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Syrian division commander dies in Raqqa debacle
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan speaks against terrorists safe havens in Pakistan at UN Security Council
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Mahmoud Saikal updated the UN Security Council regarding the terrorist’s safe havens in Pakistain.

"The fact that terrorist leaders had been found and killed in safe havens in Pakistain was proof that it had violated the illusory sovereignty of other nations," Saikal said.

He called for urgent implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2255 (2015).

Saikal also updated the Security Council regarding the provocative actions had meanwhile taken place along the de facto separation line, including an attempt to build new infrastructure at Torkham Pass.

"Make no mistake, the proud Government and people of Afghanistan have not, do not and will not surrender to intimidation, violence and aggression. Our history is testimony to this," he said.

This comes as the Afghan officials have long been criticizing Pakistain for allowing the Afghan holy warrior groups including the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network to use its soil as safe havens and carry out attacks in Afghanistan.

The Afghan officials are saying that the leadership councils of the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network are based in Quetta and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
cities of Pakistain.

In the meantime, Saikal said the Taliban had been expected to join the grinding of the peace processor, but, on 12 April, it responded with a spring offensive, during which it suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces.

He also added that Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
and Al-Qaeda continued to position themselves to remerge in Afghanistan, while other regional terrorist networks with links to Central Asian republics, Chechnya and China were highly active.

"Tehrik-e-Taliban remained a long-term threat. Most of those terrorist groups enjoyed support from within the State structure of Pakistain, he said, adding that it was imperative for the international community to establish objective criteria to identify and confront State sponsorship of terrorism," he added.

Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Ghani dismisses top officials from Hamid Karzai International Airport
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
has sacked brass hats from the Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
International Airport over negligence in duty, the Office of the President said Thursday.

According to a statement by the ARG Palace, the director of the airport and commander of the border police were among the brass hats dismissed by President Ghani.

The statement further added that President Ghani has issued instructions to release an announcement for the director of the airport post as well as instructing the Ministry of Interior to introduce 3 professional and competent individuals for the post of commander of border police for Hamid Karzai International Airport.

President Ghani also added that none of the official who has worked for more than 5 years in the airport should continue to his work and should be replaced with the new comers who should go through a transparent recruitment process besides going through biometric process and registration of assets.

This comes as President Ghani reviewed the report prepared a commission established to conduct a comprehensive review of Hamid Karzai International Airport affairs.

The head of the commission Sardar Mohammad Roshan presented the report to President Ghani and said the current condition of the airport as well as the vulnerable sections have been reviewed.

He said the security of the airport faces challenges due to the numerous security institutions involvement which causes a conflict among them and paves the way for the smuggling of drugs from the airport.

Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram Internally Fractured Over ISIS Ties, U.S. General Says
[Haaretz] Nigerian bandidos Lions of Islam Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
have fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from ISIS, a senior U.S. general said on Tuesday.

Marine Lieutenant General Thomas Waldhauser, the nominee to lead the U.S. military's Africa Command, suggested the internal division was illustrative of limits of ISIS' influence over Boko Haram so far, despite the West African group's pledge of allegiance to it last year.

"Several months ago, about half of Boko Haram broke off to a separate group because they were not happy with the amount of buy-in, if you will, from Boko Haram into the ISIS brand," Waldhauser said at his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Shekau, he said, had not fallen into line with ISIS instructions, including by ignoring calls for Boko Haram to stop using children as jacket wallahs.

"He's been told by ISIS to stop doing that. But he has not done so. And that's one of the reasons why this splinter group has broken off," he said, adding that ISIS was trying to "reconcile those two groups."

Rooters reported on June 9 that U.S. officials had seen no evidence that Boko Haram has so far received significant operational support or financing from ISIS. The assessment suggested Boko Haram's loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise.
Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Houthis Reject Roadmap and Mobilize Armed Offshoots in Yemen
Jeddah, Aden-Moments after U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced a roadmap for settling the crisis in Yemen, insurgency militias effectively mobilized armed factions against strategic locations held by governmental forces.

Most of the deployment took part in eastern and southeastern Yemen. Insurgency militias mainly constitute armed Houthi factions and armed fighters supporting ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In his Wednesday statement, U.N. envoy Ahmed expressed his profound disappointment with the meeting held with the insurgency delegation at the peace talks in Kuwait.

Discontent mainly stemmed from insurgency militias in Yemen moving towards Al Anad Air Base that lies in northwestern Lahij governorate. The U.N. envoy also confirmed that the advance taken on by militias potentially threatens the Yemeni peace talks.

Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Houthis were bent on thwarting negotiations by refusing to discuss many topics over the past two months; Houthis finally rejected the U.N. envoy’s roadmap for peace in Yemen.

The insurgency delegation stressed on Wednesday that priority lies in striking a deal on a new president, and only then would there be agreement.

Nonetheless the government’s delegation reiterated throughout the talks, that Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi represents legitimacy for Yemen, and that turning in high-caliber artillery, withdrawing from cities and releasing prisoners are the priorities for peace.

This comes after U.N. envoy Ahmed presented a roadmap including a practical method on ending the conflict in Yemen. The roadmap encompasses all security arrangements stated by U.N. resolution 2216, which urges insurgents to withdraw from area seized during the conflict, turn in weapons– the establishment of a national unity government is also one of the resolution’s main articles.

Despite, all international efforts for a solution in Yemen, Houthi insurgents remain fixated on the question of Yemeni presidency.

The U.N. envoy confirmed that a government of national unity will take on the responsibility of running political dialogue which will eventually lead to a comprehensive political settlement, including voting on a new electoral law and drafting the constitution.

Despite the peace endeavors to save Yemen, insurgency militias advance in Al Bayda, Al Jawf and Ma’rib, and are sending for reinforcement. Over fifteen factions have been fully prepared and equipped to enter several strategic locations in the Ibb governorate.

Houthi militias have also been reported to perform mass executions against civilians. According to international reporting, Taiz, on Wednesday, witnessed multiple incidents of random shelling targeting civilian compounds. Moreover, more than eight civilians were executed at the An Nadirah District, while another five were put to death in Al Hudaydah city for no evident reason.
Posted by: badanov || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


China-Japan-Koreas
Kim Jong-un Claims Missiles 'Can Strike U.S.'
North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un on Wednesday claimed his country's missiles can strike the U.S. in the Pacific.
As long as the U.S. moves to within 400 km...
"We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre," the official KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.
"At least one out of six times," KCNA continued...
Kim's boast came after North Korea finally succeeded in launching one mid-range ballistic missile, which flew a mere 400 km, nowhere near the touted range of 3,000 to 4,000 km that would put U.S. bases in Guam within reach. Five earlier tests failed disastrously.

Pudgy Kim watched the test of what North Korea now calls a Hwasong-10 missile, official media reported. Accompanying pictures showed the chubby leader hugging officials.
After which he shot them...
KCNA said the missile was fired at a high angle "to simulate its full range" and flew along a projected trajectory to reach a height of 1,413.6 km. It then fell into the target area in waters 400 km away.
So the missile reached an altitude of 875 miles? The press is gullible enough to report that without questioning...
It added the North now has the technology allowing missile warheads to re-enter the earth's atmosphere.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Down Under
Exiled imam invited gay-hate cleric to Australia
[The Australian] The Islamic cleric who fled Australia after revelations of his anti-gay views was originally ­invited to give talks at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Sydney by Sheik Mansour Leghaei, the controversial Iranian sheik in exile who has been accused of being an Iranian spy.

Sheik Farrokh Sekaleshfar, who said that "death is the punishment for homosexual acts" in a 2013 lecture, had also toured Florida in March, only months before Omar Mateen's bloody attack at an Orlando gay nightclub.

Sheik Sekaleshfar has denied inciting violence and said his views were delivered as an ­academic studying Islamic law and were taken out of context.

Yesterday, Sheik Leghaei's son, Sadegh Leghaei, confirmed his father remained a "religious director" at the center, where he was responsible for religious ­instruction and guidance. But he denied knowing in advance anything about Sheik Sekaleshfar's anti-gay views.

Still, Sadegh Leghaei said the issue had been "blown out of all proportion."

Leghaei said, "I don’t think he was stating his personal view. I think he was stating what religion, in its strictest form, under strict circumstances, in a very strict court of law, in an ­Islamic country that condones those laws, would be applicable."

The direct involvement of Leghaei in promoting Sekaleshfar at the Islamic center will not comfort Australian intelligence as Sheik Leghaei was exiled from Australia six years ago for "acts of interference."

Mansour Leghaei and the Imam Husain Islamic Centre, which he founded, have been mired in controversy for years.

The center is a Shia institution, meaning it is not connected to Daesh. However, ASIO has in the past investigated the center, concerned it might be an instrument of Iranian espionage or ­influence. ASIO handed down four adverse security appraisals on Sheik Leghaei and is firmly of the view that he was an Iranian intelligence operative.

About 70 to 100 people ­attended Sekaleshfar's talks at the Islamic center in Earlwood before he left the country as Australian officials prepared the cancellation of his visa. He had been allowed into Australia despite ­delivering a sermon in Florida "How to Deal with the Phenomenon of Homosexuality" and another notorious speech in 2013 in Michigan discussing the death penalty for gays who are witnessed having sex by four people.

"Death is the sentence. There's nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is the sentence," he said during a 2013 lecture at the University of Michigan.
Which, in context, is the Islamic equivalent to flying a gay pride flag in front of your home while wearing a feather boa.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ooohh, that "in context" of yours has sharp teeth, ryuge!
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/24/2016 12:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Heh
Posted by: Frank G || 06/24/2016 14:40 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany nabs Tajik suspected of fighting with Daesh
[RFE/RL] Germany says it has arrested a Tajik man suspected of joining Daesh in Syria. Prosecutors said on June 22 that Mukhamadsaid S. was nabbed in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The 30-year-old is accused of going from Tajikistan to Syria in April 2015, where prosecutors said he joined Daesh. The man is alleged to have fought alongside Daesh militants and to have appeared in videos urging his countrymen to join them.

Prosecutors said Mukhamadsaid S. left Syria no later than the start of September 2015, and ended up in Germany.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Great White North
Canadian supreme court rejects revealing RCMP secrets in Parliament Hill attack
[National Post] Canada's supreme court has rejected an Ottawa man's attempt to learn why the RCMP raided his townhouse in its investigation into the 2014 Parliament Hill shootings.

Mounties executed a warrant to search Farhan Nur's home in May 2015, looking for any evidence connected to Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who killed National War Memorial sentry Nathan Cirillo on October 22, 2014.

The RCMP has long suspected jihadi sympathizers exploited Zehaf-Bibeau's faltering mental condition and influenced him to launch the armed attack.

Nur and another man whose home was searched — police have never charged or named either as a suspect or material witness — asked a court to order the release of RCMP affidavits spelling out confidential details police used to win judicial approval for the warrants.

Police ended up confiscating Nur's computer and some religious material, including recordings of Koran recitations, all of which have been returned to him.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tracking ability much enhanced upon return. Silly boy!!!
Posted by: Canuckistanian sniper || 06/24/2016 16:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
FBI to Islamic terrorists: We've got your back
[The American Thinker] Add Orlando shooter Omar Mateen to the FBI's Most Protected Terrorist list . Like Ft. Hood's Nidal Hasan and the Boston Marathon’s Tsarnaev brothers, Mateen has joined the protected and privileged class of suspected Muslim terrorists allowed to roam free until they shoot or blow up innocent Americans.

Following the Pulse nightclub slaughter, sources confirmed Mateen had been interviewed by the FBI in May of 2013 and May of 2014 concerning his connections to Hezb'allah and al-Qaeda.

The FBI was also aware that Mateen had traveled to Saudi Arabia on two separate occasions; made threatening remarks to co-workers; and, two weeks before the killings, had visited a gun shop wanting to purchase body armor and bulk ammunition. When employees of the shop notified the FBI, officials called the store but failed to follow up.

Director Comey defended the FBI’s actions, stating:

"I don’t see anything in reviewing our work that our agents should have done differently...Our work is very challenging, we are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack but we’re also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay might someday become needles."
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/24/2016 01:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Roll me over in the clover
and do it again.
Posted by: Sheba Tingle2889 || 06/24/2016 4:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Any different than DHS/BP shipping illegals to communities near you? You can tell who's side they're not on.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/24/2016 8:00 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if the FBI's interviews could be made public?
Posted by: Bobby || 06/24/2016 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  He could have stopped at " I don't see anything..."
bonus points if done in a Sgt. Schultz voice.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 06/24/2016 14:35 Comments || Top||


Parade of the Red Flags
From the Corner. A quick summary of the number of times authorities were notified about Omar Mateen:
  • September 11, 2001 -- Omar openly celebrated 9/11 at school. School authorities notified.

  • Spring 2007 -- Omar threatened to kill people at the training school he was at when his hamburger touched a piece of pork. Authorities escorted him out of school.

  • May 2013 -- reviewed by the FBI after boasting to co-workers about ties to terrorist groups. Perhaps not a boast.

  • Spring 2014 -- reviewed by the FBI again after a member of his mosque (130 worshippers, of whom two were splodydopes) kaboomed himself in Syria. Mateen had mentioned watching videos by Anwar al-Awlaki. We all know him.

  • Spring 2016 -- Disney notified authorities because they thought Omar was conducting surveillance.

  • May 2016 -- gun store owner called the FBI after Omar tried to buy body armor and large quantities of ammo.
As Jim Geraghty says, "And government officials wonder why people think they should to own a gun to protect themselves!"
Not to mention the rather high profile Mateem's father has enjoyed for many years.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Additional "Red Flags" sent to the FBI by local law enforcement.

Not to mention Mateen's two trips to the Majic Kingdom for the Haj.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/24/2016 1:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Director Comey defended the FBI’s actions, stating:

"I don’t see anything in reviewing our work that our agents should have done differently…Our work is very challenging, we are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack but we’re also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay might someday become needles."

Absolutely incredulous !
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/24/2016 1:51 Comments || Top||

#3  "I don’t see anything in reviewing our work that our agents should have done differently

Really? Because a hundred dead or wounded doesn't seem to be an optimal outcome.

Perhaps the FBI would be more successful at this game if they were allowed to say the I*S*L*A*M word.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/24/2016 2:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey Mr. Comey - you lost another needle....

MATEEN WIFE MISSING: Loretta Lynch Admits That Federal Authorities Have Lost The Orlando Shooter’s Wife - Noor Salman

The DOJ and FBI look like fools. If she resurfaces in Raqqa making propaganda videos - will y'all edit those too?
Posted by: Tennessee || 06/24/2016 7:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Amazing when heads are lopped, people actually pay attention. Who was fired at the FBI or CIA for 9/11? Rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/24/2016 7:58 Comments || Top||

#6  With the vast array of intelligence systems, massive data bases, advanced link analysis tools, and analytical minds available at the FBI, NSA, and CIA, I simply cannot believe Mateen, the Tsarnaev bros, the 'underwear bomber' Abdulmutallab, Nidal Hasan, or the 9/11 bombers were simply intelligence 'gaps' or tragic oversights.

Sorry, something else is taking place here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/24/2016 8:07 Comments || Top||

#7  The government is more worried about keeping the "Radical Right" and its own people in line than keeping track of terrorists.

In fact, terrorists can help scare the public to staying in line and giving up more rights.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/24/2016 10:16 Comments || Top||

#8  The FBI is an establishment security service so of course they are more interested in threats to their ability to rent-seek than in the safety of US citizens.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/24/2016 11:45 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
World abandoned Pakistan to face terrorists alone: Asim Bajwa
[DAWN] Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Asim Bajwa in an interview with Deutsche Welle Urdu on Wednesday said the narrative that Pakistain has not done enough to fight terrorism was "unfair" as it did not recognise Pakistain's contributions to the war against terror.
Then his lips fell off.
In a rare and candid interview with DW Urdu’s Kishwar Mustafa, Bajwa said, "The world had abandoned Pakistain to handle and face the holy warriors in the region alone, and Pakistain has completed the task".

Bajwa also commented on the drone strike that killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, accusations that Operation Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
did not target the Haqqani network, as well as the internal displacement caused by the operation.
Read the interview. It makes Marxist rhetoric look rational.
Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  They helped create the terrorists in the first place, they've done more than enough and deserve the same fate.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/24/2016 10:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Doublespeak. They are the safe haven for AQ, taliban and all others. Ya think they did not know OBL was nestled neatly there? They are a threat to the free world but our admin swallows their crap like..... Never mind. We are not in this war to win it.
Posted by: 49 pan || 06/24/2016 11:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Rather like the Saudis, in that the Paks define 'terrorism' as a threat to them.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/24/2016 12:52 Comments || Top||


Pakistani senator criticize the country’s Taliban policy
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A Pak senator has criticized the Taliban policy adopted by Islamabad and warned that the dichotomy in the state’s policy towards bandidos snuffies has brought Afghanistan and Pakistain close to a dangerous collision.

"Pakistain refuses to acknowledge that the Taliban ideology on both sides of the Durand Line is to destroy modern state structures," Pakistain Peoples Party Senator Farhatullah Babar quoted in a report by Dawn said.

He was speaking during a gathering organized for the launch of a report on ’Pak-Afghan Relations Under Evolving Regional Scenario’, published by the Pakistain Institute of Policy Studies.

Babar further added "We also pretend that while the Afghan Taliban is motivated to drive out foreign forces, the Pak Taliban is seeking to destroy the state itself. It is this dichotomy in state policy that had led the two close neighbours on the path of a dangerous collision."

He said Mansour’s possession of Pak identity documents raised serious questions about who has provided sanctuary and protection to the Afghan Taliban in Pakistain, and dealt a blow to the narrative of illusory sovereignty.

"Where is illusory sovereignty when the likes of Mansour are freely using our land to launch attacks in Afghanistan?"

According to Babar, Mansour’s successors are less likely to be found in refugee camps and more likely to be found in well-protected luxury compounds in Quetta ‐ and elsewhere ‐ holding Pak identity and travel documents.

"In utter frustration and in a kneejerk reaction we have resorted to unilateral border controls and are demanding repatriation of Afghan refugees. It is neither feasible nor advisable to throw out the refugees overnight. We have not been able to register all the refugees as yet ‐ a task that must have been completed long ago," he argued.
Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  A sane voice in Pakistan. He should be assassinated any day now.
Posted by: Ulusoque Speaking for Boskone3139 || 06/24/2016 9:58 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS’ Defeat in Syria Could Denote Qaeda’s Return
Al Qaeda never left...
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Paris- Many analysts believe that ISIS’ potentially close defeat in Syria could translate into al Qaeda’s offshoot, al-Nusra Front, taking the battlefield lead once again.

Jean-Pierre Filiu, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Sciences Po in Paris, warned of the relative and partial advances against ISIS in the last weeks, saying that having no Arab or Sunni alternative on the field, may help ISIS maintain its most prominent territory and possibly restore some of the lost land. Filiu cited ISIS regaining foothold in Palmyra, Syria.

A Syrian expert, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that despite expectations for ISIS’ abatement in Syria being a far reach, it still remains a more likely accomplishment than in Iraq, Baghdadi’s self-declared caliphate hub.

The Syrian analyst added that a grave defeat, especially against ISIS’ de facto capital in Syria, Raqqa, will not lead to the end of extremists in Syria. He went on saying that within the last four bloodied years of conflict, over 280 thousand were killed hence al-Nusra Front was forced to revolt against the organization and become ISIS’ threatening equal and opponent. Not to mention that al-Nusra Front had exploited other Islamist movements, especially Salafis affiliated to the Ahrar al-Sham nationalist movement.

The analyst explained that after the defeat, many ISIS recruits will come to join al-Nusra Front ranks, and the latter will later manipulate the feeling of abandonment northwestern Sunni Syrians experience.

In light of absent reliable peace talks, residents in each of Idlib, western Aleppo and Lattakia do not see any possibility of a political settlement for the five-year total war. The residents are subject to daily Russian and Assad air force bombardment, not to mention, the recurring genocides targeting children and civilians amid utter international disregard.

Feeling abandoned, residents are driven towards extremism, with none but Ahrar al-Sham to play the sole role of local nationalist military force in the area, the Syria expert added.
Posted by: badanov || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Well Duh.

This is a Sunni v Shiia fight, and whether the Sunni fight under under brand x or brand y is pretty much irrelevant.

Despite the Western media obsession with how nasty ISIS is.
Posted by: phil_b || 06/24/2016 5:15 Comments || Top||

#2  The superorder of Dictyoptera. You seldom see just one.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/24/2016 5:23 Comments || Top||

#3  :)
Gack
Posted by: Shipman || 06/24/2016 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  If Nusra was regularly fielding suicide bombers and VBIEDs, I think the media would be making more of a deal about them. Or, at least, I haven't noticed much in the way of that sort of thing. ISIS took the wild-eyed eager-to-meet-their-houris suicide enthusiasts with them in the grand divorce; Nusra and company are still bastards, but they're less alarming bastards for the time being, and with the Russians and Alawi firebombing cities and rear areas like mad arsonists, it's hard to get excited about the evil, evil al Queda. Especially when they're primarily slaughtering Hezbollah; some might even sit back and make popcorn.
Posted by: Charles M. Hagmaier || 06/24/2016 12:17 Comments || Top||

#5  it's hard to get excited about the evil, evil al Queda.

They will have to be dealt with, though, because they are just as evil, merely in slightly slower motion. The Muslim Brotherhood is the same evil in slower motion yet, but look at the trouble they caused as soon as they democratically got themselves elected to power in Egypt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/24/2016 13:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh, true enough. IIRC, that lunatic cannibal who ate a human heart on camera & recently got waxed in combat was Nusra, they're monsters sure enough.

The longer the Syrian war goes on, the less it's looking like the Spanish Civil War, and the more it's looking like the Thirty Years War. I think it may end with Syria a depopulated wasteland. Russia certainly seems to be deliberately playing the role of France.
Posted by: Charles M. Hagmaier || 06/24/2016 15:15 Comments || Top||


Arabs join Kurd rebels in Deir ez-Zor
Going with the stronger horse?
[ARA News] QAMISHLO – More than 100 fighters from the Sheitaat tribe split from the FSA-group elite forces northwest of Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria after tribal disputes, and joined the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), local sources reported on Thursday.

“The defection took place in the past 2 weeks due to tribal issues between fighters in the elite forces since the majority of fighters are from al-Sheitaat tribe which clashed with ISIS in the northern western countryside of Deir ez-Zor,” according to the SOHR.

The Islamic State group (ISIS) massacred over 700 Sheitaat members in August 2014, after the tribe rose up against the ISIS self-declared Caliphate.

Parts of the Sheitaat tribe have joined the Assad regime’s National Defence Forces, while others have joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition in southern Hasakah and northern Deir ez-Zor. Moreover, a new FSA group called the Elite Forces, that are not part of the SDF, have been engaged in clashes with ISIS on the outskirts of Shaddadi city in Hasakah province.

The US-led coalition denied in a statement any link with this new small group of FSA fighters.

Speaking to ARA News, Coalition spokesman U.S. Army Colonel Christopher Garver said: “In northern Syria the [US-led] Coalition is partnered with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group that includes Syrian Arabs, Turkmen, Kurdish, Christian and Assyrian fighters. The SDF also includes the Syrian Arab Coalition.”

“The US-led Coalition has quietly, but strenuously, courted tribal groups that live inside ISIS-controlled areas of eastern Syria to turn against the Islamic State,” Nicholas Heras, a Washington-based Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security, told ARA News.

“The Sheitaat are a target audience for this recruitment campaign. These Sheitaat defections to the SDF make sense in that the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition is a rising power in eastern Syria, it is slowly but steadily incorporating more Arab tribal fighters, and it has strong U.S. military support,” Heras said.

“The SDF is increasingly viewed by anti-ISIS Arab tribal groups as a battering ram to bust down the Islamic State strongholds in eastern Syria. More and more, the SDF is becoming a coalition of components, such as the Syrian Arab Coalition that is constituent to but a part of the SDF, and which can mobilize fighters from skeptical identity groups, such as Arab tribes, to combat ISIS,” he said.

Abu Ali (27), the pseudonym of an Arab SDF fighter originally from Raqqa, told ARA News that many Arabs from Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa are joining the SDF forces.

“They just want to liberate their province and country from ISIS,” he said.

The Arab fighters receive training from Americans with light weapons and also get support from US advisors on the ground as part of the Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC)–an SDF faction. Recently, 158 Arab fighters, mostly from the Jibouri tribe, finished their training in the Shaddadi area and joined the SDF forces.

“For some skeptical groups, such as the Sheitaat, where once the Assad regime was viewed as a comparatively more trustworthy partner than the Americans to defeat ISIS, the successes of the SDF, backed by Coalition airpower and Special Forces, are becoming more attractive,” analyst Heras told ARA News.

Kurdish official Perwin Yusuf Mohammed in the local administration of Hasakah said it is possible that the SDF will move into Deir ez-Zor in the future.

“We work as Syrians to liberate areas from the chauvinist regime and ISIS,” she told ARA News. “For the SDF, if they have the opportunity they will liberate all areas from ISIS.”
Posted by: badanov || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Assad asks minister to form new Syria govt
[DAWN] President Bashar al Assad instructed Electricity Minister Emad Khamis on Wednesday to form a new government in Syria, a country fragmented by warring factions and economically ruined by five years of conflict.

A decree published by state news agency SANA gave no reason for replacing Wael al Halaki, who has served as prime minister for nearly four years and survived an liquidation attempt when a boom-mobile struck his convoy in Damascus in 2013.

Mr Halaki was himself appointed to replace a prime minister who defected and later led an opposition team at peace talks in Geneva, which broke down in April as pro-government forces pressed an offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo city.

The government controls most of the war-torn country’s major population centres in the west, with the exceptions of Idlib, which is held by bully boys, and the rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo.
Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


U.S. Navy Officers In Crosshairs Over Iran Debacle
The Navy has completed its investigation into how sailors were detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in January, and it appears unlikely that any U.S. service member will face court-martial.

Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a Navy spokesman, confirmed the status of the investigation, and said it is now "being referred to appropriate commands for adjudication." That could range from criminal charges and a court-martial trial to administrative punishment.

However, a Navy official told The Washington Post Thursday that the service's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, plans to announce June 30 what actions the service has taken against the officers and enlisted sailors involved after they are completed, making criminal trials unlikely.

"I haven't heard anything criminal," the person said. Another Navy official said most punishments "are likely to be administrative," but declined to say that no criminal charges are possible.

Foreign Policy magazine reported Wednesday that the Navy is considering whether to punish nine personnel, including six officers, for a mission in which two riverine command boats strayed into Iranian territorial waters. Ten sailors and the two boats were temporarily detained, an embarrassment that Iran used in numerous propaganda videos it released through state media in following months.

One of those under the most scrutiny is Capt. Kyle Moses, Foreign Policy reported. He is the commander of Task Force 56, a unit whose sailors have a wide variety of missions in the Middle East, including explosive ordnance disposal, diving, construction riverine operations and military intelligence collection. Fox News reported Thursday that he will be relieved of his command, a move that can end a career.

The boats and sailors were captured Jan. 12 in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island, where the Revolutionary Guards have a naval base. The sailors were taken into custody overnight, and released the following day after Secretary of State John Kerry intervened.
That's a rather bowdlerized version of events. Recall how the Iranian personnel humiliated our people, seized the boats, and slow-walked any reasonable solution.
Already, one officer, Cmdr. Eric Rasch, was removed from his job in May due to a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," according to the Navy. He was the No. 2 officer in the squadron at the time of the capture, and elevated to become its commander afterward.

The incident occurred as the sailors were traveling north from Kuwait to Bahrain. A defense official said then that the boats departed Kuwait about 9:23 a.m. local time, and were approached by the Iranians about 2:10 p.m. A search was launched afterward until the Iranians informed the Americans about 6:15 p.m. that the sailors were in their custody.
From Foreign Policy:
The sailors had set out from Kuwait after noon local time on what was supposed to be a routine mission to Bahrain. But they had no experience navigating across the Persian Gulf in their small riverine command boats, which are only about 50 feet long, and were not accustomed to traveling such a long distance. Before they departed, the crew also had to cannibalize a third boat to make last-minute repairs.

After having sailed into Iranian waters without realizing it, one of the American boats — the one that had to be fixed the day before — broke down. As the sailors tried to fix the bolt on the engine mount, two Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrols arrived, with their weapons pointed at the U.S. sailors. Soon a third ship showed up, followed by a fourth ship that was larger and more heavily armed. The Americans decided they would surrender to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops rather than try to shoot their way out.

The Iranians filmed 10 U.S. sailors kneeling with their hands on their heads, while the skipper of the boats, Lt. David Nartker, apologized for their navigation error, and then promptly released the videos.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But they had no experience navigating across the Persian Gulf in their small riverine command boats

So, the local fisherman were more skilled than those the Navy puts out to sea. I take it they long ago discontinued to teach the Sextant at the service schools. Too ancient for modern mariners.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/24/2016 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  A sextant during daytime won't give you much more than latitude. It's 'shooting bearings' off landmarks listed on the chart that gives you a fairly good position.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/24/2016 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  According to Cmd Salamander, the helmsman refused a direct order to maneuver.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/24/2016 11:35 Comments || Top||

#4  From the link cited by CDR Salamander:

Multiple defense officials tell Fox News a “multitude of errors” led to the capture of the U.S. Navy crew.

First, there was no navigation brief, a major violation of Navy protocol. When any Navy ship gets underway, even for something as minor as shifting berths from one pier to another, it is standard for a Navy crew to conduct a navigation brief discussing issues such as hazards to navigation or, in this case, an Iranian base near the planned course.

Second, the chain of command was not well defined on the two boats. While a young lieutenant was the highest-ranking individual on either of the two 50-foot boats, when the order was given to evade the Iranian forces, the helmsman refused the order.

Third, defense officials tell Fox News the Navy had become too complacent with the its treatment by Iranian forces in the months leading up to the January capture.

“The story here is these guys had gotten so used to Iranians doing stupid s---, having weapons pointed at them all the time, they didn’t know they were being captured until the Iranians boarded their boats,” one defense official said describing the lack of situational awareness by the Navy crew. “They messed up pretty bad.”
Posted by: Pappy || 06/24/2016 12:57 Comments || Top||

#5  “They messed up pretty bad.”

But the crew had "Diversity."
Posted by: Pappy || 06/24/2016 13:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Farsi Island is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. There is an IRGC Navy base on this island. The island has an area of about 0.25 km2 (0.10 sq mi) Its maximum elevation is 4 metres (13 ft).

About 64 acres. A square 1670 feet on a side. Yet another benefit of global warming sea-level rises.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/24/2016 13:14 Comments || Top||

#7  “The story here is these guys had gotten so used to Iranians doing stupid s---, having weapons pointed at them all the time,

Any different from the patrol SOP not to shoot Somali pirates till they shot first?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/24/2016 13:34 Comments || Top||


Government
Deadlocked Supreme Court blocks Obama on immigration
[THEHILL] The Supreme Court dealt a critical blow to President B.O.'s immigration policies on Thursday, deadlocking in a 4-4 decision over two controversial programs the White House wants to implement.

The tied vote leaves in place a lower court ruling that blocks a program allowing undocumented immigrants colonists who are parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to remain in the United States for three years and apply for work permits.

It also prevents the administration from otherwise expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program issued by Obama in 2012.

This is the most prominent Supreme Court case to stall in a 4-4 tie, and it raises the stakes further in this fall's presidential election.

After Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, Obama nominated federal Judge Merrick Garland to the court.

But Senate Republicans, even before that nomination, said they would not hold a vote or a hearing for anyone nominated by Obama, arguing the pivotal vote on the high court should be determined by the next president.

The White House and Democrats in Congress have howled in rage over that move, and Thursday's decision will increase tensions over the Senate blockade.

Obama in an appearance from the White House press briefing room decried what he called the "lack" of a decision by the eight-justice court.

"The fact the Supreme Court wasn’t able to issue a decision today doesn’t just set the system back even further, it takes us further back from the country we want to be," he said.

Sen. Dick Durbin
...Senator-for-Life from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of America's 10 Best Senators, so what's that tell you? He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois....
(D-Ill.) blasted the GOP Senate majority for failing to consider Garland in comments on the Supreme Court's steps.

"This 4-4 decision is clear evidence we need nine justices on the court," Durbin said.

Posted by: Fred || 06/24/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "This 4-4 decision is clear evidence we need nine justices on the court," Durbin said.

Of course it does, Dick, as long as it's not Scalia, right?
Posted by: Bobby || 06/24/2016 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  out west its the new normal to have hundreds of illegal hispanics running around having babies as fast as possible, they piant, do lawns, landscape, have babies and get drunk. Anglos and Hispanic cultures have a long history of not mixing. Not as bad as trying to mix Anglos and Mooslimbs, just sayin"
Posted by: 746 || 06/24/2016 13:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Seantor Dick "Dick" Durbin (D)
Posted by: Frank G || 06/24/2016 14:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Turban Durbin.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/24/2016 14:53 Comments || Top||

#5  "The fact the Supreme Court wasn’t able to issue a decision today doesn’t just set the system back even further, it takes us further back from the country we want to be," he said.

That would be a Banana Republic which is no republic at all but a socialist paradise like Venezuela..
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/24/2016 16:48 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2016-06-24
  Syrian division commander dies in Raqqa debacle
Thu 2016-06-23
  Singer Amjad Sabri gunned down in Karachi
Wed 2016-06-22
  ISIS counter-attack pushes Syrian forces out of Raqqa province
Tue 2016-06-21
  IS group launches counterattacks on US-backed forces and Syrian army
Mon 2016-06-20
  Syrian forces advance on IS-held Taqba air base
Sun 2016-06-19
  Iraqi army seizes hospital, jails as military ops continue in Fallujah
Sat 2016-06-18
  Reports: 'Fierce Clashes' between Hizbullah, Regime Forces in Aleppo
Fri 2016-06-17
  Seven killed in latest Kashmir fighting
Thu 2016-06-16
  British Labour Mp Jo Cox Dead: Fatally Stabbed And Gunned Down Outside Birstall Library
Wed 2016-06-15
  Bodies of 42 fishermen kidnapped by Boko Haram found in lake
Tue 2016-06-14
  Man ‘claiming IS allegiance’ kills cop, woman in Paris
Mon 2016-06-13
  Orlando Terrorist Worked For Firm with DHS Contracts
Sun 2016-06-12
  Approx 20 50 dead inside Florida gay nightclub after mass shooting - possible Islamic connection
Sat 2016-06-11
  Libya unity forces bombard ISIS in bastion Sirte
Fri 2016-06-10
  Rumour: Iraqi news site indicates IS supremo may have been hit by coalition force strike

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