[Tolo News] As embattled Afghan troops continue to battle forces of Evil in volatile Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , volunteers in Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... city on Thursday flocked to blood banks to donate blood to help maimed soldiers - a move widely hailed by local residents.
The volunteers paid homage to troops who continue to battle forces of Evil in the volatile province. They have in turn called on the nation to support the security forces that fight the terrorists.
"We are proud of the national army, national police and all other security organs - personnel who bravely and courageously defend our national pride, dignity, the motherland and the dignity of the people of Afghanistan and offer sacrifices of their lives in this way. Our blood is nothing, even we can donate our lives to them," civil society activist Dr. Nisar Ahmad Musaddiq said.
"As the security forces continue to fight the enemies of Afghanistan, we are prepared to donate our blood, we can fight shoulder to shoulder with the security forces if needed," a member of Herat provincial council Ghulam Habib Hashemi said.
The volunteers have called on the people across the country to come forward in support of the security forces.
"A blood donation campaign is underway here, I came to donate blood and hope that the rest of our countrymen also participate and donate blood to those who are in need of it," Herat resident Mohammad Taha Sadiq said.
Health officials have said that a large amount of blood has so far have been collected and part of it will be donated to provincial hospitals.
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[Tolo News] Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... provincial council members on Thursday said that the lack of security balloons, after foreign troop's withdrawal in the province, has led to the increase in Taliban activity in the province.
During the time of foreign troops presence, Sangin province alone is reported to have had at least 65 security balloons, said officials. But following foreign troops withdrawal late 2014, these balloons were removed, they added.
Sources told TOLOnews however that security forces have neutralized a large part of the activities of the Taliban in Helmand and other parts of the country but Afghan intelligence agencies still need detection devices and other facilities to monitor the bad boy group's activities.
Despite hundreds of foreign troops still being in the province, Helmand has witnessed large scale Taliban attacks in recent weeks. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... the group was reportedly kept under control while balloons were in the air.
But officials say the situation in Helmand at the moment is serious. They claim the Taliban has made gains on districts in the province.
Before the attack on Sangin district, the Taliban is believed to have carried out an attack on Camp Bastion in Shorab district.
"We have always complained about a lack of cooperation between Afghan securities forces in Helmand. In the past we had enough facilities beside balloons to fight Taliban in Helmand - facilities no longer in place," said Bashir Ahmad Shaker the head of Helmand's provincial council security committee.
In the early years up to 855 large and small bases of foreign troops in Afghanistan were engaged in activities against faceless myrmidons and in other intelligence activities but with the handover of security responsibility to Afghans a large part of their facilities were transferred out of the country, officials said.
"We have advanced in Sangin district and we have broken the Taliban siege. And Taliban operational head in Helmand Mullah Nasir along with 50 other Taliban were killed," MoI front man Sediq Sediqqi said on Thursday.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Defense talked about the advancement of Afghan forces in Helmand especially in Sangin district and said there was good coordination among the security institutions.
"At the moment we have our operations against the faceless myrmidons in seven provinces and we have lots of advancement in Helmand and we are trying to not harm civilians," said Dawlat Waziri MoD front man.
Taliban have played an active roldein Helmand for a number of years - especially as it is a key opium producing hub.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Taliban murderous Moslem group on Thursday condemned the renewal of sanctions by the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council (UNSC) which include financial, travel and arms-trade restrictions on the group and its supporters.
"The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns the sanctions by the UNSC," states a statement released by the group.
Taliban statement further states that the sanctions would have a negative impact on the grinding of the peace processor.
"We see the above obstacles created in front of peace as an intentional effort to sabotage the grinding of the peace processor," the statement adds.
In another part of the statement, the group threatens to continue fighting until (according to them) an Islamic system is established.
The United Nations Security Council voted Monday to extend existing sanctions against the Taliban for another 18 months, expressing concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
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[BREITBART] 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.... (IS) is in the process of installing a "little emirate" in the East African nation of Somalia, where the rule of law is virtually non-existent and the government holds very little sway.
Islamic State jihadis are fighting over turf with Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , the Al Qaeda-linked krazed killer Islamist group that has long been the predominant caliphatist outfit in east Africa. Al-Shabaab has even publicly threatened Islamic State converts with immediate execution, according to the Washington Post, which estimates that a few dozen people have pledged to IS despite the threats.
But another report surfacing Thursday claims 200 Al-Shabaab fighters have abandoned their group for the Islamic State. Kenya's police chief told the AP that the IS franchise is already operating on the Kenya-Somalia border and has carried out several attacks in recent weeks.
Even with the United States dedicating its own troops (and hundreds of millions of dollars) to helping train Somalia's military against Islamist insurgencies, they have made little progress to combat the threats posed by the Islamic krazed killers, largely because the government's reach into society is severely limited.
Moreover, the government has often capitulated to the demands of Al-Shabaab, which is known to target non-Muslims in its terror operations. This week, the government banned Christmas celebrations, worrying that publicly respecting the Christian holiday would lead to an Al-Shabaab attack.
Islamic State continues to grow slowly in Somalia, with Muslim holy mans becoming inspired by their successes in the Middle East and North Africa.
"Right now, [Islamic State is] the best propaganda machine going," Matt Bryden, a Somalia expert at Sahan Research, told the Washington Post. "It would give [Islamic State] entry to Kenya without lifting a finger," he warned.
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#1
The majority of Al-Shahab is repor sworn or aligned to AL-Qaeda, NOT the ISIS/ISIL.
As per the post-MO Afghan-Taliban-vs-ISIS in Afghanistan, don't be surpirsed iff we see similar occur in Somalia in due time - ditto ala the BOKO HARAM BOYZ.
[YAHOO] Kenyan police warned Thursday of the risk of attacks by Islamist Shabaab murderous Moslems claiming they had split into rival factions, with some shifting allegiance from Al-Qaeda to 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.... .
"They have split, and as a result of the split, particularly those ones along ideological lines or religious lines are very keen to promote that competition by proving a point," police chief Joseph Boinnet told news hounds Thursday, as Kenyans prepare to celebrate Christmas in the east African nation.
"They plan to prove a point by staging attacks," Boinnet added, without giving more specific details.
"That makes us in real and present danger of being hit by those murderous elements."
The Shabaab, East Africa's long-time Al-Qaeda branch, is headquartered in Somalia where it is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... troops, including Kenyan soldiers.
The Islamists have lost much ground in recent years but remain a threat in both Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, where factions have carried out a series of attacks, including the killing of at least 67 people at Nairobi's Westgate Mall in 2013 and the massacre of 148 people at a university in Garissa in April.
The holy warriors say the attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia and "war crimes" committed by Kenyan troops.
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The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released a handful of sensitive documents Thursday morning dealing with terrorism suspect Anwar al-Awlaki and the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
The Christmas Eve document dump includes 16 pages of heavily blacked-out emails about the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans.
The DNI emails about Benghazi are heavily redacted and appear to contain little new information. Several of the emails discuss the drafting of an assessment of the threat level ahead of the attack, which was being prepared for Congress in the months after four Americans were killed in the attack.
Other emails include periodic press clippings about the state of Benghazi in the years after the incident, which were meant to give staffers "situational awareness."
Another document released Thursday is a memo to the State Department that shows the DNI signed off on a proposal to revoke al-Awlaki's U.S. passport about seven and a half months before he was killed by the U.S. in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.
News that al-Awlaki's passport was revoked by the State Department before he was killed was reported back in 2012. In the 2011 memo, released Thursday, the DNI told the State Department that it "concurs with the proposal to revoke the U.S. passport of Anwar Nasser al-Aulaqi."
A previously released Justice Department memo from that time found that the government did not see any constitutional problems with killing al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, because of his alleged leadership roles with al Qaeda.
Other documents released Thursday are related a 2013 update about how to mark sensitive human intelligence that has been gathered. Another relates to the schedule of National Counterintelligence Executive William Evanina in early 2015.
The documents were released as part of a "proactive disclosure" under the Freedom of Information Act. The government and public relations firms have been known to release unflattering information around major holidays or weekends to blunt the news effect.
#1
The Hildebeest transmits hundreds, possible thousands of collateral and TS/SCI messages over an UNCLAS computer, but these Benghazi documents must be heavily redacted.
[ALMANAR.LB] In her latest interview on al-Jazeera English, Italian Journalist from Paleostinian origin, Rola Jibril asked the Saudi General Anwar 'Eshki: "Why does ISIL in Raqqa teach Saudi curricula?" but she tended to answer instead of him: "Because you match with ISIL more than any other groups in the region."
Same curricula have been slammed by Director of Gulf Affairs Institute in Washington, Ali Ahmad, in a televised interview. He described them as: "Full of bold expressions that consider most of the Muslims as infidels, create enmity and fight the other... they are Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... sectarian mobilizing curricula that make the student think as if we are living a war with the other Muslim and the other citizen," ...with the Muslim "who doesn't follow Wahabism as an interpretation for Islam, as well as the Christian, Jew and other different persons."
Under the "Major polytheism," Saudi curricula exclude entire Islamic groups from Islam, such as Sufism, Imamate, Ismailism and Mu'tazila. All of this is mentioned boldly in the education curricula. The book of "Tawhid" for the third secondary class of the scholastic year (2006-2007) considers that "what is blatant infidelity, is roaming around the tombs to approach those buried inside, offering sacrifices and vows for them, and praying for them seeking their help, or the sayings of the exaggerators of Jahmi and Mu'tazila"... or such as the Batiniyya doctrine and philosophers, according to the course of the third secondary class (2013-2014) page 33. Takfir reaches the followers of the divine religions as well.
The expression of (blatant infidelity) is common in the language of the Saudi curricula, as a jurisdictional judgment that raises the sense of responsibility among students towards the beliefs of others. This sense holds them a duty to (repudiate), which obliges them to conduct what replaces the blatant infidelity with the honest belief, which legalizes destruction and killings, since infidelity and faith couldn't coexist.
In other words, the (blatant infidelity) is provocation to kill on which the very small kid is raised in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , until he becomes able to press the destructive button to detonate an kaboom.
"A human would either be originally infidel such as Jews, Christians and idolatrous... and considering them infidel is a duty, and he who doesn't consider them infidel or doubt their fidelity is also infidel," this is how the "Tawhid" course of the third secondary class of the scholastic year (2013-2014) page 30 considers all other religions and sects as non-Muslims, after considering all other non-Wahabi Muslim groups as committing major infidelity which provides considering them infidel and legalizing their killing.
Director of Religious Freedom Center in Freedom House, Nina Shea, said: "We are worried because their curricula call for intolerance with other religions and cultures including the other Islamic doctrines and interpretations," those curricula are still "full of thoughts of hatred against Christians, Jews and other Muslims, starting from the first elementary class' curriculum to reach the twelfth year with more violent language."
In an article entitled "Schools Funded by Saudi Arabia Teach Religious Hatred", Caroline Davis and Gray Baton wrote on February 6 of 2007 for the "Daily Telegraph" on the schools based in the United Kingdom. Citing "Professor of English in the King Fahed's Academy in Acton, West London, Collin Kook, 62 years: the scholastic books used by students at the academy describe Jews as "misshapen" monkeys, and the Christians as "pigs". According to him, students were asked to "mention some of the characteristics of misshaping Jews."
In the same article, "American Rights Group Freedom House highlighted some scholastic books in its report of 2006, in which it described (the Saudi curricula of hatred) quoting some book that orients students to announce fighting against infidels to spread the belief."
Such texts explain how 19 Saudis would participate in the September 11 attacks of 2001 which targeted civilians, in addition to many other crimes committed in the Muslim world by the Takfiris against non-Muslim minorities just like the crimes that slaughtered Muslims.
Also under the title of "loyalty and repudiation", in the course of "Tawhid" for the third secondary class of the year (2013-2014) page 107, it is allowed to be loyal to "the infidels" only in the cases of fear, obligation, weakness and force, while keeping hatred and hiding it.
As such points stress the idea of keeping animosity against the infidels (the Muslims who are judged as infidels, Christians and Jews who follow divine religions), this allows the ruler or the king to deal with them and make agreements under the banner of interest, to find an exit for a crisis that has always been in front of the Saudi kings in justifying their relations with the Western regimes.
The same course in page 108 mentions: "It is thought that getting engaged in pacts with infidels is prohibited and it is considered as surrendering to those who oppressed, which provides excluding them from Islam. This speech is not ultimate as the ruler of Muslims would find an agreement with the infidels in some situations and times serving the interests of Muslims or protecting them from something evil. This agreement would also include a sort of compromise or disgrace towards Muslims, but it serves a bigger interest or deters a bigger corruption."
With this opinion, Saudi rulers faced the criticism they were subject to as they allowed French forces to bomb Mecca and confront the movement of Juhayman al-Otaybi in 1979. They also came with the same opinion when the as-Sahwa movement in the Kingdom rejected the Saudi alliance with the United States in the second Gulf war in 1991, or even when criticizing the Saudi role in the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Obeying the Ruler
As Saudi curricula unleash the thought of considering Muslims and non-Muslims as infidels, it keeps what allows it to manage Takfirism and control it. Here the secret hides in the title of "Obeying the Ruler" who must be "offered the pledge of loyalty and agreed upon."
In the book of "Tawhid" for the third secondary class (2013-2014), page 99 says that obeying the ruler is "one of the greatest religious duties in which religion doesn't stand without." Hence, it stresses that "it is prohibited not to obey the ruler and to argue him even if he was committing injustice, oppression or sin,"... "Because this disobedience would lead to riot, corruption, evil and imbalance of security and bloodshed," considering the ruler as sacred even if he was tyrant is provided by the Saudi curricula at a time when they consider Muslims, who consider the saints as sacred whether they were alive or dead, as infidels.
In his early years of education, the Saudi kid learns terms like: heresies, atheism and monotheism. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... in his last years, the Saudi student would have been able to identify such terms and apply them in reality to consider everybody as infidel, drawing an incomplete image for the enemy, and waiting the judgment of the ruler...
This is how the image of the enemy is drawn in the Saudi religious curricula, and this is how arrogance and occupation are found innocent while fighting them is banned under the title of "obeying the ruler."
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#1
This does explain that little Saudi monster, JUSTICE, who plagued us for a while. The poor kid never had a chance to develop normally.
[WESTFIELDTIMES] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... said on Wednesday the government's economic vision would focus on increasing the efficiency of government spending as well as raising returns on investments, according to the Twitter account of the Saudi Shura Council.
King Salman officially inaugurated a new session for the consultative body earlier on Wednesday. He was also cited as saying that the economy had maintained real growth despite economic volatility and declining oil prices.
The world's top oil exporter is facing severe fiscal pressure this year as a result of cheap oil prices, running an annual budget deficit of over $100 billion and forcing Saudi authorities to begin reining in state spending.
However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... Salman said Riyadh had been able to preserve its public debt levels and reiterated Saudi Arabia's support for a stable oil market, which he said would protect the interests of current and future generations.
His comments were not delivered in the brief televised speech he made to the council, but were distributed to its members in paper form afterwards and then released on its official Twitter account.
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[Guardian] It was 10 o'clock on a Friday night in spring 2014 and I was sitting on the sofa in my one-bed Paris apartment when I received a message from a French terrorist based in Syria: "Salaam alaikum, sister. I see you watched my video. It's gone viral -- crazy! Are you Muslim? What do you think about mujahideen?"
A journalist, I had been writing about European jihadis in Islamic State for about a year. I created a social media account, using the name MĂŠlodie, to investigate why European teenagers were attracted to Islamic extremism. I spent hours scanning feeds filled with descriptions of gruesome plans. I had spent that night on my couch, flicking from account to account, when I came across a video of a French jihadi who looked about 35. He wore military fatigues and called himself Abu Bilel. He claimed to be in Syria.
I would later learn that he had spent the past 15 years waging jihad all over the world. But for the moment, I knew nothing of the bellicose man on my screen, proudly unveiling the contents of his SUV glove box: a thick stack of Syrian pounds, candy, a knife. He removed his reflective Ray-Bans, revealing darkly lined, black eyes. I knew that Afghan soldiers wore kohl around their eyes. Still, seeing a terrorist with eyes made up like my own was surprising. He was good-looking. He spoke perfect French, with what to me sounded like a very slight Algerian accent. He smiled broadly as he beckoned viewers and called for hijrah: leaving a land of unbelievers to join an Islamist country.
Lengthy article. I hope this capability is being properly exploited.
[AA.TR] Seven trustees have been appointed to an additional 15 companies related to Istanbul-based Kaynak Holding -- which has been accused of harboring links to the Gulen movement, judicial sources said on Thursday.
The move was made in accordance with a decision by Istanbul's Anadolu Criminal Court of Peace no: 2 after a police investigative committee found these companies to have organic links with the holding.
Thursday's ruling follows a similar move for 19 other companies, a foundation and a labor union connected to Kaynak Holding. These were also taken over by trustees last month.
Kaynak Holding is being investigated for allegedly providing financial support to what Turkish officials describe as the 'Gulenist Terror Organization'.
This refers to the movement led by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, which is accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government by infiltrating state institutions, mainly the police and the judiciary.
Kaynak was also the subject of a tax investigation last year.
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[TODAYSZAMAN] Ankara is looking to revive military cooperation with Israel and looks forward to purchasing key technologies like advanced UAVs and reconnaissance and surveillance systems from Tel Aviv, sources told Today's Zaman.
To the dismay and protest of regional countries and its Arab allies, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in the mid-1990s cultivated closer ties with Israel on the military front and carried out joint modernization programs with the Israeli military. Facing an embargo from Western countries over reports of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... abuses in its fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Southeast during the tumultuous 1990s, Turkey turned to Israel to reinforce its depleted arsenal and bought much-needed military equipment. At the time, Turkey found in Israel a reliable ally to count on and signed treaties in military cooperation, a development during the Welfare Party (RP)-led government in 1997 that sent alarm bells across capitals in the region.
The close relationship was most evident and visible when Israeli pilots were trained in Turkish airspace, using an air base in Konya. The relationship took a dramatic turn, however, when Israeli navy forces cracked down on activists on the Mavi Marmara ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gazoo in 2010.
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[TODAYSZAMAN] Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday accused pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas of "treason" for criticizing the downing of a Russian jet by Turkish F-16s near the Syrian border last month.
Demirtas visited Moscow on Wednesday and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks. Speaking at the start of the meeting, he said the downing of the Russian warplane was "not right."
"They take sides with whoever The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... is facing a crisis with. Demirtas saying in Moscow that Turkey's downing of the Russian jet was wrong is a total disgrace and treason," Davutoglu told a meeting of businessmen in Ankara.
"Our main duty is to raise our voice against Russian cruelty. Supporting Russia while it kills civilians in Syria is treason not only against this country but also against humanity."
Responding to Davutoglu, the HDP said the prime minister's remarks are "unacceptable."
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[TODAYSZAMAN] Imprisoned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, one of the actors in the Kurdish settlement process who has remained silent recently despite the chaos prevailing in the Southeast, will apparently reemerge as a figure in future talks on the Kurdish issue and a new constitution under the government's control, many experts have agreed.
As tensions in the Kurdish-dominated eastern and southeastern regions of the country run high due to constant festivities between security forces and the PKK, Öcalan seems to be one of the trump cards in the government's hands for the post-conflict process that may usher in the resumption of the derailed Kurdish settlement process.
Future Kurdish talks might run simultaneously with the discussion on a comprehensive change to the Constitution into a more democratic one based on equality among the diverse ethnic groups of the country. The future talks are expected to take place after the PKK is crippled by security forces in the ongoing military operations in the Southeast. Intensified operations have been targeting the gunnies since the summer to deal a serious blow to the PKK and its influence in the region.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Ümit Özdag argued on Wednesday the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the PKK and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) had reached a consensus on giving autonomy to Kurds, releasing Öcalan from prison and the return of PKK gunnies nested in Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq.
Özdag further claimed the deal is based on Kurds granting support for Erdogan's long-desired intention to replace the current parliamentary system with an executive presidential system that will pave the way for one-man rule. In return, the government will recognize Kurds' right to autonomously govern the Southeast.
When the AK Party under then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
launched the Kurdish settlement process in 2012 with the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) holding regular talks with Öcalan, who is being held in a prison in Imrali Island, and the HDP, there was a glimmer of hope on finding a solution to the Kurdish issue.
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As Syrian rebels hunkered down, trying to maintain control of the city of Homs while under assault from the forces of President Bashar Assad, a Rochester pizza shop owner more than 5,000 miles away tried to do what he could for the besieged rebel army.
There was another insurgent army that could come to the rescue of the rebels, Mufid Elfgeeh believed, according to federal court records unsealed Wednesday. And that army was the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
When Elfgeeh pleaded guilty in federal court last week to trying to recruit two men for ISIL, he acknowledged how he tried through social media to be a liaison between a rebel commander at Homs and ISIL forces. But the documents unsealed Wednesday show that the negotiations were much more extensive than previously acknowledged by federal officials or in court records.
The documents also pose a question still unanswered: Was Elfgeeh simply a lone self-radicalized individual, one who had expressed a willingness to kill returning American troops, or had he actually developed some contacts within terrorist circles in Syria and the Middle East?
Via Facebook, Elfgeeh communicated with a man he believed to be a battalion commander under siege in Homs. Elfgeeh worked to link the commander with ISIL forces, with an understanding that the rebels would pledge allegiance to ISIL if helped.
The newly released records do not definitively state that the individuals communicating with Elfgeeh were rebel leaders and ISIL sympathizers. But Elfgeeh clearly believed the men on the other end of the social media connection where who they said they were, and the court documents -- FBI affidavits seeking search warrants for Facebook communications -- show that federal agents suspect the online conversations were authentic.
Elfgeeh's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Mark Hosken, declined to comment Wednesday. Federal officials have also declined comment in the aftermath of Elfgeeh's guilty plea.
The battle for control of Homs lasted almost three years, with anti-Assad forces once in control. But the rebels were eventually battered by the Assad regime military.
According to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Albert Zenner, Elfgeeh was in contact in March 2014 with a rebel who indicated that brigades in Homs "needed support to break a blockade." Elfgeeh suggested that ISIL could help, and Elfgeeh was put in contact with a battalion commander.
That individual emphasized that the situation was serious, and stated that they wanted Elfgeeh's guidance and support.
(The names of those whom Elfgeeh communicated with are redacted in the documents.)
Elfgeeh allegedly spoke via Facebook with the commander of the Green Battalion of the United Rebels of Homs-Al-Murabitun, which was blockaded within the city. The forces had unsuccessfully tried to connect with ISIL.
After further discussions about the siege "Elfgeeh agreed to contact a doctor in Egypt who Elfgeeh believed had connections with ISIL and see if he knew how to contact the leadership of ISIL."
On March 11, 2014, Elfgeeh exchanged Facebook messages with an individual, asking if he was with "the State," or ISIL. The man answered, "upon you is peace, God willing," which the FBI interpreted as an affirmative answer to Elfgeeh's question.
Elfgeeh said there were rebels in Homs who wanted to coordinate with an ISIL leader, and the individual messaged back that he would connect Elfgeeh with "one of the brothers" via Skype. Elfgeeh said he was "in the west" and couldn't communicate via Skype.
They discussed a way to connect the blockaded commander with "the Sheik," identified in the affidavit as a prominent ISIL leader, Umar al-Shishani, a commander who led numerous successful ISIL military operations.
Elfgeeh then became the conduit, attempting to forward social media addresses between the rebels in Homs and individuals with ISIL. Whether those links were made is unclear.
On March 22, 2014, Elfgeeh showed an informant working for the FBI his list of Facebook friends. He identified one as a rebel leader fighting in Homs, and said, "we are coordinating with them on the grounds that they want to pledge allegiance to the State (ISIL) and they would like the State to support them with ammunition and weapons."
Weeks later, Elfgeeh told the informant that he believed the commander had been "martyred," or killed in battle.
Elfgeeh is scheduled to be sentenced March 17. His plea agreement calls for a sentence of 22½ years, but U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford will ultimately decide the sentence. Send pizza boy to Syria with a Star of David tattooed on his weenie.
Elfgeeh ran a pizza shop and mini-mart on North Clinton Avenue when he was arrested in a sting in May 2014 by the FBI, Rochester police and other law enforcement agencies that are members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
#1
Via Facebook, Elfgeeh communicated with a man he believed to be a battalion commander under siege in Homs. Elfgeeh worked to link the commander with ISIL forces, with an understanding that the rebels would pledge allegiance to ISIL if helped.
But I thought we learned that FB was off-limits following the recent Farook terrorist attack in California.
#2
But I thought we learned that FB was off-limits following the recent Farook terrorist attack in California.
In the matter of visas, yes. Me, I'd be more interested in the pizza shop transactions, especially the credit card ones. I suspect not all of them were for delivered pizzas.
#5
Ah, yes - the pubs. Especially a certain one that was in Georgetown. The gallon-tip jar on the corner of the bar, for the "Cause." Those had the patronage of a certain and Democrat clientele, though. Practically a get-out-of-jail-free card.
[TIMESOFINDIA.INDIATIMES] After spending 444 days in captivity, and more than 30 years seeking restitution, the Americans taken hostage at the United States embassy in Tehran in 1979 have finally won compensation.
Buried in the huge spending bill signed into law last Friday are provisions that would give each of the 53 hostages or their estates up to $4.4 million.
Victims of other statesponsored terrorist attacks such as the 1998 American embassy bombings in East Africa would also be eligible for benefits under the law.
"I had to pull over to the side of the road, and I basically cried," said Rodney V Sickmann, who was a Marine sergeant working as a security guard at the embassy in Tehran when he was seized along with the other Americans by an angry mob that overran the compound on November 4, 1979. "It has been 36 years, one month, 14 days, obviously, until President B.O. signed the actual bill, until Iran was held accountable," he said.
The law now stands to bring closure to a saga that riveted the nation and ruptured America's ties with Iran. The very agreement that won the hostages' release in 1981 barred them from seeking restitution.
Their legal claims wererepeatedly blocked in the courts, including an appeal denied by the Supreme Court. Congress tried but failed to pass laws granting them relief.
But this year, vindication came in a decision that forced the Gay Paree-based bank BNP Paribas to pay a $9 billion penalty for violating sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba. Some of that money was suddenly available for victims of state-sponsored terrorism. Congress was also motivated by many members' anger over the Iran nuclear accord, which was hailed earlier this year as a herald of warmer relations with the Islamic Theocratic Republic. Hostages were subject to physical and psychological torture during their long ordeal, and many regarded the thaw as frustrating and premature.
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12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Buried in the huge spending bill signed into law last Friday are provisions that would give each of the 53 hostages or their estates up to $4.4 million.
I'm sure that will impress the widows and children of those left behind at Desert One.
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12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
The money quote:
The aircraft finally landed in Kandahar in Afghanistan. Kandahar, at the time, was controlled by the Taliban. Armed Taliban forces had surrounded the aircraft at the Kandahar airport. Some reports suggest that the Taliban, desperate for international recognition, wanted to play mediate between the hijackers and the Indian government. But India declined.
It was clear to the Indian authorities that the hijackers had the backing of the Taliban. Amidst stiff domestic resistance, a team of officials led by the MEA Joint Secretary, Vivek Katju and RAW officials flew to Kandahar to carry out the negotiations which was centred around securing the safe release of the passengers. On 31 December, 1999, the passengers were released after India swapped its prisoners.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A record number of French Jews moved to Israel this year, an immigration official said on Thursday, citing anti-Semitic violence and economic insecurity in the European country as causes.
La Belle France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, having grown by nearly half since World War Two to some 550,000.
A lot of that growth came from the immigration of Francophone Jews from France's former North African colonies and their subsequent offspring.
The community has been jarred by an increase in security threats and Islamist turban attacks such as January's gun rampage at a Gay Paree kosher market that killed four Jews.
Israel's quasi-governmental Jewish Agency, which encourages immigration, said some 7,900 French Jews had relocated to Israel in 2015, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
"Each has his or her reason, including the economic crisis, personal security, terrorist attacks, and, in some places and times, an anti-Jewish mood," agency front man Yigal Palmor said.
Though not final, the immigration figure falls short of Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky's prediction after the kosher market attack following the Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... shootings in January that more than 10,000 French Jews would move to Israel this year.
Palmor said wider Jewish immigration to Israel reached a 15-year high in 2015, with around 30,000 new arrivals. He noted a high number of arrivals from economically troubled Russia and civil war-torn Ukraine.
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12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Subsidizing the non-productive and punish the productive. Where could this end?
[IsraelTimes] Fathi Hamad, former interior minister known as one of the most radical figures in terror group, funded and trained cell; is in touch with IS in Sinai
The man behind a Hamas terror cell uncovered by the Shin Bet domestic security agency in the West Bank is former Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad, Palestinian officials told The Times of Israel Wednesday. Hamad, considered one of the strongest Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip, often operates independently of the organization’s political branch. Hamad was instrumental in pushing the “West Bank branch” terror cell of suicide bombers, directed by him and other Hamas figures in Gaza, according to sources.
On Wednesday, Israeli officials from the Shin Bet security service announced they had busted a Hamas terror ring in the Palestinian town of Abu Dis planning suicide bombings and other attacks. The use of suicide bombings by Hamas have not been seen since the Second Intifada over a decade ago, and it remains unclear how other Hamas officials treated Hamad’s initiative.
“The West Bank branch” was founded by officials in Hamas’s military wing, and is comprised of former prisoners released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit swap that were deported to the Gaza Strip.
Heading the branch is Abd el-Rahman Animath, of the Tzurif cell that kidnapped IDF soldier Sharon Edri, and Mazen Fuqah, a former Jenin resident who was responsible for suicide bombings during the Second Intifada.
Hamad is well-known as one of the most radical figures in Hamas today. He is suspected of a string of bombings near the houses of Fatah operatives, and is thought to be in contact with Salafi organizations and Islamic State fighters in the Sinai Peninsula. He assists the “West Bank branch” both with funding and military instruction.
While the Shin Bet released information on the busted terror cell on Wednesday, details of the group have reached the Palestinian Authority over a week ago. Hamad is also one of the central figures opposing reconciliation with the PA.
As part of his role in the Hamas government, he was responsible for its security services in Gaza and is influential within the Hamas military wing.
The Shin Bet, alongside the IDF and Israel Police, have thus far arrested 25 Hamas operatives, the majority of them students at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, who they suspect were preparing to attack Israeli targets, the agency said in a statement. The arrests were carried out over the past few weeks.
The service also uncovered a makeshift laboratory in Abu Dis, in East Jerusalem, which was being used to create the explosives necessary for bombing attacks. It said the cell was controlled by Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip.
“This case reveals and highlights again the involvement of the military arm of Hamas from the Gaza Strip, which operates continuously with the intent of carrying out mass-casualty attacks within Israel and the West Bank,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet uncovered a large Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror cell, among whose members were Israeli citizens, which planned to carry out suicide kabooms and other terror attacks in Israel, the security service revealed on Wednesday.
The PA's warning was based on information gleaned from interrogations of Hamas operatives tossed in the calaboose Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! by PA security services, which showed that the terror group's leaders in Gazoo and abroad have sent orders to local commanders to escalate their activities -- from encouraging protests and stabbing attacks to more dramatic and deadly assaults on Israeli civilians.
The ringleader of this terror plot uncovered by the Shin Bet was 24-year-old Ahmad Jamal Mousa Azzam from Qalqilya in the West Bank.
Azzam was recruited by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, operatives from the Gazoo Strip in order to set up a terror cell in the West Bank. The 24-year-old remained in constant contact with his controllers in the Strip, the Shin Bet said.
Hamas taught Azzam, a student from Al-Quds University in Abu Dis with campuses in east Jerusalem and al-Birah, how to create boom belts and vests, as well as improvised explosive devises which could be used against both civilians and security forces.
Once he became a member of Hamas, Azzam recruited other students from his university who assisted him in every aspect of the plot, from renting apartments to use as laboratories to purchasing the chemicals and materials necessary to create the explosives, as well as volunteering to act as jacket wallahs in the planned attacks, according to the Shin Bet.
Two of the people Azzam recruited were Israeli citizens who would be able to move more freely within Israel than West Bank Paleostinians.
Hazem Ziad Amran Sandouqa, a 22-year-old resident of Jerusalem's Old City, purchased some of the materials necessary to create the explosives and also provided intelligence on potential Israeli targets.
Fahdi Daoud Muhammad Abu Qaian, a 19-year-old Bedouin Israeli from the Negev, agreed to actually carry out an attack, the Shin Bet said.
During Abu Qaian's interrogation he revealed to officers that he had accepted Azzam's request in October to either carry out a suicide kaboom with an explosive vest or drive an exploding car into some Israeli target.
The two Israeli citizens also confessed to the Shin Bet that they support 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.... and other Salafi terrorist groups.
In addition to those directly involved in carrying out the attacks, the Shin Bet also found others who assisted Azzam in purchasing the materials necessary. Some of the chemicals and equipment found in the laboratory were purchased within Israel, the service found, while others were purchased in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"In our checks of the materials and equipment that were seized in that location, it became clear that this was a laboratory that was prepared to create meaningful quantities of different kinds of explosive materials,” the security service said.
In addition to the Abu Dis terror cell, the Shin Bet also busted a Bethlehem-based group that was also associated with Azzam. Some of its members also came from Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, and were recruited in order to serve as suicide bombers, the agency said.
Issa Nasser Issa Shoka, a 19-year-old student at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, agreed to carry out a suicide kaboom and also to help Azzam transfer money between the West Bank and Gazoo.
Shoka acted as one of the leaders of the Bethlehem cell, recruiting Muhammad Waleed Ahmad Sarhkhan, 20, as well as Muhammad Na'im Issa Ali, 19, to carry out a suicide kaboom and other attacks, the Shin Bet said.
"The planned wave of terror attacks proves that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, led by its military wing, has removed itself from the terrible distress of the population of the [Gazoo] Strip," the agency added.
#1
Hamas controls Gaza and must take responsibility for the welfare of its people.
Yet despite Hamas unrelenting hostility Israel persists in supplying electricity and water to Gaza and in allow transportation into it.
Why not force Hamas to surrender b y turning off the water and electricity and closing all entry points until it surrenders,
The terms of surrender should be arrest of all militants, and supervised disarmament.
If Hamas decides to fight, respond, but allow no external supply of any kind.
[ALMANAR.LB] Preparations are taking place in south of the Syrian capital to take the bandidosbandidos hard boys of the so-called '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.... of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group out of the region in the coming hours.
Main points are the AL-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood and some parts of the Yarmouk Paleostinian refugee camp.
Buses were brought to evacuate ISIL the gunnies, who began two days ago to remove barriers and open roads between the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad and the Al-Qadam and Sabina areas.
Some of the bandidosbandidos hard boys want to go to the northern province of Raqqa, while the majority would prefer to cross into the city Mare` in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
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[TIMESOFISRAEL] If Hezbollah attacks Israel in retaliation for the alleged Israeli liquidation of terror chief Samir Kuntar, Israel should direct its own response not at Hezbollah alone, but at the state of Leb in which it operates, former National Security Council chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland said Wednesday.
Since a full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war will likely involve many thousands of rockets falling on Israel's civilian population centers, while Israeli strikes against Hezbollah alone will leave the world "indifferent" to the results of the conflict, Eiland wrote in an oped in the Ynet news site.
The goal of a broader assault on Leb, the former head of the IDF's planning and operations branches explained, would be to raise the costs for both Hezbollah's allies and the international community, leading to pressure on Hezbollah to cease rocket fire on Israeli cities.
"If and when hostile activities begin from Lebanese territory, [Israel] should lead to a war between the State of Israel and the state of Leb. In the Second Leb War we tried to defeat Hezbollah alone, leaving the state of Leb, its government, army and infrastructure 'out of the game.' If that's the way we run the third Leb war, the results will be a lot grimmer than in the previous war."
While Israel "allegedly" improved its capabilities against Hezbollah since 2006, "Hezbollah has relatively improved much more than we have," Eiland wrote. "So if there is such a conflict, and if it lasts 34 days (like the Second Leb War), the damage, casualties and destruction in the State of Israel will be unbearable."
That leads to a "simple" conclusion: "The next war will be waged against the state of Leb. In addition to Hezbollah targets, we should also attack the Lebanese army, the infrastructures in Leb, the airports and seaports and any other strategic assets. Since no one in the world (Syria and Iran on the one hand, and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Europe and the United States on the other hand) is interested in Leb's destruction, and since that will be the inevitable result of an all-out war between Israel and Leb, there will be huge global pressure on all sides to reach a ceasefire after three days rather than after 34 days, and that's exactly what Israel needs."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Why wouldn't Israel just attack Iran if their lapdog Hezbollah attacks Israel?
Otherwise they are just playing the game .
#2
There a lot of dead nuc researchers in Iran who would say that Israel has been attacking Iran. And yes, Israel should drop a few reminders on Iran to to give them second thoughts.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] China should play a more active role in fighting 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.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a senior figure in a body that advises Iran's Supreme Leader said on Thursday, according to the country's Fars news agency.
China relies on the Middle East for oil supplies, but tends to leave diplomacy there to other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Britannia, La Belle France and Russia.
"China can significantly help the regional peace and stability by becoming more active in the fight against the Islamic State," said Mohsen Rezaei, who has the title of Secretary of the Expediency Council, after meeting members of a Chinese delegation in Tehran.
China has called for greater coordination after attacks in Mali and Gay Paree and the downing of a Russian warplane by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , but has long said there is no military solution in Syria, with state media criticizing the West and Russia for air strikes.
But this month a Chinese-language song purportedly released by Islamic State put Chinese officials on alert that they need closer global cooperation against Islamist militancy.
Beijing warns that some members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group, from the western region of Xinjiang, have joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Rezaei said if China plays a more significant role in the fight against ISIS, "Iran can fight against Islamic extremism in Central Asia through cultural activities and interaction with Chinese Muslim community."
Shiite power Iran has ramped up its military presence in Iraq and Syria, where ISIS controls large areas. The Sunni Islamist group views Shiites as heretics.
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12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[WASHINGTONPOST] Two thousand miles from Syria, 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.... is trying to expand its territory by establishing a branch in what its fighters call the "little emirate": the war-torn country of Somalia.
Winning ground there won't be easy. Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... , a Somali group linked to al-Qaeda, has a long-standing presence in the country at Africa's eastern edge and has threatened those who join the Islamic State with death. But that hasn't stopped a trickle of fighters -- likely a few dozen -- from switching sides, raising concerns among U.S. officials, who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of aid in a new Somali government and a regional military campaign against Islamist murderous Moslems.
Somalia holds potentially huge rewards for the murderous Moslem group: It is a marginally governed nation with the continent's longest coastline and borders three U.S. allies -- Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya.
"Looking at Somalia, ISIL is trying to insert itself and then may threaten to move into Kenya," Rose Gottemoeller, the State Department's undersecretary for arms control and international security, said at a roundtable in Johannesburg this month. ISIL is an acronym for the Islamic State.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
The "Global" in OWG Global Islamist-Jihadist Caliphate [Nukulaar?], + also Global Jihad = Global Mohammedan conquest [Nukulaar?].
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Taliban
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A record number of French Jews moved to Israel this year, an immigration official said on Thursday, citing anti-Semitic violence and economic insecurity in the European country as causes.
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
