Based on past experience, the odds are better than 50:50 this is an inside job or a Progressive pretending, rather than a hate-filled Trump voter living in Los Angeles. But let us wait until the authorities reveal what they have discovered, once they do.
[DAWN] Several more mosques nationwide have reported receiving a hate-filled letter from Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, that warns Moslems to leave the country or face genocide.
The identical letters postmarked from the Los Angeles area have now shown up at mosques throughout California and in Ohio, Michigan, Rhode Island, Indiana, Colorado and Georgia.
Los Angeles police have been investigating the letters addressed to "the children of Satan" as a hate incident, but not a crime because it does not contain a specific threat.
The letters appeared to be photocopies of a handwritten note referring to Moslems as "vile and filthy people" and saying that 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... would do to Moslems what Hitler did to Jews.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... has asked the FBI to investigate.
The FBI said the threats, while inflammatory and awful, do not pose a threat specific enough to investigate at this point, but they're monitoring the situation and urged anyone to report such incidents.
Police in Providence, Rhode Island, said they would increase patrols after one of the letters was received at Masjid al-Kareem.
Faissal Elansari of the Islamic Centre of Rhode Island said he feels a wave of hate at his doorstep, WPRI-TV reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't consider this news.
Its only news if it turns out to be true. In which case I would applaud the authors.
#3
"Most ominously, the letters were mailed from a Post Office near the California headquarters of CAIR."
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/02/2016 7:06 Comments ||
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#4
Silly sensationalist reporters.
There are any number of internet mailing services that will print, package and post an email near your desired destination.
[al-Manar] UN human rights experts on Thursday said “ethnic cleansing” was under way in South Sudan, after a 10-day visit to the world’s youngest country where violence has soared since a peace deal collapsed in July.
“There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages; everywhere we went across this country we heard villagers saying they are ready to shed blood to get their land back,” said Yasmin Sooka of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.
“Many told us it’s already reached a point of no return.”
#1
Unity in South Sudan has been since 1950 a tenuous thing. Reality noow requires that the region be split into three states: Bahr al-Ghazal (ethnic Dinka), Eastern (Nuer, Shilluk), and Equatoria (various tribes that want nothing to do with either Dinka or Nuer). Without some territorial resolution the bloodletting will continue ad nauseum.
#2
Reality noow requires that the region be split into three states
The impression I have is that separately each is too small to stand alone, never mind against a rambunctious Sudan; and clearly together they are unable to stand against a rambunctious Sudan because they will not stand together. Perhaps it is time to consider uniting each third with a neighbour big enough to stand again Sudan, rather than continue pointlessly pursuing independence.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A decentralized government is the political solution for Libya supported by former Prime Minister Mahmoud Gebril, who rejects the idea of a partition of the country.
"A decentralized government, a small government, a crisis-management government with five or six ministers at maximum. The rest of the powers should be shared with municipalities and local governments with no marginalization" Gebril told Al Arabiya English on the sidelines of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... Defense College Foundation high-level seminar 'Deep Maghreb: (in)security and stability' held this week in Rome, Italia.
The idea of a partition of Libya has been discussed periodically in international arenas. Some experts argue that this solution would be based on the ancient Roman principle Divide et Impera, translated from Latin as 'divide and rule', with foreign countries being the only ones to benefit from this strategy.
Other observers believe Libya has always been divided within its tribal system and that the country should figure out a political model that benefits from this diversity rather than trying to deny it.
According to Gebril, a partition of Libya would only lead to more conflicts.
"The biggest threat to Libya is to divide the country. If you go for a partitioned Libya you will have more conflict and many civil wars," Gebril explained.
Gebril says right now the real power in Libya is outside the government, with the militia, not with the State, and the most urgent issues to address are related to disarmament, judiciary system, and to reactivate the economy.
Biggest employer
"ISIS is the biggest employer in the Arab world," said Gebril during his speech at NATO Defense College Foundation high-level seminar in Rome. "As long as there is a vacuum in power, ISIS will spread," he added.
According to 2016 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Libya is in the top 10 countries with the highest impact of terrorism. This North African country recorded a four per cent increase in terrorist fatalities in 2015 compared to the previous year, with 73 Libyan cities recording a terrorist attack and 454 deaths in 2015. "The largest and most active ISIS affiliates are in Libya and now have become the most active terrorist organizations in the country," the 2016 GTI report states.
The threat of terrorist groups spreading in North Africa is shared by Libya’s neighboring countries. Tunisia is now building a barrier on the border with Libya in order to counter terrorism. The project consists of a 220-km barrier represented by a natural dune with military forces and electronic technologies like radars, cameras, movement detectors, provided by Germany and the US.
The complexity of this barrier, that is going to be patrolled also by drones and air forces, was explained to Al Arabiya by Mohammed Jalel Ghedira, Member of the Tunisian Parliament, of the Committee for the Administration of the Armed Forces and part of the Commission for Security and Defense.
"The barrier is going to be finalized by the beginning of 2017 and this is only one of the measures implemented by the Tunisian government to fight terrorists," Ghedira said to Al Arabiya, adding that the Tunisian authorities are now doing house by house controls and cutting communications between bully boyz by acting on telephone operators. According to Ghedira, there are between 200 and 300 bully boyz in Libya interested in entering in Tunisia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The Romans and then Italy had it right. Split Libya between Cyrenaica in the east and Tripolitania in the west. Each lays claim to eastern and western oil fields and thus would be economically viable.
[Dhaka Tribune] Before Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury orchestrated Bangladesh’s worst holy warrior attack, he sought and won approval for it from 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.... A Canadian of Bangladeshi origin, he was told by his contact in the holy warrior group, Abu Terek Mohammad Tajuddin Kausar, to target foreigners, according to a senior police official who has seen communications between the two men.
Chowdhury, located in Bangladesh at the time, proposed an attack on a Dhaka eatery frequented by expatriates.
On July 1, a group of gunnies stormed the Holey Artisan café in the city’s Gulshan neighbourhood, murdering 22 people, most of them foreigners, in an overnight siege that shocked the country.
The back-and-forth between Chowdhury, 30, and Kausar, 35, which includes drafts of articles later published in Islamic State magazines, has not been previously reported.
Together with attempts by people linked to Islamic State to recruit and fund militancy in the country, the documents show the bully boy organization has built deeper connections with Bangladeshi turbans than was previously known.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Two US Republican Senators - Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... and John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... ‐ proposed on Wednesday an amendment to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) that was approved by the Congress in September.
JASTA has been thrusted into the limelight after Congress overrode US President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... ’s veto of the potential bill. If passed, JASTA would allow US citizens to sue 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... over the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Senators propose that foreign governments would only be held liable for terrorist attacks "if they knowingly engage with a terrorist organization directly or indirectly, including financing," Graham explained.
US-based news website Politico described the "fix" as a way to "narrow the law’s scope and reduce the likelihood that it would produce retaliatory suits against the United States."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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[Fox] An Ohio State University student who injured 11 people when he attacked pedestrians on campus with a car and a knife traveled to the Washington D.C. area days before Monday's assault, a law enforcement source told Fox News.
The source said Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, arrived late on Nov. 24 and left the following day. The short duration of the trip suggested his visit was "purposeful," the source added.
FBI agents are now seeking court approval to get records from Artan's phone and Internet service provider, which can help determine where he travelled in the D.C. area and whether he contacted anyone.
Good lord, that wasn't the first thing they did once they knew who he was? Why in earth not?
Artan was shot and killed by a university police officer shortly after he began his attack Monday. Because of Artan's death and the lack of evidence that he was connected to a larger group, the FBI's requests are being processed through regular channels.
Investigators confirmed earlier Wednesday that Artan "may have been inspired" by the ISIS terror group, though they aren't aware of any direct contact between ISIS and the attacker.
Angela Byers, the FBI special agent in charge of the Cincinnati division, said investigators have not found evidence that anyone else was involved in the attack or the planning of it.
Authorities are trying to piece together a gap of several hours between the time Artan bought a knife at a Wal-Mart near his home and the attack. Police don't know if that was the same weapon he used on campus, investigators said. Special attention to the Anwar al-Awlaki graphic contained in this article.
#2
As a follow-up to TW's in-line comment and Betty's comment at #1 (thank you ladies for the set up), permit me to pose a potentially inconvenient but nonetheless haunting 'link analysis' question:
If US Law Enforcement (LE) and US Intelligence were aware of, or monitoring the communcations between MAJ Nadal Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki (to which they have admitted), were they also aware of, or monitoring the potential communications or inspirational links between al-Awlaki and the other 8 domestic terrorist attacks listed in this article? (Now 9 attacks, counting the recent Abdul Razak Ali Artan attack at OSU).
Was the drone zapping of al-Awlaki in Yemen an attempt to terminate those contacts? If so, why were the US contacts not detained or at least closely
monitored ?
If the first three contacts resulted in domestic terror attacks, would it not be logical to assume other contacts would produce similar tragic results? I might add, warnings regarding the Tsarnaev bros. were allegedly issued to US officials by the Russians.
And from wikipedia, which includes a 9/11 connection (10th domestic attack), not included in the article graphic:
As imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Virginia (2001–02), al-Awlaki spoke with and preached to three of the alleged 9/11 hijackers, who were al-Qaeda members. In 2001, he presided at the funeral of the mother of Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who later e-mailed him extensively in 2008–09 before the Fort Hood shootings. During al-Awlaki's later radical period after 2006–07, when he went into hiding, he was associated with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted the 2009 Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner. Al-Awlaki was allegedly involved in planning Abdulmutallab's attack.
Emphasis added.
Lastly, did the recently revealed D.C. trip of the late Abdul Razak Ali Artan also include a visit to the Falls Church Mosque ?
Gross incompetence or patent obstructionism? You decide.
#5
To my Rantburg colleagues I would pose two questions :
first why did the FBI's seem urgently interested in what he did in the hours just before the attack?
Second wasn't there a report of someone having pulled the fire alarm in the building moments before the attack and that fire alarm the reason that the police officer was responding and was fortunately on scene.
If you were going to attack the building with the car and then a knife what better way to ensure a dense population of people than the crowd that mills around the entrance of the building right after a fire alarm? isn't it possible there is a second participant?
#6
isn't it possible there is a second participant?
That was conjectured here at the time this went down. Apparently those more expert in these things, and their media purveyors, have deemed it otherwise.
#7
The table in the article of the various jihadi attacks over the years linked to the deceased Imam al Awlaki is a useful one. If someone could paste it into a comment in this thread so we have it for future reference, I'd be grateful.
[reason.com] Before he was shot dead while attempting to murder a bunch of people with a car and a butcher's knife, Ohio State University student Abdul Artan--a Pakistani immigrant who reportedly became radicalized after learning about injustices committed against fellow Muslims--was enrolled in a class called "Crossing Identity Boundaries."
In fact, he had a group project on "microaggressions" due later this week. The assignment, worth 15 percent of his grade, required students to find a dozen examples of microaggressions on social media and explain which identity groups were the victims, according to the syllabus.
The purpose of the class is to promote "intercultural leadership" and transform students into "actively engaged, socially just global citizen/leaders." It seems to go well beyond merely educating students, though--it actually requires them to become social justice activists.
One of Artan's classmates who was part of his microaggressions group tweeted a screenshot of the assignment and the names of her group's members, which included Artan. None of these students responded to a request for comment. No need for Anwar al-Awlaki or ISIS websites, we're now training our own terrorists... or have we actually been training them for decades ?
[Daily Excelsior] Talking tough in the wake of attack on Army camp in Nagrota, India today made it clear that talks with Pakistain cannot take place in an atmosphere of "continued terror", which it will never accept as "new normal" in the bilateral relationship.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said the Government is awaiting detailed information on the specifics of the Nagrota attack before it decides on the next steps.
"But I do wish to emphasise that the Government takes this incident very seriously and will do what it feels is required for our national security," he asserted.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] India will have a patrol-free, multi-layered smart fence along its borders with Pakistain and Bangladesh by the second half of 2017, the Press Trust of India news agency reported Wednesday.
Oh my. That's going to make things so much fun on the far side.
According to the news agency, Border Security Force (BSF) Director General (DG) K.K. Sharma said the force is working on implementing a Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) where the security of the two "sensitive and difficult terrain" borders will shift from the regular troops patrolling system to a quick reaction team pattern where guards strike once they notice a blip of infiltration on their surveillance radars.
The Indian home ministry has approved of the project, Sharma added.
"We are making concerted efforts to modernise our border fence. Twenty big companies are currently conducting a technical evaluation for the CIBMS. It is expected that it would be on ground by the second half of next year.
"A few pilot projects are already on ... two in Jammu and one each in Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... and Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... where we have marshy areas," the DG said.
He also said that the aim of BSF, India's largest border guarding force with about 250,000 personnel in its ranks, is "to modernise itself", thereby minimising human error and inaccuracy as much as possible.
Sharma further said that once the CIBMS becomes operational, aided by laser fence, surveillance radars, satellite imagery and thermal gadgets, the troops on ground will respond when they detect an infiltration bid in the multi-tier security ring, comprising the regular fence as well as laser walls.
He said the force is also looking into gadgets and securing technical support to tackle dangers presented by hidden tunnels running across the Indian borders.
Sharma said the force was in touch with countries like Israel as well as elite Indian technology institutes to procure the right technology.
"We are in the process to plug breaches by technical solutions at both Pakistain and Bangladesh borders," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Contracts for Israeli companies by the looks of it.
#2
Out of the billions of starving, unemployed Indians certainly some 'border watchers' could be found more reliable and discerning than limited, unknown technology, that are quicker to install, require less maintenance and are less subject to sensor and programming errors.
Okay, that's one down.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A Pak man has reportedly did away with himself over General Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... ’s retirement who was replaced by General Qamar Javed Baja earlier this week.
According to the local media reports, the 64-year-old Lutf Amim Shibli consumed poison after almost one of camping, urging for Gen. Sharif’s extension of service.
Shibli had reportedly consumed poison some days ago and died on Wednesday.
"Raheel Sharif is a messiah. I am his fan. Only he can save the country from terrorism and social ills," The Express Tribune reported, citing a poster put on display by the man.
Shibli’s sister-in-law Nooren told the paper "He attempted suicide on Nov 27 after the ISPR [Inter-Services Public Relations] announced the retirement plan of Gen Raheel. We took him to Jinnah hospital from where he was referred to Aga Khan University Hospital. He was initially on ventilator, but later died."
The Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... last week appointed General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the new chief of army staff to replace General Raheel Sharif.
The Pak military informed regarding the retirement of Gen. Sharif last week with a front man for Inter Service Public Relations Gen. Asim Bajwa saying "COAS kicks off his farewell visits..."
The confirmation by the Pak military came amid rife speculation regarding an extension in the COAS’ term after former military ruler Musharraf called for an extension in his tenure, warning against a change in the military leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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(Reuters) – In early June, two Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias under the nominal control of the Iraqi government stormed into an Iraqi military airbase north of Baghdad. Driving armored vehicles and wielding rocket launchers, they took over a building on the base.
The Iraqi commander at the base, near the town of Balad, asked the militiamen to leave. But the men ignored him as well as orders from the central government in Baghdad, according to two army officers in the Salahuddin Operation Command, the regional military headquarters.
The June standoff grounded four Iraqi F-16 fighter jets and pushed more than a dozen U.S. contractors – there to help local pilots bomb Islamic State militants – to flee, according to the army officers and an Iraqi military intelligence source.
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Posted by: badanov ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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...assuming she ever goes home again, or someone turns her in.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Iraqi biologist and member of the national leadership of Baath party Huda Ammash was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for embezzling public funds.
The sentence was issued by the criminal court dealing with integrity cases.
"Ammash exploited her career when she occupied the post of Deputy Minister of Education in the era of the former regime, and acquired five vehicles belonging to the ministry without permission," as per the Investigation Department of the Integrity Commission.
The 63-year-old Huda, is the daughter of Salih Mahdi Ammash, a bigwig in the Iraqi Ba’ath Party, who served as defense minister in 1963, Deputy Prime Minister in 1968, and finally as an Ambassador of Iraq in 1977. It is believed that he may have been executed under the personal orders of Saddam Hussein in 1981.
Huda Ammash is also known as the ’Anthrax Lady’, a title she earned thanks to her credentials in biology. She also has a Biology degree from the University of Iraq, beside a master's degree in microbiology and a doctorate from the American University of Missouri.
On the ’wanted’ list
After the invasion by US forces in 2003, Huda was number 53 out of the 55 wanted Iraqis by US forces, and the only woman on that list. She was accused of trying to resurrect Iraq's nuclear program after the second Gulf war.
Ammash was trained by Nasser al-Hindawi, who US officials described as the "godfather of the Iraqi biological weapons program."
Ammash is currently battling breast cancer, believed to have been caused by exposure to radiation.
She was tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by US forces in 2003, and released in 2005 along with seven others from the key players in Saddam Hussein's regime, for lack of evidence about their involvement in war crimes. Following that, she left Iraq.
Over the past years, the Iraqi judiciary has issued various sentences against bigwigs of Saddam Hussein's regime in the successive governments in Iraq after 2003, including ministers, leaders and executives.
So far, Baghdad has not been able to extradite them from their host countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Important to keep in mind, there actually was no WMD in Iraq. Bushitler lied.
Operation Avarice remained classified for security reasons until 2015.[13] Retired Lieutenant General Richard P. Zahner, the former highest-ranking army intelligence officer in Iraq, praised the operation for having "neutralized what could have become an arsenal used against the US and its allies".
If General Rick 'Zippy' Zahner said it was a good operation, you can take it to the bank. End of message.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Miaad Madaad is the only female member of the "Lions of the Tigris," a group of Sunni Arab fighters which is part of the Popular Mobilization Committee (PMU) battling ISIS in Shayyalah al-Imam, Iraq.
Shayyalah al-Imam is a village near the ISIS-held city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... ISIS Lions of Islam beheaded Madaad’s father-in-law and brother-in-law.
"The last time [ISIS] they came to my house and threatened me I threw rocks at them and called them dogs," she told Rooters as she clutched an AK-47 assault rifle and vowed to defeat ISIS.
When she and her husband fled to the relatively stable Kurdish region earlier this year, he was enjugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! by Kurdish fighters who suspected him of being an ISIS fighter.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Privileged ISIS holy warriors, who enjoyed residing in some looted villas in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... they occupied since June 2014, were indulging of "high-end habits," a perfume trader now residing in a liberated area told Rooters.
"They went for the expensive foreign brands... Some had four wives," Hamza Samih said.
Samih’s business became dependent on ISIS faceless myrmidons after the fighters issued two orders - get rid of the perfumes and colorful bras they said were unholy, and set up separate doors for men and women.
ISIS holy warriors’ draconian edicts almost put him out of business by forcing women, his main customers, to cover themselves in black, not use perfume in public and stay indoors.
But later, Samih’s business became dependent on the holy warriors.
"They were the ones with money. They bought perfumes for themselves and for their wives," the 23-year-old storekeeper said of ISIS forces who were driven out of his street on Sunday by Iraqi special forces.
The faceless myrmidons overran Mosul two years ago, imposing their ultra-hardline interpretation of Sunni Islam over Mosul.
They are now being driven out in the biggest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion. Troops have pushed them out of around a quarter of the city in an advance now in its seventh week.
Privileged existence While most of the population struggled to get by, residents say the faceless myrmidons enjoyed a privileged existence.
Some drove expensive cars and stayed in looted luxury villas, according to Samih’s neighbors and relatives - voicing a common refrain among residents in Mosul districts recaptured from ISIS.
The army hopes people like Samih will reopen businesses quickly to bring life back to normal in recaptured areas of Mosul, a message delivered in person on Monday by the commander of the army’s counter terrorism unit, who came to Samih’s Aden district escorted by seven Humvees carrying masked gunners.
Back at the perfume shop, Samih said it was too soon to resume trading. "I’m not ready to open the shop yet. We need stability," he said, looking exhausted.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
When it happens, look for Lexus 'Technicals...'
[IsraelTimes] Dozens of locations were found in which arson was attempted but did not develop into a full scale blaze.
The Israel Police said on Thursday that of 39 of the most serious fires that broke out last week as part of a wave of fires that ravaged the country, 29 are being treated as arson or suspected arson.
The police also said that dozens of locations were found in which arson was attempted but did not develop into a full scale blaze, Israel Radio Israeli reported.
According to Yoram Levy, front man of the Fire Services, firefighters battled 1,773 brush fires around the country and the West Bank from November 18 to November 26.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan called the number into question on Wednesday, saying that in many cases "20 people called in about the same event, and this was counted," and that in other cases fires from unrelated car crashes were also included. Erdan said that instead what needs to be focused on are the 39 significant fires referenced by the police on Thursday. According the minister, 40-50 percent were likely the result of arson.
But based on the police’s statement, nearly three-quarters of the largest fires are being treated as arson or suspected arson, significantly higher than Erdan’s claim from the previous day.
As of Tuesday, police had tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! at least 35 people on suspicion of arson or incitement to arson. The police did not indicate how many were suspected of setting fires and how many of inciting others to do so.
[IsraelTimes] Ali Mahajnar, 24, of Umm al-Fahm accused of deliberately starting 3 fires in hometown; says incompetent municipality motivated him.
The Haifa Magistrate Court on Thursday indicted an Umm al-Fahm resident for deliberately starting several fires in his hometown last week as hundreds of devastating wildfires swept across the country. According to the indictment, Ali Mahajnar, 24, started three fires near residential areas in the al-Dahar neighborhood of the northern city.
Mahajnar’s fires -- started several hundred meters from each other -- burned vegetation and wooded areas before firefighters evacuated residential buildings and put out the blazes. The indictment noted that most local residents were home when Mahajnar started the early morning fires.
Mahajnar admitted to the arson to police and expressed remorse for his actions, according to the court document.
Despite promises by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other politicians to prosecute those who deliberately started fires as terrorists, state prosecutors only indicted Mahajnar on arson charges.
During a Monday court hearing, Mahajnar said local authorities motivated him to start the fires.
"I’m the victim of the Umm al-Fahm Municipality that doesn’t treat us like it should," he said according to Channel 2. "[The municipality] don’t clean the streets."
His lawyer on Monday said that Mahajnar has no criminal record, and stressed he was not affiliated with any outside organization.
"I don’t know how to explain his actions," he told the TV station.
[al-Manar] Russia has proposed setting up four humanitarian corridors to eastern Aleppo to allow in aid as well as hundreds of desperately needed medical evacuations, the United Nation said Thursday.
“The Russian Federation announced that… they want to sit down in Aleppo with our people there to discuss how we can use the four corridors to evacuate people out,” Jan Egeland, head of the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, told reporters in Geneva.
“We have at least 400 wounded that need immediate medical evacuation,” Egeland said, adding that there would also be discussions on using “these corridors to get medical supplies and food in.”
His comments came as hundreds of elite Syrian troops were moving into east Aleppo Thursday ahead of a push into the most densely populated areas.
A government offensive to retake all of Aleppo has pounded the terrorist groups in the city in recent days, with the relentless barrage leaving armed groups’ strongholds strewn with the bodies of gunmen, many lying next to the suitcases they had packed to escape.
The opposition UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that more than 50,000 people have fled Aleppo’s terrorist-held districts to both government-held territory and Kurdish-controlled districts.
Egeland, who put the exodus at least 27,000, said the UN had access to all the people in both the government- and Kurdish-held areas, but still could not reach those in besieged parts of the east whom the armed groups use a human shields to protect themselves from the grip of the national military and allied forces.
That's what happens when the bad guys make people into human shields.
[ARA News] Erbil – The US-led coalition said on Thursday that after at least 173 civilians were killed by coalition airstrikes in Syria and Iraq since the start of the operation against the Islamic State (ISIS).
“To date, based on information available, CJTF-OIR has assessed it is more likely than not that, since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, 173 civilians have been inadvertently killed by Coalition strikes,” the US-led coalition said in a statement obtained by ARA News.
“We regret the unintentional loss of civilian lives resulting from Coalition efforts to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria and express our deepest sympathies to the families and others affected by these strikes,” it said.
During the month of October, the coalition received 18 reports of possible civilian casualties resulting from Coalition strikes in Iraq and Syria in the fight against ISIS. “Twelve of these reports were determined to be non-credible, three were determined to be credible, and three reports are still being assessed,” the coalition said.
The coalition stressed that although its air forces make extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimizes the risk of civilian casualties, in some cases casualties are unavoidable.
“Four past reports of possible civilian casualties and three of the reports received in October were determined to be credible resulting in the unintended death of 54 civilians,” it said.
This included airstrikes in the Syrian cities of Sala Heya, Shaddadi, Manbij, Taltanah, and one airstrike in Iraq, near Fasitiyah town.
The US-led coalition “bombing the ISIL group” in Syria and Iraq said Thursday that 54 civilians had been “inadvertently killed” in seven air strikes between March and October.
The announcement brings the official coalition tally of civilians killed to 173 since the “anti-ISIL” campaign began in the fall of 2014 — though critics say the real figure is far higher.
“Although the coalition makes extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimizes the risk of civilian casualties, in some cases casualties are unavoidable,” the coalition said in a statement.
Although the coalition has announced that it targets ISIL terrorists, analysts consider that its role reinforced the militant group in several areas and wonder how the takfiris managed to widen their deployment in several cities despite the aerial control of the US-led forces.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] There are no "red lines left to cross in Syria," the UN humanitarian chief said Wednesday, accusing parties to the Syrian conflict who have systematically disregarded the laws of war. ... starting with the use of poison gas, poison gas on civilian targets, targeting hospitals and schools, collective punishments, yeah, if you can think of a law of war that can be broken they broke it.
Speaking via video-link from London, Stephen O’Brien told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that was nowhere more apparent than in the besieged city of eastern Aleppo with nearly a quarter of million people trapped inside.
"There are no limits or red lines left to cross. The rules of war - sacrosanct notions borne out of generations of costly and painful lessons and set more than 150 year ago in the First Geneva Convention - have been systematically disregarded in Syria," O’Brien said.
O’Brien said some 25,000 people, most of them women and kiddies, have been displaced from their homes since Saturday and that it is likely thousands more will flee in the coming days as Syrian forces step up their attack.
He said there was no longer any properly functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo, which has been under siege for nearly 150 days and that most of the people trapped inside don't have the means to survive much longer.
He called on the Syrian government to allow the UN and its humanitarian partners unrestricted access to deliver food and medical aid.
He also urged the Security Council for action.
"For the sake of humanity we call on - we plead - with the parties and those with influence to do everything in their power to protect civilians and enable access to the besieged part of eastern Aleppo before it becomes one giant graveyard," he said.
Staffan de Mistura told the council that over the last two weeks, government forces have recaptured almost 40 percent of the area in Aleppo previously held by opposition groups forcing thousands to flee.
He said his office had received credible reports of opposition groups preventing civilians from fleeing areas under their control. Also, he expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... that many fleeing the city, who are perceived to have links to the opposition, were being detained by government forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
The only red lines left are those written in blood.
#3
The White House drew its lines in puce
Knowing they'd stand for a lasting truce
But knowing not they coulda shoulda
The color is beloved by the feral hudna
Snap, perhaps next time chartreuse?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US Senate passed a 10-year extension of existing sanctions against Iran on Thursday, sending the measure to the White House for President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... to sign into law and delaying any potentially tougher actions until next year.As the voting continued, senators were backing the renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act by 89-0. It passed the House of Representatives nearly unanimously in November, and congressional aides said they expected Obama would sign it when it reached his desk.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the US Senate's vote to extend sanctions against the Islamic Theocratic Republic for 10 years violated a historic nuclear deal reached between the country and six major powers in 2015.
"The extension of sanctions by the US congress is a violation of the deal. We will report it to Iran's committee, assigned for monitoring the implementation of the deal," according to a statement by Foreign Ministry front man Bahram Ghasemi read on television.
President Trump will be able to work with this, so long as the Iranians don't do something stupid like drop a hastily assembled nuclear device --- or a dirty bomb -- on Jeddah, followed by one on Jerusalem... or vice versa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russia will continue its operations in eastern Aleppo and will rescue the Syrian city from terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday during a visit to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Speaking at a joint presser after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Mediterranean town of Alanya, Lavrov said Russia would continue efforts to allow humanitarian aid into Aleppo, according to a Turkish translation of his comments.
Cavusoglu said he and Lavrov had agreed on the need for a ceasefire in Aleppo and the rest of Syria, although he said Turkey's stance on Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... was clear.
Russia is a main backer of Assad, while Turkey supports the rebels fighting to oust him. The rebels have come under siege in eastern Aleppo after rapid advances by Syrian government forces, bringing them to the brink of a major defeat.
Russia will continue its operations despite criticism over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
[Dhaka Tribune] Before Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury orchestrated Bangladesh’s worst
Lindsey Graham
John 
[reason.com] Before he was shot dead while attempting to murder a bunch of people with a car and a butcher's knife, Ohio State University student Abdul Artan--a Pakistani immigrant who reportedly became radicalized after learning about injustices committed against fellow Muslims--was enrolled in a class called "Crossing Identity Boundaries."
