WarSclerotic

Source: ‘My son was obsessed with Israel,’ says father of San Bernardino shooter – Middle East – Jerusalem Post

The father of one of the San Bernardino killers told an Italian newspaper on Sunday that his son, Sayed Rizan Farook, had an obsessive hatred of Israel that underscored his Islamic radicalism and allegiance to the ideals of Islamic State.

An anti-Semitic streak was also discovered within the family as the father, Sayed Farook said he tried to dissuade his son from violence by telling him that “Nobody wants the Jews…In two years. Israel will no longer exist.”

The senior Farook, in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, described his son as “an angel. Good, obedient studious. Maybe a little too shy, conservative and firmly against Israel.”

He said that although the family, original from Pakistan but living in the US since 1973, were liberal city dwellers, his son became obsessed with Islam as a teenager, even refusing to go to parties because “a good Muslim can only see his wife dance.”

The younger Farook’s extremist tendencies only seemed to grow with time. The father told of his shock when he discovered that his son was in possession of a firearm.

“In my 45 years in the United States, I shouted to him, I never had a weapon,” Farook said he told his son. “He shrugged and told me ‘All the worse for you.'”

Farook confirmed that his son spoke of Islamic State (noting, “Who doesn’t these days?”) and “prescribed to the ideals outlined by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” which included hating Israel.

“‘Be patient,'” he tried to tell his son. “In two years, Israel won’t exist anymore. Geopolitics is changing in Russia, China and America too.”

“Nobody wants the Jews. What use is it to fight? We have tried it and we lost. Israel does not fight with weapons, but rather with politics.'”

This was apparently still not enough to dissuade his son from violence.

Farook said he will not be able to find peace again after losing his son. “You break your back to raise a child and lose him like this? How can you recover from such a tragedy. I’m 67 years old and my life here is finished.

Dutch Politician Tells Turks: ‘Stay Away From Us; You Are Not Welcome Here’ (Video) ‘You are no Europeans, and you will never be’

Source: Dutch Politician Tells Turks: ‘Stay Away From Us; You Are Not Welcome Here’ (Video)

Originally appeared at Reuters

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, the most popular politician in the Netherlands, has told Turks “you are not welcome here” in a video that takes aim at Turkey‘s hopes of joining the European Union.

Wilders, who is fiercely anti-Islam, has surged in public opinion polls with his call for the closing of national borders in the face of a migrant crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Muslims, fleeing to Europe this year to escape conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and beyond.

Turkey promised at an EU summit in Brussels last Sunday to help stem the flow of migrants in return for cash, an easing of visa restrictions for Turks visiting Europe and renewed talks on admitting Turkey as a member of the bloc.

In his English-language video posted online on Friday with Turkish subtitles, however, Wilders told Turks in typically blunt fashion: “Your government is fooling you into believing that one day you will become a member of the European Union. Well, forget it.”

“You are no Europeans and you will never be. An Islamic state like Turkey does not belong to Europe,” he said. “We do not want more but less Islam. So Turkey, stay away from us. You are not welcome here.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte swiftly condemned the video.

“We have freedom of speech, but this sort of remark, in which a whole country and a whole population is deeply insulted, is totally unacceptable and contributes absolutely nothing to resolving the problem,” Rutte told a news conference.

Recent opinion polls indicate Wilders would win the most seats in the Dutch parliament if there were an election today. His Party for Freedom would gain more seats than the two ruling coalition government parties combined, the polls show.

After decades of relatively liberal immigration policy that let in large numbers of migrants from Turkey and Morocco, the Netherlands, a founder member of the EU, has become much less accommodating.

The country of 17 million people, which is a member of the EU’s open-border Schengen area, now implements some of the toughest immigration policies in the 28-nation EU.

Turkey has been negotiating to join the EU for a decade but talks had largely stalled until Sunday’s deal due to disagreements over Cyprus and concerns over Ankara’s record on human rights and freedom of expression.

Is this any surprise?

Source: Iran lied: Another sign we’ve been had – The Washington Post

By Jennifer Rubin December 4

The massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., this week overshadowed another major foreign policy story: The International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran. The Associated Press reported:

Iran did work related to developing nuclear arms in the past, the U.N. atomic agency concluded in a report Wednesday that wraps up a near decade of investigations and opens the way to implementing a landmark deal aimed at reducing any future nuclear threat from Tehran.

Iran has consistently denied any interest in nuclear arms or past work on such weapons, and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi told Iranian television that the International Atomic Energy Agency report “confirms the peaceful nature” [of] Iran’s nuclear program.

But the report contested that view and came down on the side of U.S. allegations, saying the agency “assesses that a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device were conducted in Iran prior to the end of 2003 as a coordinated effort, and some activities took place” up to 2009.

In other words, we know definitively that Iran lied about its prior efforts to build a nuclear weapon. (So much for the phony fatwa President Obama kept referring to that was supposed to have banned the quest for nuclear weapons.) “It is a major flaw in the Iran deal that sanctions relief doesn’t depend on Tehran fully and honestly disclosing the nature and extent of its nuclear weapons-related activities. Iran will now get hundreds of billions of dollars without ever admitting its role in developing nuclear weapons,” sanctions expert Mark Dubowitz says. “Its track record of nuclear mendacity is not a good sign for future transparency and faithful compliance.”

In a similar vein, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, put out a statement:

The IAEA report proves Iran lied.  For years, the Iranian regime worked secretly to develop a nuclear weapon.  And there are still important questions that remain unanswered.  For example, how far did Iran get toward building a bomb? And what happened to all of the materials, research, and expertise Iran acquired?

Iran’s long track record of obstructing investigators means the IAEA will face significant challenges moving forward – especially since the president’s nuclear agreement allows Iran to carry out self-inspections at key sites.  Iran won’t even have to cheat to achieve advanced enrichment capacity, which puts them just a small step away from a bomb.

Congress is attempting to exert greater scrutiny over the administration. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced, “As the JCPOA with Iran moves toward Implementation Day, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will initiate a rigorous program to ensure effective Congressional monitoring and oversight of this agreement as well as its regional and nonproliferation implication.” The schedule includes hearings this month on the IAEA report. Corker also indicated, “The senators also requested regular interagency briefings consistent with reporting requirements of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.”

But, of course, hearings — unless they induce the administration to take action against potential violations — are not preventative measures; they are exercises in accountability. To that end, Congress should methodically examine whether the representations it made about the deal are turning out to be true. If not — if the deal is really not as advertised — Congress has every right to reinstate nuclear-related sanctions. Indeed, it might feel obligated to do so. Interestingly, Senate Democrats continue to hear from angry and worried pro-Israel constituents about their filibuster. Perhaps Democrats would appreciate a second bite at the apple, especially in light of Iran’s recent behavior, including continued imprisonment of Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who just passed 500 days in detention.

Critics argue that sanctions should not be lifted (quite apart from Iran’s non-nuclear-related activity for which new sanctions are entirely warranted).William Tobey writes:

A baseline declaration is necessary for effective international monitoring. Moreover, this issue is about the future. Neither the IAEA nor the United States can be confident that Iran’s nuclear weapons development work will not resume if all aspects of the past activities are not well understood and dismantled. Where, for example, is the explosive chamber that was used at Parchin, and to what purpose is it being put today? Were other chambers fabricated and used? What became of the nuclear explosion modeling? Who was involved in it and what are they doing now?

The Iran deal will go forward. Sanctions will be lifted. The bedrock principle of safeguards work — a complete and correct declaration followed by IAEA verification — will be fractured (temporarily at least), with U.S. complicity. Why should future proliferators not invoke the Iran deal precedent, under which the Iranians pretend to comply with their obligations, and we pretend to believe them? Why even should Tehran take seriously all the administration’s huffing and puffing about the importance of compliance?

The sham Iran deal has ushered in a new era of appeasement, one in which the administration dare not take action against Iran for human rights violations, aggression in the region or even the impermissible launch of a missile. As Congress sits idly by as the administration averts its eyes, its culpability in a disastrous deal increases.