Hi there, !
Today Sat 01/17/2015 Fri 01/16/2015 Thu 01/15/2015 Wed 01/14/2015 Tue 01/13/2015 Mon 01/12/2015 Sun 01/11/2015 Archives
Rantburg
532891 articles and 1859636 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 72 articles and 185 comments as of 17:24.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Convict in US consulate attack case hanged
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
4 22:36 Raj [13] 
2 13:17 Besoeker [14] 
0 [12] 
1 07:09 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [9] 
6 16:22 irishrageboy [7] 
1 21:05 SteveS [13] 
0 [8] 
0 [9] 
7 22:10 Alpha2c [13] 
0 [7] 
0 [9] 
0 [9] 
4 18:27 Shipman [10] 
0 [10] 
3 21:30 Alaska Paul [10] 
3 14:45 Elmerert Hupens2660 [7] 
3 03:26 Raj [12] 
0 [8] 
0 [9] 
1 23:37 JosephMendiola [11] 
13 20:23 CrazyFool [13] 
1 09:07 Procopius2k [7] 
1 23:30 JosephMendiola [10] 
0 [9] 
0 [9] 
0 [7] 
1 23:23 JosephMendiola [14] 
14 16:34 irishrageboy [5] 
0 [7] 
7 16:36 Pappy [10] 
1 00:37 Raj [8] 
0 [7] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 17:47 JohnQC [9]
0 [9]
0 [15]
0 [9]
0 [12]
11 22:47 49 Pan [13]
3 20:11 SteveS [15]
0 [8]
0 [9]
0 [9]
0 [11]
1 14:30 BigEdLB [10]
0 [12]
0 [11]
0 [13]
1 16:00 AlanC [9]
4 23:16 JosephMendiola [11]
1 14:25 OldSpook [9]
0 [11]
0 [11]
1 15:30 Steve WhIte [9]
4 16:28 borgboy [11]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 18:41 Warthog [7]
14 23:52 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [13]
3 18:59 SteveS [7]
6 14:56 Frank G [9]
7 14:19 SteveS [11]
0 [12]
0 [7]
2 12:24 JohnQC [10]
7 16:08 gorb [10]
4 23:57 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [16]
Page 4: Opinion
3 23:18 Spanky Stalin8322 [14]
0 [9]
1 00:44 Raj [12]
9 19:43 Frank G [13]
1 11:40 JohnQC [12]
0 [11]
12 15:16 rjschwarz [9]
Page 6: Politix
10 19:11 SteveS [15]
Africa North
Libya PM appeals for lifting of arms embargo in fight against militants
In an interview ahead of hoped-for peace talks in Geneva this week, Prime Minister Abdullah Al Thani said his government especially needed the lifting of an arms embargo to combat militias defying its authority.

"The international community must cooperate with Libya to put an end to extremism and terrorism and help government institutions, namely the army, by lifting the arms embargo," Thani said at his headquarters in the eastern city of Al Baida.

The UN Security Council imposed the arms embargo at the start of Libya’s 2011 uprising, which ousted and killed Muammar Gaddafi. More than three years later, Libya is engulfed in chaos and hobbled by rival governments and parliaments as a myriad of armed groups battle for control of territory.

Thani’s government, which is recognised by the international community, and the elected parliament have been based in the remote east since a militant-led coalition seized Tripoli in August.

The coalition known as Fajr Libya also holds Misrata. Militants, led by the UN-blacklisted Ansar Al Sharia, also control parts of Benghazi and have been locked in battle with pro-government forces since May.

"The international community classified Ansar Al Sharia as a terrorist organisation and it is leading an international coalition to crush such groups in Iraq and Syria," Thani said of the US-led alliance against the terrorist group. "But in Libya, the government and armed forces are battling these groups alone, without any support from the international community."

"We are afraid that the groups that are in Syria and Iraq will infiltrate Libya if they (coalition forces) tighten the noose around them there," Thani said.

Thani said his government was ready for talks, but not with armed groups that refuse to recognise its authority. "The government will take part in any dialogue aimed at saving the country," he said, "but we will not sit at the same table as groups who have carried arms against the government and defy its legitimacy."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt court overturns Mubarak 3-year jail term for graft
An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned a three-year prison sentence against ousted president Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges and ordered a retrial.

A lower court had handed down the jail term in May last year after convicting him of embezzling more than 100,000 Egyptian pounds about $14 million, 10 million euros) earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces. It had also handed down four-year jail sentences against the toppled leader's sons, Alaa and Gamal.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Top Expert: North Korea Could Have 20 Nuclear Weapons By The Time Obama Leaves Office
I guess "leading from behind" makes it easier to count what is ahead of you?
Ouch.
Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp7489 || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Commies


U.S. takes aim at North Korea
The United States aims to use new sanctions imposed on North Korea over the cyber attack on Sony Pictures to cut off the country's remaining links to the international financial system, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.

Daniel Glaser, assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the U.S. Treasury Department, said past sanctions had already discouraged "hundreds" of overseas banks, including China's major commercial banks, from doing business with North Korea.

New sanctions announced by President Barack Obama on Jan 2. provided "a tremendous amount of flexibility" and the goal was to identity remaining financial institutions that allowed North Korea access to the global system, which could face sanction themselves, Glaser told a House of Representatives briefing.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Daniel Glaser, assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the U.S. Treasury Department, said past sanctions had already discouraged "hundreds" of overseas banks, including China's major commercial banks, from doing business with North Korea.

That'll work - all set now!
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 0:37 Comments || Top||


Europe
Official Muslim Representatives Will Visit German Newspaper Offices to Demand Respect
This is form a German language article covering the official Islamkonferenz, a dialogue forum attended by the German government and Muslim organizations' representatives.

The bombshell is near the end of the article.
Muslim representatives Erol PĂźrlĂź (Sunni, indirectly Central Council/Muslim Brotherhood) and Bekir Alboga (Sunni, de facto a representative of the Turkish government) are talking to journalists directly. Their remarks are not official statements made during the conference.

They start with complaining about the cartoons, denouncing any depiction of Mohammed and especially negative depictions. Then they announce their plans to systematically intimidate the German press: (corrected Google translation)

Both wish for more respect and sensitivity shown by the cartoons, also from Charlie Hebdo. "I treat other religions respectfully"
by calling them apes and pigs
says PĂźrlĂź. "Dignitaries need not be drawn through the mud."
But they can be drawn through the mud by free people who believe that these 'dignitaries' are actually less than dignified. Welcome to Western Civilization!
This is why Muslim representatives will visit newspaper offices during the next couple of days to urge them to respect religious feelings, he announced.
"And ve haff vays to make the urge especially urgent!" he added.
They are supported by the Greens in the Bundestag: "Not everything that is protected by freedom of opinion and freedom of the press needs to be said and written," said the spokesman for religious affairs for the Group, Volker Beck. "This is the responsibility that always goes hand in hand with freedom."
Dhimmitude does not go hand in hand with freedom, Volker!
However, respect and consideration should determine the red line, not fear of terrorism, he said. "No one needs to tolerate insult and incitement."
Anyone living in an open society must tolerate subjectively perceived 'insult and incitement!' This is the very foundation of the free marketplace of ideas!

All snarking aside, this is a sign of a catastrophic development.
These nominally mainstream, nominally moderate Muslims of nominally good reputation dare to openly threaten the press with (hopefully) mock reenactments of the Charlie Hebdo massacre while they're attending a dialogue forum with German government ministers.

But why should they fear anything when Merkel has officially sided with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 16:36 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You earn respect, you do not demand respect. The muzzie reps demand submission, not respect.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/14/2015 17:49 Comments || Top||

#2  There seems to be something wrong with the character encoding.

The two Muslim reps who demand earth and water respect are called Erol Pürlü and Bekir Alboga.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 18:57 Comments || Top||

#3  "I demand that which is not mine!", said no winner ever.
Posted by: Beau || 01/14/2015 22:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope they beat the snot out of the guy, hog tie him and toss him in a dumpster.
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 22:36 Comments || Top||


French Prime Minister declares 'war on terrorism'
[Ynet]. La Belle France's prime minister called the intelligence capabilities and anti-terrorism laws to be strengthened after previously admitting 'clear failings' over the attackers.

La Belle France's prime minister on Tuesday declared a "war against terrorism", as the satirical magazine targeted in last week's jihadist killing spree hit back with a defiant issue featuring the Prophet Mohammed on the cover.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in a speech that drew several standing ovations, called for the intelligence capabilities and anti-terrorism laws to be strengthened after previously admitting to "clear failings" over the attackers.

"La Belle France is at war against terrorism, jihadism, radicalism. La Belle France is not at war against Islam and Moslems," Valls said.

"I don't want Jews in this country to be scared, or Moslems to be ashamed" of their faith, he added.

Tackling security weaknesses, Valls said convicted murderous Moslems would be isolated in prisons before the end of the year to prevent them radicalizing fellow inmates.

He also said an improved system for the exchange of data on European travelers would be in place by September.

A rare outpouring of national unity in the wake of the attacks that left 17 people dead spread to parliament where a packed house gave a stirring rendition of the Marseillaise anthem, a first since the end of World War I.

The special sitting came after President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
oversaw a solemn ceremony paying tribute to three coppers killed in La Belle France's bloodiest week in decades, while four Jews rubbed out in one of the attacks in Gay Paree were laid to rest in Israel.

"Our great and beautiful La Belle France will never break, will never yield, never bend" in the face of the Islamist threat that is "still there, inside and outside" the country, said Hollande, surrounded by weeping families and uniformed colleagues.

Equally defiant, the Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
magazine where the first attack took place on Wednesday unveiled the cover of its latest edition showing a weeping Prophet Mohammed holding a sign saying "Je suis Charlie" under the banner "All is forgiven".

"Our Mohammed is above all just a guy who is crying," said cartoonist Renald Luzier, known as Luz, who escaped the attackers' bullets as he was late for work on the day they burst into an editorial meeting and mowed down the magazine's top staff. "He is much nicer than the one followed by the gunnies."

Egypt's state-sponsored Islamic authority, the Dar al-Ifta, said the latest cover of Charlie Hebdo - which has been widely reproduced around the world - was "an unjustified provocation against the feelings of 1.5 billion Moslems".

But French Moslem groups urged their communities to "stay calm and avoid emotive reactions" to the depiction of Mohammed, which many see as sacrilegious.

The controversial weekly, which lampoons everyone from the pope to the president, has become the symbol of freedom of expression in the wake of the bloodshed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Funds transfers to PA discontinued? No. Then it's not war on terrorism.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2015 3:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Clear out the no-go areas?

Cut off welfare benefits to the layabouts in the flophouses?

There's your problem, dickhead.

Money talks, bullshit walks, Manuel...
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 3:31 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder what might be different today if France had joined the WOT 13 years ago.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/14/2015 7:28 Comments || Top||

#4  I remember words and flowery gestures after 9/11 by Euro leaders.

I also remember polling data of the populations of those same countries showing at best indifference but more often schadenfreude at the death and suffering of Americans.

I also remember that the same leaders who spoke the flowery words acted much more in accordance with the polling data when the rubber hit the road.

As long as there is funding for "oppressed" Muslims, and as long as they refuse to name Islam as a root cause of this horror and instead imply that Christianity is just as dangerous, and as long as politicians and bureaucrats and lobbyists care more about making money off of oil than they do about their culture, nation, and civilization, and as long as leftist leaders treat this as a law enforcement rather than military problem, then there will be no end to Islam-inspired death and mayhem, and the words and marching of the leaders is for nought.

When the NPR audience/education industry/cultural elite in the West engage in and enable displacement behavior whereby people who go to Church every Sunday and believe in traditional Christianity are portrayed as being more of an existential threat than people who shoot up cartoonists and decapitate journalists, all the words of of these politicians are for nought.
Posted by: no mo uro || 01/14/2015 8:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Wonder what all the folks who mocked George W. Bush for his War On Terrorism are saying now?

W was a decade ahead of the cool kids.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2015 15:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Declaring war on terror means nothing. War can be declared on terrorists but then who defines the terrorist. War be declared on islam.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 01/14/2015 16:22 Comments || Top||


French parliament extends military intervention in Iraq
[Ynet]. The French parliament voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to extend the country's military intervention against 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....
Death Eaters in Iraq that started four months ago. There were 488 votes in favour against one in the vote, which came after 17 people were killed in three days of violence that began on Jan. 7 when two Islamist gunnies burst into Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
's offices, opening fire in Dire Revenge for the paper's publication of satirical images of Mohammad in the past.

One of the killers cited La Belle France's military strikes as a motivation for his acts.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


French police: Arms for Paris attacks came from abroad
[Ynet]. The weapons used by a terror cell to kill 17 people around Gay Paree came from outside the country and authorities are urgently tracing the source of the financing, a French police official said Tuesday.

Christophe Crepin, a French police union representative, said several people were being sought in relation to the "substantial" financing of the three gunnies, as well as others in their network. He said the weapons stockpile clearly came from abroad and the amount spent shows an organized network.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  Appears someone is doing the social network analysis.

Please keep in mind however, "ISIS is not Islam."
[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  So the French can't control their borders, either? Or did they have their own version of "Fast and Furious" backfire?
Posted by: Bobby || 01/14/2015 7:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Another 'Gun Free Zone' success (for the attackers).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2015 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  a blinding flash of the obvious. Good God!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 01/14/2015 14:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes, I'd like a demitasse, a copy of Le Monde, and the second RPG from the left.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/14/2015 19:04 Comments || Top||

#6  The Kalashnikovs weren't manufactured in France.
Wow, now there's a shocker.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/14/2015 19:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Mai Oui AK's & RPG's are not manufactured in La belle France but they can still be obtained somehow, somewhere like Belgique? Quel dommage!
Posted by: Alpha2c || 01/14/2015 22:10 Comments || Top||


Merkel vows to fight bigotry after anti-Islam march
[DAWN] A day after anti-Islam protesters marched in record numbers in Dresden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom...
said her government would do everything in its power to fight intolerance, calling discrimination based on religious faith humanly reprehensible.

Roughly 25,000 demonstrators, some carrying mocking posters of Ms Merkel in a headscarf, marched in Dresden on Monday, to demand stricter immigration rules and an end to multiculturalism in Germany, home to four million Moslems, most of Turkish origin.

The movement, called PEGIDA or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, has drawn far fewer supporters in other cities. And counter-demonstrations against racism have drawn far larger crowds.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  “What we need to do now is to use all the means at our disposal ... to combat intolerance and violence,” she said.

Then Merkel must combat the OIC's consensus Islamic doctrine as this doctrine is monstrously intolerant and violent.

“To exclude groups of people because of their faith, this isn’t worthy of the free state in which we live. It isn’t compatible with our essential values. And its humanly reprehensible. Xenophobia, racism, extremism have no place here,” she added.

Shunning people because of their faith is a perfectly legitimate action in a free society.
If convictions or faiths are evil then shunning is a moral necessity. Among evil faiths and convictions are the Khmer Rouge, National Socialism, Aum Shinrikyo, the People's Temple, State Shintoism and many many many more.

Palling around with a Muslim Brotherhood front organizations is apparently compatible with Ms Merkel's values. Xenophobia and the assorted 'isms' are apparently just fine if it is the Muslim Brotherhood who is promoting them.

“This diversity has made our country successful, interesting and likeable.”

This diversity and the politically correct protection thereof also made Germany an accessory to 9/11, he forgot to add.

The mask is slipping.

If Merkel was an eco-socialist forging an alliance totalitarian theocrats; the alliance being directed against Western style free and open society, then what would she do differently?
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 14:42 Comments || Top||

#2  In the far-away Deutschland of bierstein and blond,
Merkel the Turkel was queen of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was fine.
And if she had her way it would be Christian-rein.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/14/2015 14:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Merkel the Turkel, very nicely done
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/14/2015 18:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Nicely done indeed.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/14/2015 18:27 Comments || Top||


Up to 5,000 Europeans have joined up with jihadis — Europol
[IsraelTimes] Around 30% of European Death Eaters who fought in Syria and Iraq are estimated to have returned to continent, police head says

Up to 5,000 European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
citizens have joined jihadist group ranks, the head of European police agency Europol told British politicians on Tuesday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:


We can't prevent all Islamist attacks: EU anti-terror chief
[DAWN] It is impossible to completely prevent new Islamist attacks like those in Gay Paree, the EU's anti-terror chief said Tuesday, warning that Europe's prisons have become a massive incubator for radicalisation.

Gilles de Kerchove told AFP in an interview that the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group and Al-Qaeda wanted to launch more attacks on the West like the assault on the French capital last week in which 17 people were killed over three says.

We can't prevent (militant attacks) 100 per cent, said de Kerchove, who met with European, US and Canadian security ministers in Gay Paree on Sunday in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
massacre and linked attacks.

The threat remains serious, he added.

De Kerchove warned that the Al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front, the Al-Qaeda branch in Syria, is also looking for clean skins, Europeans with no record of radical activity, to mount attacks in Europe.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have a few solutions for you, Gilles...
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Just like you can't stop all murders, rapes, and robberies, but you can punish enough to keep it down to a nuisance for most of the population.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2015 9:12 Comments || Top||

#3 
"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001

If a genuine defense isn't possible, preemption and deterrence are viable options.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 14:45 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda in North Africa threatens France with more attacks
[IsraelTimes]. Group praises Gay Paree terrorists, vows more action if La Belle France remains hostile to Islam
"Pay attention to meeeeeee!"
Al-Qaeda in North Africa warned on Monday that La Belle France would face more attacks if it persisted in policies hostile to Islam.

La Belle France is paying the price for its aggression against Moslems and its hostile policy to Islam, the al-Qaeda offshoot said in a message posted on Islamist websites, after 17 people were killed in Gay Paree in three attacks by jihadists.

As long as its soldiers occupy countries like Mali and the Central African Republic and bombard our people in Syria and Iraq, as its stupid press continues to undermine our prophet, La Belle France will see the worst, the group said. It also welcomed the three horsemen of Islam, heroes of the Battle of Gay Paree, referring to the perpetrators of the attacks that shook the French capital.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Yuuup.

As reinforced by ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [CBC.com] GORY ISIS VIDEO URGES MASSACRE OF NON-MUSLIMS INCLUDING CANADIANS, + Any + All other Infidels by Muslims living in "Kuffar" = Non-Muslim/Infidel lands or homelands.

Meanwhile, NOT to be outdone by FRANCE ...

* SAME > [Pakistan] ARMY CHIEF IN LONDON: UK URGED TO ACT AGZ H-U-T, BALOCH SEPARATISTS - THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE.

But espec agz the HuT whom have been the most successful in infiltrating Pak Army-Govt ranks, partic the Pak Army.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/14/2015 23:30 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey: 6 questioned over suicide bombing in Istanbul
[Ynet]. Turkish authorities were questioning six people, including some foreigners, in connection with a suicide kaboom at an Istanbul cop shoppe, Turkey's state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
said Tuesday.

Last week's attack killed an officer and maimed another. The female bomber was also killed.

The suspects were being questioned by anti-terrorism authorities in Istanbul on Tuesday, the Anadolu Agency said. It gave no further detail on the suspects.

Some Turkish media have said the bomber was a Russian citizen of Chechen origin.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Peace in Middle East possible only after creation of Paleo state -- Turkish PM
Peace in the Middle East is possible only after the creation of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu said, the channel TRT Haber reported Jan.13.

He said that Turkey has always advocated the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The Turkish prime minister also said that Israel supports the state terrorism in the region.
Pretty clear the Turks no longer want Israel's friendship...
Tied to this, no doubt:
Jews are focus of most hate speech in Turkey, media study finds -- upcoming MEMRI report details growing anti-Semitic language in Islamist, pro-AKP outlets. On the other hand, Turkish Airlines remains most active foreign airline in Israel, so the country is not of one mind.
On Jan.12, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Israel does not want an independent Palestinian state.

“Turkey's greatest desire is to see an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 boundaries and its capital being Jerusalem,” Erdogan said.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Russia, Iran sincere in combating terrorism -- Turkish FM
Russia and Iran are sincere in fighting against terrorism in Iraq and Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
What, you don't believe the Turkish foreign minister?
He said that the support of the western countries is needed in fighting against the ‘Islamic State’ terrorist organization in Iraq, since it threatens these countries as well, Turkish Anadolu agency reported on Jan.13.

Although the world wants to get rid of terrorism, there is no clear strategy of combating this organization, which leads to strengthening of terrorists, said the minister.

The ‘Islamic State’ (IS, formerly ISIL or ISIS,) was created in 2003 in Iraq. Between 2004 and 2006, the organization was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and consisted of 11 radical Islamist groups, which had close ties to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.

Following the start of military confrontation in Syria between the armed opposition and the government forces, the IS penetrated the country in 2013. The organization said at the time it refuses to take the oath of Al-Qaeda and declared ‘a holy war’ against all groups in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Syrian government forces.

Strengthening of the IS in Syria allowed it to return to Iraq, deploying military actions against government forces there.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Al Jazeera Cuts Morning Shows
Posted by: Grunter || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just becoming more selective in their appeal.

Hey, maybe Fred could do a show for them. Like...

"Now, What?" with Fred Pruitt. A daily compendium of last night's murders, fatwas and explosions, all in the name of Allan (bees pee upon him)
Posted by: SteveS || 01/14/2015 21:05 Comments || Top||


PLO lawyer in US: Suicide bombers acted for own ‘crazy reasons’
[IsraelTimes]. Trial kicks off in New York over $1 billion terrorism lawsuit against Paleostinian organizations

Paleostine Liberation Organization and the Paleostinian Authority told a jury at the start of a civil trial Tuesday that the groups are not to blame for terror attacks in Israel.

Attorney Mark Rochon said in his opening statement that seven attacks from 2001 to 2004 were carried out by jacket wallahs and gunnies “acting on their own angry, crazy reasons.”

He said the organizations are victims of guilt by association with snuffies who are not defendants in a lawsuit brought on behalf of victims. The $1 billion lawsuit was filed in 2004 to hold the organizations responsible for seven shooting and bombings in or near Jerusalem that killed 33 people and maimed hundreds more, including scores of US citizens.

Rochon spoke after attorney Kent Yalowitz urged jurors in a packed courtroom to hold the Paleostinian organizations liable for the killings.

He brought an 11-year-old lawsuit to life with victims of the terror attacks looking on, introducing some of them to jurors and saying they were they were victimized by suicide kabooms sanctioned by the PLO.

“The evidence will show that killing civilians was standard operating procedure for the Paleostine Liberation Organization and the Paleostinian Authority,” he said.

Payroll records show that the Paleostinian Authority “embraced these crimes” by continuing to pay security officials who organized the attacks, even after they were convicted of murder, he said.

The two groups have argued that the case does not belong in U.S. courts.

US District Judge George B. Daniels told prospective jurors to put aside politics and emotions and to decide the case objectively.

The trial, expected to last up to three months, is occurring despite an unsuccessful last-ditch attempt by the PLO and PA to convince appeals judges that a Manhattan court does not have jurisdiction. The effort was rejected by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit brought under the Antiterrorism Act of 1991 is being heard by an anonymous jury.

“The injuries remain very fresh for most of these people,” plaintiffs’ attorney Phil Horton said in an interview.

Horton said some victims are seeking a sense of closure and many were interested in accountability. Numerous victims were scheduled to testify.

Any damages awarded would be automatically tripled because the claims involved acts of terrorism, he said.

If successful, the plaintiffs expect to recover a substantial amount of any award, he said.

In court papers, lawyers for the PA and PLO say a US court should not have jurisdiction over the case just because the PLO maintains a 12-person office in the United States. They say the PA and PLO’s home is in the West Bank and that US activities are a tiny portion of their worldwide activities.

“Given the high stakes, extraordinary burden, and substantial foreign policy consequences associated with bringing a foreign government to trial for supporting terrorism, the trial … should not go forward in the absence of general personal jurisdiction over them,” the lawyers wrote in court papers.

They also said the publicity of the trial, “some of it inevitable, some of it sought by plaintiffs, will undermine the confidence in the PA’s ability to govern and contribute to a worsening of tensions in the region at a delicate moment.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well Islam is a mental illness...
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/14/2015 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Guilty as charged!
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 0:28 Comments || Top||

#3  BIO on Mark Rochon of law firm Miller Chevalier of Washington, DC. These guys, I imagine, do not come cheap.

Mark Rochon, Chair of the Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, practices in the area of white collar defense in criminal and civil matters. He has conducted extensive internal investigations on behalf of multinational corporations and has represented them in significant matters under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In addition, Mr. Rochon has represented individuals in connection with government contracting fraud investigations, export controls investigations, insider trading investigations, shareholder suits, accounting and bank fraud cases, and other fraud related allegations.

Mr. Rochon’s practice frequently involves advising clients about the pitfalls inherent in parallel governmental inquiries and private litigation. He has represented several multinational companies in connection with potential or ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, and served as lead counsel to a former outside Director of Enron in connection with the coordinated shareholder actions related to Enron’s bankruptcy. His internal investigations work has included matters arising across the world, including one coordinated inquiry into more than a hundred issues arising in a client’s overseas operations in multiple countries. He has also coordinated worldwide FCPA due diligence inquiries in connection with client acquisitions.

Mr. Rochon has been lead counsel in more than 160 jury trials and has argued before appellate courts across the country. He frequently lectures on trial practice and internal investigations both to students and to practitioners.

Mr. Rochon served on a nuclear submarine in the U.S. Navy from 1975 to 1977.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/14/2015 21:30 Comments || Top||


White House: Obama Will Fight Media To Stop Anti-Jihad Articles
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fuck you goat humping sympathizer.

Free speech shall not be infringed. Those that try to suppress it through violent means need to meet a violent end.

No negotiation, no mercy.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/14/2015 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  I for one, am absolutely shocked and appalled.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh, you mean like all those anti-jihad articles coming out of the NYT, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post?

I call bullshit - he's blowing smoke on this one.
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 0:56 Comments || Top||

#4  I have enough evidence of complicity.
Posted by: newc || 01/14/2015 0:57 Comments || Top||

#5  The blood trail and spoor of Charlie Hebdo appears to be leading back to ISIS and through extension, to regime failures in Iraq. Little wonder the administration is attempting to distance itself from the carnage.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 1:34 Comments || Top||

#6  News tonight says the three French policemen killed last week were awarded the Legion of Honor. Think back to Fort Hood. It took years for the victims to even be recognized as combat injured.

"Workplace Violence".
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 5:54 Comments || Top||

#7  The blood trail and spoor of Charlie Hebdo appears to be leading back to ISIS and through extension, to regime failures in Iraq. Little wonder the administration is attempting to distance itself from the carnage

I wouldn't say "distance." Foreign policy wise, the President and his administration are indeed in a bind. They botched Iraq and Libya, nearly lost Egypt, are in danger of losing Afghanistan and are now having to deal with resurgent Islamist forces in many places. That means they need Muslim countries for various means and methods of support.

The administration also badly wants a deal between Israel and the Paleos. That means trying to keep the Arab nations more or less quiet on the sidelines.

Finally the President and his administration desperately want a deal with the Iranian theocracy/IRGC on their nuke program.

They're trying quite hard not to alienate any of them - even if it means selling-out on a few things.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/14/2015 10:38 Comments || Top||

#8  'selling out on a few things..' uh small things like the Israelis or a nuked up Iran? For peace in the MId East or what other unlikely benefit?
Posted by: Alpha2c || 01/14/2015 11:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Quote me on this:

There will not be peace in the middle east until the Shia and the Sunni settle their differences.

Until then (when hell freezes over most likely), there will be war or the shadow of war constantly.

Posted by: Bill Clinton || 01/14/2015 12:00 Comments || Top||

#10  I might have thought this was published by the Onion. IMO, Obama has completely gone over to the other side. On the other hand, maybe he never left the other side.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/14/2015 12:55 Comments || Top||

#11  Below at #13 is from yesterday's - "White House: We should have sent high level official to Paris...." and Pappy's comments, which I thought were spot on:

#13 I'd like to hear you expand upon that when you have time.

It can be broken down into two categories:

International:

1. The Muslim World:

Foreign policy wise, the President and his administration are in a bind. They botched Iraq and Libya, nearly lost Egypt, are in danger of losing Afghanistan and are now having to deal with resurgent Islamist forces in many places. That means they need Muslim countries for support.

They also want a deal between Israel and the Paleos. That means trying to keep the Arab nations more or less on the sidelines.

2. The Iranian Mullahcracy:

The President and his administration desperately want a deal with the Iranian theocracy/IRGC on their nuke program. That means avoiding alienating them at nearly any cost.

Domestic:

This is, for the most part, a long-game area for Mr. Obama and his organization. He needs to retain or cultivate the favor of these groups post-presidency:

1. African American:

The administration, despite its rhetoric, hasn't actively supported them as much as its leadership would like. For example, they did not send anyone senior to the rallies in Ferguson or NYC, though they did send representatives to one of the funerals. Sending someone senior to a "paleskin" rally in Paris would have been a reminder.

2. American Muslims:

This is a long-term project and a group Mr. Obama and his camp would dearly love to cultivate. Hence the administration's actions and words (or lack thereof.)

3. Hispanics and other non-muslim ethnic groups. Again, a long-term project, though not as critical as the first one and already more entrenched in support than the second.

3. Progressives:

Already in Mr. Obama's pocket, though support could erode. His foreign policy issues are to a significant extent due to trying to meet the expectations of progressives. They may be disappointed but they likely won't abandon him and any future political candidates or issues he supports.

4. Potential and current financial donors:

This is a bit more nebulous, consisting of short, medium and long term (post-presidency) objectives, and involves placating and providing opportunities and positive (international and domestic) climates to potential and current individual and corporate donors.

Rather off-the-cuff and not fully thought out, but there it is.
Posted by Pappy 2015-01-13 19:57|| 2015-01-13 19:57|| Front Page Top
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 13:40 Comments || Top||

#12  Excellent assessment Pappy. Thanks for taking the time to jot those points down. I hope you don't mind my posting them again.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 13:42 Comments || Top||

#13  No problem, meneer. One just has to keep in mind that everything relates to the 'Long March' with that group.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/14/2015 16:33 Comments || Top||

#14  There will not be peace in the middle east until the Shia and the Sunni settle their differences. Arm both sides one country at a time.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 01/14/2015 16:34 Comments || Top||


Obama says hacks show need for cybersecurity law
President Barack Obama said Tuesday the cyber attacks against Sony and the Pentagon's Central Command highlight the need for toughened laws on cybersecurity.
Obviously something is needed. My suggestion would be the death penalty for anyone who screws with another person's computer, to include deluging them with junk mail.
Obama made the comment as the White House unveiled a proposal to revive cybersecurity legislation stalled over the past few years.
The only problem is that B.O. is in favor of it.
"With the Sony attack that took place, with the Twitter account that was hacked by Islamist jihadist sympathizers yesterday, it just goes to show how much more work we need to do -- both public and private sector -- to strengthen our cybersecurity," the president said at a meeting with congressional leaders.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Licensing, regulations, new taxes, new departments and agencies, bureaucratic oversight, more taxes.... the standard gov't solution.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Reichstag fire. Excuse to assume more 'Executive Power' [as been demonstrated, to be abused].
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2015 9:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Licensing, regulations, new taxes, new departments and agencies, bureaucratic oversight, more taxes.... the standard gov't solution.

Banning of private encryption, ban on use use of anonymous nyms on sites and forums, registration of websites, release of blogger personal data upon request of LE and other agencies, installation of government tracking software, "one-fits-all" internet-access account, mandatory "diversity awareness" training before gaining said previous account, et cetera, et cetera...
Posted by: Pappy || 01/14/2015 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Thanks for that cheery assessment :-(
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 10:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Do not forget, He lies.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2015 14:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Do not forget, He lies.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2015 14:21 Comments || Top||

#7  We've already seen selective enforcement of laws by this ilk. It won't be any different with cybersecurity.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/14/2015 16:36 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Two LJ militants buried in Karachi after hanging in Sukkur
[DAWN] KARACHI: The three Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
Death Eaters executed in the Sukkur prison early Tuesday morning were brought to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
where two of them were buried and the body of their accomplice was flown to Haripur district for burial, while the murderer of a lawyer executed in the Karachi central prison was moved to his ancestral town in Dadu.

The bodies of the three LJ Death Eaters Mohammad Talha, Khalil Ahmed alias Hassan Jan and Mohammad Shahid Hanif alias Mufti Shahid were brought to the city by Edhi ambulances after the early morning hanging in the Sukkur prison.

They had killed the ministry of defences director laboratories Syed Zafar Hussain Zaidi on July 30, 2001. Mr Zaidi was targeted near his Nazimabad residence.

All the three LJ Death Eaters were sentenced to death by an antiterrorism court in April 2002 for the killing. Their convictions were upheld by the Sindh High Court and appeal against the verdict was also rejected by the Supreme Court of Pakistain. Their black warrants were issued by an antiterrorism court last week.

The three bodies were brought from Sukkur with their family members by our ambulances, said Anwar Kazmi of the Edhi Foundation. He added that two of them were moved to the Malir area and one to Nazimabad.

The funeral of Khalil Ahmed alias Hassan Jan and Shahid Hanif alias Mufti Shahid was held on a road in Millat Town in Malir after Isha prayers. Some area people and their family members attended the funeral.

After the funeral prayers, Khalil Ahmed was buried in the areas graveyard, said Al-Falah SHO Inspector Malik Jan Khan.

As Mufti Shahid originally hailed from Haripur, his body was flown to the district by his family who accompanied the body right from Sukkur to Karachi, the inspector said.

He said the area police with the support of Pakistain Rangers, Sindh, had made security arrangements for the funeral that ended peacefully after it was attended by a moderate number of people.

The funeral of Mohammad Talha, who was a resident of Rizvia area in Nazimabad, was held after Isha prayers at Madina Masjid near his home. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) DSP Zahid Hussain said that mostly the area people and his family members attended the funeral.

After the funeral prayers, he was buried in Shah Muhammad graveyard in North Karachi. All went off well and ended peacefully as police were there for security, he said.

The body of Behram Khan, who was executed at the Karachi central prison for a lawyers murder, was transported to his ancestral town in Dadu district.

After the hanging, jail officials and workers of the Edhi Foundation said the body was handed over to his family members who moved it to the Khairpur Nathan Shah area of Dadu.

The family of Behram Khan had visited him before the execution. They were called again to receive the body after the execution, said an official wishing not to be named.

Behram Khan was condemned to death in June 2003 for killing Advocate Mohammad Ashraf on the Sindh High Court premises in April 2003.

Later, he filed an appeal against his conviction in the Sindh High Court but it upheld the death penalty. Therefore, he moved the Supreme Court of Pakistain, which also maintained the death sentence.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Govt ponders issue of madressah financing
[DAWN] A meeting convened on Tuesday to review the implementation of the National Action Plan against terrorism and extremism was confronted by the mammoth challenge of checking the funding of seminaries that is mainly channelled through unconventional means.

Chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, the meeting held discussion on ways and means to put in place an effective mechanism for the monitoring of foreign financing for madressahs, which is said to come primarily from Middle Eastern countries, an official present at the meeting told Dawn.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  I fully support this - let the Pakis continue to misallocate economic resources, massively. Of course, we're doing it at a far worse rate, but that's because of the asholes we have in the White House and the speaker of the House...
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, we can certain identify one of the sources of their funding:

US to Provide Pakistan $250 Million in Aid: John Kerry
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 1:50 Comments || Top||

#3  I neglected that obvious caveat - let's not throw our debt financed cash into the mix. I'm an idiot...
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2015 3:26 Comments || Top||


Lab tests show polio vaccine is not 'Haram'
[DAWN] It is official. The polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccine being used to fight the crippling disease in our Islamic state is Halal.

A laboratory controlled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistain (DRAP) has tested the vaccine and certified that, according to information gathered by Dawn from official sources and documents.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


'Secret' papers presented about Lakhvi during in-camera hearing
[DAWN] The federal government submitted on Tuesday some classified documents before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during an in-camera hearing on the petition of the alleged criminal mastermind of Mumbai attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi to defend his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

IHC Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi held over two-hour-long in-camera session on the request of Additional Attorney General Afnan Karim Kundi.

After showing sensitive documents to Justice Qureshi during the hearing, Federal Investigation Agencys special prosecutor Abuzar Husnain Pirzada left the court, ignoring the journalists who were waiting outside for the outcome of the hearing.

The in-camera hearing continued after the judge had seen the papers presented by Mr Pirzada. Later, Justice Qureshi issued an order which says that owing to lengthy arguments advanced by the parties concerned it had been decided to adjourn the matter till Wednesday (today).

After the conclusion of arguments by Mr Kundi, Advocate General Islamabad Mian Abdul Rauf and Lakhvis counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi, the court would announce the order on the Lakhvis detention the same day.

After an anti-terrorism court had granted bail to Lakhvi on Dec 18, the federal government detained him under the MPO.

On Dec 26, the IHC suspended the detention and the federal government challenged the IHCs order in the Supreme Court. The apex court on Jan 7 restored the detention order and remanded the case back to the IHC with the direction to decide the matter after hearing all the stakeholders.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Iraq
Iraq buys scrap metal rocket launchers from Rooshia
On Sunday, the newspaper Vedomosti quoted sources in the Russian defense industry sector, that Russia in 2014 signed contracts to deliver a large batch of guns, rocket launchers and ammunition in the amount of one billion dollars to Iraq.

According to the newspaper, the contracts were signed during the visit of the Iraqi military delegation, headed by the Minister of Defense, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, to Russia in 2014.

The sources explained that Russia will supply to Iraq 2 or 3 systems of rocket launchers 'Grad' and a number of howitzers and a large number of mortars, in addition to four rocket launchers and flame throwers model 'Sulentsepyuk.'
Won't do any good if the men handling them aren't any good...
With the BM-27 you just have to get it in the right county.
Don't ever give it to the Gazans, then. They've a terrible record when it comes to actually hitting the country they aimed at.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At last check, wid the ISIS/ISIL repor still expanding in Iraq despite the successful Coalition airstrikes, it would appear that the Iraqi Army-Govt are out to get help from any source.

Also, BAGHDAD is repor weighing a return to Universal/National Consciption, i.e. a new more larger-scale "Draft", to fill nadly-needed Fighting Manpower requirements vee the ISIS/ISIL + aligned.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/14/2015 23:37 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
We told you so
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2015 03:06 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mona had her face uncovered in the image, the hussy!
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/14/2015 7:09 Comments || Top||


Paleo unity government condemns break-in of Hamas officials to gov't offices in Gaza
[Ynet]. The Paleostinian unity government condemned a break-in of former Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government officials to its offices in Gazoo on Tuesday and criticized them for damage done to vehicles and equipment. The protestors broke into the government offices in protest of salaries that had not been paid in over seven months.

Labor Minister Mahmoud Abu Shahla promised to end the crisis as soon as possible. Earlier, a front man for the labor union announced that the protestors will not leave until their salaries are paid.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Cyber assaults ever more severe, says IDF officer
[IsraelTimes] The commander of the IDF Cyber Defense Unit, speaking shortly before IS hacked into CENTCOMs twitter account, warns of far more significant attacks in future wars

The Israeli army is battling cyber attacks of increasing complexity, edging closer to an age in which online attacks become a central component of asymmetric warfare, the head of the IDFs cyber defense unit told The Times of Israel recently.

The danger to the military, which has stored all of its information on computers for the past 35 years and is increasingly run online, was underscored on Monday when hackers identifying with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
terror group managed to hijack social media accounts of the US Militarys Central Command, posting propaganda and what it claimed was secret information.

For Israel, though the principle threats come from Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Hezbollah, and Iran, which invest heavily in cyber warfare and their capacities continue to improve, said the IDF cyber units commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The unit, which graduated a new class of so-called cyber defenders last week, was founded two years ago. During Operation Protective Edge in Gazoo this summer, Israel was subjected to a wide-scale attack the likes of which we have not before seen, a commander in the armys computers and technology branch, known as C4I, told a group of Israeli military news hounds.

Iran, he added, had put very significant effort into the offensive.

The bulk of the threats, as is the case with terror, were aimed at civilian systems rather than the more heavily protected military systems, the officer said.

The armys operational systems, very much reliant on technology, were not attacked. The sole high profile success was the Iranian-backed, so-called Syrian Electronic Armys hacking of the IDF Spokespersons English Twitter feed on July 3.

#Warning: possible nuclear leak in the region as two rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility, the feed read until it was corrected several minutes later.

Nonetheless, some of those who closely followed the advance of the cyber threat in recent years and specifically during the operation saw a notable shift in the Iranian approach.

Its quite possible that the Iranian progress in the cyber sphere during Operation Protective Edge is evidence of the beginning of a process in which cyber war replaces the classic terror as a central tool in Irans doctrine of asymmetric warfare, Col. (ret) Gabi Siboni, the director of the Cyber Security Program at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Tel Aviv, wrote shortly after the operation.

Cyber attacks would enable Israels enemies to strike the home front and are often easily deniable two elements that are central to the Iranian approach to asymmetric warfare against Israel, Siboni wrote.

Iran, he added, is quickly and adroitly bridging the gap in cyber technology between itself and Israel.

We dont need to be naive, the unit commander said. Its simple the axis of Islamist resistance is constantly probing for chinks in the IDFs armor; hence the rise of the rocket and missile threat. As that threat has been partially thwarted, he said, the tunnel threat, a dominant feature of the Gazoo war, was pushed to the fore. In the coming wars, he said, especially those in the north, I imagine that the cyber capacity will be far more significant than in the past wars

The possibility of a 1973 Yom Kippur-like scenario, in which cyber threats, disguised as something more benign, are suddenly released, in unison, is one Israel cannot afford to dismiss. Massive cyber attacks, like the Egyptian onslaught on Yom Kippur are feasible, he said. But the units very, very wide intelligence picture, coupled with a dynamic defensive system, keeps us two steps ahead of the known assault level.

The armys defensive posture, in cyber space, he said, is akin to that along Israels borders. There are visible barriers, erected in cyber space. They are meant, like border fences, to provide one layer of protection. Around them are other obstacles meant to guide an intruder toward central channels of attack, which are studded with covert traps.

He described the net around Israels secrets and computerized weapons systems as deeply layered and said that in a very, very high percentage of cases the army is able to locate the point of attack and either stymie its advance or launch a counter-strike.

Its no different than the kinetic world of war on land, he said.

However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
potential attackers can come from anywhere in the world, not just enemy states, and need no special infrastructure in order to succeed. A nation seeking to advance its intercontinental missile capacity needs a planning infrastructure, a support network, and a lot of money, the head of C4I, Maj. Gen. Uzi Moskovitz, noted last year in a public address. In cyber space, though, one can climb from seventh or eighth in the world to second or third easily. There is virtually no dependence on physical factors; the only necessity is human capital.

The IDFs Cyber Defense Unit, which last week graduated a small group of soldiers to the pool of several hundred currently in service, seek highly curious people, with the ability to work in a team, learn new material fast, and the tenacity to never leave a stone unturned, the unit commander said.

Once we have that, we can give a short course and they will be able to attain a very wide knowledge.

He described the nature of the work as sifting through many piles of noise and fishing out that which seems suspicious, and then linking it to other suspicious events, inspecting them, developing a three-dimensional picture, compiling the evidence into a diagnosis and then investigating the threat thoroughly enough so as to render it transparent.

For now, this unit has proven demonstrably successful. But there is no guarantee this superiority will endure, particularly in light of the disorder among the many bodies addressing the cyber threat, including the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, communications companies and providers, the Bank of Israel and the Israel Police. The absence of order in Israels defensive cyber deployment, Saboni wrote, may cause holes in the digital Iron Dome shielding Israel and allow hostile elements to harm Israel.

The commander of the most recent cyber defense course, cleared to speak only as Lt. S., noted the growing threats against Israel and the growing reliance on technology within the army. The cyber threat level is always going up, he said, but, on the other hand, were not going to go back (in time) and start working with paper.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Counter attack. Fry a lot of zombie computers, classified as accessories to the (criminal) act. Let your septic tank leak into your neighbor's yard, expect to pay the clean up bill. Ought to generate some new sales in the electronics department.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2015 9:07 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Round-up: Muslim Persecution of Christians, November 2014
By Raymond Ibrahim

[GatestoneInstitute]. Both in the Islamic world and the Western world, Muslims continued to attack and slaughter Christians.
And last November was an ugly month for it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Top Muslim body warns new Muhammad cartoons will ‘stir hatred’
Apparently they have not fully absorbed President al Sisi's message about the dangers to Islam.
[IsraelTimes]. Al-Azhar center says drawings set to be published in Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
magazine are an ‘unjustified provocation’


Islam’s most prestigious center of learning, on Tuesday warned that new cartoons published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will only serve to “stir up hatred.”

The drawings “do not serve the peaceful coexistence between peoples and hinders the integration of Moslems into European and Western societies,” the Cairo-based body’s Islamic research center added in a statement.

The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine that is to go on sale on Wednesday features a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad and mocks the Islamist gunnies who murdered many of its staff last week.

Al-Azhar was among the first Moslem groups to condemn last Wednesday’s attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo by Islamist gunnies who killed 12 people, including five cartoonists.

At the time, it condemned the “criminal attack” and said “Islam denounces any violence.”

Earlier on Tuesday, however, Egypt’s state-sponsored Islamic authority, Dar al-Ifta, denounced as a provocation the new cartoons in Charlie Hebdo.

“This action is an unjustified provocation against the feelings of 1.5 billion Moslems,” it said.

“This [magazine] edition will result in a new wave of hatred in French and Western society. What the magazine is doing does not serve coexistence and the cultural dialogue Moslems aspire to.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Well, this dude is going to have to explain to me just how much more hatred they can possibly stir up. These monsters already commit mass murder because of cartoons, have children execute prisoners, and behead aid workers. I think they've shot right past hatred here and gone on to, "F%@k you, that's why." A couple more cartoons aren't going to make any difference except to the useful idiots who are still desperately trying to justify the actions of these barbarians.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/14/2015 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently they have not fully absorbed President al Sisi's message about the dangers to Islam.
WTF? Give them time & they'll take care of that "messenger" in their traditional Egyptian manner, a la Anwar Sadat.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/14/2015 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "just how much more hatred they can possibly stir up."
These kinds of statements have multiple functions. Warning infidels not to insult their gods is a minor function. The major function is to stir up the base of would-be killers and recruit more jihadis without obviously appearing to do so.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/14/2015 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  If cartoons stir up hatred, whadda think massacres of infidels do? Keep it up and eventually you WILL have a war on all Muslims.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/14/2015 7:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Be careful what you wish for. It took the West far too long to react to Nazism, but the final results were not pretty.
Posted by: European Conservative || 01/14/2015 10:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Publishing the Koran is the event that stirs hatred.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/14/2015 10:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah?

Well fuck you and your goat raping shit stained prophet, asshole.

You can take your 7th century barbaric religion and shove it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/14/2015 11:19 Comments || Top||

#8  Actually, as far as stirring hatred, you Imams have been doing just fine at that yourselves, with fatwas against everything, including snowmen, and your support of terrorists like MILF in the Philippines, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/14/2015 14:27 Comments || Top||

#9  The Egyptians are effectively telling the World that believe Western nations are subjugated satellite states.

In a sane world this would be the time for Western ultimatum to the Arab-Islamic world:

You will officially declare your recognition of and respect for the freedom and sovereignty of all Western nations. The declaration will be unequivocal and without reservation.

Failure to issue such a declaration will provoke a declaration of war.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 15:01 Comments || Top||

#10  Moderate Muslims (if there are any) will not respond with violence over such cartoons.

Radical Muslims are already radical. The cartoons just push them over the edge so they are easier to spot and remove.

I see no downside to publishing the cartoons.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2015 15:09 Comments || Top||

#11  Another aspect:

Al Azhar is effectively the body that decides what mainstream Sunni Islam is and what it isn't.(*)

Given these statements why exactly shouldn't the great majority of 'peaceful,' mainstream Muslims share in the responsibility for these attacks by islamofascistic death squads.

They're just implementing Al Azhar's doctrine: Sharia must be enforced in the West.

(*) The same applies to Qom and Shiites respectively.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/14/2015 15:17 Comments || Top||

#12  West should support the most sane immam and get some counter fatwas going pronto.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2015 18:45 Comments || Top||

#13  They would have to find one first. A sane Iman that is,
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/14/2015 20:23 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Divers Retrieve 2nd Black Box From Airasia Crash
[ABC7] Divers retrieved the crashed AirAsia plane's second black box from the bottom of the Java Sea on Tuesday, giving experts essential tools to piece together what brought Flight 8501 down.

The cockpit voice recorder was freed from beneath heavy wreckage at a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet), a day after the flight data recorder was recovered, said Tonny Budiono, sea navigation director at the Transportation Ministry.

"Thank God," he said. "This is good news for Sherlocks to reveal the cause of the plane crash."

The device will be flown to the capital, Jakarta, to be analyzed with the other black box, a process that could take up to two weeks. Since it records in a two-hour loop, all discussions between the captain and co-pilot should be available.

The plane disappeared from radar less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28. It was carrying 162 people, but only 48 bodies have been recovered so far.

Decomposition of the bodies is making identification more difficult for desperate families waiting to bury their loved ones. Nearly all passengers and crew were Indonesian.

The retrieval of the second black box is the latest boost in the slow-moving hunt in the shallow, murky stretch of ocean.

Over the weekend, the tail of the Airbus A320 was recovered, emblazoned with the carrier's red-and-white cursive logo. The black boxes are normally inside the tail, but were missing when the wreckage was pulled to the surface.

The devices were soon located after three Indonesian ships detected strong "pings" being emitted from their beacons, about 20 meters (22 yards) apart. Powerful currents, large waves and blinding silt have hindered divers' efforts throughout the search, but they took advantage of calmer early morning conditions on Monday and Tuesday to recover the instruments.

"They worked together, facing bad weather and high risks to discover what was eagerly awaited by all Indonesian people and the aviation world," First Adm. Abdul Rashid, navy search and rescue task force commander, said of the divers. "We are committed to continuing our search for the fuselage, to find more victims believed to be trapped there."

The information obtained from the black boxes - which are actually orange - will likely be vital. Designed to survive extreme heat and pressure, they should provide Sherlocks with a second-by-second timeline of the flight.

The voice recorder captures all conversations between the pilots and with air traffic controllers, as well as any noises in the cockpit, including possible alarms or kabooms. The flight data recorder saves information on the position and condition of almost every major part in the plane, including altitude, airspeed, direction, engine thrust, rate of ascent or descent and what up-or-down angle the plane is pointed.

In their last contact with air-traffic controllers, the pilots of the AirAsia jet asked to climb from 32,000 feet (9,750 meters) to 38,000 feet (11,580 meters) to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied permission because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the plane disappeared. No distress signal was received.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IIRC, as per FREEREPUBLIC Artics, "Allah/Allahu Akbar" was the last thing allegedly heard + recorded by the black box???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/14/2015 23:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria urges intelligence sharing to fight terrorism -state media
[Rooters] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged states fighting terrorism to share intelligence, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday, saying European policies were responsible for attacks by Islamist gunmen in France last week.

Condemning the Paris attacks, Assad accused Western policymakers of being short sighted - criticism of their policy of support for the 2011 Syrian uprising that descended into an insurgency dominated by hardline Islamist militants.
All of which suggests 'intelligence sharing' may not be taking place at any level btwn Syria and the west, which is inexcusable.
"Inexcusable"? I think you meant to use the word "prudent": Assad is a thug, murderer and all-round asshole. I wouldn't trust any 'anti-terrorist' information he provided to western intel agencies and would immediately assume anything we'd get from his thugocrats to be a false-flag spoon-fed to us by the Iranians. The only dealings I would have with Mr. Assad, if I were president (and it's a darned shame no one's yet asked me) would be with the pointy end of a JDAM.

Or perhaps I missed the /sarc tag...
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 08:36 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Intelligence sharing?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2015 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Salmon Mod: There can be no debate regarding your personality assessment in the first line, but when has that stopped us before? This is not a Facebook contest of 'likes.'

All avenues of intelligence collection should be vigorously exploited, the good, the bad, and the ugly. That which is provided to him can be measured and focused to reinforce our own goals and objectives.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2015 13:17 Comments || Top||


Report: Suicide Bombers Linked to Fugitive Mansour Active in Tripoli
[AnNahar]. Suicide bombers affiliated to runaway Ousama Mansour have been detected in several areas in the northern city of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
as media reports said that his wanted accomplice Shadi al-Mawlawi is directly linked to the two men who carried out the Jabal Mohsen attack.

An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday that the movement of around ten members of Mansour's group have been perceived in the north. They are reportedly carrying boom belts.

The newspaper said that detained suspects confessed during investigations with the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau that they were in contact with the jacket wallahs, Taha al-Khayyal and Bilal al-Meraayan, who carried out the twin suicide kaboom in Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen neighborhood.

On Sunday, al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front threatened the residents of Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen and Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
with new attacks, a day after it grabbed credit for the attack that killed nine and maimed more than 37 others.

The bombing was carried out in a packed cafe in Jabal Mohsen, a Lebanese district that is largely loyal to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
.

Meanwhile,
...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone......
al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that al-Khayal and Meraayan have links with al-Mawlawi.

The newspaper reported that investigations are ongoing in Saturday's attack as the data of al-Khayal's phone is being analyzed.

Khayal reportedly moved from the southern Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole to Jabal Mohsen ahead of the attack.

Al-Mawlawi and Mansour have been charged in absentia with belonging to an armed terrorist group in order to stage terrorist acts.

Recent reports said that al-Mawlawi has taken refuge in Ein el-Hellhole.

The attackers, al-Khayal and Meraayan, had disappeared when the wanted Death Eaters went into hiding following the deadly gunbattles with the Lebanese army in and around Tripoli in October, they said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2015 04:54 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra



Who's in the News
48[untagged]
7Govt of Pakistan
3TTP
2Commies
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
1Govt of Iran
1al-Qaeda
1Hamas
1Islamic State
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1al-Nusra
1al-Qaeda in North Africa

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

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

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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

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

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

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

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2015-01-14
  Convict in US consulate attack case hanged
Tue 2015-01-13
  Police gun down six would-be bombers in Xinjiang
Mon 2015-01-12
  Drone strike kills 8 insurgents in Nangarhar
Sun 2015-01-11
  Nigeria massacre deadliest in history of Boko Haram: Amnesty
Sat 2015-01-10
  Al-Qaida Member In Yemen Says Group Directed Paris Attack
Fri 2015-01-09
  Charlie Hebdo to go forward with next week's issue
Thu 2015-01-08
  French Police Identify 3 Suspects In Attack That Killed 12
Wed 2015-01-07
  Deadly attack on office of French magazine Charlie Hebdo
Tue 2015-01-06
  Surrender treachery: 3 soldiers killed by suicide bomber at KSA-Iraq border
Mon 2015-01-05
  Hafiz Gul Bahadur group targeted in N Waziristan drone strike
Sun 2015-01-04
  Nawaz puts forward legislation to cover military courts
Sat 2015-01-03
  Report: Islamic State Executes Jordanian Pilot
Fri 2015-01-02
  Pudgy open to inter-Korean summit talks
Thu 2015-01-01
  26 killed in rocket attack on wedding party in Helmand
Wed 2014-12-31
  Suicide bombing outside Libyan parliament in Tobruk wounds 11


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
3.16.130.155
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (22)    Non-WoT (10)    Opinion (7)    (0)    Politix (1)