[Ynet] BAMAKO -- A militia in central Mali that represents ethnic Peuhls said on Saturday it would lay down its arms in a boost for government attempts to bring peace to the country.
The National Alliance to Safeguard the Peuhl Identity and Restore Justice was one of three groups that claimed an attack on an army base in central Mali in July in which 17 soldiers were killed. The other two groups were Islamist.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised US President-elect Donald Trump and said he expected greater engagement in the Middle East from his administration, in an interview with Portuguese media.
The former Egyptian army chief had strained relations with outgoing President Barack Obama's administration, which had temporarily suspended military aid after Sisi toppled his elected predecessor in 2013.
"Personally I respect and appreciate" Trump, Sisi said according to an English translation of his remarks to Portuguese news agency LUSA published on Saturday.
"I believe that President-elect Trump will be more rigorously engaged with the issues of the region," he said.
"As a matter of fact President-elect Trump has shown deep and great understanding of what is taking place in the region as a whole and what is taking place in Egypt," he added. "That is why I am looking forward, and I am expecting more support and more reinforcement of our bilateral relations".
Trump's tough-on-terrorism rhetoric has appeal among Egyptian officials, as the country faces a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers.
Sisi, who had met Trump in September in New York, downplayed Trump's calls to ban or extremely vet Muslims entering the United States.
"We have got to draw a distinction between the rhetoric that takes place within presidential campaigns and the real and actual administration of a country after the inauguration of a president," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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Part of our continuing series "Living with Moslems"
[Dhaka Tribune] Eminent economist and researcher Dr Abul Barkat estimates that there will be no Hindus left in the country three decades from now.
"The rate of exodus over the past 49 years points to that direction," the Dhaka University teacher said in his book "Political economy of reforming agriculture-land-water bodies in Bangladesh" published yesterday.
From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious persecution and discrimination, he said. It means on an average 632 Hindus left the country each day and 230,612 annually.
From his 30-year-long research, Barkat found that the exodus mostly took place during military governments after independence.
Before the Liberation War, the daily rate of migration was 705 while it was 512 during 1971-1981 and 438 during 1981-1991. The number increased to 767 persons each day during 1991-2001 while around 774 persons left the country during 2001-2012, the book says.
DU teacher Prof Ajoy Roy said the government grabbed the properties of the Hindus during the Pakistain regime describing them as enemy property and the same properties were taken by the government after independence as vested property.
According to the book, these two measures made 60% of the Hindus landless.
Retired Justice Kazi Ebadul Haque said the minorities and the poor were deprived of their land rights. For example, when a shoal rises in a river the local leaders register them in the name of poor people, but the same leaders file a case and take the land under the possessions showing the court’s stay order.
The deprived people remain deprived, he said, adding that the land management system should be reformed.
Dhaka University teacher Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed said that the government has to ensure that the indigenous people would not be affected or harmed. "The government must ensure that the people do not think about leaving the country for once."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
So you're saying Bangla will be an even bigger shithole?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2016 12:57 Comments ||
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#2
Yep
Posted by: Caesar B. Hayes7557 ||
11/20/2016 15:17 Comments ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Peruvian citizen’s death during a union protest in La Pampa district is raising questions regarding Hezbollah-linked militia presence in the Latin American country.
As protesters were confronting security officers a few weeks ago, one of the demonstrators was reportedly shot in the head by sniper fire.
Local media in Peru then accused one militia group linked directly with Hezbollah cooperating with the Sandero Luminoso Party, a communist group with an krazed killer history.
These accusations were based on evidence that a Hezbollah-backed charity La Pampa district is supported financially and ideologically by Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Hezbollah operates in Peru in cooperation with political groups such as the Sandero Luminoso ‐ also known as the Shining Path Party.
The party and its affiliates follow the Peruvian communist party and the military and political Maoist communists in Peru.
Earlier in July, Iran-proxy Hezbollah registered its own party in Peru under the name "Peruvian Hezbollah branch" and pledged allegiance to the banned group and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In March, The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... designated Leb’s bully boy Hezbollah group "a terrorist organization". The United States also brands the group as such.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] US officials have arrived in Australia to begin assessing asylum seekers held on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and Nauru for resettlement in the United States, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Saturday.
Australia announced last week it had reached a deal in which the United States would take a substantial number of the 1,200 refugees held at the Australian-funded offshore processing centres, although the election of Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has injected uncertainty into the agreement.
Trump started campaigning for the presidency by advocating a blanket ban on Moslems entering the United States, but later adjusted his stance to propose that the ban should apply to people from nations that had been "compromised by terrorism". Many of asylum seekers at the camps are Moslems who have fled conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistain.
And how many do the various other jihadi groups have? How many never left Europe? We have frequent reports of arrested jihadis here at Rantburg -- how many have already been arrested and convicted? How many are on watch lists because of actions short of meriting arrest, how many because they have connections to those who went abroad to join a jihadi group or were involved in a jihadi attack at home?
[IsraelTimes] Would-be fighters reportedly heeding messages from group asking them not to come to Syria and Iraq, but to prepare attacks in cities.
Intelligence experts estimate that the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Lion of Islam group has between 60 and 80 operatives planted in Europe to carry out attacks, the Dutch counterterrorism coordinator said Friday.
Dick Schoof said in an interview with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that would-be fighters are also heeding messages from the group "asking them not to come to Syria and Iraq, but to prepare attacks in Europe."
One result is that over the last six months the number of "foreign terrorist fighters" hasn’t grown, he said, but the fact that they’re not traveling "does not mean that the potential threat of those who would have traveled is diminished."
Schoof said military operations to oust the Islamic State from its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq are scattering the Lion of Islam group’s fighters and supporters.
This will probably lead to a gradual increase of refugees that will pose a danger to the national security of the Netherlands and other European countries, he said.
Schoof said even though the Netherlands hasn’t been hit by a major attack by Islamic snuffies such as those in Belgium and La Belle France, "the chance of attack in the Netherlands is real."
"We have seen 294 terrorist fighters go overseas in Iraq and Syria and there are still 190 over there," he said. "And what happened in La Belle France and Brussels and Germany could happen to us."
There are probably between 4,000 and 5,000 European "foreign terrorist fighters" in Iraq and Syria, Schoof said.
While the number from the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people, may seem low, he said, "whether there’s 190 or 350, I think the number is big enough to worry."
Schoof, who was in New York to speak at a roundtable on "returning foreign terrorist fighters," said the Netherlands’ program to deal with the threat balances "repression and prevention" and relies on strong cooperation between local and national authorities.
On the "repression" side, he said, fighters returning from Syria or Iraq are taken into custody and prosecuted, and courts have recently handed down six-year prison sentences in several cases. The government also takes away passports, freezes assets, and has beefed up security measures and the police force, he said.
On the prevention side, Schoof said, there’s a lot of family support, with local authorities deciding the best interventions and providing education and psychological help if needed -- but there also could be arrests.
Jozias van Aartsen, the mayor of The Hague, said building trust and having close relations with the Moslem community is very important.
"They are Dutch citizens," he said. "There are some in the Netherlands who say shut down mosques. That’s absolutely wrong policy."
But Van Aartsen said there is a need for vigilance. "The apparatus of local government can be very important as a watchdog against radicalization," he said.
Schoof stressed that the Netherlands does not tolerate "anti-democratic behavior."
"We try to prevent hate preachers coming in by not giving them a visa," he said.
The government is also concerned about the development of an ultraconservative strain of Islam known as Salafism, he said.
Last week, Schoof said, the Federation of Mosques, without any urging, sent a letter to all mosques in the country saying "the mosques themselves must realize that hate speech should not be accepted in the mosques."
"Those are important signals that you can build on in your trust relationships," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2016 00:06 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has killed more than 700 ISIS bully boyz in Iraq’s Bashiqa alone, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday, as he strongly rejected claims that his country supports the terrorist group.
"What country has killed as many ISIS (ISIS) turbans as Turkey did?" the official Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying. "We eliminated more than 700 turbans in our Camp Bashiqa alone," he added. "Who is maintaining an active operation against ISIS beyond the Turkish border?"
In Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province near Bashiqa town, Turkey deployed military advisors to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia to fight ISIS in that province last year.
Addressing a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Istanbul, Cavusoglu was responding to claims by Armenian delegation head Koryun Nahapetyan about Ankara’s support for ISIS.
"Turkey is actively supporting ISIS, and the country's policies caused instability in the region," Nahapetyan had reportedly said.
"Unfortunately our Armenian friends are not honest," Cavusoglu retorted. "How can you say that we are supporting ISIS?"
Until early this year, Turkey was accused by the United States and European countries of allowing ISIS bully boyz passage across its borders into Syria.
"ISIS hates us," the Turkish foreign minister claimed. "We are fighting against them actively, both at home and abroad."
In early September Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to support the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) in evicting ISIS from Syria's northern border area.
Around 1,760 square kilometers (680 square miles) of land in northern Syria have so far been cleared of ISISturbans as part of the operation, according to Anadolu.
The Turkish foreign minister concluded his speech by adding that Turkey has also barred thousands of recruits from joining ISIS in Syria using Turkish land.
"No one is more effective than us at killing ISIS’s ideology," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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A potential structural change to the US surveillance apparatus has thrown the tenure of the National Security Agency director, Michael Rogers, into doubt and increased the likelihood that Donald Trump will have a chance to substantially reshape the US intelligence agencies.
Even before Trump’s presidential victory, which Rogers last week said followed efforts by “a nation-state” to influence the electoral outcome, US intelligence was roiled by FBI director James Comey’s unprecedented interference in the election. US intelligence is experiencing internal turmoil just as Trump is placing hardliners in key national security roles.
Sources confirmed to the Guardian on Saturday that Rogers’ job as head of the NSA was in jeopardy, as his superiors ponder a decision that would divorce the surveillance giant from its adjunct military command, the US Cyber Command (Cybercom).
Since its 2010 inception, Cybercom, a cybersecurity and digital-attack entity, has been a conjoined twin with the surveillance and cryptographic specialists of the NSA. While the NSA collects vast communications and digital data and performs acts of subterfuge, Cybercom is charged with protecting US military networks and attacking the digital networks of foreign adversaries. Also since Cybercom’s inception, critics have fretted that the two missions – espionage and military operations in cyberspace – are not a natural fit.
A resolution to that debate has long been deferred, since the NSA’s technical expertise was considered essential to creating Cybercom. Rogers testified to Congress in 2015 that he “strongly recommend[s]” keeping both entities united.
But in recent years, splitting the so-called “dual hat” arrangement, whereby a single military officer runs both enterprises, has taken on momentum. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence (DNI), has recommended the divorce.
“I do think that we’ve reached the point where each of these responsibilities, as, you know, the Cybercom commander and director of NSA, are large enough and of sufficient magnitude that they should be separate,” Clapper told a New York audience last month. That's a statement of either magnificent stupidity or epic malignancy. It would leave one collecting to no particular point and the other operating blindly. The two are dependent on each other, with the tasking chains driving each other in a feedback loop.
Should the split go forward, Rogers would be a casualty. Sources said Ashton Carter, the US defense secretary, would replace Rogers at Cybercom. Carter has lost confidence in Rogers following high-profile security breaches at the NSA – precisely the situation Rogers was tapped in 2014 to prevent after whistleblower Edward Snowden’s disclosures. With a post-divorce NSA run by a civilian, instead of a general or flag officer, Rogers would be out of a job.
It is unclear whether Barack Obama will resolve the NSA-Cybercom future before leaving office. Clapper this week announced he would resign once Trump took office, a move likely to limit his influence over what is sure to be a contentious reshuffling – and one that Obama cannot make unilaterally. The chairman of the Senate armed services committee, John McCain of Arizona, has vowed to reject the next NSA director if Obama “prematurely” separates the NSA and Cybercom.
The precariousness of Rogers’ directorship was first reported by the Washington Post. NSA representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rogers may end up having a stabilizing force in Trump. The Post reported that Rogers, without notifying his superiors, met with Trump on Thursday in New York. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rogers was Trump’s leading candidate to replace Clapper as DNI, though the Intercept reported the Trump team was considering abolishing the position altogether.
Should Rogers leave the NSA, Trump would have a freer hand to remake the surveillance giant in his image than supporters or critics expected. The NSA directorship is not tied to the presidential calendar, and Rogers’ predecessor, army Gen Keith Alexander, for example, served for nine years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
not so sure Clapper has America's best interest in mind
/Jamie Gorelick resurrected
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2016 13:01 Comments ||
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[Star Tribune] In sentencing nine young Somali-Minnesotans on terror conspiracy charges this week, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis closed a chapter in the federal government's long, extraordinary investigation of ISIL recruitment in Minnesota.
But the full story is far from over....
In nine hearings over three days before a courtroom packed with the families of the young men who sought to give their lives to ISIL, Davis repeatedly underlined a clear message: There is a terrorist cell in Minneapolis and it is still alive today.
Saying the Minnesota public had "danced around" the issue, Davis described the cell's size as being between nine to 20, including those sentenced last week and others killed abroad. The Star Tribune has never reported that many friends of the Defendants interrupted the court and threatened families of prosecution witnesses. They have also given space for interviews with neighbors sympathetic with the defendants. But here, at least, they report on the comments of the presiding judge, including his skepticism of so called rehab programs for terrorists. Also, US Rep Ellison wrote the Judge to ask for leniency in sentencing but this is not reported
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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At least there is one Muslim in America who is open and honest about what Islam is and what it is here for. No taqiyya, no mincing of words. Islam is here to dominate.
Haitham Ibn Thbait, of the American chapter of Hizbut Tahrir, ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... told American Muslims earlier this year that Islam was not here to integrate, but rather to dominate. The Hizb is an al-Qaeda recruiting front, which is why it's banned in most countries, to include Great Britain. It was the parent of al-Muhajiroun, Anjem Choudry's mob.
"The Prophet said: ’There is no god but Allah,’ said Thbait. "Instead the [elites of Mecca]rejected. They offered the Prophet wealth, status, and political representation ‐ a seat on the executive branch within Mecca’s secular order ‐ all to avoid this statement and its implications. Yet he rejected their offers and continued his journey towards radical change, providing us with step-by-step instructions on how to make this religion supreme."
"The elites of Mecca would use every possible measure to coerce or contain Muhammad’s call for change within specific parameters," he added. "Those parameters would permit the changing of anything that did not threaten their system and infringe on their power. But this message is not here to integrate. It is here to dominate. Islam is here to dominate! This was an ideological struggle, the sole purpose of which was to organize Man’s affairs in accordance with a system revealed by Allah."
"There was no room for compromise," Thbait continued. "Instead Allah revealed to the Prophet, saying: ’Proclaim openly, as commanded, and turn away from those who associate others with Allah.’ ’Proclaim openly, as commanded by Allah’ ‐ this is our activism. It is free of polytheism, the polytheism of a secular system. Activism within a flawed infidel system is forbidden."
There is definitely a problem with polytheism in our land, but Islam will not help that since it is a flawed ideology that thrives on death, not life, and because it is an anti-christ religion at its heart.
[RUDAW.NET] Sunni Turkmen and Arabs from Tal Afar are against the state-backed Hashd al-Shaabi liberating their town, as the paramilitary Shiite force continues to make advances toward the ISIS-held town west of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... The Sunnis of Tal Afar say they want a neutral, non-sectarian force to liberate their town.
"According to the previous plan the Iraqi army, federal police and anti-terror forces were to take part in the operation (to liberate Tal Afar)," Nabil Harbo, former MP and independent Turkmen politician from Tal Afar, told Rudaw English on Saturday.
"But the Iraqi government exceptionally has allowed the Hashd al-Shaabi to participate in the Tal Afar operation," he complained.
"We, as the Turkmen tribal council and politicians from Tal Afar, plus all the Sunni blocs, have asked Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to not allow Hashd in the Tal Afar operation," he added.
Harbo explained that the reason for concern over a partisan force entering Tal Afar is because of the sectarian tensions that went kaboom! in Iraq after the 2003 US-led war.
"Whether or not the Hashd are going to commit crimes, we want a neutral force to retake Tal Afar in order to prevent violence and solve the problems," Harbo said.
"The Iraqi people and politicians know well that the first sectarian sedition in 2003 rose up in Tal Afar. If the Hashd enter Tal Afar, would they not retaliate?" he asked.
"History shows us that the stability of Tal Afar is important for Nineveh, Kurdistan and Iraq," Harbo said.
"Whoever allows Hashd to retake Tal Afar is wrong, because this will strengthen ISIS extremism," he claimed.
With Hashd forces already in control of Tal Afar airport and continuing to make advances toward the town, Harbo said he believes the only way to dissuade the paramilitary force from Tal Afar is for coalition forces to call for a withdrawal and replace the paramilitaries with the Iraqi Army.
"There is one hope for preventing Hashd from entering Tal Afar, which is the global collation led by the US. It can make them withdraw from the area," Harbo said. "There are two Iraqi army brigades now in Baghdad. They have been trained by the Americans to retake Tal Afar. They can replace Hashd."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Rescuing women and girls held captive by ISIS in Iraq is much more difficult than getting them out of Syria, says an activist involved in helping captives escape the forces of Evil from the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Khalid Aldakby says that is because the forces of Evil in Mosul are far more ideologically committed and not as amenable to cash payments to let the prisoners go than their counterparts in Syria, where money talks.
"In Iraq, they never sell women," Aldakby told Rudaw English. "That’s why not many women survive ISIS in Iraq. Most of the women survivors are coming from Syria, because it is just about money there," he explained.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday was invited to visit Iran, which backs the state-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forces that are fighting alongside Iraqi forces in the djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... offensive against ISIS.
According to a statement from Abadi’s office, he discussed the Mosul offensive Saturday in a phone call with Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, who extended an official invitation for the Iraqi prime minister to visit Iran.
The statement said the two sides discussed the military advances against ISIS in Mosul by the Iraqi Army, the state-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary force and the Kurdish Peshmerga.
"The Iraqi forces are advancing on all fronts and gaining victories as they fight the group inside Mosul now," Abadi told Jahangiri, according to the statement.
It said the Iranian vice president "congratulated Abadi" on the triumphs of Iraqi armed forces and expressed his country’s trust in the Iraqi premier to eliminate ISIS from Iraq.
"We believe in your leadership in the sense that you could prevail over the terrorists," Abadi’s office quoted Jahangiri as saying.
Shiite Iran wields immense influence in Iraq, where it backs the Hashd al-Shaabi reportedly has troops involved in fighting and advisory roles.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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Typical: gestures matter to them so much more than effectiveness. By the time President Trump's person takes over shortly after January 21st, the replacement will have just about found the executive washroom, but still won't know about the private dining room.
[WASHINGTONPOST] The heads of the Pentagon and the nation’s intelligence community have recommended to President B.O. that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed.
The recommendation, delivered to the White House last month, was made by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., according to several U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Action has been delayed, some administration officials said, because relieving Rogers of his duties is tied to another controversial recommendation: to create separate chains of command at the NSA and the military’s cyberwarfare unit, a recommendation by Clapper and Carter that has been stalled because of other issues.
The news comes as Rogers is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... to be his nominee for director of national intelligence to replace Clapper as the official who oversees all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. In a move apparently unprecedented for a military officer, Rogers, without notifying superiors, traveled to New York to meet with Trump on Thursday at Trump Tower. That caused consternation at senior levels of the administration, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters.
The White House, Pentagon and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. The NSA did not respond to requests for comment. Carter has concerns with Rogers’s performance, officials said. The driving force for Clapper, meanwhile, was the separation of leadership roles at the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, and his stance that the NSA should be headed by a civilian.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2016 00:00 ||
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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.
At least there is one Muslim in America who is open and honest about what Islam is and what it is here for. No taqiyya, no mincing of words. Islam is here to dominate.
