But it does kinda make them untrustworthy in general. How to deal with someone who's otherwise normal, but susceptible to having Allen whisper that they need to kill all us infidels at any time.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2024 01:50 ||
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[120 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)
#1
But It Doesn't Make Every Muslim A Terrorist
In the same way not every American is a baseball player?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Armenian army units did not fire at Azerbaijani positions on the border with Nakhichevan, the military department in Yerevan said in response to a statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, today Azerbaijan announced shelling of its positions in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. According to the military department in Baku, the shelling was recorded on April 7 at about 17.15 local time (16.15 Moscow time). Units of the Armenian armed forces opened fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of the settlement of Shada in the Shahbuz region, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
The report of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense that on April 7 at 1715 (16.15 Moscow time) units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on Azerbaijani positions located in the southwestern part of the border zone is not true, according to a release published on the website of the Armenian Ministry of Defense.
Let us remind you that earlier today Azerbaijan stated that the Armenian military fired at Azerbaijani positions on the border 16 times. Yerevan responded with a counter accusation of shelling the positions of the Armenian military in the Syunik and Gegharkunik regions.
On March 31, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of amassing military equipment to the contact line. Yerevan denied these statements, accusing Baku of disinformation and publishing edited footage. On April 2, as well as April 5 and 6, Baku and Yerevan also exchanged accusations of shelling.
[IsraelTimes] Worker said to back off after companion contacts Israeli ambassador; incident follows similar interrogation of Supernova massacre survivors at Manchester airport
A freed hostage and a woman accompanying her on a Defense Ministry-sponsored speaking tour in the Netherlands were reportedly harassed and publicly humiliated by a security worker in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Friday.
The Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands told Israel’s Ynet news site that they were aware of the incident and other similar recent incidents.
According to a Ynet report, the women encountered the worker, who was a shift supervisor at the time, during their passport check, where at his request they moved to a slower-moving line. He then reportedly told them they could go through the faster passport check, with the caveat that if it transpired that one of them could not pass, they would be fined 350 euros ($380).
Later, when the women were waiting to have their carry-on luggage screened, they said that the same worker pulled them out of the line and yelled at them in front of dozens of passengers, accusing them of fraud and loudly identifying them as Israelis, repeatedly saying the name of Israel’s national airline El Al.
Berated by the security worker, the companion told him she would contact Modi Ephraim, Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, but the guard was incredulous. When he realized the woman was actually speaking with the Israeli envoy, she said, he let them go, quietly telling them that the airport would "collect the bill for the fraud from El Al."
"It was very clear that he saw the Israeli passport and got ticked off," the woman accompanying the released hostage told Ynet, adding that "he had sadism in his eyes." The former hostage in question asked not to be identified in the report.
Alerted by Ephraim, El Al’s security officer at the airport rushed to the scene, according to the report. Ahead of the officer’s arrival, the women were moved to the back of the security line by the shift supervisor before he walked away.
Another worker was said to have yelled at the women at this point for loitering, but let them skip the line after the woman accompanying the hostage warned him that there would be consequences for further abuse. The El Al security officer then assisted the women in lodging a complaint with the airport’s police against the shift supervisor who they say had humiliated them.
In a similar incident several weeks ago, Supernova survivors Daniel and Neriya Sharabi, brothers who saved dozens of people amid the Hamas attack on the music festival on October 7, were reportedly detained and interrogated for hours at Manchester Airport by Border Force officers who told them they have to "make sure that they are not going to do what [Israel is] doing in Gaza over here."
British Home Secretary James Cleverly subsequently announced he would investigate the Border Force’s treatment of two brothers.
[Rudaw] A right-wing member of the German parliament told Rudaw in an interview that Berlin has not done enough to prosecute what he said was over 5,000 suspected "war criminals" from Iraq and Syria who have entered the country since 2014.
"Reports say that between 2014 and 2019, we had more than 5,000 war criminals of Syria and of Iraq, mostly people coming from ISIS [Islamic State], that migrated to Germany alone, not to other countries," Martin Sichert, an MP from the populist Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, told Rudaw’s Dilbixwin Dara on Tuesday.
Claiming that German police had investigated just a handful of tips they received, he said, "Germany is really not doing enough... Whoever is a war criminal is not welcome in Germany. That must be the message."
German courts have delivered verdicts in several cases of crimes committed by ISIS and the Syrian regime.
German Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in late March said that the threat level from ISIS remains high following an attack in Moscow, claimed by the group, which killed over 140 people. Berlin is set to introduce temporary border controls as it seeks to tighten security measures for the upcoming European Football Championship, which it will be hosting starting from June 14.
Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS. The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
In October, Germany decided to keep their armed forces deployed in Iraq until October 31, 2024.
GERMANY ’NOT INTERESTED’ IN MONITORING AFRIN
The right-wing lawmaker also blasted the German government for ignoring "huge human rights violations" committed by Turkey and its affiliated groups in northern Syria, especially Afrin, due to Berlin’s relations with Ankara.
"We have big problems, because the German government is not really interested in monitoring the situation in Afrin because Turkey is an ally of Germany in the NATO and they work together very much. And because they work so close together, the German government says they don’t want to step the Turks on their feet. So they’re trying to put the situation in Afrin under the blanket, not talk about it," said Sichert.
Turkey and Turkish-backed forces have routinely been accused of committing grave human rights violations, killings, abductions, rape, as well as forcing the displacement of Kurds from northern Syria.
According to Sichert, Germany does not act or mention the violations committed by Ankara in northern Syria because the government does not want to "upset" Turkish voters in the country. He also accused Berlin of keeping the situation hidden so as not to enrage the German public, as ignoring Turkey’s crimes in northern Syria contradicts German foreign policy.
"We have some millions of Turkish people living here in Germany and they [government] want them as voters, and they also want to work with Turkey together in NATO, probably also against Russia, and so they don’t want to step on the feet of Turkey. They don't want to talk about the bad things that are going on, that Turkey or the Turkish army is doing," he said.
Since 2016, Ankara has carried out successive operations to expel Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from Syria’s north. Its military campaigns are aimed at establishing a "safe zone" - a buffer between the Turkey-Syria border and areas under Kurdish control.
Turkish forces have invaded key Kurdish-majority towns near the border such as Afrin, Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain), and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). Ankara has repeatedly threatened to carry out another operation imminently.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report in February accused Turkey and its proxy militias of being responsible for an array of "serious abuses and potential war crimes" in areas it occupies in northern Syria.
Officials responsible for these abuses, some of whom hold senior positions, have not been prosecuted, according to HRW.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/08/2024 00:00 ||
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[102 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Human rights advocates are very, very selective?
[Gateway] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), along with other members of the U.S. intelligence community, are pushing for Congress to expand Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 in order to fight the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
According to the Brennan Center of Justice, Section 702, "Authorizes the government to collect the communications of non-Americans located abroad without a warrant from a court. While this surveillance is supposed to target foreigners, it inevitably sweeps in Americans’ private phone calls, emails, and text messages too."
USA Today has reported that top CIA officials spent most of 2023-2024 urging members of Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the FISA Act of 1978.
However, CIA officials believe in its current form, Section 702 limits the intelligence community from targeting everyone involved in the fentanyl trade overseas and are advocating lawmakers to expand Section 702 so U.S. spies will have more liberty when it comes to going after criminals engaged in the fentanyl trade.
Many lawmakers are skeptical of expanding Section 702 due to the CIA previously misusing the law to spy on American citizens.
Sadly, when they say drug lords, we’ve come to understand they mean white Catholics. And once trust is broken…
How about we start with the drug mules and worry about the cell traffic a bit later ?
#1
Never let a crisis go to waste. My guess is the CIA already knows all they need to know about fentanyl just like they did with LSD and all the others. They could stop it if they wanted but they don't want to stop it. They'd rather use it as an excuse to expand their power.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/08/2024 12:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In times of crisis, one often finds the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" (for now). How curious to find myself posting the ACLU website on this with interesting/relevant content. Strange times indeed!
"Given our nation’s history of abusing its surveillance authorities, and the secrecy surrounding the program, we should be concerned that Section 702 is and will be used to disproportionately target disfavored groups, whether minority communities, political activists, or even journalists."
[ShabelleMedia] The Mumbai police arrested nine pirates who were brought to India on Wednesday, days after the Navy caught them for hijacking an Iranian fishing vessel with 23 Pak crew members on board off the Somalia coast, an official said.
The hijacking incident took place on March 29, he said.
The Indian Navy rescued the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel and its crew after more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as part of the anti-piracy operation. At the time of incident, the vessel was approximately 90 nm southwest of Socotra.
"After the successful operation of the Indian Navy team, the pirates surrendered and the crew members were rescued. The pirates were then taken into custody by the Navy and after six days of journey, the pirates were brought to Mumbai," he said.
The Navy then handed over the pirates to the city police, he added.
The Mumbai police started the paperwork but haven't done much else under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, the Passports Act and the Foreigners Act against the pirates and placed them under arrest, he said.
The arrested pirates were identified as Gelie Jama Farah (50), Ahmed Bashir Omar (42), Abdikarin Mohmmad Shire (34), Adan Hasan Warmase (44), Mohammed Abdi Ahmed (34), Abdikadir Mohmmad Ali )(28), Aydid Mohmud Jimale (30), Said Yasin Adan (25) and Jama Said Elmi (18), the police said.
The action comes two weeks after the Navy rescued another vessel and 17 hostages, and captured 35 armed pirates in a nearly 40-hour dramatic mid-sea operation off the Somalia coast. These 35 pirates were also brought to Mumbai and placed under arrest by the police.
[Rudaw] The United States is gravely concerned about the proliferation of Iranian weapons across the region and is working with the Iraqi government to prevent the smuggling of illicit weapons, including arms that can take down an airplane.
"We have definitely witnessed Iranian proliferation of weapons throughout the world. And that is a very serious concern," Karen Chandler, the director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement at the US Department of State, told Rudaw in an interview on Thursday.
"One of the things that is most concerning to us is something that people often call shoulder fired missiles, or manned portable air defense systems, MANPADS. My office has a MANPADS Task Force, where we specifically look at how we can prevent the proliferation of this type of weapons from being taken into the hands of criminal and terrorist groups, and, because those shoulder fired missiles, they can target a civilian airliner and take down an airplane. So, since 2018, we have worked with the Iraqi government to train them, so that they can recognize this type of a weapon, even if it's broken down into its component parts and help prevent it from being smuggled," she said.
In Iraq there are a number of gangs that are backed by Iran, including the Islamic Resistance® in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that grabbed credit for repeated attacks on US forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan late last year and early this year. One of the gangs threatened US military aircraft in Iraq’s skies last year.
The US is supporting the Iraqi government in the fight against the 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.... s (ISIS) and providing them with weapons. In May 2022, Iraq's Ministry of Defense signed contracts with the US and La Belle France to import advanced weapons, despite concerns the gangs could gain access to the weaponry.
"When the United States provides weapons to the Iraqi government, we are provided with assurances that they will be used for the purpose that we intend them to be used, and that they will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law," Chandler said.
"If we discover that they are not using these types of weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, whether that means they are targeting civilians, or providing the weapons to an end user who is not the authorized user, then we do not continue," she added.
Chandler also shed light on US cooperation with both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in land mine decontamination. Iraq is among the most contaminated countries in the world.
"We're very proud of the work that we've done with the Iraqi government and with the IKMAA [Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency], because we're able to have a very solid partnership. It's one of our largest programs in the world. We, in the past year, we've given about $40 million of assistance to Iraq, spread throughout the entire country. So, we are able to make tremendous progress. And it requires excellent cooperation with the host government, which in this case, we have," she said.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s oil ministry has begun testing a repaired pipeline that will carry oil from Kirkuk to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, a source within the ministry told Rudaw on Friday.
Baghdad conducted oil pumping trials this week, through three compressor stations in Kirkuk, Beiji and Mosul, a ministry source told Rudaw’s Hemin Baban Rahim on the condition of anonymity.
One third of the pipeline is inside Iraq and Kurdistan Region, and the remaining passes through Turkish territory to Ceyhan port where the oil is loaded into ships.
The pipeline has been out of commission since it was damaged by the Islamic State (ISIS) when the group captured Mosul in 2014.
Repairs are now finished and the pipeline passed the first trial run without any problems, the source said. A second test will be done before exports resume.
Iraq has been repairing its oil infrastructure damaged during the war with ISIS. In February, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani presided over the reopening of the country’s largest oil refinery in Baiji, nearly a decade after it stopped operations.
With the refinery now back online, "we are on track to meet the country's total oil derivatives needs by mid-next year, potentially even surpassing this goal ahead of schedule," Sudani said.
Iraq is one of the world’s top oil producers, pumping out some four million barrels per day according to Sudani. However, it still imports gas and refined products, especially from its neighbor Iran.
"Halting oil derivative imports will save billions of dollars," Sudani said, "that can be reallocated to other public services and economic sectors, marking significant reform."
Sudani’s government has eyed self-sufficiency in several energy-related sectors, especially oil and gas.
Last month, Sudani announced that Iraq will be self-sufficient with respect to oil derivatives within two months and that will lead to over $3 billion annually in savings when it ends imports.
Oil is Iraq’s main source of income, relied on to cover government costs and pay civil servant salaries. The country pocketed $97.5 billion from oil sales in 2023, a significant decline from 2022’s record-setting $115 billion.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/08/2024 00:00 ||
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[83 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
We knew the Mad Mullahs were evil, but this is egregious.
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet security agency said on Sunday it suspected Iran ...The nation is noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence... was behind the delivery of a wreath of flowers to the family home of hostage Liri Albag, in the Yarhiv farming community in central Israel’s Sharon region.
The wreath, of the kind laid at graves, was delivered on Friday with a note reading: "May her memory be a blessing, we all know that the country is more important." The Shin Bet said it would continue investigating the incident.
The agency’s announcement that Iran was "most likely" behind the bouquet quelled speculation on social media that it had been sent by loyalists of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who are dissatisfied with increasingly vocal criticism of the premier from the families of the hostages.
Before the Shin Bet’s announcement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that it "vigorously condemns the violent mostly peaceful behavior against the family of Liri Albag," promising a comprehensive investigation "led by the Forum’s security officer."
Reached for comment before the Shin Bet named Iran as the culprit, the florist from whom the bouquet had been ordered declined to respond to a Channel 12 query.
Later Sunday, the florist, named as Yaakov, said the wreath was ordered online, and that while he didn’t recognize Liri Albag’s name as a hostage, he was wary about the request to deliver the wreath to the home. He said he delayed delivery, tried several times in vain to call the sender, and finally reached him via email. The sender, said Yaakov, indicated that the wreath was to be sent to his own home, and told him, "Yes sir, I want you to deliver the wreath to me, as written [in the online order]."
Speaking to the Walla news site, Liri’s sister Roni Albag said the family didn’t know who sent the wreath, and that upon its discovery, it was taken to the cop shoppe by a local security officer to prevent the family from seeing it
Albag, 19, was taken hostage on October 7 from the Nahal Oz military base, where she was slated to begin service as a surveillance soldier. She is believed to be alive, and remains in 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... with 128 other hostages snatched on October 7, more than 30 of whom have been declared dead based on Israeli intelligence.
Former hostages released in the weeklong November truce said they had seen Albag, and that she had been forced to go between various Gazook families’ homes to cook and clean for them.
#4
His vision was black and white, grainy,
But so was our little plane's brain.
He was thinking real hard!
Cue kaboom and charred card
At the tomb of the sainted Khomeini.
[Rudaw] Amnesia Amnesty International on Thursday reported that at least 853 people were executed across Iran ...The nation is noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence... in 2023, with more than half of the executions carried out for drug-related offenses.
The number of executions last year increased by 48 percent compared to 2022, and also marked Iran’s highest execution rate since 2015.
Amnesty attributed the surge in executions mainly to Tehran’s strict anti-narcotic policies. The watchdog recorded 481 drug-related executions, making up 56 percent of the total number of executions in 2023.
The executions mainly targeted the country's marginalized and economically disadvantaged Baluchi community, which accounted for 138 of the drug-related executions.
"The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances but deploying it on a mass scale for drug-related offences after grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts is a grotesque abuse of power. The Islamic Theocratic Republic’s deadly anti-narcotics policies are contributing to a cycle of poverty and systemic injustice, and further entrenching discrimination against marginalized communities, in particular Iran’s oppressed Baluchi minority," the report cited Diana Eltahawy, Amnesia Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, as saying.
Baluchis are a mainly Sunni ethnic minority in Iran, living predominantly in the southeastern Baluchestan region, near the border with Pakistain.
Tehran has heavily cracked down on drug trade in recent years, carrying out an alarming number of executions. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in April 2023 described his country as being "at the forefront of the fight against drugs."
The Islamic regime also used the death penalty to silence dissent in 2023, according to Amnesty, saying that at least six men were executed in relation to the 2022 Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman Life Freedom) protests, and one in relation to the 2019 protests.
Additionally, the report criticized Iranian authorities for executing a 17-year-old boy, and four other people for crimes committed when they were below the age of 18, reiterating its call on Tehran to abolish the death penalty for crimes committed by children.
Eltahawy called on the international community to press Iran for an immediate moratorium on all executions, stressing that without a robust global response will embolden Tehran to execute thousands more with impunity.
Many of those who are executed in Iran are convicted based on confessions condemned by rights groups as being often obtained under duress.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/08/2024 00:00 ||
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[87 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] Iran produces nine types of missiles with a range sufficient to reach targets in Israel, ISNA reported.
"After the crime of the Zionist regime, which was the attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Iran’s response to this crime will cast a shadow on Israel," the journalists said. Iran is the place where embassies are liable to be "occupied" or otherwise by government street gangs.
The publication provided an infographic depicting nine missiles produced in Iran. The list includes ballistic missiles "Sajil", "Kheibar", "Emad", "Shahab-3", "Ghadr", "Pave", "Fattah-2", "Kheibar Shekan" and "Haj Qassem".
As Regnum reported, on the evening of April 1, the Israeli Air Force launched a missile attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. One of the leaders of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was among those killed in the strike. Tasnim news agency reported that five people were killed and 12 injured in an Israeli airstrike on the consulate.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry warned that Tehran reserves the right to take countermeasures and respond to the attack. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressed Israel in Hebrew, threatening retaliation for the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria.
The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said on April 2 that Russia requested an open meeting of the UN Security Council after the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus is a violation of international law and an act of aggression. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that it would be interesting to see what would happen if Iran hypothetically attacked the American embassy in Israel.
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.
[ShabelleMedia] The Mumbai police arrested nine ![]("Pix/IS.jpg" "\"Islamic")
...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 
[Rudaw] Iraq’s oil ministry has begun testing a repaired pipeline that will carry oil from Kirkuk to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, a source within the ministry told Rudaw on Friday.
...The nation is noted for 
...The nation is noted for 
[Regnum] Iran produces nine types of missiles with a range sufficient to reach targets in Israel, ISNA reported.
