Jihadists Suspected in Shocking Daylight Attack Outside London

IPT News • May 22, 2013

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4029/jihadists-suspected-in-shocking-daylight-attack

A British soldier is dead, and two suspected terrorists were shot in a shocking daylight attack outside London Wednesday.

Some accounts say the soldier was shot, while other witnesses described the attack as a "beheading," the London Telegraph reports, and ITV News obtained video of a man with bloody hands carrying knives and a meat cleaver and warning "you people will never be safe" and saying "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you."

He also said, "We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Other witnesses reported hearing the attackers shout "Allahu Akhbar" – God is Great – as they attacked the soldier outside Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolich. The victim was not in uniform.

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The Sheiks and WMD

Ali Salim

Any sheikh, acting as a mouthpiece for a Middle Eastern regime, will be able to provide an Islamic seal of approval for the use of chemical and nuclear weapons. Verse 60 from the Surah Al-Anfal of the Qur'an permits the use of any and every weapon a Muslim can acquire that can frighten and deter an enemy of Islam.

Every side in every conflict in the Middle East has its own mufti who will interpret Islam and hand down fatwas, religious injunctions, favorable to that side's interests. Using one approach or another to exploit Islam's complex, often contradictory, religious laws, every sheikh can find justification for the need and duty to carry out any act.

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"Peace Process"

The notion that there can be a viable negotiation process that will result in peace with "two states side-by-side" persists whatever the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  And so, no matter how weary we become of the delusion, we must continue to track efforts to make it happen, and combat it as effectively as possible.

 

As I wrote yesterday, Sec. of State Kerry is due here tomorrow.  And so there is a flurry of activity -- or, more accurately, perhaps, a deluge of words espousing one position or another -- in anticipation of his arrival.

 

What we have most notably are the words of Minister of Finance Yair Lapid (head of Yesh Atid), who gave an interview to the NYTimes, on Monday in which he declared that he would do everything he can to advance the discourse on peace:

 

“Israelis want peace and security and Palestinians want peace and justice – these are two very different things, and this is the real gap we have to close."

 

~~~~~~~~~~

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NYC: 15 ‘Palestinians’ arrested in cigarette-smuggling ring linked to Islamic militants

creeping
via New York says breaks cigarette-smuggling ring linked to militants.
(Reuters) – Fifteen men of Palestinian origin have been arrested on charges of running a multi-million-dollar cigarette smuggling ring in New York, and New York authorities who announced the arrests on Thursday said several of the suspects have ties to Hamas and other Islamist militant groups.
The men are accused of smuggling more than a million cartons of untaxed cigarettes from Virginia to be sold in grocery stores across New York, with $55 million in sales uncovered so far, Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, and Ray Kelly, the New York City police commissioner, said at a press conference.

“We don’t know where all of that money went, but what we do know is deeply troubling,” Schneiderman said. “We know that some members of this group have ties to very dangerous people, we know they were arrested with weapons, we know that they made tens of millions of dollars but so far we have found only a fraction of that.”

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The Al Durah Affair: What Makes Journalists Behave So Badly?

Richard Landes 

On Feb. 19, 2012, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates Dr. Yehuda David upon his acquittal in France's highest court after he had been sued for libel by Jamal al-Dura for refuting claims that Jamal was injured in a 2000 shooting in the Gaza Strip. Israel was further vindicated in relation to the incident Sunday when a government report said the IDF was not responsible for the death of Jamal's son, Muhammad. Photo: Moshe Milner/GPO/Flash90.

The Israeli government finally came out with a report – thirteen years late – on theMuhammad al Durah affair. It’s thirteen years late. But not too late. It can never be too late to take on so nasty a tale, and particularly from the perspective of any journalists, this may be the biggest hoax in modern history – at once the longest and the most damaging to everyone but the war mongers.

The scandal today is not that the Palestinians faked it.We’ve seen them at work time and again, exploiting every occasion to paint the Israelis as child-killers, even when they themselves killed their children. The scandal today is, thirteen years later, the journalists themselves not only have not confronted this outrageous initial failure – dupes of a cheap fake – but their continued refusal to reconsider even as they continue to fall dupe to subsequent hoaxes. On the contrary, the go on practicing the kind of “lethal journalism” that the Al Durah affair epitomizes – injecting the information circulation system with malevolent lethal narratives designed to incite hatred, vengeance and war.

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Texas: Pro-sharia, anti-American curriculum dropped after complaints from lawmakers

creeping
via Texas curriculum dropped after complaints from lawmakers – Houston Chronicle.

The state’s regional Education Service Centers no will longer issue lesson plans – and will forbid their use after Aug. 31 – for a popular online curriculum system that became a lightning rod for conservatives who criticized it as anti-American, legislators announced Monday.

The move is expected to leave school districts across the state, including some in the greater Houston area, scrambling to replace CSCOPE, as the program is called, before the start of next school year. Districts that lack the staff or budget to design their own curriculum tend to rely on it.

The CSCOPE plans are in use at 877 districts, or 78 percent of school districts in Texas, said Kyle Wargo, the executive director of Regional Service Center 17 in Lubbock.

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U.S. Administration Wrongly Advocates the Islamist Interpretation of Islamophobia

DR. WALID PHARES May 22, 2013

The State Department issued a report denouncing what it called "a spike in anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe and Asia." It said that "Muslims also faced new restrictions in 2012 in countries ranging from Belgium, which banned face-covering religious attire in classrooms, to India[,] where schools in Mangalore restricted headscarves."
The State Department report confuses religious persecution, which is to be condemned, with politicization of religions, which is a matter of debate and includes strategies of which the U.S. government should not be a part. If countries ban the right to pray, broadcast, and write about theology -- any theology -- this would be against human rights. But Belgium and India do not ban religions per se. In fact, they are more tolerant regarding diverse religious practice than most of the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

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Ex-Diplomats Report New Benghazi Whistleblowers with Info Devastating to Clinton and Obama

 Roger L. Simon

More whistleblowers will emerge shortly in the escalating Benghazi scandal, according to two former U.S. diplomats who spoke with PJ Media Monday afternoon.

These whistleblowers, colleagues of the former diplomats, are currently securing legal counsel because they work in areas not fully protected by the Whistleblower law.

According to the diplomats, what these whistleblowers will say will be at least as explosive as what we have already learned about the scandal, including details about what really transpired in Benghazi that are potentially devastating to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

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Where is the outrage? More Christians killed in Northern Nigerian jihad last year than in the rest of the world combined

Jihad Watch
No one cares about this. Tell us more about "Islamophobia." "More Christians Killed in Northern Nigeria Last Year Than in the Rest of the World Combined," by Ann Buwalda for the Jubilee Campaign via AINA, May 20:

Two weeks ago I informed Nigerian Congressmen and women about this deplorable disrepute during my lecture to the Nigerian House of Representatives, Committee on Human Rights. Invited by the Chairman of the Committee, the Hon. Beni Lar, to address the topic of Ethnicity, Conflict, and Human Rights, I pointed out that the Nigerian Constitution reflects the broadest range of religious freedom exercise recognized within international law. I asked, "What good is this right in principle when in practice there is a societal actor, namely the Boko Haram, which strikes fear with bomb blasting of churches during worship services?" I called for an end to impunity because the predictable and certain result of impunity is more violence. I explained what it means within U.S. law that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a U.S. government funded agency, had just submitted its recommendation that Nigeria receive US Department of State designation as a "country of particular concern" under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act which would trigger a menu of remedies for engagement.

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COP: Undoing the Brainwashing

Thomas Sowell 

This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo some of the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning.

The strategy used by General Douglas MacArthur so successfully in the Pacific during World War II can be useful in this very different kind of battle. General MacArthur won his victories while minimizing his casualties -- something that is also desirable in clashes of ideas within the family.

Instead of fighting the Japanese for every island stronghold as the Americans advanced toward Japan, MacArthur sent his troops into battle for only those islands that were strategically crucial. In the same spirit, parents who want to bring their brainwashed offspring back to reality need not try to combat every crazy idea they picked up from their politically correct professors. Just demolishing a few crucial beliefs, and exposing what nonsense they are, can deal a blow to the general credibility of the professorial pied pipers.

For example, if the student has been led to join the crusade for more gun control, and thinks that the reason the British have lower murder rates than Americans have is because the Brits have tighter gun control laws, just give him or her a copy of the book "Guns and Violence" by Joyce Lee Malcolm.

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Elder gets results! The Economist partially corrects their story, while standing by it

Elder of Ziyon

The Economist finally corrected their online article where they had falsely written "So far this year, Israel’s army has evicted almost 400 Palestinians from the West Bank and dismantled over 200 homes, the fastest rate for two years, according to the UN."

The article now says, somewhat more accurately, "So far this year Israel's army has evicted almost 400 Palestinian West Bankers from their homes in Area C, the fastest rate for two years, says the UN, and has dismantled over 200 residential and work-related structures."

The magazine wrote a response to some of you who complained, and this letter is masterful in its obfuscation. They do not admit that their original wording was incorrect:

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COP: What Did Apple Do Wrong?

Amy Payne

May 22, 2013

Members of Congress called Apple executives to testify on Capitol Hill yesterday. Why? Because the company makes money overseas, and some Senators want to get their hands on the cash.
A Senate subcommittee accused the company of “shifting” profits from the U.S. to other countries and avoiding paying taxes.
But Apple pays its U.S. taxes. Heritage tax expert Curtis Dubay said the earnings aren’t “shifted,” because “it’s not income that’s earned here in the U.S.”
“I can’t go down to the Apple store here in Washington, buy an iPad, and have Apple then ‘shift’ that income abroad,” Dubay said.
The Senators were up in arms about Apple keeping income in Ireland. The issue was the company’s foreign income earned from all those iPhones and iPods that people around the world are buying.
The reason the Senate feigned indignation over an issue that had nothing to do with the U.S. is that some Members want Apple to pay more U.S. tax on all that foreign cash. They want Apple to bring all of that profit back into the U.S. and pay the U.S. corporate tax rate—the world’s highest—on it. But as long as we keep the U.S. rate the highest in the world, Apple and other multinational businesses are going to keep their foreign income abroad.

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Partisan Nation

 Sultan Knish
The use of the IRS to target conservative groups should be the least surprising development in years. Not only does that sort of thing date back to Clinton and JFK, both of whom unleashed the IRS on their enemies, not to mention Nixon who never managed to pull off the things that JFK grinned, did and got away with, but there was no reason for not to do it.

The two reasons not to sic the IRS on your enemies are decency and the law. Is there anything in Obama's career, including his treatment of fellow Democrats, to suggest that he cares for either one?

The man in the White House clawed his way to power by stabbing his mentor in the back, leaking the divorce records of his political opponents and throwing out the votes of Democrats in Florida and Michigan to claim the nomination.

And he was just getting started.

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Israel Advocacy and the IRS

For some reason, noone wants to touch the issue of the special IRS division set up to review pro-Israel 501 c 3 applications.  These groups had no role in campaigns. Some of us knew this was going on back in 2010, but the organized Jewish community and the Jewish press, with very few exceptions, were utterly  un-interested in dealing with this. Caroline Glick also talks about this

by Matthew M. Hausman

President Obama's antipathy for Israel was evident before his election and predictable considering the anti-Israel animus of the radical political culture that nurtured him. Thus, it surprised many observers that Jewish voters would forsake their concern for Israel and pledge their political troth to his electoral success. But there should have been no surprise given that most are registered Democrats who believe in social and economic engineering through interventionist government regulation and secular statism.

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From the "Let's divert attention department" ...

Armed DHS Guards Protect IRS From Tea Party Protesters

Agency created to protect against terror attacks now policing free speech
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
May 22, 2013
The DHS appears to have finally found a use for all those bullets it’s been buying. At a Tea Party protest outside an IRS building in St. Louis yesterday there were no regular police – only armed Homeland Security guards.
Video footage from the demonstration at which protesters, including Infowars,com readers, chanted “no more harassment,” shows numerous DHS Federal Protective Service vehicles along with several armed DHS guards. There is not a regular police officer in sight.
The St. Louis demonstration was just one of numerous similar protests against the IRS’s punitive targeting of conservative groups that took place across the country yesterday. Homeland Security agents also kept a watchful eye on a Tea Party rally in Florida.

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Saudi Arabia/United States: Strange Bedfellows in the Middle East

Barry Rubin

What is the difference between Saudi and U.S. policy in the Arabic-speaking Middle East? It's complex but fascinating and if you can understand the weird twists and turns in this situation you can understand the Middle East. While the two countries may appear aligned in fact--and often when they have the same goals--their policies differ extensively. And the Saudis are not always wrong. Arguably, they are pursuing their own interests more effectively than is the United States.

The Saudis define the three main enemies today as:

--Al-Qaida

--The Muslim Brotherhood

--Iran

--Shia Muslims as political forces: as ruling Iraq; Hizballah in Lebanon; and the Shia majority in Bahrain.

All three of these forces are perceived as threatening Saudi stability and even survival. Al-Qaida, of course, originated as a revolutionary movement to overthrow the Saudi monarchy.

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Questioning Riyadh's Nuclear Rationale

Yoel Guzansky
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2013, pp. 59-64

http://www.meforum.org/3512/saudi-arabia-pakistan-nuclear-weapon

In the last few years, a marked shift in Saudi thinking on nuclear issues has become evident. Saudi princes have explicitly and publicly stated that a nuclear military option is something the kingdom is obligated to examine if Tehran is not stopped in its march toward nuclear weapons. In March 2011, Prince Turki al-Faisal, former head of Saudi intelligence and ambassador to the United States, called for the Gulf states to acquire "nuclear might" as a counterweight to Iran should efforts fail to persuade it to abandon its military nuclear program,[1] a point he repeated several months later.[2] U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross confirmed that Saudi King Abdullah explicitly warned Washington in April 2009: "If they get nuclear weapons, we will get nuclear weapons."[3] Ross's quote of the Saudi king appears to be the first public confirmation of Riyadh's position. An unconfirmed report alleges that Abdullah made a similar statement to Russian president Vladimir Putin in their February 2007 summit.[4]

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Jesse Jackson wants amnesty for Muslim terrorists who have killed 10,000 in Nigeria

creeping
As we noted in our last post on the deadly jihad in Nigeria, Muslims kill 55 in latest Nigeria attack, the government there thinks amnesty is a solution for Muslims who have killed more than 10,000 since 2001. Their so-called president is even freeing captured Muslim terrorists so they can kill again.
Jesse Jackson thinks rebuilding their mosques is the answer. h/t reader
via Offer of Amnesty for Boko Haram Gets Backing From Jesse Jackson

American civil rights leader and Baptist minister, Rev. Jesse Jackson, has thrown his weight behind the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to offer amnesty to members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Jackson, a two-time United States of American presidential candidate, also said Nigeria “is divided, not so much by religion, region and tribe but by greed.”

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It's Official: Iran's Presidential Election is A Sham

Barry Rubin

The names have now been announced of who will be allowed to run for president of Iran by the regime in the June 14 elections. Six of eight are supporters of the current ruling faction; the rest are two weaker candidates of the other two factions. he outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tumultuous time in office has left many dissatisfied especially since he has mismanaged the economy and made Iran’s international situation worse by his provocative behavior.

With less than a month to go before the elections--the campaign is only three weeks long to make things harder for the opposition--it is now clear who the candidates are and all those disagreeing with the dominant faction have been vetoed by the six-member Council of Guardian. This council is controlled by the country’s real ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the complex maneuvers leading up to the election have given him a huge political headache.

The core of the problem is that there are three factions. Khamenei doesn’t want two of the factions-- the super-hardliners and the reformists—to win but only the third group, his hardliners.

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Remember Where You Came From And To Where You Are Heading

Nurit Greenger

That is the motto of the Shanti House (Beit Shanti) in Israel; never look back just look forward with hope and pride.

The sanskrit word shanti means peace. It is a common word used in Buddhist mantras and closing of Buddhist ceremonies and prayers.

And that is the name that was chosen for two Bet HaShanti Kimaro House in Israel, one in Tel Aviv and one in the Southern Negev region, established to bring peace of mind and hope to Israeli - whether Jewish, Christian or Moslem – youth who encountered ill fate; a warm homes for troubled, at risk and delinquent youths.

Shanti House: Helping Homeless Youth in Israel - www.Houseless.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjoOqqDOGcE

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"Strong for All Things"

There are multiple ways in which enormous strength is required of the Israeli government now.  In no situation is this more the case than with regard to Syria and armaments shipped there, either for use by Syria or for transfer to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

 

The situation is rife with threats, claims, charges, counter-charges, and rumors.

 

What seems to be the case is that Russia recently shipped its Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria.  And this is bad news: 

 

The JPost has cited Nick Brown, editor of IHS Jane's International Defense Review, who said, "They fly at just over 2.5 times the speed of sound, have a range of about 300 kilometers (185 miles) and pack a huge punch from their 200 kg (440 pound) warhead."

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North Carolina: Bill banning foreign law heads to House floor

creeping
Why is the media so one-sided in favor of protecting Islamic sharia law and its expansion in the United States? via Anti-Sharia law heads to House floor :: WRAL.com.

Raleigh, N.C. — The version of a bill intended to protect the constitutional rights of North Carolinians from “foreign laws” is on its way to the House floor after a contentious hearing in the House Judiciary C Committee.

House Bill 695, entitled “Foreign Laws/Protect Constitutional Rights,” is the most recent iteration of legislation intended to keep courts from recognizing Islamic Sharia law in North Carolina.

Similar measures have been filed or considered in more than 30 other states, but only a few states have voted them into law.

The first version of the legislation was passed by ballot initiative in Oklahoma. It specifically named Sharia and was promptly blocked by a judge who declared it unconstitutional because it singled out a religion.

Since then, newer versions of the measure in states from Arkansas to Florida have been more carefully worded. House Bill 695 makes no mention of religion at all, and it wasn’t mentioned in committee.

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Man Behind Palestinian Flag at Paterson, NJ City Hall a Convicted Felon

The community leader who solicited government proclamations for naming May 19 "Palestinian American Day" in Paterson, NJ had publicly expressed outrage over NYPD surveillance of Muslims. No one even noticed he was a convicted felon.

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

The Jewish Press
Published: May 21st, 2013

Paterson, NJ City Hall flew the Palestinian flag on Sunday, May 19, which Paterson Mayor Jeffrey Jones named "Palestinian American Day."

On the same day that many Americans were celebrating Israeli Independence Day, Paterson, New Jersey Mayor Jeffrey Jones named Sunday, May 19 “Palestinian-American Day” in his city, and a Palestinian flag was hoisted over Paterson’s City Hall.

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Switzerland: Multicultural Paradise?

Soeren Kern

In March, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service announced that a growing number of jihadists are being recruited in Switzerland. The number of robberies and assaults on Swiss trains has skyrocketed to such an extent that the Swiss government recently opted to equip transport police with firearms, and at least 1,400 women in Switzerland have been victims of forced marriages.

A controversial new report by the Swiss government claims that Muslim immigrants are so well integrated into Swiss society that no further federal policies or programs are needed to promote Muslim integration or to counter Islamic extremism.
Published by the Swiss Federal Council [Bundesrat] on May 8, the 102-page study -- known by the short title, "The Situation of Muslims in Switzerland" -- so completely downplays the countless problems associated with Muslim immigration in Switzerland that the report has been ridiculed as being worthy of a "case study in political correctness."
The report was first commissioned by proponents of multiculturalism within the Swiss Cabinet shortly after Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum in November 2009 to ban the construction of minarets, the tower-like structures on mosques that are often used to call Muslims to prayer.

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France’s Growing Islamist Problem

Ryan Mauro

The reaction to a recent Muslim robbery of a priest in France is a sad indication of where the country is headed. A Catholic official pointed out, “If it had been an imam or rabbi, he [the Interior Minister] would already been on the spot.” This is no surprise, as Socialist President Hollande’s pandering to the Muslim population played a large role in his election.

The incident began when four Muslims surrounded the priest and told him to hand over his cell phone. One thief knocked him unconscious. The attack may have been motivated by criminality and not jihad, but the two are part of a common trend.

There are over 750 government-designated “Sensitive Urban Zones” in France, referred to as “No-Go Zones” by Dr. Daniel Pipes. About 5 million Muslims live in these areas of France where law enforcement doesn’t exercise decisive control. When the authorities do have to step in, a violent backlash quickly arises. There are many videos of Muslim worshippers holding illegal prayers in the streets when their mosques overflow without any response from police.

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Another battle in the perception war

MK Nachman Shai

The al-Dura incident marked a seminal moment of the Second Intifada. A father and son, crouching behind a concrete wall seeking cover from bullets, became one of the most memorable images from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I included it in my thesis because it was an interesting news event, and because of its far-reaching influence even now.

From the very beginning there were questions that made it difficult to provide clear-cut answers. First, why did only one photographer, Talal Abu Rahman, capture the incident, while all the other media attention was focused on the Israeli army outpost? Second, why did Israel respond so slowly and hesitantly while letting the French news outlet control the spotlight? Finally, why did the commander of the IDF's Operations Directorate at the time, Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, rush to assume responsibility in Israel's name, and what happened to the inquiry ordered by then-GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yom Tov Samia, which actually pointed to a different conclusion from Eiland's?

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Syria - The Ultimate Catch 22 - Mass Murder versus Islamic Extremism

DARLENE CASELLA May 21, 2013

The foreign policy of President Barack Obama regarding Syria is in question. Russia and Iran back President Bashar al Assad. Turkey and the US call for his voluntary resignation. Secretary of State John Kerry stated a goal of decisions by mutual consent between the Assad Regime and rebel groups. This seems like Humpty Dumpty putting all of the pieces back together again.

Syria is an Arab country bordered by Israel, the Mediterranean, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. It is in the cradle of civilization. Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Scholars believe that writing was invented in Syria around 2,000 BC. The Hebrew Bible refers to 17,000 tablets; the source of the Semitic language and later the basis for the Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic languages.

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State Department employee: The administration has made me the scapegoat for Benghazi

Josh Rogin

Raymond Maxwell, the only official at the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to lose his job after the attacks, tells Josh Rogin that he’s been scapegoated by Hillary Clinton’s team. 

Following the attack in Benghazi, senior State Department officials close to Hillary Clinton ordered the removal of a mid-level official who had no role in security decisions and has never been told the charges against him. He is now accusing Clinton’s team of scapegoating him for the failures that led to the death of four Americans last year.

Hillary Clinton laughs as she testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in January. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Raymond Maxwell was placed on forced “administrative leave” after the State Department’s own internal investigation, conducted by an Administrative Review Board (ARB) led by former State Department official Tom Pickering. Five months after he was told to clean out his desk and leave the building, Maxwell remains in professional and legal limbo, having been associated publicly with the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American for reasons that remain unclear.

Maxwell, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs from August 2011 until his removal last December, following tours in Iraq and Syria, spoke publicly for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast.

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Tragedy

Horror and heartbreak as huge tornado hits Oklahoma City suburb, kills at least 51

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COP: A Bumper Crop of Food Stamps

 Amy Payne
Where do food stamps come from?

They come from taxpayers—certainly not from family farms. Yet the “farm” bill, a recurring subsidy-fest in Congress, is actually 80 percent food stamps and other government nutrition programs.



The food stamps sweeten the farm deal for lawmakers, who admit that the combination works for their political purposes. As Heritage experts Daren Bakst and Diane Katz explain:

The food stamp portion creates a reason for urban representatives to support farm subsidies, and for farm-state lawmakers to support food stamps.

Talk of de-politicizing agriculture programs and welfare policy is met with stiff resistance. For example, Senator Thad Cochran (R–MS), ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, recently told the North American Agricultural Journalists group that food stamps should continue to be included in the farm bill “purely from a political perspective. It helps get the farm bill passed.”

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IDF fired on from Syrian Golan for third day straight

Soldiers shoot at a target across Syrian border Tuesday in response to gunfire that hit IDF jeep on Golan Heights • IDF chief: Israel risks being sucked into a "security deterioration in our region at any moment, which could rapidly spin out of control."

Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

 

An alleged IDF jeep presented on Syrian national television on Monday | Photo credit: Screen shot, Almaydeen

Israeli troops shot at a target across the Syrian border early Tuesday in response to gunfire that struck an Israel Defense Forces jeep in the central Golan Heights, the IDF said in a statement.

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The Obama-Media War

Sultan Knish

Revolutions are rarely undone from the outside. Mostly they come apart from the inside as the forty thieves descend into petty squabbling over the loot.

The loot comes in different forms, but at its core it is always power. It may be the power to kill or to steal. It may be the power to claim a nice piece of real estate or to send a million people off to their deaths. The scale of it will occupy historians and shock the people of the future who leaf through the history books and walk through the silent museums, but it is all of one piece. The purpose of power, as a fellow in a little book by George Orwell once said, is power.

The quarrel between Obama and the Media is largely a lovers' quarrel, but the love is only there on one side. The media made Obama what he is. But what he is, among many other things, is a control freak spawned by a political ideology that distrusts everyone and consolidates power at all cost.

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Iran’s Presidential Election: Plenty of Problems and No Real Change

Barry Rubin

In June 14 elections are supposed to be held to elect Iran’s new president. The outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tumultuous time in office has left many dissatisfied especially since he has mismanaged the economy and made Iran’s international situation worse by his provocative behavior.

Now, however, the election process  itself may have broken down or at least is developing very much to the regime's dislike. With less than a month to go before the elections--the campaign is only three weeks long to make things harder for the opposition--it isn’t even clear who the candidates are going to be. The six-member Council of Guardians has not yet decided who will be allowed to run. This council is controlled by the country’s real ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the complex maneuvers leading up to the election have given him a huge political headache.

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Russia's Brinkmanship with US Clashes with Israel's Security

Yaakov Lappin

Jerusalem will find Russia's delivery of the S-300 missile system to Syria to be an intolerable development; it is safe to assume that Israel will act to prevent this from happening.

Russia is aggressively squaring off with an indecisive and rather meek West about Syria, and in the process, is also threatening to undermine Israeli efforts to ensure that Iran and Syria do not ship strategic weapons to Hezbollah.
The Syrian civil war has become a dangerous and complex battle of multiple actors and their proxies: Sunni versus Shi'ite, Iran versus the Gulf states, Al-Qaeda versus Hezbollah, and on a global scale, the United States versus Russia.
Moscow is trying to deter a potential US or NATO-led initiative to set up a no-fly zone over areas of Syria, and is seeking to stop Western-led air strikes against chemical weapons sites.
Russia also seems concerned that recent air strikes in Damascus targeting Hezbollah-bound guided Iranian missiles -- strikes attributed by the foreign media to Israel -- will pave the way to such an intervention.

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DC-area Muslim: “wont stop until the Islamic flag waves over the white house”

by creeping
Twitter follower of the day @HAveTheAudacity

#islamicTakeover #jihadist #ShariaLaw #Islamornothing wont stop until the Islamic flag waves over the white house

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WH Advisor: It's an 'Irrelevant Fact' Where Obama Was on Night of Benghazi Attack

As a caring U.S. citizen who follows the news of a beloved country in which I grew up, I am compelled to respond to what is happening.  I read at least 6 publications daily- even those whose policies are opposed to mine.  Living outside of the States gives me the advantage of knowing how the country is perceived internationally.  I am appalled at what is being revealed about the present American government - ashamed- and very worried.  My concern has to do with the internal turmoil just at a critical moment on the world stage.  I wrote the following after reading the article the title of which and link are above.  I am heartsick and hope you are feeling a bit of this, too.  Know that I call the White House and members of Congress and you can, too. Follow the news and act!

 

Chana

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My response to article re Obama whereabouts on Benghazi night –May 20, 13

The arrogance that is emanating from the WH is not to be believed! Is anyone aware of the fact that a President bears responsibility to the citizens of the country and is answerable to them?

What has happened to the checks and balances that are part of the very fabric of the U.S. government?! What has happened to the dignity of the Office of the President? Where is the 'bringing people together' that was promised?! Where is the follow through on promises made?! Where is the 'transparency' that was promised and the words that resulted in a Nobel Peace Prize?!

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Look, Listen, Decide for Yourself

On September 30, 2000 France2 circulated dramatic footage to multiple news networks purporting to have captured the killing "on camera" of a young Palestinian boy who "died in his father's arms."  This footage and the accompanying "lethal narrative" spread worldwide. But a dispassionate and open-minded review of the available evidence calls into question this narrative. 

France 2’s 59-second clip of 6 ‘segments’ went to air that day, with the voice-over of France 2's Israel correspondent who was not present at the scene but whose narrative dictated its lethal message. Below we offer you the evidence and its careful analysis, and invite you to make an judgment on this incident, independent of what the mainstream news media consensus has told you. 

To better understand the issues, we recommend you first orient yourself in terms of the layout of Netzarim Junction, and then view the following two tapes in sequence (directly below) and then, if you want, side by side, to see how France2's Middle East correspondent Charles Enderlin edited and presented the material. Then get to the close analysis.

Raw Al Durah Footage

France2's Original Broadcast

A Closer Look at France2 Raw Al Durah Footage

Here we give you a chance to look closely at the footage upon which Enderlin based his Al Durah Broadcast. The final 78 seconds of his cameraman, Talal abu Rahma, begin with the al Durah's behind the barrel under fire  and finish with scenes taken after the Al Durahs are gone. We then break these 78 seconds down into 7 segments of a ca. 10 seconds each so that you can view each segment independently and consider additional evidence.

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  Segment 1 of 7: The Al Durahs Under Fire

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  Segment 2 of 7: The Israeli Position

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  Segment 3 of 7: The Al Durahs Terrified

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  Segment 4 of 7: Boy is Down in His Father's Lap, Fetal Position

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  Segment 5 of 7: Muhammad Down (Stretched Out) and his Father Swaying

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  Segment 6 of 7: The "Death Throes" Enderlin Cut

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  Segment 7 of 7: The Al Durahs No Longer Behind the Barrel

Videos You Have Not Seen

This section collects related video footage that most people have not seen. The footage was left on the cutting room floor, and most of it only made available by court order in 2008. These videos are crucial evidence showing the Al Durah incident to be quite different from the original edited version created by Talal abu Rahma and presented to the international media by Charles Enderlin.  

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  Widening the Lens: AP Extended Footage - Gaza Gun Battle

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  Another Camera Angle - Footage from an AP cameraman from behind the Al Durahs

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  Different Camera Angle - Reuters footage of the Al Durahs from behind them by the barrel

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  A successful call for attention ends with a clap and a smile

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  What a Person Suffering from a Real Leg Wound Looks Like

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  Young Man Feigns Head Injury for Cameras

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  Ambulance Exit Fail

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  Casually Jumping into an Ambulance Uninjured

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  Triple Somersault for the Cameras

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  When there is no publicity... leg wounds heal themselves

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  Ambulance Evacuation of Young Adult with No Injuries - France2 Footage

Problematic Testimonies

Following the Al Durah incident, testimonies were given by those who alleged that Israeli fire struck both the father and son. These testimonies are full of contradictions, both internally and externally, bringing into question the validity of their statements. This section contains short video clips from interviews exposing the contradictions. For the full interviews, please refer to our press resources section. 

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  "We have some secrets, you know, for our self..." - Talal Abu Rahma interviewed by Esther Schapira

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  "Nobody could raise his head..." - Talal Abu Rahma interviewed by Esther Schapira

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  "Sounds of bullets... you cannot hear nothing..." - Talal Abu Rahma Interviewed by Esther Schapira

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