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Today: 73 articles and 125 comments as of 15:05.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Nigeria’s Boko Haram Releases New Video Denying Surrender
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Muslim Woman Admits Faking Knife Attack Hate Crime in New York City
[BREITBART] On Thursday, a Muslim woman in New York City claimed she was attacked by a white male who called her a terrorist and slashed her cheek with a knife before running away. On Friday, police announced the as-yet unnamed 20-year-old slashed her own cheek, giving herself a two-inch cut, and invented the hate crime story.

The young woman described her imaginary attacker as a "white man wearing a black hat and a black jacket." Here is the News Agency that Dare Not be Named story on today’s developments, in its entirety, headlined "NYPD: Woman Made Up Story About Manhattan Slashing Attack"
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where's Al Sharpton?
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/02/2016 1:25 Comments || Top||

#2  drunk already?
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2016 12:15 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Mystery Misrata sinking of two suspected BRSC supply ships
Tripoli, 1 April 2016:

A news blackout has been imposed on the sinking of two trawlers near Misrata which were suspected to have been running supplies to the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council.

The fishing vessels are believed to have been sunk on Wednesday evening after limpet mines were attached to them as they lay alongside the quay at the Libyan Iron and Steel Company’s (LISCO) port outside the city.

Photographs of the wrecks have been forbidden and the authorities have refused to make any official comment. There has been no indication as to who might have been responsible for the vessels’ destruction. However sources in the city say that both fishing boats were known to be operated by supporters of the BRSC.
Posted by: badanov || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Libya now has three governments, none of which are able to govern
[GLOBALPOST] Libya’s new "unity government" arrived in the country this week aiming to bring together warring factions.

The product of United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
-brokered peace talks that concluded late last year, its nine members led by Prime Minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj had been tasked with heading to Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
and taking control of state institutions.

But they made an inauspicious start. The powerful militias that have come to rule the city in recent years warned them to stay away, and the capital’s airspace was closed. So, the would-be rulers of Libya were forced to travel by boat.

The ordeal of reaching the city from which they plan to govern pales in comparison to the task they face now that they've arrived. Since the overthrow of former Libyan President Muammar Qadaffy
...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
in 2011, the country has been beset by chaos and conflict.

At the time the Government of National Accord (GNA) pulled into port, Libya was ruled by two rival parliaments: the Islamist-dominated National Salvation government in Tripoli, and an internationally recognized parliament based in Tobruk, in the east.

Fighting between the two sides has paralyzed the country, and allowed for the entry of the self-proclaimed 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....
(ISIS) into the vacuum. Western officials estimate the number of ISIS fighters in Libya to be as many as 6,000, according to Rooters.

The peace deal signed in December 2015 was supposed to see the rival parliaments cede power to the new government, led by Sarraj. But both administrations view the new government with suspicion, and appear unwilling to hand over the reins.

Speaking before the GNA’s arrival, Khalifa al-Ghawi, the leader of the Tripoli-based parliament, described the unity government as "illegitimate infiltrators" and called on them to "hand themselves over and be in safe hands, or to go back to where they came from."

Effectively, Libya now has three governments, none of which are able to govern.

The cool reception Sarraj received could be a harbinger of things to come. While he and his deputies have some support from a number of militias, the patchwork of gangs and allegiances that arose out of the Libyan revolution will make it difficult for any central power to rein them in.

Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin the Liberator: The Retaking of Palmyra
[THEMOSCOWTIMES] Two weeks after President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
declared the "majority" of Russia's military goals in Syria have been accomplished, Moscow and 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...
turned their attention from rebel groups in northern Syria to dislodging 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....
from the ancient city of Palmyra. After nearly a year under IS control, the Syrian army -- with considerable Russian support -- retook the city on March 27.

It was a much needed public relations victory for Putin and his military. Since intervening in the Syrian conflict, the Kremlin has been accused of targeting opposition groups fighting Assad instead of fulfilling its stated goal of fighting terrorist groups. That was until a cessation of hostilities went into effect and Moscow announced a partial withdrawal.

Now, it seems, Russia has finally directed its attention to IS, a terrorist group banned in Russia.

Moscow has revealed some information about the types of forces it is using in Syria. Celebrating the liberation of Palmyra from IS on March 28, Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said the city "was freed from snuffies yesterday with support from Russian aerospace forces and special operations forces." It was the first time the Defense Ministry has acknowledged that Russia's elite special operators, the so-called Spetsnaz, are fighting in Syria.

Previously, Russian Spetsnaz units were understood to be providing reconnaissance and targeting support to the Syrian military. In addition, Russian regular troops, such as naval infantry, armor, artillery, and logistical units were also known to be present at two bases in regime-held territory. But these forces were deployed mostly for defense of these positions, and saw little, if any combat.

On March 28, the news website Fontanka.ru published an investigative report claiming that Russia was using private military companies. The investigation found that private army soldiers had been awarded medals for bravery and courage in Ukraine and Syria by Putin himself.

It remains unclear, however, just how actively Russians -- be they active duty Spetsnaz operators or reserve GRU officers -- have been involved in Syrian army ground offensives. One Spetsnaz soldier who died during the offensive is said to have been guiding air strikes.

The Defense Ministry said its aircraft conducted 40 flights and hit 117 targets in the area over a 24-hour period. This is a high sortie rate that throws Putin's claims to have withdrawn the bulk of Russian air forces into doubt. When the operation began in September 2015, Russia flew just 20 sorties a day.

A senior Israeli military official told the newspaper Defense News that Putin retains a significant force in Syria, simply swapping airplanes for helicopters, rather than withdrawing. "He still has a significant force there [with which] he can do almost whatever he wants," the source was quoted as saying.

And Russian ships continue to run supplies to Syria. Rooters, on March 30, published a report suggesting that Russian naval traffic through the Bosporus -- the waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean -- showed little indication of slowing. Ships traveling to Syria appear heavily loaded when heading out of the Black Sea, the report said.

All of this indicates Russian involvement is likely transforming, rather than drawing down. "It is safe to say that the Kremlin will stay while the costs are relatively cheap," agrees Russian analyst Yury Barman. "The next stage is probably some kind of counter-terrorism alliance and an advance towards Deir-Ezzor and Raqqa."

For now the Kremlin appears to be relishing its liberation of Palmyra -- the kind of victory of which Washington's more hawkish elements dream -- and the resulting good publicity, however brief it may be.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  It's back
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 8:42 Comments || Top||


Economy
An Ungrateful Nation Turns Its Back On Fracking
[INVESTORS] Energy: The benefits of “fracking” have never been greater. Prices are lower and the country is emitting less CO2. Yet most people now oppose fracking. What gives?

A Gallup poll taken in early March shows that 51% of Americans say they oppose fracking “as a means of increasing production of natural gas and oil in the U.S.” That’s up from 40% just one year ago.

Even more surprising, the drop in overall support is largely the result of a shift among Republicans. While 66% supported fracking last year, a bare majority (55%) do now. Support was steady among independents (35% vs. 34%) and Democrats (26% vs 25%).

Gallup speculates that lower gas prices and a decline in the share of Americans worried about energy shortages are behind the decline.

This makes absolutely no sense.

The drop in gasoline prices is a direct result of fracking, which has turned the U.S. into an oil producing giant. In fact, the drop in gasoline prices compared with 2014 will save the average household $1,000 this year, on top of the $660 saved last year.

Natural gas prices are also at historic lows thanks to fracking, which is lowering heating bills and the cost of goods and services throughout the economy.

A report from the consulting firm IHS finds that the average household had an additional $2,000 in disposable income last year because of lower energy prices, which it says will climb to $2,700 in 2020 and $3,500 in 2025.

Ban fracking, as Democratic presidential contenders Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton want to do, and these savings would quickly evaporate.
So all we need do is vote Republican in November?
For those who think that global warming is mankind’s most serious threat, fracking has been a huge windfall, resulting in a sharp drop in CO2 emissions, as power plants switch from coal to gas. Even the far-left liberal publication Mother Jones has admitted that banning fracking would reverse these gains.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  People have been convinced fracking causes immense environmental damage, and earthquakes. Fear mongering is big business for some. (There is a small element of truth in the claims, but of course when the environment is at stake there is no cost-benefit analysis permitted!)
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/02/2016 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Who benefits from a ban on fracking? Energy prices would rise, with benefit to foreign producers. Rising prices would bring renewed calls for controls on profiteering oil companies, and nationalization - giving government control over one more of civilizations essential elements. And the fear mongers themselves get more power.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/02/2016 14:48 Comments || Top||

#3  There is no limits on the lunacies the new age hippie religion is spawning...
Posted by: Deadeye McCoy4554 || 04/02/2016 22:35 Comments || Top||


Europe
Greek parliament passes fast-tracked migrants bill
The Greek parliament has approved a law which will allow the deportation of migrants to Turkey starting from Monday.

The bill is going to be implemented based on an EU-Turkey deal signed last month. It is expected to halt the uncontrolled influx of refugees fleeing war-torn countries, particularly Syria. The bill, which will incorporate EU law on asylum seekers, will introduce several conditions for registering refugees, allowing them to find work and to qualify for international protection.

From the 300-seat parliament, 169 Greek MPs voted in favor and 107 against; 24 MPs were absent. The ruling Syriza and Independent Greeks coalition, plus the Democratic Coalition and Potami voted in favor. New Democracy, Golden Dawn, the Greek Communist Party and the Centrists’ Union voted against the legislation.

The bill had been tabled in parliament on Thursday under a fast-track procedure amid a heated debate between MPs.

Main opposition New Democracy MP Vasilis Kikilias said that the tactic used by the government is “unacceptable” claiming it was impossible to read a 150-page bill in one day.

“You use the accelerated procedure when you know you have to submit 56 regulatory acts? You won’t even be able to implement them in three years,” he stated.

Earlier today, the Greek authorities struggled to persuade refugees and migrants who are currently staying at the port of Pireaus in Athens, to leave the site and move to other designated accommodation. From the estimated 5,300 people at the port, only 72 agreed to board busses which arrived to take them to a camp in Ioannina in northern Greece.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


France Slowly Emerges from Denial and Starts Shutting Down Mosques
And make no mistake, it is in fact in the mosques that recruitment and organization for Jihad is occurring. Despite what the so-called mainstream media's narrative claims--namely that "radicalization" occurs simply over the internet and social media--an honest review of history indicates that it is mosques that serve as the outposts for Jihad around the world.

There is evidence to support this.

In France this week, security agencies shut down three mosques. One was in Lagny-sur- Marne, a suburb of eastern Paris. Nine Muslims associated with that mosque were placed under house arrest and 22 others from barred from leaving France.

According to USA Today, in that investigation, police seized a 9mm handgun, a computer hard drive that was hidden behind a wall, as well as jihadist propaganda materials. Police also discovered documents about an unregistered Quranic school.

In addition, two other mosques, one in Gennevilliers in the northwest suburbs of Paris and one in Lyon, were closed by French police. Moreover, four Muslim "prayer rooms" in the Nice area in the south of France have also been shut down. It is worth noting that these so-called "prayer rooms" are very common throughout the West and are often operated in strip malls and in store fronts and private homes.

The Germans have been shutting down mosques for a few years now and, as of yet, they haven't been hit by a Paris or Brussels-style attack.
But they are good at keeping the door open to infect their neighbors.
Back in December, they shut down a mosque in Stuttgart that was involved in recruiting for the Islamic State:
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't just shut them down, raze them to the ground.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/02/2016 13:30 Comments || Top||


Hungary says 900 'no-go areas' in Europe
[YAHOO] Europe has more than 900 "no-go areas" with large immigrant populations, Hungary's government claims on a hard-hitting new website aimed at drumming up opposition to an EU scheme to share out migrants colonists around the bloc.

In these areas "with a high number of immigrants colonists", for example in Gay Paree, London, Stockholm or Berlin, the authorities have "little or no control" and "norms of the host society barely prevail," the site says.

Asked for the source of the information, government front man Zoltan Kovacs told AFP on Friday it came from "data publicly available on the Internet," without giving further details.

The website, launched this week ahead of referendum in Hungary in the second half of the year on the EU quota plan, also features a ticking clock representing a migrant entering Europe every 12 seconds.

"The mandatory European quotas increase the terrorist risk in Europe and imperils our culture," the website says.

"Illegal migrants colonists cross the borders unchecked, so we do not know who they are and what their intentions are. We do not know how many of them are disguised as terrorists," it adds.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government voted against an EU plan in September to distribute 160,000 asylum-seekers among member states via quotas, and in December joined Slovakia in filing a legal complaint.

So far, only 1,100 have been relocated, with Hungary not taking a single one. If Hungarian voters reject the quotas in the referendum, as surveys suggest, this would be another blow for the troubled scheme.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So if no one of value goes there they could be used as targets for bomber practice, right? Maybe B-52 Arc Light practice?
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/02/2016 15:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Reading the future...The "Brave New World" invaded by the "Camp of the Saints"...

Posted by: Deadeye McCoy4554 || 04/02/2016 22:29 Comments || Top||

#3  You seen nothing yet, wait for the summer warmth...Here come the Camp of the Saints...

Posted by: Deadeye McCoy4554 || 04/02/2016 22:31 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey Key Supplier of Weapons to ISIL: Russian Envoy to UN
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Moscow has submitted data on The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s illegal arms and military hardware supply to ISIL in Syria to the UN Security Council. Supplies are supervised by the Turkish intelligence service, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said as cited by Russian media.

The main supplier of arms and military equipment to ISIL turbans is Turkey, which uses non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for this purpose. The National Intelligence Organization of Turkey is in charge of the operations. Transportation is carried out mainly via automobiles, including humanitarian aid convoys, Churkin wrote in a letter to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Terrorist groups operating in Syria received kabooms worth $ 1.9 million via Turkey last year, according to the letter.

In total, the Lions of Islam were delivered 2.5 thousand tons of ammonium nitrate (worth around $788,700), 456 tons of potassium nitrate ($468,700), 75 tons of aluminum powder ($496,500), sodium nitrate ($19,400), glycerin ($102,500) and nitric acid ($34,000 thousand) via Turkey in 2015, Churkin wrote.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  It is for the children (JV)!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 8:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Nuclear terrorist attack would 'change our world', says Obama
[BBC] Y'think?
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And the worst of it is he probably believes that this is some brilliant insight.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/02/2016 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  10 more months...10 more months...
Posted by: nguard || 04/02/2016 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  North Korea says its attacks will be worse than September 11
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 04/02/2016 13:35 Comments || Top||

#4  is he saying that in a hopey changey optimistic way? - coz with this bastard you never know...
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 04/02/2016 23:03 Comments || Top||


Poll: Most Americans Think ‘Torture’ Justified in Terror Interrogations
[BREITBART] On Wednesday, Rooters announced that an online poll showed "nearly two-thirds of Americans believe torture can be justified to extract information from suspected terrorists."

A great deal of hand-wringing about the awful results of this poll ensued. Rooters argued, in the very first paragraph of its article, that American support for torture is "similar to that seen in countries like Nigeria, where Death Eater attacks are common."

Got that, Americans? You’re just like Nigeria! Especially you Trump supporters, who come in for several paragraphs of psychoanalysis by Rooters, which claims Trump "has forcefully injected the issue of whether terrorism suspects should be tortured into the election campaign," because he said he would "seek to roll back President Barack Obama
Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though....
’s ban on waterboarding"... and maybe even "bring back a hell of a lot worse."

Rooters quotes Elizabeth Zechmiester of Vanderbilt University declaring that Trump gives "a certain credibility" to the American public’s "negative emotions" of "fear, anger, and general anxiety."
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  not just justified, appropriate and good policy
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2016 12:20 Comments || Top||

#2  There have to be effective ways of obtaining information than things like electric drills to kneecaps and pliers pulling fingernails, etc. Best would be drugs which don't cause long-term damage and where the interrogatee doesn't even realized they've told anything. C'mon, drug companies, get researching.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/02/2016 15:30 Comments || Top||

#3  And the best one is C2H6O
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 15:34 Comments || Top||

#4  The best forms of torture for intel keep the subject alive for further discussions.

That makes waterboarding and screwing with the body clock and loud music good.

A certain amount of pain is needed to reinforce the idea that it could get worse without cooperation.

For all their hand-wringing, Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy will gut you like a flounder if they thought you had information on a terrorist act.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 04/02/2016 17:18 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm comfortable letting those that extract the info make decisions on what they are comfortable with and what works. Monday morning quarterbacking from Soros funded grouos are only useful in that they help highlight the fools and traitors in our midst.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 04/02/2016 17:27 Comments || Top||

#6  but but but....torture nowadays is chalking Trump 2016 on a college sidewalk
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 04/02/2016 23:09 Comments || Top||


WH Censors French President Saying ‘ISLAMIST Terrorism’
[MRCTV.ORG] The White House website has censored a video of French Pres. Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
saying that "Islamist terrorism" is at the "roots of terrorism."

The White House briefly pulled video of a press event on terrorism with Pres. Obama, and when it reappeared on the WhiteHouse.gov website and YouTube, the audio of Hollande’s translator goes silent, beginning with the words "Islamist terrorism," then begins again at the end of his sentence.

Even the audio of Hollande saying the words "Islamist terrorism" in French have, apparently, been edited from the video.

According to the official White House transcript of Hollande’s remarks, Hollande refers to "Islamist terrorism." The audio of the bold text in brackets is missing from the video -- the only point in the video were the audio is absent:

"We are also making sure that between Europe and the United States there can be a very high level coordination.

"But we're also well aware that the roots of terrorism, [Islamist terrorism, is in Syria and in Iraq. We therefore have to act both in Syria and in Iraq, and this is what we're doing within the framework of the coalition.] And we note that Daesh [Islamic State] is losing ground thanks to the strikes we've been able to launch with the coalition."

Pres. Obama has come under fire from Republicans for his refusal to say "radical Islam" when discussing terrorism and, again yesterday, he declined to do so.

Obama made three vague mentions of terrorism, citing the "hands of terrorism," the "scourge of terrorism," and "counterterrorism" in Thursday’s press event.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course. President "Workplace Violence™"
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2016 12:14 Comments || Top||

#2  it's just folks who have "nothing to do with Islam" killing folks who WANT nothing to do with Islam
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 04/02/2016 23:12 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Iran urged to help round up RAW agents
[DAWN] Pakistain has formally asked the Iranian government for pro-active support in dismantling the Indian intelligence network that is said to be operating from Chabahar.

The letter from the interior ministry -- sent to Iran through its embassy in Islamabad -- was written following the revelations made by Commander Kulbhushan Jhadav alias Hussain Mubarik Patel, the Indian naval officer and self-confessed agent of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Jhadav was placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
from the Musakhel area of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
on March 3 and the information gleaned from him was laid before the media -- in the form of a video interview -- by ISPR chief Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid at a presser in the capital on Tuesday.

Written by Interior Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan, the letter stated Jhadav had revealed that he was based in Chabahar, under the cover of a businessman dealing in jewellery and that he was assisted by other RAW personnel, including Sub-Inspector Rakesh alias Rizwan. The letter also contains the address of a shop supposedly run by these RAW operatives in a mall in Chabahar.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


India furious as China blocks U.N. blacklisting of militant chief
[REUTERS] China has put a hold on India's request to add the head of the Pak bad boy group Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
to the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
' al Qaeda-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....
blacklist, U.N. diplomats said on Friday, eliciting an angry reaction from the Indian government.

India accused Jaish-e-Mohammad of criminal masterminding a fatal attack on the Pathankot air base in India in January. India had requested that its leader be added to a U.N. Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State, the diplomats said, but China objected.

The Kashmire-based group Jaish-e-Mohammad has already been blacklisted by the 15-nation Security Council, but not its leader, Maulana Masood Azhar
...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his terrorist activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India...
, an Islamist hardliner and long-time foe of India.

"We find it incomprehensible that while the Pakistain-based Jaish-e-Mohammad was listed ... as far back as 2001 for its well-known terror activities and links to al Qaeda, the designation of the group's main leader, financier and motivator, has been put on a technical hold," Indian government front man Vikas Swarup said in Washington.

"This does not reflect well on the determination that the international community needs to display to decisively defeat the menace of terrorism," he told news hounds on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the U.S. capital.

It was not immediately clear why China requested that a hold be placed on the Indian request to blacklist Masood Azhar. Technical holds can be lifted and often arise when a Security Council member wants more information. But sometimes they lead to a permanent blocking of a proposed blacklisting.

Asked about China's decision to place a technical hold on the proposed blacklisting of Masood Azhar, Chinese U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi offered no details.

"Any listing would have to meet the requirements" for blacklisting, he said.

Pak security officials have said that a special investigation team set up in Pakistain to probe the Pathankot attack found no evidence implicating Masood Azhar.

If Masood Azhar was blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council, he would face a global travel ban and asset freeze.

The Jan. 2 attack at Pathankot was followed by a raid on an Indian consulate in Afghanistan that has also been linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad, or the Army of Mohammad.

Jaish-e-Mohammad forces of Evil are blamed for a 2001 attack on India's parliament that nearly led to a war between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jaish-e-Mohammad

#1  Now, if he'd been a Uighur....
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/02/2016 14:57 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF reduces expected charge against soldier to manslaughter
In a dramatic opening to Thursday's military court remand hearing over the continued custody of the soldier who shot a subdued Palestinian terrorist in Hebron last week, IDF Prosecutor Lt.-Col. Edoram Rigler announced the charge against him would be reduced from murder to manslaughter.

At the same time, Rigler told IDF Lt.-Col. Judge Ronen Shor at the hearing in Kastina that the IDF feels highly confident it would get a conviction for manslaughter, which carries heavy jail time.

...The Palestinian and an accomplice had attacked another soldier with knives, and then was wounded. He is seen on a video, which immediately went viral, lying on the ground motionless for an extended period until the accused soldier shot him dead.
Common sense/justice against the deeply sited desire to appease the Gentiles---some Jews still haven't absorbed the lesson of the Holocaust.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 06:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  G(r)om, Every generation has to learn the hard way, it seems.
Posted by: nguard || 04/02/2016 12:06 Comments || Top||

#2  That's because liberals don't look back more than two years.
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2016 13:29 Comments || Top||


Learning curve
Almost half of Jewish Israelis favor expelling Arab Israelis from the country, but, as is the case with many other societal issues, they are deeply divided along levels of religiosity, a new report by the Pew Research Center shows.

The survey published on Tuesday divided Israeli Jewish society into four large sub-sectors: secular, traditional, religious-Zionist and haredi (ultra-Orthodox), and also looked at religious and societal sentiment in the non-Jewish population. It was conducted by face-to-face interviews in Hebrew, Arabic and Russian among 5,601 Israeli adults 18 and older from October 2014 through May 2015.

Some 48 percent of Jewish Israelis polled agreed with the statement that "Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel," though the percentage ranged from 54% to 71% for those defining themselves as ultra-Orthodox, religious or traditional; and only about 36% of the secular community felt that way.

Opinion on this also was split decisively on political lines, with 87% of the ideologically left opposing expulsion or transfer, 54% of centrists against it, 37% of centrist supporting transfer, and 72% of the ideologically right in favor.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 06:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some people don't want to cross the river with a scorpion on their back. Others are...what?
Posted by: AlanC || 04/02/2016 7:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Others, or so I suspect, want to eat the cake while being on the record as voting to keep it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 8:39 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Video: Muslim terrifies passengers on crowded airliner by repeatedly screaming
[JihadWatch] As you watch the video, note how loudly he is praying. The idea of praying quietly out of consideration for his fellow passengers never enters his mind: his prayer is a declaration of supremacism and an assertion of power. Also note that the terror of some of the passengers is perfectly understandable given the contexts in which "Allahu akbar" is most notoriously heard these days. For some reason these passengers don't associate it with fuzzy bunnies and unicorns. How odd.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Bible charity vows to continue translation work after murders of four employees
[FOXNEWS] The murders of four translators working to bring the Bible to obscure languages in the Middle East earlier this month won't stop the charity behind the effort from its work, officials said.

The four unidentified translators, who worked secretly for Wycliffe Associates, a Florida non-profit dedicated to bringing the gospel to hundreds of obscure languages, were killed by suspected Islamist holy warriors at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location,Wycliffe officials said in a statement.

"They shot and destroyed all the equipment in the office," read the statement. "The invaders burned all the books and other translation materials in the office."
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Indonesia: Neighbors oppose terrorist widow’s autopsy demand
[BenarNews] The widow of an Indonesian who died in custody after being arrested as a suspected militant wants an autopsy to be done on his remains, but neighbors in her home village are trying to block that. Resistance is so strong in the Central Java village of Pogung, where her late husband is buried, have threatened to expel her or anyone else who supports her plan to exhume his remains in order to determine the cause of death.

Siyono, the widow's 34-year-old husband and father of five, was buried in a local graveyard, five days after his arrest by Densus 88, the Indonesian police counter-terror unit. Police suspected Siyono of being connected to a resurgent Jemaah Islamiyah.

Siyono's home province of Central Java is where Indonesian authorities recently arrested rebels during a nationwide crackdown that followed the January 14 terrorist attacks in Jakarta. Eight people, including four insurgents, died in the attacks – the first act of terrorism claimed by Daesh in Southeast Asia.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah

#1  I'll guess he had perimortem blunt force trauma injuries which might have led to his death but they can't be determined as fatal because of the bullet in his head.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/02/2016 1:32 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
In new push, US military trains dozens of Syrian fighters
Will this lot return to ISIS or to Al Nusra when they graduate?
[Ynet] The US military said on Friday it had started training "dozens" of Syrian opposition fighters to battle 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....
as part of a revamped program that aims to avoid mistakes that doomed its first training effort in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
last year.

US Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based front man for the US-led coalition battling Islamic State, told Pentagon news hounds that no Syrian fighters had graduated yet from the new program.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/02/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What is that called, when you continue to do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/02/2016 5:21 Comments || Top||

#2  USDS
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 6:36 Comments || Top||

#3  What is that called, when you continue to do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results ?

With Baraq it's hard to tell if he expects something different or if he expects the same.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/02/2016 13:38 Comments || Top||

#4  They had some money left in their budget and it needs to be spent by June 1st, otherwise it would be returned to the Treasury Dept.

Can't have that now, can we?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/02/2016 16:12 Comments || Top||


Russia Turns to Cats In Palmyra Restoration Effort
[THEMOSCOWTIMES] A specially trained group of cats from St. Petersburg's Hermitage museum will help in restoring Palmyra, The Moscow Times can reveal.
I'm not sure about the validity of the story, but The Little Woman and I went to see the Moscow Circus in DC in the late seventies. They had a cat trainer who had kitties doing handstands and several other things you don't expect to see house cats doing.
Devastated by nearly a year's worth of fighting between Islamic State (a terrorist organisation banned in Russia) and regime forces, the ancient city was re-taken on Sunday 27 March.

Russia's leading cultural organisations said they would step up to assist the restoration effort. But few commentators expected such an unusual intervention.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage museum, told The Moscow Times that deploying the cats was part of the museum's contribution to world heritage.

"We know that cats can do amazing things given the right training — they can smell out landmines and use their whiskers to remove topsoil," Piotrovsky told The Moscow Times in a phone interview Thursday. "More importantly, our cats know art and they know how crucial it is to treat treasures like Palmyra gently."

Hermitage cats have been living in the museum basements for decades, and were used primarily to catch mice that might pose danger for stored paintings. A source close to Russia's Defense Ministry told The Moscow Times that the Hermitage cats might now be sent to eliminate surveillance mice the Islamic State have reportedly deployed to Palmyra.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said that military planners understand the Islamists have created their own special rodent battalion — MISIS (also banned in Russia).
"Special Rodent Battalion?"
"Everyone thought [vice prime minister Dmitry] Rogozin was joking about the U.S. sending mice to spy on Russian military developments, but in fact he wasn't far off the truth. MISIS are spying on us, and we're going to deal with it, thanks to Mr. Piotrovsky's generosity," the source said.

Another source familiar with the situation said the cats underwent secret training in a Russian monastery.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Easier to clean than dogs.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/02/2016 2:12 Comments || Top||

#2  And each and every feline is way smarter than the occupants of Syrian desk at Foggy Bottom?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/02/2016 6:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Cats can be trained to shit in a box.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/02/2016 10:29 Comments || Top||

#4  The date on the article seems suggestive.
Posted by: james || 04/02/2016 13:59 Comments || Top||

#5  The date on the article seems suggestive.

Yeah. Biggest disappointment since the tribble breeding program.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 04/02/2016 21:22 Comments || Top||


Syrian Rebels Used Chechens as 'Cannon Fodder' -- Kadyrov
[THEMOSCOWTIMES] The majority of Chechens fighting in Syria have been killed,
..a good use for them, and a happy result for everyone else...
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, published Friday.

Syrian rebels used natives of the Russian republic of Chechnya as "cannon fodder," Kadyrov said. "There are about 200 of our Chechens left. They traveled to Syria from Europe -- gangs of around 20-30 people," he said, RIA Novosti reported.

Very few Chechen citizens have left to fight abroad because the local security service is able to "control" them, Kadyrov said.

In November 2015, Kadyrov said that about 500 Chechens had traveled to Syria to fight alongside 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....
-- 200 of whom had already been killed.
So the majority remain alive? Hopefully that will soon be rectified.
Kadyrov added that government agents had "brought back" 47 Chechen men believed to have been drafted into IS "by means of deception," RIA Novosti reported.

In total, almost 650 criminal cases were being investigated in Russia against Russians fighting for the Islamic State, according to Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, RIA Novosti reported on Nov. 10, 2015.

Islamic State is a terrorist group banned in Russia.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



Who's in the News
45[untagged]
10Islamic State
4Govt of Pakistan
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)
1Arab Spring
1Boko Haram
1Commies
1Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Jaish-e-Mohammad
1Jemaah Islamiyah
1Sublime Porte
1Thai Insurgency
1Abu Sayyaf
1al-Nusra

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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...
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2016-04-02
  Nigeria’s Boko Haram Releases New Video Denying Surrender
Fri 2016-04-01
  Kurd Arab alliance drives ISIS troops from oil rich area near Raqqa
Thu 2016-03-31
  Gitmo aumnus Mullah Zakir ends rifts with Mullah Akhtar Mansoor
Wed 2016-03-30
  Houthis claim Daesh emir titzup in Taiz, andhis little mufti, too!
Tue 2016-03-29
  Belgium charges three more people with 'terrorist activities'
Mon 2016-03-28
  Two Arrested in Mali over Ivory Coast Resort Attack
Sun 2016-03-27
  Belgium charges suspected Brussels airport bomber, two others
Sat 2016-03-26
  Islamic State second in command likely killed - U.S.
Fri 2016-03-25
  Brussels police nab terror suspect at tram stop; bomb squad dispatched
Thu 2016-03-24
  Paris attacks fugitive Laachraoui named as second Brussels airport bomber
Wed 2016-03-23
  Hamas stages military exercises to test Gaza readiness
Tue 2016-03-22
  IS attacks at Brussels airport, metro, at least 34 dead, 200 injured
Mon 2016-03-21
  Yemen govt, rebels, agree on ceasefire: Officials say
Sun 2016-03-20
  Al-Qaeda claims attack on Algerian gas plant
Sat 2016-03-19
  Suicide bomber attacks shopping area in Istanbul

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