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Today: 66 articles and 186 comments as of 7:25.
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Bomb blast kills 1, injures 11 at German restaurant
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 6: Politix
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China-Japan-Koreas
While the Courts Have Ruled, China Is Not Leaving the South China Sea
Opinion piece from the National Interest that explains why the recent International Court ruling about the South China Sea isn't as sweeping as it might first seem.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies


The Grand Turk
The Gülen Factor: Erdoğan, the Coup, and the United States
[Counter Punch] Engaged in his dirty spate of housecleaning under the auspices of protecting the constitution and the Turkish state, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to insist on one vital scalp in his enterprise.

Thus far, the cleric Fethullah Gulen has eluded Ankara from his abode in Pennsylvania. From his base, something of a global network has been constructed, one discernable through foundations and an assortment of endeavours pursued under the guise of a faith movement. These do not attest to the spirit of a pacifist warrior, averse to revolution. They suggest influence, and the markings of power.

For the cleric’s enemies, there is much to be said that he has profited from the land of the free, seething about an individual he once desired to share power with. Notions of democracy are distant here; more significant is a distinct appraisal of power padded by such notions as "liberal" and "moderate". These are the necessary marketing tools for a political figure in exile.

The cleric’s movement, Hizmet, prides itself on sponsoring education and running programs heavy with the anti-radicalization agenda. His opponents, such as attorney Robert Amsterdam, retained by Ankara to investigate alleged financial misconduct in the United States, suggest that the movement’s leader "is a money-laundering criminal" (Foreign Policy, Jul 18).

Politics can be a dirty thing indeed, and in the case of Hizmet, education via some hundreds of charter schools in the United States has become an enterprise of channelling and re-directing to the Gulenistas.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 09:42 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moderate Islamist, regime change, an apparent unlimited budget. Who could possibly be behind such an effort ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Gulan doesn't seem to be financed by the Saudis or Iran or Soros or any of the usual suspects.

It is closer to the model of a personally run empire of multiple mini enterprises and mini initiatives with the ability to skim funds from any and all. It is somewhat like a cross between Scientology, the Clinton Global Foundation and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Posted by: lord garth || 07/25/2016 11:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Gulan doesn't seem to be financed by the Saudis or Iran or Soros or any of the usual suspects.

Correct! As an 'Islamic Moderate'...who does that leave ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 12:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Klingons?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/25/2016 13:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Have you noticed who isn't saying a great deal about the situation in Turkey ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 13:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Speaking at Kanal D TV”s Arena program, PM Erdogan commented on the term “moderate Islam”, often used in the West to describe AKP and said, “These descriptions are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.”

Source: Milliyet, Turkey, August 21, 2007
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 07/25/2016 20:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Oprah interviews Trump over 25 years ago (video)
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 14:34 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


President Obama: ‘I'm a better president than I ever has been'
[Wash Times] Just as his second term is winding down, President Obama says he really has hit his stride in office.

In an interview broadcast Sunday, the president painted an optimistic picture about the state of the country, saying his team is "operating at peak level."

"I feel as if I’m a better president than I’ve ever been," Mr. Obama said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "That the experience has made me sharper, clearer about how to get stuff done."

He also said the recent terrorist attacks -- such as the one Friday in Munich, Germany, in which nine were killed and 27 injured -- does not confirm the bleak outlook painted by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Mr. Obama said the American people are "more safe" now than before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 03:36 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  President Obama says he really has hit his stride in office.

You're sure he's planning to go, Besoeker?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/25/2016 3:44 Comments || Top||

#2  He also said the recent terrorist attacks -- such as the one Friday in Munich, Germany, in which nine were killed and 27 injured -- does not confirm the bleak outlook painted by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Judging by his joking during the news conference, he doesn't take it seriously anyway.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/25/2016 8:33 Comments || Top||

#3  King Ludwig alert.
Posted by: Jack Salami || 07/25/2016 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I feel as if I’m a better president than I’ve ever been,""

pretty low bar to clear, Preznit Failure
Posted by: Frank G || 07/25/2016 10:16 Comments || Top||

#5  He has never been, and never will be anything but a piece of shit.
Posted by: newc || 07/25/2016 10:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Has anyone clued him in that there's a little more to being President than playing golf and cracking jokes during press conferences about massacres?

Doesn't appear that anyone has.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/25/2016 11:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Damn,

I have a migraine and blood running out of my ears after reading that...
Posted by: Mystic || 07/25/2016 11:27 Comments || Top||

#8  "That the experience has made me sharper, clearer about how to get stuff done."

A new strain of weed, perhaps? Or a different mind-altering substance?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/25/2016 12:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Baghdad Bob alert.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/25/2016 14:19 Comments || Top||

#10  BHO's bar is extremely low--about the level of whale $hit.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/25/2016 14:22 Comments || Top||

#11  I don't think Obama will take it silently (the way W did) when everyone blames him for problems during the next administration.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/25/2016 15:07 Comments || Top||

#12  I don't think Obama will take it silently (the way W did) when everyone blames him for problems during the next administration.

I hope Trump says it every freaking day he's president.
Posted by: Raj || 07/25/2016 16:17 Comments || Top||

#13  I hope Trump says it every freaking day he's president.

He has plenty of material to work with.
Posted by: gorb || 07/25/2016 19:39 Comments || Top||

#14  This wizard of whine? He's an artist!
At fomenting ferment, the smartest!
His standards are stellar:
When out of the cellar,
Of grapes he'll use only the tartest.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 07/25/2016 21:54 Comments || Top||

#15  lol
Posted by: rammer || 07/25/2016 23:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Fethullah Gülen Issued Statement On the Orlando shooting attack
[Hizmet Movement News Portal - 17 June 2016] I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific attack that took place in Orlando, the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. I unequivocally condemn this hate-driven terrorist attack and I share my revolt and disgust with billions of people around the world.

Media reports stated that the attacker pledged allegiance to ISIS on the night of the attack. The totalitarian mentality that characterizes terrorist groups like ISIS should be treated like a cancer within our societies and countered through political, social and religious efforts.

To the family and friends of the deceased, I send my sincerest condolences and pray that in the collective consciousness of humanity, the values of mutual respect and commitment to the dignity of every human life triumph over fear and hate.

Very interesting web site. Little wonder Erdogan wants him extradited.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 09:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I believe I have arrived at the appropriate diplomatic response to President Erdogan's demands.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/25/2016 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  "...The totalitarian mentality that characterizes terrorist groups like ISIS should be treated like a cancer within our societies and countered through political, social and religious efforts...."

so maybe he doesn't think we should try to kill the terrorists?



Posted by: lord garth || 07/25/2016 11:44 Comments || Top||

#3  The totalitarian mentality that characterizes terrorist groups like ISIS should be treated like a cancer within our societies and countered through political, social and religious efforts..

Dralm and no quarter!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/25/2016 13:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Respect and honour
[DAWN] THE death of Qandeel Baloch has brought to the forefront the debate about the status of women in this country. Since the news of the social media star’s murder, allegedly at the hands of her brother, we have learned many uncomfortable facts about our society, its leaders, and its attitudes towards women. We have been made to realise that the progress women have been making in this country remains useless if their basic safety cannot be guaranteed by the state.

In Pakistain, women are being encouraged to study, to think of careers, to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. Taking up an unconventional career, such as a fighter pilot or the CEO of a multinational company, is presented as a valid option for our lives, beyond the traditional roles of marriage and motherhood. Our government promises to do everything it can to support us. Foreign countries pour aid into programmes that promote women’s empowerment. ’When women do well, Pakistain looks good’ is the mantra we desperately want to believe.

Yet these are all false promises. Our physical safety is still compromised: we can be beaten, abused, molested, assaulted and even murdered, and the perpetrators of those crimes will get off lightly, if they even see the insides of a courtroom or jail cell. There is still no law that clearly and unequivocally criminalises abuse, domestic violence, or sexual harassment against us. If the law is there, mechanisms to enforce it do not exist. There is still no amendment to honour killing laws labelling this kind of murder a crime against the state each time it happens.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


The big Afghan bet
[DAWN] WELL, there he is, back at work. Reading a report he’d rather not read. Chairing a meeting he’d rather not chair. Talking about stuff he’d rather not talk about.

An agenda long derailed.

Nawaz is still interested in foreign policy, for reasons political and strategic. Politically because he knows the world needs to know he’s not some anti-US/anti-West loon -- the shelf life of civilians tainted as such being pretty short.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
8Islamic State
7Govt of Pakistan
5Arab Spring
4Sublime Porte
3Taliban
2Govt of Syria
2Govt of Iraq
2Commies
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Human Trafficking
1Govt of Iran

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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.
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In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2016-07-25
  Bomb blast kills 1, injures 11 at German restaurant
Sun 2016-07-24
  80 dead, 231 wounded as twin blasts strike Hazara demonstration in Kabul
Sat 2016-07-23
  Russian Warplanes Targeted U.S., British Outpost in Syria
Fri 2016-07-22
  Terror attack in Munich
Thu 2016-07-21
  Breaking: Brazil arrests 10 suspected of Olympic terror plot
Wed 2016-07-20
  Syrian rebels capture ISIS command center in Manbij
Tue 2016-07-19
  Indonesia's ISIS-linked, most wanted terrorist dead
Mon 2016-07-18
  German train 'axe attack': Many reported hurt
Sun 2016-07-17
  3 officers dead after shooting near Baton Rouge PD HQ
Sat 2016-07-16
  Situation largely under control after coup attempt: Turkish PM
Fri 2016-07-15
  BREAKING in Turkey: MILITARY COUP UNDERWAY
Thu 2016-07-14
  Truck Plows Through Bastille Day Crowd, Kills 30
Wed 2016-07-13
  Trial begins for Virginia, Washington women accused of fundraising for Al Qaeda affiliate
Tue 2016-07-12
  Nigerian Islamists Hack Female Pastor to Death – Place Her Head on Bible
Mon 2016-07-11
  Pakistan condemns India's killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander


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