[ToloNews] A US dronezap on Wednesday in Shindand district, Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province, killed Mullah Nangialai, a key commander of the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... ’s splinter group led by Mullah Rasul, according to multiple sources.
Continued on Page 49
Reuters #Turkey: The deal to be signed with the #GNA and Turkish companies operating in #Libya will include a $ 1.5billion letter of guarantee for damage to machinery and equipment and outstanding debt $ 1.2billion, for a total $ 2.7billion. This is why #Erdogan is helping GNA pic.twitter.com/Mjqt9FwHr9
Thousands of people held a demonstration in Misrata on Friday to show rejection to Haftar and his foreign backers and to support the government forces in their battle against Haftar’s armed groups. #Libyapic.twitter.com/LGMpV6LzQg
Thousands marched in Tripoli on Friday to show support to government forces fighting Haftar’s armed groups. The demonstrators also chanted slogans demanding the government to cut ties with #Egypt and the United Arab #Emirates. Video by Adel Abdulaziz https://t.co/5WKsZHj3HP
Warlord Khalifa Haftar armed groups ransack Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous Exhibition in Sirte which documents the battle against the terrorist group of ISIS in 2016 that left 730 #Libya government fighters dead and 4269 others wounded. pic.twitter.com/oNHHKVpiJY
[Libya Observer] In 1551, Libyans wisely sought help from the Ottoman Empire, which was the Islamic Caliphate at the time. This step was to change the tides of the war.
The Ottoman administration sent Murad Ağa, a military official, to Tajoura -an eastern suburb of Tripoli- with a mighty fleet and thousands of soldiers. He settled in Tajoura and waged relentless combat against the crusaders.
Though he laid siege to Tripoli, he could not capture the city, the massive defensive fortifications of the castle made it difficult to conquer. Murad Ağa requested reinforcements from the Ottoman administration to liberate the region.
Sultan Kanuni, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the time, sent Turgut Reis, one of the greatest figures in Turkish naval history. In August 1551, the crusaders surrendered and the massive citadel fell after Turgut Reis imposed a blockade on the fortress.
Before the Ottoman rule, Libya lacked a unitary system of government. As the Ottomans expanded into the rest of Libya's provinces Barqa, and Fezzan, there was a concept of a modern state developing.
The Ottomans era persisted for more than 3 centuries, in which Libya underwent a series of stages, mostly marked by success.
Education and development came about, as the new rulers encouraged learning and worked in developing cities and agriculture, as well as settling Bedouins. They also revived the caravan trade across the desert, which stimulated growth and prosperity.
The Ottoman architecture is still evident in mosques, schools, traditional markets, such as the famous Souq al-Mushir in Tripoli, in addition to other official and private buildings.
In 1878 the Ottomans Empire was challenged by the growing western Europe powers, meanwhile, Italy set its eyes on Libya, but Sultan Abd al-Hamid II stayed vigilant of the Italian greed.
He sent weapons, military assists and 15,000 soldiers to assist the troops on Libyan territory; his moves caused Italy to postpone its invasion of Libya.
Later, Libya was occupied by Italy in 1911 during the period of the European-backed "Committee of Union and Progress" which came to power in a coup against the Ottoman Empire on 27 April 1909, after isolating Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2020 00:00 ||
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Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama calls out the “blind brutality” and “malicious activity” of the Iranian regime after its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to threaten his country online.https://t.co/Bdo1WIhacV
“We took away the caliphate in its entirety. We took down Hamza bin Laden. We took down al-Baghdadi. We took down Qassem #Soleimani,” says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished, we’re going to stay the course.”https://t.co/x57ii1UXIG
[EconomicTimes] "There is a parliamentary resolution, that entire Jammu and Kashmir region is a part of India. If Parliament wants it, then that area (PoK) also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we will take appropriate action," the Army chief said while speaking to the media in Delhi. NEW DELHI: Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the force will definitely take appropriate action of reclaiming Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if it is given an order for it.
Naravane, who was addressing his first press conference, explained that a few years ago, there was a Parliamentary resolution on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and added that the entire erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is part of India.
"If the Parliament wants that the territory (PoK) should be ours and if there are orders in this regard, then we will definitely act upon it," he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had claimed in the Lok Sabha in August last year that PoK and Aksai Chin are part of J&K. He had said this after moving a resolution for abrogating Article 370. Later, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also commented on PoK. During a rally in Haryana in August, he had said that if talks happen with Pakistan it will be only on PoK.
Like Naravane, his predecessor, General Bipin Rawat, in September had also said that the army is ready for action in PoK, including retrieving it and making it a part of India, should the government pass the orders for it. Rawat had told ET that the army has war-gamed any possible action in PoK. He explained that the army Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Leh-based 14 Corps perform war games of going across into PoK. The 15 Corps besides being largely involved in counter-terrorist operations has operational tasks against India's western neighbour, Pakistan. The 14 Corps is involved in operations not only on the western front, but on the eastern one with China as well.
In October while delivering the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial lecture, Rawat while referring to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir said that the territory which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan is not controlled by the Pakistani establishment, but by terrorists. He added that Jammu and Kashmir includes PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Posted by: Dron66046 ||
01/11/2020 08:35 ||
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#1
Interesting times. I s’pose if the Pakistani irregulars were so easily able to overrun half of the thing in 1948, India could as easily reverse the process now.
[DAWN] Pakistain has asked the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Security Council and UN Secretary General António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... to "act decisively" to prevent a "disastrous war" between Pakistain and India.
In a video shared by APP on Friday, Pakistain's ambassador to the UN while addressing the UNSC said: "Pakistain requests the Security Council and [...] the secretary general to act decisively to prevent a disastrous war between Pakistain and India, to call for an end to the grave human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... and to enable the Kashmiri people to exercise their right of self-determination."
As the UNSC held a debate on Thursday on upholding the UN Charter, Akram informed the security council of the situation in occupied Kashmir.
"It is now over 150 days that 8 million in the Kashmir Valley have been kept under a cruel curfew and a communications blackout by an Indian occupation force of 900,000 troops.
"All Kashmiri leaders remain in jails across India. Thousands of young boys have been kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, tortured and maimed.
"Women subjected to sexual harassment, humiliation and intimidation, and all protest violently suppressed," he said, adding that the Pak delegation had shared a dossier of reports by journalists and observers which "vividly illustrate the climate of fear and the reign of terror" imposed by India on Kashmiris.
The lockdown in the occupied region has crossed 150 days with the security and communication clampdown now in its fifth month.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
As I see it, the only difference between Pakistan and "Palestine" is size.
#3
Iraq should definitely be broken up into Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish successor states.
It won't assure peace, but it will assure that the bandarlogs are mainly killing each other.
Watch: It is more important to destroy Saudi Arabia than Israel before becoming a martyr, says Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who was killed by a US airstrike alongside Qassem #Soleimani last week.https://t.co/BHdiUOn927pic.twitter.com/k2uGsY3rbv
Iraq formally complains to the UN Security Council about Iran’s recent attacks on bases in its territory, adding that Iran’s excuse of self-defense is “totally unacceptable,” according to the letter seen by Al Arabiya.https://t.co/QqLrntLLDu
#2
If you want the UN do something (and by 'something' we mean Harshly Worded Resolutions), then you need to somehow blame the Iranian attacks on Israel.
And don’t forget to draw up a payment plan for the $1 billion you owe us for that base we built.
Any delegation the United States would send to Iraq would not discuss the withdrawal of US troops from the country, the US State Department says, adding the force presence there was “appropriate.”https://t.co/x57ii2cz7g
[Rudaw] The US State Department released a statement on Friday bluntly refusing requests from the Iraqi Parliament and Prime Minister to withdraw troops from the country. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stated that delegations from Washington to Baghdad would not discuss troop withdrawal with Iraqi officials.
“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership—not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” stated Ortagus.
She added that a NATO delegation has visited the US to discuss “increasing NATO’s role in Iraq, in line with the President’s desire for burden sharing in all of our collective defense efforts.” US President Trump stated in a press conference on Wednesday that NATO needed to become more involved in the Middle East. He also spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the phone on Wednesday, who “agreed that NATO could contribute more to regional stability and the fight against international terrorism.”
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
June 17, 2019: Iraq's electoral commission postpones local elections. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission announced on Monday that provincial elections will be held across the country on April 20, 2020. It was the second delay over the last two years.
Truly, the Government of Iraq now operates without a government and any "mechanism" is moot.
Legal Insurrection via Instapundit
"During the last week, earth-shattering events occurred that completely disrupted the Middle East .... In other news the Americans assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani."
...Israel’s new offshore fields are enormous, which is part of the reason Turkey has been so belligerent..
Combined with Israel’s under-appreciated status as a Demographic Superpower, Israel’s long-term status is fine. It just has go get past Syrian WMD and Iranian nukes.
#2
And MBS future 30 project to make KSA the center for creation of the next urber, fartbook, IoT that don't work and online gambling just ain't gonna make up for those petrodollars lost.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/11/2020 6:32 Comments ||
Top||
[Free Beacon] Former secretary of state John Kerry, who along with his wife Teresa Heinz is estimated to be worth $1 billion, on Friday referred to the $1.7 billion payment the United States made to Iran in 2016 as a "little bit of money."
Discussing President Donald Trump's claims that the Obama administration helped fund the Iranian regime's terror initiatives, Kerry told CNN that the Obama administration saved American taxpayers from accruing interest by settling old debt when it did.
"We gave them a little bit of money that was released in that period of time, not as part of the nuclear arrangement," Kerry said. "But the fact is the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] had all the money it wanted. The IRGC wasn't starving at that point in time, and in fact, Iran owed billions upon billions of dollars. Most of that money went to pay off their debts and to facilitate their economic initiatives."
David Rutz breaks down the most important news about the enemies of freedom, here and around the world, in this comprehensive morning newsletter.
Kerry admitted in 2016 that the billions in sanctions relief Iran got under the nuclear deal would go partly to financing terrorism.
"Money is fungible in any budget," he said on Friday.
The Obama administration paid Iran $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest from taxpayer funds, ostensibly to settle a dispute over military equipment Iran purchased but never received following the shah's fall in 1979. Critics, however, described the payment as a "ransom" to secure the freedom of American hostages being held by the Tehran regime.
"Obama officials are the last people on earth who are pretending that the $1.7 billion wasn't a ransom payment," one foreign policy consultant who worked with Congress on the nuclear deal told the Washington Free Beacon at the time. "Everyone else knows what happened, which is that we rewarded Iranian hostage takers."
It’s hard to tell if she is beautiful from that, but clearly she is no singer. The real question is why she is speaking so publicly when she has three brothers to take care of it. But don’t worry, dear child, we already have those names on our little list. Your father will not be alone in Hell for long.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
The daughter of Iran’s Qassem #Soleimani says the likes of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyah, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and militia leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi were all capable of avenging the death of her father, according to a recent speech she gave.https://t.co/mXkWEO2J8Mpic.twitter.com/wmJF6QNclI
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko says Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today 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. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has been cooperating with an investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran, adding that experts from his country have been granted access to the black boxes.
Speaking at a televised briefing in Kiev on Friday, Prystaiko added that Ukraine sees "full cooperation" from Iran in probing the cause of the crash.
"Our team has now got access to the black boxes," he said, adding that Ukrainian experts have also obtained access to the plane's debris and the crash site.
Kiev has sent a team of nearly 50 experts to Iran to participate in the probe after Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 went down near Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board.
Despite claims by Canada, Britannia, the United States and some other countries with a stake in the crisis-hit Boeing company that the plane was hit by an Iranian missile, probably by mistake, Prystaiko said Ukraine does not want to come to conclusions yet about the cause of the disaster.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said the issue of where the black boxes would be analyzed was still a matter of discussion, but noted that his country wants this to take place in Kiev.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Thursday, Head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh dismissed as "illogical rumors" reports that the Ukrainian plane was brought down by missiles.
Iran's Aviation Authority confirms the safety of its airspace after a number of international airlines announced they suspended flights to Tehran.https://t.co/o0uzS90TUN
Sweden temporarily halts Iran Air flights between Sweden and Iran after the crash of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran on Wednesday which killed all 176 people on board.#UkrainianPlaneCrash#PS752https://t.co/hd5VwNrHbN
If Iran mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, it would be an unforgivable mistake and a criminal act, says Mustafa Alani, Director of Security and Defense Department at @Gulf_Research#UkrainianPlaneCrash#PS752https://t.co/e4QyCxCMXj
[BBC] Iran was planning attacks on four US embassies when its top general was killed, President Donald Trump says.
When asked what threat led to last Friday's US drone strike, he told Fox News: "I can reveal that I believe it probably would've been four embassies."
The killing of Gen Qasem Soleimani, a national hero, came after days of protests at the US embassy in Baghdad.
But Democrats given intelligence briefings on the fatal strike say they have seen no evidence of embassy plots.
Mr Trump first made the embassy claim at the White House on Thursday and repeated it that night at a rally in Ohio.
He was also backed up by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"We had specific information on an imminent threat and those included attacks on US embassies. Period, full stop," said Mr Pompeo as he announced new sanctions against Iran.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
01/11/2020 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Grafton Thomas, accused in Hanukkah attack at rabbi’s home, hit with five federal counts each of attempting to kill victims based on their religion and obstructing religious exercise in additional to state charges.
A federal grand jury handed up hate crime charges Thursday against the man accused of stabbing five people with a machete during a Hanukkah celebration north of New York City.
The indictment charges Grafton Thomas with five counts each of attempting to kill victims based on their religion and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon.
Thomas, 37, also faces state charges in the December 28 attack inside the home of a rabbi in Monsey, N.Y. He is being held without bail on the federal charges. "Luckily, he'll still be able to vote Democrat via absentee ballot in future elections"
"We now allege that he did this with the intention of targeting his victims because of their religion," Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a news release. "Thomas faces life in prison for his alleged violent acts of prejudice and intolerance."
A message was sent to Thomas’ defense attorney, Michael Sussman, seeking comment. Sussman has said Thomas had a long history of mental illness. He has requested Thomas undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Authorities have said they found a blood-stained 18-inch (45-centimeter) machete in Thomas’ car, along with a knife smeared with dried blood and hair. They also said Thomas had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues.
The Hanukkah stabbings came amid a wave of anti-Semitic attacks targeting Orthodox Jewish communities in and around New York City.
One of the men maimed in the machete attack remains at death's door. His family has said he may have permanent brain damage.
#2
"Your honour, my client was dancing the dervish when someone handed him a machete and ran away. He just wanted to present an islamic dance before a Jewish audience peacefully."
#4
He;s the Monsey stabber, not "the whack job black guy who stabbed a bunch of jewish people." What's unsaid says the most.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/11/2020 6:34 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Your honor, my client must be released immediately! He was just following the dictates of his religion! It was his religious duty! How are we to judge a different culture?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/11/2020 16:51 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"Fine. Your client can be stoned and beaten to death, as per his culture. Make it so."
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2020 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
[Air Force Times] The Air Force last month commissioned the first female Muslim chaplain in the service.
Second Lt. Saleha Jabeen
...naturalized Indian-American, multi-lingual theologian, social justice advocate, interfaith professional, and former US Army medic who wrote about her journey here...
was commissioned Dec. 18 at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago by Air Force Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick, the Air Force said in a release Friday.
The Islamic Society of North America
...one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s American front groups. Perhaps someone should look into why they have endorsed this particular lieutenant...
endorsed Jabeen to become the Air Force’s first female imam, a spiritual leader in Islam, the release said.
Female imams are not usually the Moslem Brotherhood’s style...
"Any time we advance religious freedoms, it’s a win for all persons of faith," Schaick said in the release. "This is a big day not just for Muslims, but for persons of all faiths."
While Air Force chaplains are ordained in their own particular faith, they are responsible for counseling and supporting the spiritual needs of all airmen in their units, even if the airman follows a different religion, or no religion at all.
In his remarks at the commissioning, Schaick spoke about the importance of diversity in the Air Force’s chaplaincy.
#1
DARPA and USAF partnering on development of Centaur jet pilot ejection seat. A non-trivial challenge. Centaur pilots may be limited to trash haulers. More funding dollars desperately needed.
#4
I'll bet there's scuttle and efforts to do away with christian chaplains as well, right ? I mean who needs those ? There's gotta be a move somewhere to make them all atheist, new-age counselors. Only muslim imaams can remain.
WT actual F, guys ?! That's a hijab ! Do you know what that means ? She's a wahabi sunni, a sect that follows the Al-Durar al-Sunniyya fi al-Radd ‘ala al-Wahhabiyya. That is a book which preaches 'death to all christians and jews is necessary service by muslims' for the Muslim eschaton to happen.
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.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
[Libya Observer] In 1551, Libyans wisely sought help from the Ottoman Empire, which was the Islamic Caliphate at the time. This step was to change the tides of the war.
NEW DELHI: Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the force will definitely take appropriate action of reclaiming Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if it is given an order for it.
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[Air Force Times] The Air Force last month commissioned the first female Muslim chaplain in the service.
