015 during a coalition strike on the compound where she was confined.
After the U.S. confirmed Mueller’s death, President Obama issued a statement. "ISIL is a hateful and abhorrent terrorist group whose actions stand in stark contrast to the spirit of people like Kayla. No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death."
Obama, however, did not bring those terrorists to justice; nearly five years later, it was Donald Trump who made good on that promise. But thank Gaia he was able to make his NCAA bracket picks. We have that at least
Mueller’s parents thanked the president for finally taking out their daughter’s tormentor.
"I still say Kayla should be here, and if Obama had been as decisive as President Trump, maybe she would have been," Marsha Mueller, Kayla’s mother, told the Arizona Republic on Sunday. The former president, who famously referred to the al-Qaeda offshoot as a "JV team" in 2014 shortly before ISIS declared a caliphate, fumbled his response to its growing threat in the final years of his presidency. Obama admitted during the G7 meeting in June 2015 that his administration did not have a "complete strategy" to fight ISIS and that the details, including cooperation with our allies, were "not worked out."
But in 2016, rather than successfully hunting down terrorists including Mueller’s captors, Obama and his top national security officials hunted down Trump campaign aides. Baghdadi’s death should be a reminder‐an infuriating one at that‐of how the Obama administration, particularly the CIA and FBI, squandered vital resources in service to a politically motivated investigation into Trump and his presidential campaign rather than focusing their efforts on the legitimate threats facing the country.
Trump alluded to that malfeasance in his press conference on Sunday. "When we use our intelligence correctly, what we can do is incredible," Trump said while commending intelligence operatives who helped locate the ISIS madman. "When we waste our time with intelligence that hurts our country because we had poor leadership at the top, that’s not good."
Trump, of course, was referring to former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former FBI Director James Comey, the "Praetorian Guard" that laid the trap for Team Trump in 2016. As ISIS continued its murderous rampage in the Middle East and parts of Europe that year‐including the Bastille Day truck attack in France that killed 86 people and wounded hundreds more‐the most powerful intelligence professionals in the United States were surveilling Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.
Why spend ourselves to death and risk the lives of our soldiers when others will step in? We were never needed in the first place.
Utter and total nonsense. The German soldiery does what it can with a will, but there is only so much that can be done when one lacks bullets, spare parts for vehicles, and adequate manpower. Then there are the work hours: unlike peace keeping, peace making is a 24/7 activity — the team cannot be required to only work 9-5, M-F with regular rest and meal breaks. Much as we respect them, there is no way the Germans could have done what we did... and the situation is not anywhere near ready for peace keeping like on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
[VoltaireNet] The German Defense Minister and President of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, caught her partners and allies off-guard when, on 21 October 2019, she announced her intention to deploy an international military force in Syria. Her mentor, Chancellor Angela Merkel, was the only one in the loop and voiced immediate support.
Her tossed-off announcement gave rise to a flurry of questions: What would be its legal basis? Would it be an initiative of the European Union, NATO or the UN? Would it intercede between Turks and Kurds or between Turks and Syrians?
It would seem that after the Franco-German Defense and Security Council meeting of 16 October 2019, Germany decided to rekindle the old project outlined in the book New Power, New Responsibility. Elements of a German foreign and security policy for a changing world. As prescribed therein, NATO would entrust the management of Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa to the European Union under German leadership. This strategy was quietly embedded by Ursula von der Leyen in the 2016 White Paper on German Security Policy issued by the Bundeswehr. Closely associated with Angela Merkel, Ms. von der Leyen became president of the European Commission where her staff is heavily sprinkled with German nationals.
The proposal for military deployment in Syria was automatically rendered obsolete on the following day, 22 October 2019, with the sealing of the Russian-Turkish agreement. However, it denotes the will of some European elites to seize the imperial role which Washington is backing away from. They're welcome to it. I look forward to protesting them the way they did to us.
Imperial role?? Someone is playing with funny chemicals again.
#2
surprising that anti-American nutbag sites are posted by UltraPatriot™ Herb McCoy
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2019 5:26
Comments ||
Top||
#3
The Germans have a lot of Syrian "refugees" that don't appear to pass muster to stay. Maybe having troops in Syria will help with repatriation operations?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/30/2019 8:15
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Are the Germans up for this? I've heard that the Germany Army of today ranks around the same as the French Army of WWII.
#8
As prescribed therein, NATO would entrust the management of Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa to the European Union under German leadership
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/30/2019 12:50
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Voltaire Network is run by that Anti-American lefty nutbag Thierry Meyssan.
And European Conservative, who not only served in the German military but has a son wearing the uniform, as I recall, agrees that it is nonsense. Please don’t submit pieces from this site anymore, Herb.
#6
At least they are getting something important done. /sarc
Posted by: chris ||
10/30/2019 14:15
Comments ||
Top||
#7
This has been a hot button with Turkey for a long time. Previous politicians have kicked the can down the road or acquiesced to Turkish demands to withdraw criticism. Samantha Power (ugh, I know...) has an interesting take, with a little history, over at the NYT.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/30/2019 14:51
Comments ||
Top||
[Al Jazeera] Two Syrians have been charged by German prosecutors with crimes against humanity - including torturing and killing opposition activists. It sets the stage for the first trial of suspected members of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's infamous security services.
The two men were detained in Germany in February under its "universal jurisdiction" laws that allow it to prosecute people for crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. A third suspect was arrested in La Belle France in a joint operation, the federal prosecutor's office in the German city of Karlsruhe said.
Prosecutors said the main suspect, identified as Anwar R.
... a high ranking official in Syria's General Intelligence Service who applied for German asylum in 2014, then was arrested for being evil in February...
under Germany's privacy rules, faces charges including 58 murders and multiple sexual assaults in a Damascus prison, where at least 4,000 opposition activists were tortured.
The 56-year-old is alleged to have overseen interrogations at the facility, and is suspected of involvement in crimes against humanity between 2011 and 2012. He allegedly led an investigative unit with its own prison in the Damascus area before leaving Syria in 2012 and arriving in Germany in July 2014.
The second suspect, Eyad A.,
...sometimes Eyad A-G...
is charged with facilitating the torture of at least 30 opposition activists arrested after intelligence agents opened fire on an anti-Assad demonstration in Douma near Damascus in autumn 2011. He is believed to have rounded up and helped capture fleeing demonstrators before handing them over to Anwar R.
Eyad A, who left Syria in 2013 and arrived in Germany in April 2018, worked for Anwar R's intelligence unit.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Lebanese President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... is studying Prime Minister Saad Hariri ...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.... 's resignation letter and will not issue a request for the cabinet to take on a caretaker role on Tuesday, a source in the presidency said. Business will continue as usual...
Hariri submitted his resignation on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve the country's crisis amid an unprecedented wave of protests against Leb's ruling elite. "dead end" = Unfortunate phrase in Leb politics Former Lebanese minister Rifi says Hezbollah lost ‘government of guardianship’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Former Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi commended Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri after resigning from his position as head of government, while adding that Hezbollah has lost a government that "was dedicated to guardianship and corruption."
"Hariri has won himself and his people and Hezbollah has lost a government dedicated to guardianship and corruption which it tried to maintain through violence and black shirts," Rifi said in a tweet on Tuesday after Hariri resigned on live television.
Rifi was referencing an incident earlier in the day when men in black shirts reported to be supporters of Hezbollah and Amal attacked and burned tents of protesters gathered in downtown Beirut.
He added in a series of tweets that he stands behind the uprising of the Lebanese people in their "difficult struggle."
"This settlement has fallen and this term has plunged Leb into disaster," Rifi said in a tweet pointing to the current government of President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
[DAWN] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said he would submit his resignation on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against Leb's ruling elite.
The Lebanese premier addressed the nation in a televised address after a mob loyal to Hezbollah and Amal groups attacked and destroyed a protest camp set up by anti-government demonstrators in Beirut.
Leb has been paralysed by the unprecedented wave of protests against the rampant corruption of the political class that has collectively led Leb into the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
"For 13 days the Lebanese people have waited for a decision for a political solution that stops the deterioration (of the economy). And I have tried, during this period, to find a way out, through which to listen to the voice of the people," Hariri said in his speech.
[PowerlineBlog] Judge Emmet Sullivan reportedly has cancelled a November hearing he had scheduled in the case of Gen. Michael Flynn. Judge Sullivan said he is cancelling the hearing "in view of the parties’ comprehensive briefing concerning Defendant’s Motion to Compel Production of Brady Material." In other words, he has all the argumentation he needs to rule on this motion.
In this post, John discussed and embedded Flynn’s reply brief in support of that motion, filed by Sidney Powell. He described the evidence presented by Powell on Flynn’s behalf as "bombshells." I think that’s a fair characterization.
The cancellation of oral argument tells us that Judge Sullivan is ready to rule, but not what his ruling will be. I understand, though, that Gen. Flynn’s legal team considers today’s order by Sullivan good news. Its comprehensive discussion of prosecutorial abuse in this matter stands unrebutted.
Let’s hope Judge Sullivan sees it this way. Michael Flynn has endured unconscionable treatment from the country he served with great distinction.
As John wrote in his post about Sidney Powell’s brief on Gen. Flynn’s behalf:
The Flynn prosecution has lifted the lid on corruption at the Department of Justice and the FBI that few could have imagined. The anti-Trump FBI conducted itself in a way we might associate with a totalitarian state, not the United States of America.
For the most part, the people involved have been fired in disgrace. I am no expert in criminal law, but it seems that some of what happened here‐for example, the falsification of the Form 302‐must be a crime. If crimes were committed, they should be prosecuted. The prosecution of General Flynn should be dismissed, and those involved in it should be, if not prosecuted, censured.
#2
If Judge Sullivan rules in favor of General Flynn that exculpatory information was withheld; that would seem to indicate prosecutorial misconduct. Will the DOJ go after that? Some on the Mueller team have a history of prosecutorial misconduct in the past.
Which social media genius decided to film Bernie Sanders --the presidential candidate people accuse of being a socialist -- in front of empty grocery shelvespic.twitter.com/hpPRh7irRU
Why is less clear. Either he's a Trumpian mole, or else he really does believe in the Leninist conception of history whereby Mensheviks and other leftists need to be destroyed so that the vanguard i.e. Bolshevik have the run of the leftist landscape...
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/30/2019 12:17
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Christ! (Or, possibly, Allah!) That's a sad sight. The Catholic Charities food pantry in my town of 400 people - a spare room in the senior center, basically - is better stocked than that.
#9
#7 that's US Rep Tlaib the Terrorist Supporter with Bernie the Bolshevik
What a shitty political class we have.
How did we get to the point that we have a terrorist supporter named Tlaib joining forces with a left-wing presidential candidate who's a warmed-over Bolshevik?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Populist Iraqi holy manMoqtada Tater al-Sadr ... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah... joined thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Tuesday in the holy city of Najaf, an AFP correspondent said.
Al-Sadr, who has backed the protests, was spotted shortly after airport sources told AFP the militiaman-turned-leader had landed in his native Najaf from Iran.
On Monday, al-Sadr called on Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi to announce early parliamentary elections overseen by the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... and without the participation of existing political parties.
Al-Sadr’s bloc, Saeroon, which came first in a 2018 election and helped bring Abdul Mahdi’s fragile coalition government to power, said on Saturday it was going into opposition until the demands of anti-government protesters were met.
[DAWN] Thousands of firefighters battled into the early hours on Monday, losing ground to the huge blaze burning through the famed Sonoma wine region in northern California.
California’s governor declared a statewide emergency on Sunday as the wind-driven Kincade Fire spread to more than 34,000 acres (14,000 hectares), forcing residents to flee. Signed a recall petition today on Governor Gasbag
In Los Angeles, meanwhile the local fire department issued mandatory evacuation orders after a “very dynamic” brush fire broke out west of a major highway, US 405, near The Getty museum.
Refugees from the Kincade blaze, the largest of more than a dozen burning throughout the state, recalled hasty departures as they waited it out in the safety of a community center in Petaluma, California.
“The police came with loudspeakers. We weren’t expecting it,” said Kathy Amundson, who had to get her 90-year-old mother Joy into a wheelchair and then into the car for the trip out. “We smelled smoke, we couldn’t see it,” she said. “Looks like our home is safe but the fear is wind blowing ambers and then it starts new fires.” Others were not so lucky. The fire has destroyed dozens of homes and vineyards, including the renowned 150-year-old Soda Rock Winery.
“We’ve seen the news. We are devastated,” the owners said in a Facebook message, adding that all staff at the winery — located in the town of Healdsburg, 70 miles north of San Francisco — are safe.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[26 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
Not to kick these idiots when they're down, but how much CO2 and particulate matter (aka soot) do these raging fires release? Doesn't seem very green. Unless blackened is the New Green.
#6
Just maybe they will do as most other states do, controlled burns...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/30/2019 12:07
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Not to kick these idiots when they're down, but how much CO2 and particulate matter (aka soot) do these raging fires release?
Good question, SteveS. Fact is, PG&E could save upwards of $2 billion per year if the state did not compel them to buy the far more expensive "green" energy. That's money that could have been spent on upgrading the utility's 100-year-old infrastructure that has been proven to be the cause of so many of these fires. The carbon emissions from these fires are far greater than all the oil and natural gas would have generated. But Newsom would prefer to blame Trump.
Ever see a power plant pollute this much?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 13:23
Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] At least 14 people were killed and 865 maimed overnight after Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters in the holy city of Kerbala, medical and security sources told Rooters on Tuesday. Allan is pleased
Three protesters died in the southern city of Nassiriya from wounds sustained in earlier protests, medical sources said.
Iraqis erupted into the streets for a fourth day on Monday in a second wave of protests against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government and a political elite they say are corrupt and out of touch. The total corpse count since the unrest started on October 1 is now at least 250 people.
The unrest, driven by discontent over economic hardship and deep-seated corruption, has broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq, which from 2003 to 2017 endured a foreign occupation, civil war and an insurgency by the turbanIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
Security forces fired tear gas at school and university students on Monday who defied a warning from Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and joined thousands in Baghdad protesting against his government.
Soldiers were seen beating high school students with batons in two Baghdad districts. A Defence Ministry statement condemned the incident and said the soldiers did not represent the Iraqi army as a whole. It did not say if they would be punished.
[NYPost] Britannia is secretly planning to let dozens of "jihadi brides" and their kids come home from Syria, according to a report Sunday. Bad mistake
Aid organizations believe up to 60 children with British citizenship are still in the war-torn country, mostly living with their mothers, with government officials until now ruling out their return.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson ...pro-Brexit British prime minister, succeeding no-Brexit Theresa May. BoJo is noted as much for his sparkling personality and his hair as for his Conservative policies.... and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab are now actively trying to work out how to repatriate them, according to The Sunday Times of London, citing official correspondence.
The move goes against the advice of the country’s Ministry of Defence and Home Office, which fears it will have to keep jihadi brides ‐ women who have married krazed killer fighters ‐ under surveillance if they accompany their children, the report states.
"The PM made a decision and we will all work some way to sort it, but it is very difficult given the security situation," a minister who confirmed Johnson’s order to bring home some of the children told the paper.
Another government source insisted, however, that the shift does not mean everyone is guaranteed a return ‐ they will instead be considered "on a case by case basis," the paper said.
It is a marked reversal for the government, with Home Secretary Priti Patel saying just last month that she was "simply not willing to allow anybody who has been an active supporter or campaigner of ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... in this country," according to The Sun.
Officials have already started contacting relatives of some of those trying to return home ‐ with the suggestion that some will be prosecuted on their return to Britannia, the Sunday Times states.
Ministerial sources told the paper that repatriated mothers could be charged with child abuse or neglect ‐ removing the need to prove they were actively working as jihadists.
"There is no excuse whatsoever to abandon these children. Indeed they are the legal responsibility of the British state," former cabinet minister David Davis wrote in an op-ed for the Times.
He spoke of the hellish conditions, including one teenage girl who said she was "raped, forced to marry, and saw my father beheaded."
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen conditions as appalling and undignified," one Save The Children charity worker told him. "There are reports of a four-year-old boy drowning in a fecal pit and a seven-year-old burning to death after his tent was set alight."
Davis stressed that the children "should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes."
"Many have been born in the region to British parents who made the grotesquely misguided and irresponsible decision to go to Syria," he wrote, saying that if left in Syria the children would become "our enemy on the battlefields of the future."
"The safest way to handle these youngsters is for them to be reintegrated into British society," the MP insisted.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[19 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Al Jazeera] Dissident politicians from the Indian state of Manipur on Tuesday said they were unilaterally declaring independence from India and forming a government-in-exile in Britannia.
The former princely state became part of India in 1949, two years after the country won independence from Britannia, but has since seen decades-long violent separatist campaigns.
Narengbam Samarjit, external affairs minister in the self-declared Manipur State Council, said the exiled government would push for recognition at the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... "We will run the de jure exiled government here ... from today onwards," he told news hounds in London after a declaration of independence first announced in Manipur in 2012 was read aloud.
"We will seek recognition from different nations ... to become a [UN] member. We hope many of the countries will recognise our independence."
Manipur, one of India's smallest states with a population of about just 2.8 million people, is one of the so-called "Seven Sisters" - a group of restive northeastern states.
The region, encircled by five other countries and connected to the rest of India by a sliver of land arching over Bangladesh, has been wracked by armed conflict and instability.
VIOLENCE PART OF LIFE It has spawned more than 100 fighter groups over the decades whose demands range from autonomy to secession.
Violence has been part of daily life for decades in Manipur, which borders Myanmar, with a strong presence of the Indian military.
The state has a strong ethnic mix, and its Meitei, Naga, Kuki and Pangal communities are all deeply committed to preserving their own cultural autonomy.
Its people have also always tended to look eastwards in their search for cultural links.
Samarjit said he hoped the world would support its independence cause.
"We are not free there and our history is going to be destroyed, our culture is going to be extinct," he warned.
"So the UN should listen ... we raise our voice to the whole world that the people living in Manipur are human beings."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[20 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And with that they can kiss their property and business interests in the state of Manipur goodbye. Businesses propped up with Chinese money.
[APNEWS] George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was a key figure in the FBI’s Russia probe, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Democrat Katie Hill.
Papadopoulos didn’t immediately comment, but on Sunday he tweeted, "I love my state too much to see it run down by candidates like Hill. All talk, no action, and a bunch of sellouts."
Hill, whose district covers Los Angeles County, announced her resignation on Sunday amid an ethics probe into allegations she had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
She’s admitted to a consensual relationship with a campaign staff member, but denied one with a congressional staff member, which would violate U.S. House rules. She’s called herself the victim of Dire Revenge porn by an abusive husband she is divorcing.
Papadopoulos, meanwhile, was a key figure in the FBI’s Russia probe into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. That investigation began after revelations that Papadopoulos had learned in 2016 from a Maltese professor that Russia had "dirt" on Crooked Hillary Clinton ...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away... in the form of thousands of emails. He then used that connection to try to set up a meeting between President Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... , then a candidate, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... Papadopoulos eventually pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and cooperated in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. He was sentenced in fall 2018 to 14 days in prison.
He enters a field of at least three other Republicans and one Democrat. The other Republicans are Navy veteran Mike Garcia, bank executive Angela Jacobs Underwood and Mark Cripe, who works for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Former Republican Rep. Steve Knight, who lost the seat to Hill in 2018, is also considering running.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
According to USA: "A special election to fill Hill’s seat cannot be set by Gov. Gavin Newsom until she officially leaves Congress, which she has not done. It’s possible there is no special election, depending on how long she waits to leave office. That would make the next election for the seat in November 2020."
There are three Republicans and one Democrat who have filed for Hill's seat. How does CA handle this in a special election or the general election? Is there going to be a risk of splitting the Pub vote with 3 Pub candidates; thus insuring the Dem will win?
#2
Rest assured that Newsom and Hill will consult with each other to determine the time that will be most advantageous for Democrats and most disadvantageous for Republicans.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/30/2019 12:09
Comments ||
Top||
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish military and their allied bandidosgunnies allegedly captured 14 soldiers of the Syrian army in the northeastern part of the country, the al-Arabiya TV channel informed, citing Kurdish sources.
"The Ottoman Turkish army and the formations loyal to it have captured 14 soldiers of the Syrian army in the Tell Tamer settlement," the TV channel noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sky News Arabia TV channel informed of festivities between Syrian and Ottoman Turkish units.
On October 9, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... launched a military incursion into northern Syria, codenaming it Operation Peace Spring, with the Ottoman Turkish Armed Forces and the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... carrying it out. Erdogan’s military campaign kicked off with Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on the positions of the previously US-backed Kurdish units.
The Erdogan government claimed that its goal is to clear the border area of what it calls ’terrorists’ (Turkey’s broad label of the Kurdish forces) and establish a 30 km-long buffer zone in Syria’s north, where over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey would resettle. Ankara’s incursion into Syria has triggered an outcry in the region and across the world. The Syrian SANA news agency branded the operation as an act of aggression, while the international community condemned Erdogan’s military operation.
On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... and Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... signed a memorandum on joint actions in northeastern Syria. According to the document, as of noon October 23, Russian military police and Syrian border guards have started to monitor the withdrawal of Kurdish military formations to the depth of 30 km from the border.
[Libya Observer] Libyan Coast Guard has rescued 53 illegal immigrants colonists aboard a rubber boat, about 75 northwest of Abu Kammash district.
The Coast Guard clarified in a statement yesterday that among the rescued immigrants colonists were 14 women, confirming that they were of African nationalities.
The immigrants colonists were disembarked at the landing point of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... Port where they were provided with humanitarian and medical assistants before being handed over to Janzour Shelter of the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is currently involved in its fiercest battle of the month against the jihadist rebels in northeastern Latakia.
Backed by heavy Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s from their Russian allies, the Syrian Arab Army has been involved in a two-day-long battle for the key mountaintop town of Kabani, which is currently under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... and the Turkestan Islamic Party.
The Syrian Arab Army managed to capture the Zuwayqat Mountain on Monday afternoon after making another big push to reach Kabani; however, they are now deadlocked in an intense firefight to capture the last hills before the mountaintop town.
According to a military source near the front-lines, the Syrian Arab Army has suffered heavy casualties during this 48-hour-long battle, but the armed forces’ high command is still dead set on capturing the town, despite these losses.
The jihadist rebels have refused to concede these last hills before Kabani and will likely launch a big counter-offensive in the coming hours to drive back the Syrian Arab Army from the area.
For the jihadists, losing Kabani would be a much bigger blow to them than losing Khan Sheikhoun and northern Hama, as the town overlooks the strategic city of Jisr al-Shughour and the northern part of the al-Ghaab Plain.
[SOFREP] On Saturday night, approximately 70 special operators hailing from Delta Force’s A Squadron and the 75th Ranger Regiment stormed a compound in the Idlib Province of Northeast Syria, successfully neutralizing one of history’s most despotic leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The mission has been hailed as a complete success, with no American troops lost and one service dog injured, but amidst all the media hype surrounding this story, it’s easy to forget just how dangerous this operation was for the troops involved before they ever even put their boots on the ground.
According to SOFREP sources within the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the U.S. Army’s legendary 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), also commonly known as the Nightstalkers, were the aviation unit tasked with ferrying Delta and the Rangers in and out of the fight. In total, eight helicopters (a combination of MH-60 Blackhawks and MH-47 Chinooks) participated. And it seems the engagement that ultimately ended with al-Baghdadi taking his own life actually kicked off well before America’s special operators were anywhere near the compound.
Although not yet publicly disclosed, sources within JSOC confirmed for SOFREP that the assault force launched from Erbil, Iraq ‐ some 450 miles away from al-Baghdadi’s compound. This is a far greater distance to cover by air en route to an objective than during the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden, greatly increasing the risk of early warning for the target as well as exposing aircraft and personnel to a greater likelihood of ground-to-air engagement. In order to make this flight less dangerous, the Russian military was notified of the impending raid so as to limit the chances that the American aircraft might be engaged by Russian or Syrian air defense assets.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[MarketWatch] Comments from the pair of deep-pocketed investors join others including Leon Cooperman and Robert Citrone That’s how Steve Cohen, the man behind the$15 billion hedge fund Point72 Asset Management, sees the run-up to the 2020 election playing out for investors.
Cohen was speaking at the Robin Hood Investors Conference in New York on Monday, according to Bloomberg. He was joined by fellow hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, who agreed the market is careening toward a volatile future.
For his part, Jones said that if Elizabeth Warren were to win the election, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% would drop by about 25% and economic growth in the U.S. would slip to 1% from estimates of more than 2% this year.
Cohen predicted Warren only need win the Democratic nomination for a double-digit drop in the stock market to take place, according to Bloomberg’s report.
The views of Cohen and Jones echo those of fellow Wall Street billionaires Rob Citrone and Leon Cooperman, in making bearish market forecasts should Warren’s rise toward the White House continue.
Jones told the audience that Warren’s more centrist opponents, like Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, would also be a drag on the market, just not as severe.
Trump, on the other hand, would boost the S&P 500 to 3,600, Jones estimated, which would be an 18% surge from the close of trading on Monday
#5
the financial sector was trying as hard as it could to stop Trump and they couldn't
they are pretty reconciled to Trump now
but no amount of financial warnings from big money people will stop Warren or Sanders; in fact they probably welcome such moves as it plays well with their base
what is interesting is whether Obama would actually vigorously support Warren or Sanders or just give them mealy mouth support
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/30/2019 13:20
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Maybe Warren should try black-face. It worked for Trudeau to get Obama's love..
[ZeroHedge] No wonder Democratic Party bosses and mainstream media are trying to bury presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard. She is the only candidate, perhaps the only politician in the US, who is telling the American public exactly what they need to know about what their government and military are really up to: fighting illegal regime-change wars, and to boot, sponsoring terrorists for that purpose.
It didn’t come much clearer nor more explicit than when Gabbard fired up the Democratic TV debate this week. It was billed as the biggest televised presidential debate ever, and the Hawaii Representative told some prime-time home-truths to the nation: Uh huh - ZH Bullshit already in the second paragraph. Actually: CNN drew 8.3 million viewers for 2019’s fourth Democratic debate this month. That was the lowest tally thus far in the race leading up to the 2020 presidential election
"Donald Trump has blood of the Kurds on his hands, but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties who have supported this ongoing regime-change war in Syria that started in 2011... along with many in the mainstream media who have been championing and cheer-leading this regime-change war."
The 38-year-old military veteran went on to denounce how the US has sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists for its objective of overthrowing the government in Damascus.
It was a remarkably damning assessment of US policy in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. And it was by no means the first time that Gabbard has leveled with the American people on the brutality and criminality of Washington’s so-called "interventions".
The other 11 Democratic candidates on the stage during the TV debate looked agog after Gabbard’s devastating and calmly delivered statement. All the others have proffered the false narrative that US forces are in Syria to "fight terrorism". They deplore Trump’s announcement last week to pull back US troops from northeast Syria because, they say, it will undermine the fight against Islamic State (IS or ISIS) and other Al Qaeda affiliates. They also condemn Trump for "betraying Kurdish allies" by his partial troop withdrawal.
President Donald Trump talks about "ending endless wars" and "bringing our troops home". But he still premises his views on a credulous belief that the US under his watch "defeated ISIS 100 per cent". In that way, he essentially shares the same corny view as the Democrats and media that America is a force for good, that it is the "good guys wearing white hats riding into the sunset".
On the other hand, Gabbard stands alone in telling the American people the plain and awful truth. US policy is the fundamental problem. Ending its regime-change war in Syria and elsewhere and ending its diabolical collusion with terror groups is the way to bring peace to the Middle East and to spare ordinary Americans from the economic disaster of spiraling war debts. American citizens need to know the truth about the horror their government, military, media and politicians have inflicted not just on countries in the Middle East, but also from the horrendous boomerang consequences of this criminal policy on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Americans, including millions of veterans destroyed by injuries, trauma, suicide, and drug abuse.
Following the TV debate this week, it seems that Gabbard won the popular vote with her truth-telling. A major online poll by the Drudge Report found that she stole a march on all the other candidates, winning approval from nearly 40 per cent of voters. Top ticket candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden were trailing behind with 7 per cent or less.
Gabbard has clearly struck a deep chord with the US public in her honest depiction of American wars.
Despite her shattering exposé and seeming appreciation by the public, most mainstream media tried to bury her after the TV debate. Outlets like Vox and CNN declared that Warren was the winner of the debate, whose talking points were mainly about domestic policy issues. Like the other candidates, Warren plies the propaganda narrative of US forces "fighting terrorism". Vox even slated Gabbard as "a loser" in the debate and claimed she had made "blatantly false" statements about the US’ role in Syria.
Other mainstream news outlets chose to ignore reporting on Gabbard’s demolishing of the official propaganda about American wars. Earlier this week, CNN and the New York Times smeared her as a "Russian asset" and an "apologist for Assad", referencing a visit she made to Syria in 2017 when she held talks with President Assad.
The Democratic National Committee is claiming that Gabbard does not have sufficient support in polls it deems worthy for her to qualify for appearing in the next TV debate in November.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
10/30/2019
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[27 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Ending its regime-change war in Syria and elsewhere and ending its diabolical collusion with terror groups is the way to bring peace to the Middle East
More sophomoric tripe from anonymous paranoids. I don't see the wisdom of keeping a substantial forward presence in Syria, but it's simply retarded to assert that this presence is "diabolical." ISIS is diabolical. The Iranian mullah are wicked and thoroughly corrupt. Our troops are none if the above.
The other idiocy in this addled rant are the twin delusions that Peace Is At Hand in that region that thrives on constant war and that it's only the evil genie, the Great Satan, that's preventing rainbows 'n' fairies from sprouting across the region.
#2
Ok, ok....comparing apples to oranges. I get that. But once again, Switzerland. No wars or conflicting foreign entanglements in over 700 years. They just keep to themselves and mind their own business.
Is there something we might possibly learn from these very private and industrious people ?
#5
Switzerland. No wars or conflicting foreign entanglements in over 700 years.
Wasn't much of a war when the French Revolutionary armies overran the place. Looting the banks worked out fine. They 'reorganized' it as the Helvetic Republic. Further 'reorganization' occurred after their civil war.
#6
Thanks for that interesting link P2k. The food would have been much more interesting, but thankfully, we did't have to have French assistance with "central government" and the "looting of our banks."
Our own elected officials are accomplishing all of that on their own.
#7
Think of the entire democrat party as a magician, then remember the maxim: "Don't listen to the magician's patter, watch what his hands are doing." Gabbard is the magician's patter.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/30/2019 8:17
Comments ||
Top||
#8
OK. I admit it. I'm I simple man. I think in simple terms. If I see a neighbor beating his kids, starving them and attacking other neighbors, I going to do something about it. No one has ever convinced me that ignoring a thug is the best solution. International politics is the neighborhood writ large.
Ok, so you DO know that the US government supported Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria, right? Please tell me you know this. Because if you don't...WTF? Their videos were everywhere. The local affiliate of Al-Qaeda in Syria is called Al-Nusra.
International politics is the neighborhood writ large.
This is pure, 100% globalism. The United States is NOT repeat NOT world police. Who asked us to meddle in other countries business? Who?
The job of the US government is to take care of the American people. At best, we can serve as a positive example for others to follow. Reagan's "shining city on a hill" metaphor. What we do NOT do is go and get involved in every petty dispute between cultures that have been fighting for thousands of years. That's the way not just to fail, but go broke doing it.
Imagine that the US had spent six trillion dollars improving itself in the past 18 years instead of on useless wars. We would have free college education for every citizen, a border wall 30 feet high, free puppies and kittens for everyone and jetpacks. But what did we get instead? Graveyards full of good people from middle America and a skyrocketing debt.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
10/30/2019 10:19
Comments ||
Top||
#11
^ Moi, I like Switzerland, a lot. If I had to live anywhere outside the US, Switzerland would be my go-to country.
Great culture, thoroughly democratic, great health care, normal upstanding people with a relatively low tolerance for bullshit and identity politics.
Gorgeous country, great food, clean air, healthy environment, super-easy to get to any of a dozen lovely historical capitals.
But they have something we don't have: culture homogeneity. They're all white christian Europeans with a deep commitment to the legacy of Roman / Christian Central Europe. They love their heritage. They will fight for their heritage, and they mean it: IIUC, all able-bodied males--every one of them-- are for all purposes in the reserves, trained and armed and ready to defend their nation at, so to speak, a minute's notice.
Now compare these healthy, focused, quietly proud Spartans with our Shitshow sadsack once-and-former republic. Yes, we have our own Helvetians who love our heritage and would fight for it, many of whom came to the country from abroad and chose this higher path.
But American culture at large and far too many Americans are, like Big Mike and his fellow global grifter husband, shitty opportunists who hate our heritage and run it down every chance they get. Those Americans have zero in common with proud Helvetians.
Culture matters. Hugely. Unless/until you replace the Grifter class with tens of millions of Helvetians, there's no way we could emulate the Swiss.
#12
Imagine that the US had spent six trillion dollars improving itself in the past 18 years instead of on useless wars. We would have free college education for every citizen
The first cogent argument for being involved in ME (except oil that no longer relevant) I ever heard.
#16
#2 This might also have something to do with it, an armed citizenry:
The regulations of the Swiss militia system stipulate that the soldiers keep their own personal equipment, including all personally assigned weapons, at home.
#18
Our culture hates everything that the Swiss, in their quietly proud unassuming way, still revere:
- the Christian/European cultural heritage
- democratic federalism + respect for the nation's constitution
- the rights and privileges of citizenship (as opposed to open borders and "global citizen" nonsense)
- a rugged, armed citizenry well-trained in the arts of national defense
#19
Plus, Switzerland is a fortress that doubles up as a paradise on earth. The dual-use rigged-to-blow architecture can hide armaments and explosives, the regular security drills show a keen sense of security and a vigilant mindset.
#20
Bernie Sanders' "free college" program that was widely mocked as unaffordable? $60 billion a year. Trump's wall? $25 billion one-time. This is pennies compared to our endless, useless foreign wars.
Honestly it would have been a better idea to send C-17s to Afghanistan to bomb them with pallets full of $100 bills. It would have worked better and been cheaper.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
10/30/2019 13:13
Comments ||
Top||
#23
Is there something we might possibly learn from these very private and industrious people ?
Be a small, unimportant country (known before modern banking as specializing in cheese, lovely mountain hikes, and mercenaries because they had nothing else to trade) that’s impossible to march an army through — not to mention all the villagers are armed to the teeth? ;-) I believe one or another of the Roman generals commented about barbaric Helvetians climbing up on their mountainsides to drop things on invaders...
Raclette is a traditional Swiss meal that consists entirely of cheese softened next to a fire, eaten with bread, pickled pearl onions and possibly a bit of sausage — not even so ornate as fondue, which says something.
#24
Great culture, thoroughly democratic, great health care, normal upstanding people with a relatively low tolerance for bullshit and identity politics.
All true... except for the healthcare part. I found that out the hard way when my father got food poisoning in Crans-Montana. The healthcare was something out of a Benny Hill sketch.
#25
But they have something we don't have: culture homogeneity. They're all white christian Europeans with a deep commitment to the legacy of Roman / Christian Central Europe.
I think you haven't been in Zurich for a while.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/30/2019 16:49
Comments ||
Top||
#26
Be a small, unimportant country (known before modern banking as specializing in cheese, lovely mountain hikes, and mercenaries because they had nothing else to trade)
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended the National Database and Registration Authority's (Nadra) decision to cancel the citizenship of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one that was led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spent more time running his madrassah until his secretary rubbed him out in a jealous rage. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah.
Hearing a petition filed by the former senator and minister, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah sought a reply from Nadra within two weeks and directed the authority as well as the interior ministry not to take any sort of action against Hamdullah.
On Sunday, it was reported that Nadra declared Hamdullah an 'alien' after finding that he had 'fraudulently obtained' his computerised national identity card (CNIC), which was subsequently cancelled.
While the government decision had been taken two weeks prior, it came to the limelight only days before the JUI-F’s so-called 'Azadi March' on Islamabad. A notification issued by the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) barring TV channels from inviting Hamdullah to talk shows as a guest had referred to a Nadra letter dated Oct 11.
In his reaction, the JUI-F leader blamed state institutions of 'political victimisation' and said no one in his family, including his father, had ever been accused of being an alien. He said his father was an employee of the education department in 1974 and he had already provided documents to Nadra to prove it.
During court proceedings today, Hamdullah said Nadra had cancelled his CNIC and he had submitted a petition against the decision; however, no action had been taken on the application for a week. He said Nadra's decision should be declared void and the interior ministry should be stopped from taking any action.
Officials representing Nadra told the court that in December 2018, a letter was written to the JUI-F leader regarding his citizenship and a district-level committee had been formed. Following this, Hamdullah had appeared before the committee, which had asked him for his documentation.
According to Nadra, the documents presented by the JUI-F leader had turned out to be "bogus".
Justice Minallah asked if Hamdullah had any children and whether they had CNIC cards, to which his lawyer responded in the affirmative.
The counsel added that one of Hamdullah's sons was even in the army.
"Can you doubt the citizenship of the husband of a mother who sends her son to sacrifice himself for the country?" the IHC chief justice remarked.
After hearing initial arguments, the IHC decided to suspend Nadra's decision to cancel Hamdullah's citizenship.
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.
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.
[Free Beacon] Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said he would support leveraging American aid to Israel to pressure the country into changing its policies.
[Human Events] 
...Arabic for 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Immigration arrests at the U.S. border with Mexico soared 88 percent in fiscal 2019 in what U.S. officials on Tuesday labeled a crisis while unveiling their latest measure to combat the trend: expediting the deportation of asylum seekers.
But sadly, when we make a conscience effort to be friendly and get along, she is still not happy. I somehow doubt she will ever be happy. 
[The Federalist] House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is overseeing the ongoing illegitimate impeachment inquiry set in motion by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is reportedly telling witnesses testifying not to answer questions asked by Republican lawmakers.
[Breitbart] National Security Council (NSC) official Alexander Vindman showed up to testify Tuesday as part of the Democrats’ closed-door impeachment inquiry into President Trump in full military uniform.
Bingo at table #17. 'Porky the Pig' face betrays the effort however. 
[DAWN] THE public opening of the 
[TWITTER] 
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
...embracing their inner Islamic Brute...
...embracing their inner Islamic Brute...
Remember to always bring flowers when invading a country. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Moqtada 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as 
...
...
[SOFREP] On Saturday night, approximately 70 special operators hailing from Delta Force’s A Squadron and the 75th Ranger Regiment stormed a compound in the Idlib Province of Northeast Syria, successfully neutralizing one of history’s most despotic leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The mission has been hailed as a complete success, with no American troops lost and one service dog injured, but amidst all the media hype surrounding this story, it’s easy to forget just how dangerous this operation was for the troops involved before they ever even put their boots on the ground.
[MarketWatch] Comments from the pair of deep-pocketed investors join others including Leon Cooperman and Robert Citrone That’s how Steve Cohen, the man behind the$15 billion hedge fund Point72 Asset Management, sees the run-up to the 2020 election playing out for investors.
[ZeroHedge] No wonder Democratic Party bosses and mainstream media are trying to bury presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard. She is the only candidate, perhaps the only politician in the US, who is telling the American public exactly what they need to know about what their government and military are really up to: fighting illegal regime-change wars, and to boot, sponsoring terrorists for that purpose.
