WarSclerotic

One dead, two hurt in attack on Copenhagen free speech event | The Times of Israel.

( Must be those “Crusaders” again… JW )

Cafe hosting lecture by artist who caricatured Prophet Muhammad riddled with bullets; French ambassador unharmed in attack

By Justin Jalil, AFP and AP February 14, 2015, 6:26 pm

Policemen secure the area around a building in Copenhagen, Denmark, where shots were fired on February 14, 2015 outside the venue of a debate held on art, blasphemy and free speech. (photo credit: AFP Mathias Oegendal/Scanpix Denmark)

One man was killed and three policemen wounded Saturday in a shooting at a Copenhagen cafe where a meeting about freedom of speech was being held, organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007, local media reported.

Copenhagen police confirmed that a 40-year-old man was killed and three officers were injured, and that two suspected gunmen fled the scene in a dark Volkswagen Polo and were at large.

The TV2 channel said Saturday there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the Krudttoenden cafe and said at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer.

“I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie,” Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the organizers of the event, told The Associated Press that Vilks was present at the event but not injured. When the artist is in Denmark, he receives police protection.

“I saw a masked man running past,” she said. “A couple of police officers were injured.”

“I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks,” she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

The cafe in northern Copenhagen, known for its jazz concerts, was hosting an event titled “Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression” when the shots were fired.

According to the BBC, the French ambassador to Denmark, François Zimeray, was present during the attack and at least three people were wounded.

The ambassador tweeted that he was “still alive” following the shooting.

“Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor. We managed to flee the room, and now we’re staying inside because it’s still dangerous. The attackers haven’t been caught and they could very well still be in the neighborhood,” Zimeray said by telephone.

A Femen activist, Inna Shevshenko, said on Twitter that there were several dozen people in the room.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the attack, saying in a statement that France “remains by the side of the Danish authorties and people in the fight against terrorism.”

The French president’s office said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was headed to the scene.

This is not the first time the event’s organizer has been in harm’s way: The 68-year-old Swedish artist has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog eight years ago.

A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010 two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.

After jihadists attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.

Vilks also said he thought Sweden’s SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.

“This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we’re used to,” he said. “Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did.”

ISIL seizes Iraqi town near US forces

US says fall of al-Baghdadi is minor setback, as ISIL launches assault on nearby airbase where US forces train Iraqis.

14 Feb 2015 09:55 GMT

via ISIL seizes Iraqi town near US forces – Al Jazeera English.

ISIL had launched an unsuccessful assault involving suicide bombers on the nearby al-Asad air base.
Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have captured the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, putting them within striking distance of an airbase where US troops are training Iraqi forces, the US military said.

The fall of the town, which the Pentagon played down as a minor setback, came as ISIL launched an unsuccessful assault involving suicide bombers on the nearby al-Asad airbase.

“We do assess that right now they have control of Al-Baghdadi,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told a news conference, adding ISIL took hold of the town “in the past several days”.

The town is located in Anbar province, about 8km from the al-Asad air base, where about 320 US Marines are stationed to assist Iraqi government troops.

The chairman of Anbar’s provincial council, Sabah Karhout, said “more than 1,000 ISIL fighters” had overrun the town of al-Baghdadi”.

Karhout said that “there is a regional plot that wants the base to fall under ISIL because of its strategic significance”, adding that the US-led coalition air strikes that targeted the vicinity of the base did not hit their targets.

Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi described what happened in the city of al-Baghdadi as “a failure”.

The minister made the comments after a meeting with the parliamentary security committee.

He said his ministry was planning to deploy more forces to address the situation.

Kirby said that “at no time were US troops anywhere near the fighting,” which was about two miles away from where the Americans were working at the sprawling complex.

‘Defensive posture’

“This is arguably the first in at least a couple of months, if not more, where they (ISIL) have had any success at all at taking any new ground,” Kirby said.

“So this is an enemy that we still assess to be in a defensive posture,” he said, adding: “It’s one town. It’s not all of Anbar. It’s not all of Iraq. We need to keep it in perspective.”

Al-Baghdadi had been under growing pressure for months and was one of the few towns that had remained under the Iraqi government’s control in the predominantly Sunni province.

Meanwhile, 12 people – including a Sunni tribal leader and two sons of an Iraqi MP -were killed in Baghdad on Friday hours after they were kidnapped by a Shia armed group.

Parliamentary sources told Al Jazeera the tribal leader, Qassim Sueidan Al-Janabai, belonged to the al-Janabat clan.

The victims were seized when a convoy of Zaid Swidan al-Janabi, a Sunni MP, was stopped by militiamen in al-Dorah, a neighbourhood in al-Rashid administrative district in southern Baghdad.

The MP was later released in the neighbourhood of Talbiya, east Baghdad but after he was badly beaten up.

Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan, who addressed reporters, described the incident as “tragic,” adding that the ministry had launched an investigation.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Iran’s supreme leader sends letter to Obama

Khamenei writes letter to US president in response to US overtures over nuclear programme, Wall Street Journal reports.

14 Feb 2015 07:39 GMT

via Iran’s supreme leader sends letter to Obama – Al Jazeera English.

Iran’s supreme leader has sent a letter to US President Barack Obama in response to American overtures, amid talks to strike a nuclear accord, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper cited an Iranian diplomat as saying Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had written to Obama in response to the president’s letter sent in October.

Obama’s correspondence had suggested potential US-Iranian cooperation in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group if a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme was struck, the diplomat told the Journal.

The supreme leader’s response was “respectful” but noncommittal, the diplomat was quoted as saying. Khamenei has the final word on all matters of state in Iran.

Current and former US officials who viewed the correspondence said Khamenei’s letter outlined a string of abuses he claimed the US had committed against the Iranian people during the past 60 years.

Neither the White House nor the Iranian government has officially confirmed any correspondence between the two leaders.

Talks with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany – the so-called P5+1 group – seek to allay concerns that Iran is covertly seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, in exchange for lifting punishing sanctions.

Two deadlines for a permanent nuclear agreement have already been missed, since an interim accord was struck in November 2013.

The P5+1 has set a March 31 deadline for a political agreement.

It would be followed by a final deal setting out all the technical points of what would be a complex accord by June 30.

Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb and says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/irans-ayatollah-sends-new-letter-to-obama-amid-nuclear-talks-1423872638?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Americans support Netanyahu and Israel – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Op-ed: Obama and Israel’s center-left political camp in are panicking at the prospect of again having to witness the respect and adoration America has for one of the best prime ministers Israel ever had.

Shoula Romano Horing

Polls in the United States show that not only does the American public overwhelmingly support Israel, but that their opinions are more aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stand on Iran and radical Islam than with those of US President Barack Obama. 

However, the center-left political camp and the leftist media in Israel and abroad seem demonically possessed with fear mongering Israeli voters into thinking that Netanyahu’s upcomingcongressional speech and policy disagreement with Obama, will endanger and undermine the important Israel-US alliance.

Daily, they write another opinion piece or quote another so called US- Israel expert that describes another probable hypothetical doomsday scenario of what will happen to Israel and its relationship with the US if Netanyahu speaks out against a bad nuclear deal with the Ayatollahs’ Iran and in favor of additional sanctions.

They warn Israelis of an Obama administration backlash such as cutting the $3 billion in military aid to Israel and refraining from using the American veto power against anti-Israel UN Security council resolutions.

Now they tell us that if Netanyahu is re-elected this disagreement will develop to an irreversible crisis and to a fall- off in American support which will affect Israel’s economy and security.

Listening to these “experts” would be funny if it was not so sad that some Israeli voters will actually mistake these baseless worse case scenarios for the truth.

First, Obama is not the American public. Obama is the head of only one of the branches of the American government and has less than two years to govern, Obama cannot do anything to Israel and to the alliance while the American public overwhelmingly supports Israel and agrees with Netanyahu’s opinions.

Obama is aware of Netanyahu‘s star power and his effect on Congress (Photo: MCT)

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are big supporters of Israel in large part because of their constituents’ support of the Jewish state. President Obama, for the last six years has been trying to undermine that public support by trying to create “daylight” between the US and Israel by manufacturing many public spats and artificial crisis with Netanyahu. However, polls reveal that he has failed miserably in achieving his aim.

In 2014, as it does every year, Gallup, in its World Affairs Survey, asked Americans whether they view various countries favorably or unfavorably. Fully 72% of Americans have a “very favorable” or “mostly favorable” view of Israel. Now compare that to the number who told Gallup that they have a favorable view of the other countries or entities in Israel’s neighborhood: Egypt: 45%; Saudi Arabia: 35%; Libya: 19%; Palestinian Authority: 19%; Iraq: 16%; Syria: 13%; Iran: 12%.

Moreover, Gallup polls show that when asked about American sympathy to Israel and to the Arab Nations, the average support for Israel for the last six years while Netanyahu has been Prime Minister has been 62% which is higher than any previous time.

Moreover, a Fox News poll of American registered voters from January 25-27, 2015 which was conducted under the joint direction of Democratic and Republican Research companies revealed that 70% of voters say Obama has not been tough enough on Iran. That number has remained roughly the same since 2009. That tally includes 57% of Democrats, 66% of Independents and 87% of Republicans.

In addition, a 62% majority thinks military force will be necessary to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, while 28% say that goal can be reached through diplomacy and existing sanctions alone. Here again, there’s agreement across political party lines.

Second, anybody who is familiar with the US Constitution knows about the concept of separation of powers. Obama is the president but the Republican Congress is the only body who determines the aid package to Israel and Obama cannot touch it.

Moreover, the Congress could decide to cut US aid to the UN for adopting anti- Israel resolutions and to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for joining War Crimes court or ICC or seeking another UN Security Council bid for statehood. In addition, the Republican majority could use its leverage against any anti- Israel actions the President would wish to take by threatening to withhold the purse strings to finance his political agenda.

Third, the real reason Obama does not want Netanyahu to speak is that he fears that Netanyahu will reveal to the public the truth of how Obama has been begging the Iranians to make a nuclear deal and has already given in to 80% of Iranian demands and has received nothing in return.

To override Obama‘s veto, the Senate needs the votes of 67 members. Ten Senate Democrats on January 27 sent a letter to Obama warning that after March 24, they will be joining 54 Republican Senators on the Senate floor in support of imposing additional sanctions if Iran fails to reach a comprehensive agreement for a political framework.

Obama is aware of Netanyahu‘s star power and his effect on Congress. In fact, when Netanyahu previously addressed a joint session of Congress on May 24, 2011, the New York Timesreported that “Mr. Netanyahu received so many standing ovations that at times it appeared that the lawmakers were listening to his speech standing up.” Even worse, from Obama’s perspective, The Times reported that Netanyahu’s speech “had many of the trappings of a presidential State of the Union address.”

Now we know why the center-left political camp in Israel, the leftist media and Obama are panicked at the prospect of again having to witness the respect and adoration that America has for one of the best prime ministers that Israel ever had, who is considered by many Americans to be the Churchill of our time.

Shoula Romano Horing is an attorney. Her blog can be found here: www.shoularomanohoring.com .