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Two Islamic State leaders killed in Syria air strike: Observatory
Today's Headlines
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Africa Horn
Scarred by Islamist attacks, Kenya set to re-open Westgate mall
[REUTERS] Kenya's trendy Westgate shopping mall will reopen on Saturday, nearly two years after gunnies from the Somali bad boy group al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
massacred at least 67 people inside and held out for four days as security forces laid siege to the complex.

Once a totem of Kenya's growing prosperity, the Westgate building has since become symbolic of growing insecurity in the east African nation and President Uhuru Kenyatta's inability to prevent frequent Islamist attacks on Kenyan soil.

Images beamed across the world during the raid dented Kenya's image abroad and scared off tourists, hurting a vital sector of the economy. Kenya's embarrassment was compounded by Westgate security footage which showed soldiers looting the mall after the Somali snuffies were killed.

Evans Kidero, the Nairobi governor, said the September 2013 attack was "one of the saddest days in Kenyan history" but touted the re-opening of the mall as a triumph of national resilience in the face of bad boy attacks.

"They killed... our friends and relatives, but they did not kill our spirit," he told news hounds after touring the building where workmen were slapping on final licks of paint and staff were unfurling promotional banners.

Major Western brands, including Subway, KFC and Converse, plan to open stores in the new mall along with Kenyan companies such as Nakumatt, a high-end supermarket chain popular with well-heeled locals and expatriate workers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
El-Sisi says Al-Azhar has failed to renew Islamic discourse
The barest hint of an iron fist within the velvet glove?
[AlAhram] The Egyptian president has called for a renewal of Islamic discourse to challenge extremism

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has accused Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb and other holy mans of failing to develop Egypt's religious discourse.

"You are the one responsible for religious discourse, and God will ask me whether I am satisfied [with your performance] or not," El-Sisi said of El-Tayeb on Tuesday.

"The role of holy mans is not to give speeches in mosques, but to spread peace among humanity," El-Sisi added.

"At last year's ceremony, when I tackled the idea of a religious revolution, I didn't mean imposing [change through] violent actions, rather I meant to revolutionise our thoughts in order to make them to fit the time and also to improve the image of Islam."

"The main problem is that we don't understand our religion ," he said. "And we cannot accept those people who misuse Islam to promote violence and extremism."

In January, El-Sisi said during the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
that Islamic tolerance was not clear to the world because of terrorism.

"We should stop and change our religious rhetoric from faulty ideas which lead to (terrorism)," El-Sisi said, adding that this could only be achieved by scholars from Al-Azhar, the highest institute of Sunni Islamic learning.

"This has nothing to do with creed. No one will touch the pillars of Islam," he said.

Al-Azhar has been criticised for failing to combat the growth of Islamic extremism and atheism in Egyptian society.

El-Sisi made the comments at the annual ceremony of Leilat Al- Qadr, which takes place during the last ten days of Ramadan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
"This has nothing to do with creed. No one will touch the pillars of Islam"

this has unfortunately fooled many
people

one of the pillars is proclaiming that Mohammad is the messenger which seems simple enough but if that is true you have to obey the message and the message is, among other things, kill the infidel
Posted by: lord garth || 07/15/2015 7:48 Comments || Top||


Tunisia Says al-Qaeda Group almost Wiped out after Attacks
[ALMANAR.LB] Tunisia's interior minister said security forces had almost wiped out an gang linked to al Qaeda terrorist organization during a crackdown launched after two deadly attacks on tourists.

Clashes last week killed leaders, including two veteran Algerian fighters, from the Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade, blamed for an assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, minister Najem Gharselli told news hounds late on Sunday.

The North African country has come under growing international pressure to show it is in control of Lions of Islam after a gunman killed 38 holidaymakers at a beach hotel in Sousse last month, an attack claimed by the so-called 'Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
group.

"After we killed some of their leaders in (the central region of) Gafsa a few days ago, we have now destroyed 90 percent of Okba Ibn Nafaa," the minister said.

Okba Ibn Nafaa, allied with Al Qaeda's north African wing, was among the most active of hard-line groups that emerged after Tunisia's 2011 "Arab Spring" uprising ousted President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

Authorities say more than 3,000 Tunisians have left the country to fight for ISIL and other gangs on other battlefields. But the minister said the organization still had no significant presence in Tunisia.

"There are no ISIL groups with any structure in Tunisia, but that doesn't mean there are not some members who have allegiances with ISIL," he said.

ISIL have claimed both the Bardo and the Sousse beach resort attacks, though the government blames Okba and remnants of another local group, Ansar al Sharia, operating across the border in Libya.

The minister said 15 people had so far been tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in connection with the Sousse attack, and security forces had broken up other sleeper cells planning other assaults.

"We have taken the security measures to better protect tourists and Tunisians, including the deployment of 100,000 police across the country," he said.

Britannia, which lost 30 nationals in the Sousse attack, told its tourists to leave the country last week, saying another attack was highly likely and more work was needed to protect tourists.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia


Arabia
UN delivers health supplies to Aden; Houthis lose airport
[ARABNEWS] The UN said on Tuesday it had delivered medical supplies to the southern Yemeni city of Aden, where fighting has badly disrupted health provision, but that food rations had been delayed.

The World Health Organization brought 46.4 tons of assistance including trauma kits, medicines to treat malaria and diarrheal diseases, and water and sanitation supplies for more than 84,000 people.

"It took us days and days and days to organize the safe passage ... But it did arrive in Aden last Saturday. It was the first time that we got a convoy into Aden for weeks," Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, told a news briefing.

The UN convoy was to have included rations from the World Food Program "but the WFP trucks in the end were disconnected from that convoy" he said without elaborating.

Hunger and disease are threatening the 1 million residents of Aden, now a war zone caught between local faceless myrmidons and Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
fighters, aid agencies say.

The United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
says 21 million people need help, about 80 percent of the population of the country.

UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
is "very much disappointed" that a UN-brokered humanitarian pause in fighting did not take hold over the weekend, his front man said on Monday.

Van Der Klaauw said that the UN wanted to have aid ships dock in Aden. "But since the pause didn't take place, we still have a big problem that Aden is not reachable by sea. And it should be."

As vessels are diverted to the northern port of Hodeida, goods have to be taken by land to Aden and there is a perception "that vessels have only gone into that part of 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...
which is in the hands of the de facto Houthi authorities."

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head...
Yemeni forces battling the Iranian catspaws in the country's south say they have taken control of the airport in Aden and that they have driven the rebels into a part of the city jutting out into the sea.

The advance is a major blow for the Houthis, basically trapping them on the small peninsula.

Ali Al-Ahmadi, the front man for the city's anti-rebel forces known as Aden Resistance Leadership Council, says the operation was coordinated with the Saudi-led coalition.

Also on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition carried out Arclight airstrikes in Sanaa.

Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Razakar leader Forkan's verdict tomorrow
[Dhaka Tribune] The International Crimes Tribunal 2 is set to deliver verdict in the war crimes case against razakar leader Forkan Mallik from Mirzaganj of Patuakhali tomorrow.

The three-member tribunal headed by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan set the date yesterday, nearly a month after the end of argument sessions.

The 63-year-old razakar commander is facing five charges of crimes against humanity he had committed during the 1971 Liberation War in Mirzaganj upazila. The charges include murder, rape, abduction and forced conversion.

The case was kept for verdict on June 14.

Fourteen prosecution witnesses testified at the tribunal while four gave depositions in favour of the accused. He was indicted on December 18 last year.

According to the first charge, razakars led by Forkan and the Pak Army members held Hafiz Uddin Khalifa and Awami League leader Abdul Kader Jomader on August 12, 1971. They were kept confined and later killed.

The same day, the collaborators held Dr Debendra Nath Sarker from his house and shot him dead. Forkan bayoneted Bibha Rani Nath to death when she attempted to save her husband.

Forkan is also charged with forceful conversion of Ramani Kundu, Shyam Sundar Kundu and Sunil Kundu -- three brothers from Subidkhali Bazar under Mirzaganj -- on August 15 at a razakar camp.

On August 17, Forkan and his accomplices held Golapi Rani Saha from the house of Ram Krishna Saha at Subidkhali and raped her at a place named Jugibari. The razakars then abandoned the woman in unconscious condition near her house. She died the following day.

Forkan and his associates in the razakar force raped two women after abduction from the house of Lalit Karmakar at Subidkhali on August 20. The victims were left in front of the house the next day. The family was later forced to leave the village for India.

The accused rubbed out Hatem Ali at Kakarbunia and detained his daughter Aleya Begum on August 22. She was raped repeatedly at Patuakhali Circuit House. Forkan, his cohorts and the Pak Army also killed Sanad Jumar Halder and Elemuddin the same day.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


India-Pakistan
Rashid asks Altaf Hussain to watch his words, demands apology
[DAWN] Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervez Rashid on Tuesday said Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain
...think of the head of the Barzini clan, only in Urdu...
should avoid delivering extempore speeches and arrange the services of a "sane person" to write his speeches.

Talking to media personnel after presiding over a literary reference in memory of legendary novelist Abdullah Hussain, Rashid said the MQM chief never used profane language for British authorities even though they had involved him in multiple investigations.

"For using abusive language against state institutions, Altaf should tender an apology and admit that his Sunday's speech was written by Anwer Bhai -- a man with an unstable mental condition," said Rashid.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Hurriyat rejects Pakistan High Commission's invitation for Eid Milan
[DAWN] Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in a surprise move has decided against attending an Eid Milan which is to be hosted by the Pakistain High Commission on July 21.

According to ZeeNews , Geelani rejected the invitation on the grounds that the Kashmire issue was "ignored" in the joint statement between India and Pakistain after 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...
and Indian premier Modi held their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa, Russia on July 10.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


FIRs lodged against Altaf Hussain across Sindh
[DAWN] First Information Reports (FIR) were registered against Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
(MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain
...think of the head of the Barzini clan, only in Urdu...
at cop shoppes in various regions of Sindh on the night between Monday and Tuesday for what the government has regarded as his "inflammatory remarks" against the military.

During his speech on Sunday, Hussain called upon the army chief to take notice of the alleged violation of the army's code of conduct by director general of Sindh Rangers and other officials and urged him to do justice in the matter.The MQM chief had also accused Sindh Rangers of torturing and murdering party workers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


IS presence cannot be ignored, says KP police chief
[DAWN] Inspector General of Police Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(KP) Nasir Khan Durrani said on Tuesday said presence of the self-styled 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....
cannot be ignored in KP.

"It is wrong to say IS does not have a presence in KP," said Durrani.

"IS's presence in Pakistain is not a new a phenomenon, members who belonged to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) have switched sides in some cases," said the top police official of KP.

But Durrani assured that the situation was under control.

"Frequency of terrorist attacks has witnessed a noticeable drop in comparison to the last four years, which is due to concentrated efforts by the army and law enforcement agencies," said Durrani.

Earlier this month, KP police had placed in durance vile
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
three suspected murderous Moslems said to be inspired by IS. The raid was conducted while acting on an intelligence tip-off.

Also read: Islamic State a serious threat to Pakistain, foreign secretary admits

Also in January this year, security forces had arrested a man they believed was the commander of IS in the country as well as two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Peshmerga official: ISIS who surrender to Peshmerga will be paroled
[RUDAW.NET] A Peshmerga official said Monday that the Peshmerga Ministry has ordered the release of any ISIS myrmidon who surrenders to the Peshmerga, but they will remain on parole.
It's a catch-and-release program.
"After we realized they are not involved in committing crimes we freed two ISIS gunnies on bail," said Sheikh Jaffar Mustafa, a commander at the Peshmerga Ministry.

"With the help of the people of Sunni areas, ISIS was strong, but after they turned their back on them and the Peshmerga resistance against the group developed, reclaiming thousands of kilometers of Kurdish territory, ISIS lost its morale against the Peshmerga," said Mustafa.

"ISIS has lost the support of local Arabs in their controlled areas and their gunnies are fleeing to the Peshmerga to surrender," he added.

Over the last few months, hundreds of ISIS gunnies have come to the Peshmerga front lines to surrender through mediation, and "any ISIS myrmidon who surrenders to the Peshmerga will be treated as a captive and with respect if it is proved they are not charged with crimes," he continued.

Militants from different parts of the world have joined the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, and an estimated 500 Kurds are fighting alongside the group's holy warriors.

A member of the Kurdistan Parliament's Peshmerga Affairs Committee told Rudaw the committee had learned ISIS myrmidons--especially local Arabs forced to take up arms--were increasingly surrendering to Peshmerga.

"We have called on the courts to deal with the ISIS captives according to international principles and the terror law in the Kurdistan region," said Qadir Rezgai, a member of the committee.

However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
speaking to Rudaw on the phone, Jabar Yawar, chief of staff of the Ministry of Peshmerga, said he was unaware of any ISIS gunnies surrendering to the Peshmerga en masse.

The Kurdistan Parliament issued its anti-terror law in 2006, stating that joining any holy warrior organization and gangs intimidating people will be considered a terror act.

The Parliament identified the reasons for enacting such a law: "The emergence of terrorism as a dangerous international phenomenon which targets specifically the civilian population, jeopardizes the public security, causes instability in society and damages the environment as well as public and private property."
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
General Says U.S. Does Not Support Kurdish Entity in Syria
[AnNahar] The United States does not support the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish entity in northern Syria, the U.S. special envoy for the coalition against 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 said Tuesday.

Kurdish fighters have made gains in war-torn Syria against the Islamic State (IS) group, notably in land close to the border in the north with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, triggering concern in Ankara that the Kurds might attempt to establish their own state in Syria.

"We don't support, and I don't think the Kurds support in northern Syria, a separate governmental entity," said retired general John Allen.

"It is important that a partner that has ultimately been enabled to defeat Daesh (IS) does not become an occupying force," Allen told a Washington think tank.

Turkey has fought a 31-year insurgency in its southeast by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara claims is closely linked to the main Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Allen also admitted that some of Washington's allies in the war with IS would be unnerved by Tuesday's nuclear deal between the West and Iran.

"For many of the members of the coalition, Iran has been, is and probably will remain one of the principal sources of threat to their national security," he said.

"I won't speculate on the outcome of the announcement made this morning with respect to whether it will fundamentally change Iran's behavior, but it's of course a very important question for all" coalition members, Allen said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Allen is closely tied to the Brookings Institution, a left-wing think tank. His mush-mouthed comments on the Kurds in Syria and his seeming apologia for the Iran nuclear deal should indicate where he stands politically.
Posted by: Clyde Borgia7976 || 07/15/2015 9:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Allen stating what could be categorized as a 'blinding flash of the obvious.' The greater question should be, why does the U.S. not support the Kurds ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/15/2015 11:27 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sure this is to molify Turkey.

A better way would be to convince the Kurds in Turkey (and Iran) to migrate to a new homeland in Northern Iraq and Syria. That would solve Turkey's problem, cut off Iranian support for nonsense in Lebanon and create a bad-ass state in the middle-east that wasn't insane.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/15/2015 14:18 Comments || Top||

#4  As I recall, the Kurds are currently about a quarter of Turkey's population; with a much higher birthrate than the Turks, they are projected to become the majority in a generation or two. Why should they leave, when with patience they will inherit control of the entire country?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2015 16:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Why should they leave when the evidence is they've been there longer than Turks?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/15/2015 17:15 Comments || Top||

#6  How is the seemingly pro-Federal Iraq Obama Admin going to prevent Iraq's breakup, espec as it is materially-n-$$$ helping Iraq's Allies in the anti-ISIS/ISIL fight get militarily stronger in order to defeat the ISIS/ISIL in lieu of using US Troops???

TO PARAPH CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER > "OOOOPPPPSSSSIES"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2015 19:41 Comments || Top||

#7  What is wrong with these people?
Posted by: newc || 07/15/2015 19:45 Comments || Top||

#8  What is wrong? Leftism is both a disease and a religion.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/15/2015 21:21 Comments || Top||


U.N. Syria envoy meets southern rebels and opposition armed groups
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
' Syria envoy met rebel leaders fighting in southern Syria for the first time on Tuesday, their front man said, underlining the growing political role of a group helping to contain jihadist influence in the south.

Staffan De Mistura also met representatives of other opposition gangs earlier this month, another source said. His spokeswoman confirmed both meetings took place but declined to comment on the substance.

The Southern Front alliance controls wide areas of the southern border zone near to Israel and Jordan after seizing important towns and military bases from Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
's control.

The alliance, which includes fighting groups that have received support from Western and Arab states opposed to Assad, has the upper hand in the area over jihadist movements such as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and 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....
which dominate the insurgency elsewhere in Syria.

"We showed him our road map, our vision, how the Southern Front sees the transitional period without Assad," Southern Front front man Issam al-Rayyes told Rooters.

Rayyes said it was not the first time the U.N. envoy had asked to meet the Southern Front, but previous meetings had not taken place for logistical reasons.

When De Mistura began his wide-ranging consultations with dozens of interested parties in May, diplomats were skeptical that his effort to find common ground would bring Syria any closer to ending its four year civil war.

His efforts appeared to suffer an early blow two months ago when 33 opposition gangs rejected his invitation to come to Geneva to discuss the future of Syria.

But he met leaders of 11 of those gangs in Istanbul earlier this month, his second meeting with their representatives, a source familiar with the talks said.

"There are sufficient pragmatic voices among them who say we have to work with the U.N. at some stage," said the source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

"They want some sort of guarantees that any political process that he undertakes would involve Bashir al-Assad stepping down. What was interesting was what De Mistura had to say - he focused a lot on the transitional governing body."

De Mistura is currently visiting Middle Eastern capitals and plans to finalize by the end of July "proposals on a way forward to support Syrian parties in their search for a political solution to the conflict", his office has said.

Syria's four-year civil war has killed close to a quarter of a million people and drive millions more from their homes in the worst global refugee crisis since World War Two.

Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Steffan "The Count" De Mistura, the Albanian foul-up, proves the claim that to fail at what you are doing is a necessity for promotion at the UN. Since the nineteen eighties and his miserable tenure in the Sudan, after which he should have been fired, he has transited from failure to failure.
Posted by: Clyde Borgia7976 || 07/15/2015 10:08 Comments || Top||


Iran deal heartens Syria's Assad, worries rebels
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
signaled on Tuesday he expected more support from his top regional ally Iran in the wake of a nuclear deal that includes Western states that have backed the insurgency against him.

Rebels fighting Assad 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 the deal would expand Iranian influence in the region at their expense.

Iran has provided military and financial support to Assad in the four-year-long conflict that has become a focal point for Shi'ite Iran's power struggle with the conservative Sunni Moslem monarchy of 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...
.

Assad, in a telegram congratulating Iran's supreme leader on the deal agreed with major powers on Tuesday, called it "a major turning point" in the history of Iran and the world.

"We are confident that the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran will support, with greater drive, just causes of nations and work for peace and stability in the region and the world," Assad said to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the text published by state news agency SANA.

Iranian military support for Assad has come in the form of its backing for the Lebanese political and guerrilla group Hezbollah, the deployment of Iranian military advisers, and the mobilization of Shi'ite fighters from elsewhere in the region.

A series of setbacks for Assad since late March triggered repeated statements of support from Iran. Assad ratified a new $1 billion credit line from Iran this month. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last month Iran would back the Syrian nation and government "until the end of the road."

In a separate message to Rouhani, Assad said the coming days will would see momentum in the "constructive role" played by Iran in supporting "the rights of people".

Rebels fighting Assad say Iranian support has been crucial to his survival. "This agreement will make the region more dangerous," said Iyad Shamse, leader of a rebel group in northern Syria called the Asala and Tanmieh Front.

"Our fears from this agreement are an increase in Iranian influence in the region and this is what is making Assad happy," he told Rooters.

The front man for an alliance of rebel groups in southern Syria said Iran was backing Assad with "all its force" at present, and he was worried U.S. pressure would not be enough to stop Tehran from entering in the war.

"We are worried," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "Worries Rebels" > ditto as per Iran's main Sunni rival KSA + Regional Arab States.

There's latent fear amongst Perts, Sunni Govts that the new Iran Nuke Deal will lead to the rise of a very POSSIBLE-N-REALISTIC...
> KSA-VS-IRAN ARMS, NUKE RACE + [Inter-Muslim]COLD WAR???
> NON-ARAB DOMINATED ME + ARAB LEAGUE = ISLAM.
Heralds the end of OLD ARAB-SUNNI ORDER in favor of NEW NON-ARAB, SHIA-LED ORDER = "NEW ISLAM/NEW ISLAMIC ORDER"???

* TOPIX > [Gateway Pundit = MEMRI] PRESIDENT ROUHANI TO IRANIAN NATION: THE [Six ea. Global] SUPERPOWERS HAVE RECOGNIZED A NUCLEAR IRAN.

Iran as a Nuclear + "Great Power" contender, + future NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER = SSSHHH ... CCCCC OWG
CO-SUPERPOWER???

* WAFF > [Daily Sabah] US PRESENTS DRAFT IRAN RESOLUTION [Nuke Deal] TO UN [UNSC].

BAMMER = US MAKING IT "OFFICIAL" BEFORE WORLD, albeit outside formal approval from the US Congress [anti-Obama HR versus pro-Obama Senate].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2015 22:48 Comments || Top||


Obama to Veto Any Congress Attempt to stop It: N-Deal Makes World Safer
[ALMANAR.LB] US President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
declared Tuesday that the landmark nuclear deal with Iran is built on verification, not trust alone, and he threatened to veto any attempt by Congress to stop it.

"This deal demonstrates that American diplomacy can bring about real and meaningful change, change that makes our country and the world safer and more secure," he said in an early-morning statement from the White House.

He said that the United States had "negotiated from a position of strength and principle" and "stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region." Walking away from the deal, he said, could touch off a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world.

"Put simply," the president said, "no deal means the chance of more war in the Middle East."

Foreign ministers from Iran and major powers have signed on Tuesday the final agreement regarding the nuclear program of the Islamic Theocratic Republic in a win-win deal for both sides.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Uhhhh,

According to that annoying document the US Constitution, Congress must ratify any treaty with a foreign government.

So are they going to call this something other than a treaty as calling Obamacare a health care reform instead of a tax?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/15/2015 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  AND ratifying a treaty on an up or down vote cannot be vetoed...so if Congress votes the treaty down. Its dead. End of story.

Congress would be smart to vote to not ratify it and end the silliness there, any attempts to modify the agreement would merely create a food fight between Congress and the Executive branch.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/15/2015 0:21 Comments || Top||

#3  You think a little thing like the constitution is gonna stop Ovomit?
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/15/2015 0:27 Comments || Top||

#4  You missed it. A few weeks ago, GOP senators and GOP leadership rammed through a bill handing that power over to Obama and requires not just a majority of the Senate to overrule the treaty, but a 2/3 vote of BOTH houses.

Boehner and McConnel sold you down the river. Not enough of you listened with people were screaming out the truth about this. People like RINO Republicans who voted for it are to blame - Bob Corker and others - they provided the deciding votes to pass this.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/15/2015 0:42 Comments || Top||

#5  So are they going to call this something other than a treaty as calling Obamacare a health care reform instead of a tax?

Everyone seems to be calling it a 'deal' rather than a treaty. I suspect this is not an accident.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/15/2015 1:08 Comments || Top||

#6  So is Iran the enemy, or is it Obama and Senate Republicans?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/15/2015 1:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Any override of an Obama veto by the Congress will need the pro-Obama Senate's approval.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2015 2:34 Comments || Top||

#8  That was not about TTP in Asia, it was all about EXIM"

Have fun with that, kids.
Posted by: newc || 07/15/2015 5:13 Comments || Top||

#9  #6 So is Iran the enemy, or is it Obama and Senate Republicans?

AP, all of the above are the enemy.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/15/2015 8:23 Comments || Top||

#10  unfortunately, back in the 90s, the Korean-US Nuclear agreement was not considered a treaty

in fact there was no Vote in either the House or Senate in support of that deal (it is sometimes called the 'Agreed Framework')

thus, when Congress was trying to get some authority to stop the Iran agreement they were handicapped by this history

and btw, that Korean thing turned out badly
Posted by: lord garth || 07/15/2015 9:35 Comments || Top||

#11  What we see here is a community organizer advocating we all take a trip down the river in a hand basket.
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 07/15/2015 10:16 Comments || Top||

#12 
Posted by: BigEdLB || 07/15/2015 11:22 Comments || Top||

#13  See FREEREPUBLIC this AM > [BreitBart] OBAMA DEFENDS NUCLEAR DEAL: EITHER [accept] MY DEAL, OR ITS WAR WID IRAN [+ ME Arms, Nuke Race].

Again, iff the OWG Globies miscalculate the cost, among other, will be their heads - LITERALLY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/15/2015 19:57 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2015-07-15
  Two Islamic State leaders killed in Syria air strike: Observatory
Tue 2015-07-14
  Stalling Completed - Historic Iranian Agreement!
Mon 2015-07-13
  Daesh Fighters Flee to Mountains After Commanders Eliminated: Muslimyar
Sun 2015-07-12
  Key Member of Taliban Quetta Shura Held in Zabul
Sat 2015-07-11
  Syrian Army Targets ISIL, al-Nusra Gunmen, Kills Top Leaders in Hama, Damascus
Fri 2015-07-10
  Newest drone strikes kill 25 insurgents in Nangarhar
Thu 2015-07-09
  Syrian Army Establishes Control over Hasaka, near Palmyra
Wed 2015-07-08
  French Special Forces Kill Top Al-Qaida Militant in Mali
Tue 2015-07-07
  49 ISIS affiliates killed in Nangarhar drone strikes
Mon 2015-07-06
  Egyptian army kills 63 militants in North Sinai
Sun 2015-07-05
  At least 25 Nusra members dead in mosque blast in Syria's Idlib
Sat 2015-07-04
  Official: Drone kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
Fri 2015-07-03
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Thu 2015-07-02
  Al Qaeda Pakistan chief killed in Lahore raid: Punjab home minister
Wed 2015-07-01
  Tunisia says resort gunman was trained in Libya


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