[Daily Excelsior] A 23-year-old American has pleaded guilty to defacing an Islamic Centre in the US state of Missouri with anti-Pakistain spray-painted graffiti and burning copies of the Muslim holy book outside the building.
Adam David Smock, of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, yesterday pleaded guilty before a US court to a federal charge of defacing the Islamic Centre with graffiti and burning two copies of the Koran.
According to the Justice Department, Smock admitted that he and two other individuals -- one of whom was a 14-year-old minor -- spray-painted graffiti on the exterior walls of the Islamic Centre of Springfield on January 7, 2011.
That was a long time ago...
The graffiti included explicit and offensive language in addition to statements such as "Bash Back," "Now is our time!" and "You bash us in Pakistain we bash here."
Smock admitted that on April 10, 2011, he and the same two individuals partially burned two copies of the Koran, and left the burned copies of the holy book right in front of the Islamic Centre, approximately 30 feet away from the building.
He also admitted that it was his idea to commit the acts and that he persuaded his co-conspirators to participate, and that he selected the Islamic Centre of Springfield for vandalism because of the religious nature of the property in order to threaten and intimidate worshippers so as to hinder and interfere with the worshippers' enjoyment of their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.
Under the terms of plea agreement, a joint recommendation will be made to the court that Smock be incarcerated for 14 days, followed by a five-year term of supervised release; that Smock must pay USD 10,440 in restitution; and that Smock must perform 40 hours of community service. (PTI)
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Should've called himself a "performance artist."
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Evolutionary biologist and famed atheist Richard Dawkins is hitting back against accusations of Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... after he angrily walked out on an interview with a Muslim journalist.
Mr. Dawkins, author of best-seller "The God Delusion," told the New Statesmen's Emad Ahmed that his belief that the prophet Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse was "pathetic" before storming off.
"Dawkins is in fact so outspoken about religion, particularly Islam, that I was genuinely stunned when he decided to angrily walk away from our scheduled interview after I confirmed my beliefs in the revelations of the Islamic faith, calling my views 'pathetic,'" Mr. Ahmed wrote in his Dec. 22 article, titled "My year in Islamophobia."
Mr. Dawkins, 74, took to Twitter to defend himself against numerous accusations of Islamophobia, particularly by The Intercept editor Glenn Greenwald.
"I left when [Mr. Ahmed] said Muhammad rode a winged horse. A non-timewasting journalist needs at least SOME grasp of reality," Mr. Dawkinstweeted Sunday to his 1.32 million followers. "Ridiculing belief in a winged horse is not 'bigotry', not 'Islamophobia', not 'racism'. It's sober, decent, gentle, scientific realism.
"If you believe you're Napoleon or a poached egg, you're in an asylum. If you believe in winged horses you're a New Statesman journalist," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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who really cares if Moslems believe in the winged horse that goes to heaven
it is the 'kill them where ever you find them' and similar verses that are the problem
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/31/2015 0:42 Comments ||
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Security officials in Herat province on Wednesday said they will ensure the security of TAPI gas pipeline project – that will pass through parts of the western province.
Head of police in the Ministry of Interior, Mohammad Salem Ehsas, who traveled to Herat to assess the capabilities of police in the western zone, said they will not let Afghanistan's enemies pose a threat to the project.
He said: "I assure you that the security and defense forces have the capability with all means to ensure the security of the project."
Meanwhile, an army commander in the western zone Gen. Taj Mohammad Mujahid said the security forces will soon launch military operations in four provinces in the zone in order to eliminate Taliban hideouts.
"Our capability and capacity is very high compared to that of the enemy. We carry out our winter operations in areas under threat, " he said.
Herat Police Chief Gen. Abdul Majid Rozi also said special police units have been deployed to maintain law-and-order in Herat city.
He said: "Additional troops will be added to our forces that will cover all the city day and night."
A number of Nangarhar residents and civil society activists held a rally in Jalalabad city on Wednesday and urged government to speed up the peace negotiation process.
The demonstrators raised concerns over the increase of insecurity in the province and said government must step up its efforts to bring about peace. They also urged the National Unity Government (NUG) to revise its security strategy for the province.
"We want security in the province. War is not the solution. Taliban must follow peace negotiations," said Abdul Rahman a civil society activist.
"War and killing civilians is not acceptable for the people. Government, Daesh and the Taliban must abide by the [international] law of war [that protects civilians]," said Noor Ahmad a resident.
Meanwhile the demonstrators argued that the NUG must address the issue of insecurity in numerous districts of the province.
"Until security has been restored in the province the people will continue to protest - this is a serious demand by residents," said Zabiullah Zmarai the provincial council head.
"It has been months that civilians are affected as a result of Taliban and Daesh battles but no one cares about this issue. But silence on the insecurity is no longer acceptable for us," said Abdullah Shenwari a provincial council member.
Afghanistan and Pakistan recently agreed to resume peace talks with the Taliban and a planning meeting is scheduled between Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States in early January where the framework of the peace talks with the Taliban is expected to be mapped out.
Security forces in Helmand province have said negligence on the part of senior security force members in Sangin resulted in the fall of parts of the district to the Taliban.
Speaking to TOLOnews, security force members said those who failed to fight militants in the district need to be brought to justice.
They also said it will not take long for them to eliminate the Taliban in Sangin once they get their orders to launch a large-scale operation.
"The [security] personnel has a strong morale; this is the weakness of our commanders of military units [that has resulted in fall of parts of Sangin to Taliban]. Such people should be punished," said a commander of the Public Order Police in Sangin, Shinkai Qarabaghi.
TOLOnews reporters Abdul Wali Arian and Abdullah Hamim, who are embedded with security forces in Sangin, report that the Taliban are hiding out in civilian houses, which is proving a challenge for security forces.
Arian said however that reinforcement troops have arrived in the district and have joined security forces. However, bad weather, including rain, is having an impact on air support as air strike operations are not always possible.
He said the reinforcement troops had to break through tough Taliban defense lines in their bid to reach the Sangin troops.
"The convoy successfully made its way to our colleagues in Sangin and we had no casualties," said a Public Order Police member who was part of the reinforcement troop contingent.
Arian said however, that the Taliban's tactic of hiding in houses is a problem as troops have come under attack through this. In addition, the Taliban also planted mines along the main route to Sangin.
"Taliban started shelling from inside houses. They use houses as shields, but they failed. When we attacked them back, they entered people's houses. Hence, we stopped our attack [to save civilians lives]," a member of the Public Order Police said.
Meanwhile, a number of Sangin residents from areas under Taliban control said people are being oppressed by the militant group.
"They [Taliban] do not harass people a lot, but they ask for food and other things – forcibly," a resident of Sangin said.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Amid efforts to push the Taliban group leadership to sit-in for the second round of direct peace talks with the Afghan government, a top Pak official said Wednesday that the group will have to shut down their subversive activities in a bid to help kick off peace talks and achieve success.
The Pak Prime Minister's foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... , told news hounds in Islamabad that a quadrilateral committee meeting comprising of senior diplomatic representatives from US, China, Afghanistan and Pakistain is due for next month, insisting that the Taliban group should shut down their subversive activities if they want the peace talks to happen and succeed.
Aziz further added that the quadrilateral committee meeting has been called on 10th January next year to discuss the Afghan reconciliation process.
The Afghan and Pak leaders agreed to revive the stalled Afghan peace talks during a meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad earlier this month.
Pakistain hosted the first round of direct peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban group earlier in July this year.
The Afghan officials were expecting to sit-in for the second round of peace talks with the Taliban group representatives in Pakistain late in the month of July.
However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... the process was delayed with the sudden disclosure of the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's death shortly before the second round of talks.
Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... 's death confirmation led to widening rift among the Taliban leadership which resulted to suspension of peace talks.
A series of deadly attacks also rocked capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... earlier which left scores of people dead or maimed and resulted into deteriorating relations between Kabul and Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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The top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan may seek additional American troops to help local forces as they struggle to contain the Taliban insurgency, USA Today reported on Tuesday. How about using the 82nd Airborne in an operation to clean out Kandahar all the way to Quetta? Or were they thinking of nickel-and-diming operations, which has been the Obama hallmark?
General John Campbell’s interview with the newspaper comes as the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in the second half of 2015, with an increase in insurgent attacks and higher casualties among both Taliban and national forces. Already, President Barack Obama has backtracked on a pledge to pull out all but 1,000 troops, and in October he announced that 9,800 U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2016.
Not sure of the tooth to tail ratio there but it doesn't sound like enough. But as Fred notes, you could have the 82nd Airborne and the Big Red One and it wouldn't matter if all they do is penny-ante (I won't dignify what Obama is doing as nickel and dime) operations...
Campbell told USA Today he would ask the Obama administration to keep that higher number of troops in country as long as possible and suggested he might call for more U.S. personnel.
“If I don’t believe that we can accomplish the train, advice and assist and the (counter-terrorism) missions, then I owe it to the senior leadership to come back and say, ‘Here’s what I need.’ If that’s more people, it’s more people,” Campbell told the newspaper.
The 9,800 U.S. troops are scheduled to be drawn down to 5,500 by January 1, 2017.
“My intent would be to keep as much as I could, for as long as I could,” Campbell said.
This month marks a year since the U.S. and NATO-led mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan operation, with allied nations assisting in training and equipping local forces to tackle Taliban and other groups. The Taliban have already dealt some stinging blows to Afghan forces, including a short-lived takeover of the northern city of Kunduz.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Tell everyone to dress warmly General. You can easily catch a severe cold at that windy and damp Fort Myer retirement parade ground ceremony.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban leadership is concerned of losing fighters and income from lucrative sources to the emergent loyalists of 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.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan, it has been reported.
"The rapid growth of this group [IS] that appeared in Afghanistan in summer of 2014, its intention to 'swallow' other bad boy groups, draw faceless myrmidons of all kinds into its ranks, in particular Taliban fighters themselves, redistribute sources of income, including such lucrative sources as drug trafficking -- all these factors are very worrying for the Taliban leadership," Russian special presidential envoy on Afghanistan, Foreign Ministry's second Asian department director Zamir Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... ov quoted in a report by TASS news agency said.
Kabulov further added "The Taliban movement has been strengthening its positions across Afghanistan lately, including in the north of the country."
"They demonstrate intentions to establish full and stable control over separate regions and make attempts to seize administrative centers," Kabulov said, adding that Taliban took control over the provincial center, Kunduz, for several days in September for the first time since 2001.
According to Kabulov, the loyalists of ISIS terror group demonstrates a hostile position in turn toward the Taliban leaders. "In April 2015 IS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... made accusations against Taliban leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... . Several days later media reported that IS and Taliban proclaimed jihad against each other. In spring-summer of 2015 two groups clashed in different Afghan provinces several times," he added.
He also added that confrontations between Taliban and ISIS terror group has flared up between Taliban groups and Taliban-ISIS loyalists following the announcement of Taliban group founder and supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's death in July this year and the appointment of new Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Morocco, an ally of the West and member of international coalition against Daesh, is on high alert. All of its forces, rescue teams & emergency personnel have been asked to be vigilant. The Moroccans officials are not taking their chances. They have decided to deploy an impressive force of 100,000 armed agents across the entire country to protect the New Year festivities from potential terrorist threats.
Intelligence services of European countries have issued lately alerts over Isis plans to attack several countries, member of international alliance against terrorist Islamic State.
Morocco is a popular destination for foreign tourists and particularly for Brits – about 500,000 travel to the North African country every year. Many tourists have been attracted by the offer of cheap full-board package deals by holiday companies.
According to some press reports, Britain has sent lately some bomb experts, intelligence officers and a ground protection squad to Morocco to help train the Moroccan armed forces in bomb disposal and coping with eventual mass casualty incidents.
In an interview with Belgian newspaper Derniere Heure, Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) chief Abdelhak Khiame said the Moroccan security services helped to foil several terrorist attacks in Europe.
“Several attacks, which were planned in some European countries, including France, Spain and Belgium, were thwarted thanks to the intelligence provided by Moroccan security services to their European peers”, said the Director of the newly established BCIJ, dubbed Morocco’s FBI.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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How many of these 100000 are, well, terrorists themselves?
40 members of the Bahraini parliament agreed on a petition filed by 5 of their colleagues to the chairman for the recognition of Ahwaz as an occupied Arab country, a Bahraini MP said.
The source stated that the petition calls on considering Ahwaz as one of the Arab countries located east of the Arab homeland, in addition to depicting its people as “Arabs subjected to Iranian occupation”.
Moreover, it accuses Tehran of carrying out acts of aggression in Ahwaz and “taking advantage of the absence of the Arab role in view of regional and international conditions that threaten the nation’s solidarity and attempt to drive it apart.”
MP on Foreign Affairs and National Security Defense, Abdullah bin Howail told Asharq Al-Awsat that the petition reflects the Ahwaz people’s aspirations of being rescued from oppression and injustice inflicted by Iran, for decades now. The action taken represents “a start to voice the Ahwaz people’s opinion to the world, and highlight their suffering from subjugation and exclusion.”
“The daily executions being carried out are based on oppressing provisions that embody Iran’s exposed attempt to frighten the people of Ahwaz away from speaking up and raising legitimate demands, which is what we will be taking upon ourselves persistently and permanently, we will request international movement to give the people of Ahwaz the right to determine their own future”, MP bin Howail added.
There was also the notion of uprooting the natives from their rightful place accompanied with random unjust acts of Iranian settlement, and the imposition of measures benching on stripping Ahwaz from its Arab Identity.
Furthermore measures Iran is imposing prove inhumane and comprise form a stretching variety of executions, arbitrary arrests, and unjust torcher of Ahwaz’s youth.
The parliament’s petition insists on the necessity and duty of Bahrain’s official recognition of Ahwaz as an Arabian country, and for the government to pursue within gulf effort movements towards the recognition of this country.
Major General Nasser al-Tahri, Deputy Commander- in- chief, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that, over the past few days, the Military of Yemen acquired information confirming the cooperation of several Iranian experts with Houthi rebels to gear up Scud missiles.
They are apparently also toiling on developing the Volga SAM (Surface-to-air missiles), which were previously owned by the Yemeni army, and preparing them to strike ground targets.
However, according to army info, developed Volga missiles have demonstrated early test failure, and have missed primary targets set by the militants, proving the missile’s target inaccuracy.
Field-wise, Major General al-Tahri said: “Both Military Forces and the Resistance are pulling off a series of victories across all frontiers, one of which was the freeing and bringing back the Jda’an (Medghal District) into army’s comprehensive control.”
“We also took complete control over Al Jawf Governorate ridding it from both the militias and Republican Guard, which leaves only Al Safra District and Baraqish unattended, which are areas resembling no military substance, however the army will still work on freeing them regardless”, al-Tahri adds .
Moreover, on Tuesday the Yemeni Resistance dismantled two Katyusha rocket launchers that were previously installed by Houthi militants and their allies in Dhuwab-Taiz.
Furthermore, a similar series of operations was carried out by the Military along with the Resistance’s support, which later on forced the militants to abandon several frontiers one of which was Al Bayda-Yemen.
The army fighting for Yemen’s legitimacy successfully stood up against the attacks targeting the DhiNa’im District, and obstructed militants from taking over after several fierce clashes that resulted in significant loss among the militant ranks and the death of two Yemen Resistance fighters.
On top of that, the World Health Organization confirmed in a press release, acquired by Asharq Al-Awsat, the desperate need for continuous health service aid to Yemen after proving the deteriorating circumstances that are heavily weighing down on civilians, asking all relevant parties to respect the rights of all Yemenis to health services and aid.
At least 29 people in Bahrain were handed down jail sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment on terror charges on Wednesday, according to Bahrain News Agency. Terror Crime Prosecution Chief Advocate, General Ahmed Al-Hammadi, confirmed that the High Criminal Court handed out the sentences.
According to the news report: “The convictions relate to attempted murder of policemen, using and possessing explosives and weapons, rioting, and receiving and providing explosives, training in order to commit terrorist crimes.”
Al-Hammadi stated that Bahrain’s High Criminal Court revoked the citizenship of two individuals and ordered twenty seven defendants to pay heavy fines for damages.
The suspects were charged for an incident that took place Dec. 19, 2014, when the individuals in question detonated an explosive device with the intent of murdering policemen. The explosion caused injuries to security personnel and damage to patrol vehicles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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An official with the EU has voiced a concern that the Union is facing a threat of falling apart.
Of course, he has no idea why...
Gunther Oettinger, European commissioner for digital economy and society, said in an interview with German newspaper Bild on Dec. 30 that there is a threat of disintegration of the EU, TASS news agency reports.
“The European Union has learned to overcome the crises. However, there are more and more countries with unstable or populist governments. I am concerned about it,” he said.
A populist government like the ones in Hungary or Poland are threats precisely because they understand that they have to listen to their people rather than their betters...
“For the first time I see a serious danger that the EU could fall apart,” Oettinger added.
The commissioner further called for continuing the talks for Western Balkan countries’ joining the EU, saying “however, the conditions for accession to the Union have to be strict.”
Like, no 'populist' government...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Turkey next month where he is expected to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the White House told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday. The vice president's Jan. 23 visit will take place as a U.S.-led coalition desultory fight continues against Daesh in Syria and Iraq.
The White House did not provide details about the vice president’s trip but the visit is considered important as the U.S. presses Turkey to do more in the war against the militants and in strengthening its border with Syria.
Good luck with that. I think sending Goofy Joe to 'press' Turkey isn't going to turn out the way people are anticipating. Perhaps that's just the plan...
In addition to the fight with Daesh, Biden is also expected to discuss the issue of Turkish troops staged at a training camp in northern Iraq.
Earlier this month, in a telephone call with Davutoglu, Biden welcomed the drawback of the troops deployed at the camp, calling it "an important step to de-escalate recent tensions," between the two countries, the White House said.
Biden will stop in Turkey prior to a visit to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Hunter needs a new source of income, perhaps?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/31/2015 11:29 Comments ||
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"Biden to Visit Turkey"
I was thinking that he worked for one...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/31/2015 15:02 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... on Wednesday said networks of gunnies had been "broken", however, the elimination of their controllers would still "take some time". In that case they're not broken.
Addressing the upper house of the parliament, he said that a Joint Intelligence Directorate of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) would be functional very soon and added that it would be a big step forward in the fight against terrorism.
He said for the first time 61 proscribed organizations had been put on record, and that these organizations had also been banned from the media.
The minister said that although the "'situation in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... was not normal", there was a notable improvement in the law and order situation in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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[CNN] After retaking most of the key city of Ramadi from ISIS bully boys, Iraqi leaders say they are setting their sights on an even bigger prize: djinn-infested Mosul. ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Ramadi's djinn is a wimpy blue guy who got turned down for a bit part in a Disney movie.
Iraqi forces have driven ISIS jihadists out of the heart of Ramadi, which the Sunni hard boy group seized in May in a humiliating setback for the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition that's backing it.
Significant pockets of ISIS resistance remain in Ramadi, still controlling as much as 25% of it as of Tuesday, local tribal leaders said. But that didn't stop Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi from visiting the shattered city and raising the national flag.
Next year "will be the year we drive ISIS out of Iraq," he declared.
With efforts to finish clearing ISIS out of Ramadi still expected to take weeks, it seemed like a bold statement, especially in light of the bully boys' habit of hiding among local populations and booby-trapping territory they give up.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Iraq's foreign minister said on Wednesday it could resort to military means if forced to defend itself from what it says is an intrusion of Turkish forces into part of its north.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... said it had deployed a force protection unit earlier this month to the area due to heightened security risks near a camp where its troops were training an Iraqi militia to fight 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. Ankara acknowledged that there had been a "miscommunication" with Baghdad over the deployment.
Iraqi security forces have had only a limited presence in Nineveh province where the camp is located since collapsing in June 2014 in the face of a lightning advance by Islamic State.
Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Iraq was committed to exhausting peaceful diplomatic avenues to avoid a crisis with its northern neighbour Turkey, but insisted that all options remained open.
"If there is no other solution but this (military), then we will adopt this solution. If we are forced to fight and defend our illusory sovereignty and riches, we will be forced to fight," he told news hounds in Baghdad.
Turkey's deployment of around 150 troops this month to the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq prompted Baghdad to accuse Ankara of violating its illusory sovereignty and lodge a formal complaint at the UN Security Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Border staff find bulletproof sheets of metal hidden in a shipment of car parts at Kerem Shalom crossing
Border officials this week thwarted an attempt to smuggle armor plating into the Gazoo Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
An Israeli truck hauling spare car parts aroused the suspicion of workers in the Defense Ministry's Border Crossing Authority, according to a statement.
When they examined the truck, authorities found several bulletproof plates, which could have been used to fortify terrorist strongholds in Gazoo. This was the first time the border crossing authority has discovered an attempt to smuggle armor into the Strip, the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry does not yet know who is responsible for the smuggling attempt. The Israel Police, Shin Bet, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories' unit (COGAT), the Customs Authority and Border Crossing Authority have opened an investigation into the matter, according to the Defense Minsitry's statement.
Kerem Shalom is one of two crossings between Israel and the Gazoo Strip. Kerem Shalom is located on the southern tip of the Strip, next to the Egyptian border. The Erez Crossing is located at the northern end.
Hundreds of trucks delivering food, aid and other goods pass through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gazoo every day.
[ALMANAR.LB] The Supreme Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday voiced hope for establishment of new Islamic civilization and cautioned Islamic World about enemies' divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... plots.
He made the remarks in his meeting with the Muslim scholars, thinkers and political figures attending the 29th International Islamic Unity Conference as well as the Islamic countries ambassadors in Tehran.
"Today, enemies pursue civil wars between Muslims and unfortunately, to some extent, they have been successful in realization of this goal and have ruined the Islamic countries including Syria, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Libya," the Leader said.
He criticized pressures on Muslims in Bahrain and also arrest of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, saying that why Muslim Umma is silent towards all these issues.
"Western civilization has started to show its paradoxical nature and it is the turn of Islam to re-emerge," Ayatollah Khamenei added.
The Leader said that Muslims are duty bound to establish the new Islamic civilization.
'I am disappointed with the Islamic World politicians, but I am hopeful about those Muslim religious scholars and intellectuals for whom the West has not become a Mecca," he noted.
The Muslim scholars, thinkers and political figures attending the 29th International Islamic Unity Conference as well as Islamic countries ambassadors in Tehran met with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on Tuesday.
Ayatollah Khamanei addressed them at Imam Khomeini (RA) Religious Center in Tehran on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of the Holy Prophet (PTUI!) and the Unity Week.
The 29th International Islamic Unity Conference kicked off in Tehran on Sunday with the participation of hundreds of scholars and thinkers.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] The killing of a terrorist leader of a Syrian gang in an air raid last week does not serve the grinding of the peace processor in the war-ravaged country, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Tuesday.
Zahran Alloush, the head of the Saudi-backed-and-financed Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... , a terrorist group operating in Damascus province, was killed on Friday in a strike claimed by the Syrian army.
"I don't know what the Russians have in mind," Jubeir told news hounds, in reference to the killing.
The minister was speaking at a joint news conference in Riyadh with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Jaish al-Islam has fought off the Syrian army forces in its Eastern Ghouta bastion, east of Damascus.
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... is a key backer of armed 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... groups battling the Syrian national forces, and Jubeir reiterated previous demands that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... be removed from power.
Moscow had accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and his family of involvement in the illegal oil trade with holy warriors 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 groups, claims Ankara has strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! despite video footages that prove the Russian accusations.
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12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
Despite the expectations for the removal of international sanctions against Tehran, leading indexes like the Tehran Stock Exchange Index (TEPIX) don’t predict optimistic future for business conditions in Iran, says Hamid Mirmoeini, an Iranian market expert.
As 70 percent of economic activities in Iran is undertaken by the government, and given the fact that most of the government’s revenues depend on oil income, the sharp decline in oil prices has caused economic difficulties in the country, Mirmoeini told Trend Dec. 29.
The expert explained that although the removal of sanctions may increase the volume of Iran’s exports, it won’t have a considerable impact on the country’s income as the prices have fallen dramatically. Mirmoeini believes the plunging oil revenue will have a crippling effect on the government’s development projects, resulting in general slowdown in economic activities and finally worsening the recession.
President Hassan Rouhani, after assuming office in August 2013, pursued contractionary policies to bring down the 35 percent inflation in Iran.
“Apparently the government will continue its contractionary policies in the near future aimed at combating inflation,” said Mirmoeini.
“However, it is difficult to estimate how it [the release of frozen assets] will impact the economy as the value of the assets remains unclear and the government hasn’t announced any plan on spending them,” he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
As 70 percent of economic activities in Iran is undertaken by the government
To be more accurate, members of the IRGC run a significant part of that 70 percent; the mullahs and "veterans charities" have the rest.
[REUTERS] U.S.-led forces have killed 10 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.... leaders in air strikes, including individuals linked to the Gay Paree attacks, a U.S. front man said, dealing a double blow to the krazed killer group after Iraqi forces ousted it from the city of Ramadi.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi planted the national flag in Ramadi after the army retook the city centre from Islamic State, a victory that could help vindicate his strategy for rebuilding the military after stunning defeats.
"Over the past month, we've killed 10 ISIL leadership figures with targeted air strikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Gay Paree attacks," said U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a front man for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamist group also known by the acronym ISIL.
"Others had designs on further attacking the West."
One of those killed was Abdul Qader Hakim, who facilitated the krazed killers' external operations and had links to the Gay Paree attack network, Warren said. He was killed in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... on Dec. 26.
Two days earlier, a coalition air strike in Syria killed Charaffe al Mouadan, a Syria-based Islamic State member with a direct link to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the coordinated bombings and shootings in Gay Paree on Nov. 13 which killed 130 people, Warren said.
Mouadan was planning further attacks against the West, he added.
Air strikes on Islamic State's leadership helped explain recent battlefield successes against the group, which also lost control of a dam on a strategic supply route near its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria on Saturday.
"Part of those successes is attributable to the fact that the organization is losing its leadership," Warren said.
He warned, however: "It's still got fangs."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
The top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan may seek additional American troops to help local forces as they struggle to contain the Taliban insurgency, USA Today reported on Tuesday.
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
