Archive for December 10, 2015

Jews are the main target of religious hate crimes in America

December 10, 2015

Jews are the main target of religious hate crimes in America, Power LinePaul Mirengoff, December 10, 2015

President Obama and other leftists continue to sound the alarm against anti-Muslim hate crimes. But FBI data shows that few hate crimes are directed at Muslims in the country and that many more are directed at Jews.

The FBI bases its annual report on information submitted by law enforcement agencies. This year, 86 percent of the nation’s nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies provided hate crime reports for 2014 to the FBI.

According to Forward, the data showed that around 60 percent of religious-based hate crimes committed in the U.S. last year were directed at Jews. These crimes produced 648 victims, which amounted to around 57[%] of the total victims of anti-religious crimes. By contrast, Muslims were the target of just about 15 percent of these crimes and made up 16.1 percent of victims.

The U.S. population contains just about twice as many Jews as Muslims. Yet Jews were the target of four times as many hate crimes as Muslims in this country.

Fortunately, the FBI reported no religiously-motivated murders of Jews or Muslims in the U.S. last year. However, according to Forward, a Kansas man killed three people outside of Jewish centers, and his intent in each case was to kill a Jew.

The FBI says it did not include these murders in its report due to bad reporting by Kansas authorities. Even though the victims weren’t Jewish, the killings should have been considered anti-religious hate crimes directed at Jews, the FBI concedes.

One hate crime against anybody is too many. But when we consider the size of this country and the relatively small number of religious-based hate crime, this phenomenon doesn’t strike me as a serious problem. If it is one, though, it’s more of a problem for American Jews than for American Muslims.

Congress to Consider Easing Passage into U.S. for Immigrants

December 10, 2015

Congress to Consider Easing Passage into U.S. for Immigrants Congressional source: ‘The amendment is intended to be a response to Trump’s statement’ about Muslims

BY:
December 9, 2015 7:53 pm

Source: Congress to Consider Easing Passage into U.S. for Immigrants – Washington Free Beacon

If true, this will push more voters to go voting, are they pushing the Donald to go independent ? It will push a lot more voters to go voting .

Congress is set to vote on Thursday on what some have called an “unprecedented” right that would allow immigrants easier access to relocate to the United States, according to new legislation offered by a Democratic senator.

The legislation, which is being offered by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) as an amendment to a larger bill governing nuclear safety, would prohibit the U.S. government from barring any individual from entering the country based on their religion.

The bill comes amid a fierce national debate about immigration to America, particularly for individuals coming from Muslim-majority nations. Critics of the Obama administration’s refugee plan, which would permit up to 10,000 Syrians into the country, maintain that there are not enough oversight measures in place to ensure that immigrants are not linked to terrorists or various terror organizations, such as the Islamic State.

The bill, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, would express Congress’ sense that “the United States must not bar individuals from entering into the United States based on their religion, as such action would be contrary to the fundamental principles on which this Nation was founded.”

The legislation is a direct amendment to current U.S. laws already on the books.

Congressional critics of the legislation warn that the amendment would facilitate an unprecedented right to immigration that has never existed under U.S. law.

“The amendment is intended to be a response to Trump’s statement and thus the category of immigration at the heart of it is clearly immigration from the Muslim world,” said a congressional source apprised of the legislation.

“This amendment will establish the progressive goal of creating a right to global migration, their solution to global income inequality,” the source said. “This is not simply a slippery slope. This is ripping open Pandora’s box. If you can establish that we have no right to consider religious beliefs, then you could help establish we have no right to consider a candidate’s age, skill, income, or country of origin.”

If passed, the new rule would burden the U.S. immigration system and prevent authorities from normal background checks meant to ensure individuals are not tied to terrorists or other type of criminal enterprises, the source said.

“It would could lead to rules saying you can’t discriminate against foreign single mothers, or unemployed elderly seniors, or members of religious cults. And if religion cannot be considered, then of course you cannot favor say Australian immigration over Middle East immigration since religion is, of course, a factor in that decision,” the congressional source explained. “It would mean you could not favor a Christian Syrian priest over a fundamentalist Muslim cleric, and that if you denied the cleric you’d be paving the road to them having standing to sue for entry from a foreign country.”

The legislation would further mean that a “radical Imam could demand the right for a tourist visa to deliver a speech, or that a member of a pagan cult could demand that they be given a foreign worker visa to take an American job,” according to the source.

The legislation essentially extends the U.S. Constitution to inhabitants from other countries, which has never been done before, the source said.

‘The Constitution, by definition, is a document that protects the rights of the American people – to extend it to the citizens of foreign countries living in those foreign countries is to turn the Constitution from a document that protects Americans into one that renders them utterly defenseless,” the source said. “Congress can decide who to admit, and who not to admit, and on what grounds – our founding documents confer on no alien the right of entry to the United States and to travel down this road is to challenge the very idea that immigration is supposed to serve the American interest and no other.”

While some politicians, including President Barack Obama, have maintained that a “religious test” for immigrants is unconstitutional, this has not legally been the case in American history.

Studies by the Pew research firm has found that the majority of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq, 99 and 91 percent respectively, support a strict interpretation of Islam known as Sharia.

Under U.S. law, the president already has the authority to halt all immigration to the United States for national security reasons.

The Obama administration is slated to grant at least 660,000 green cards to immigrants from Muslim majority nations in the next five years, according to statistics issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

Media: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Jordan may send 90,000 military to fight IS

December 10, 2015

Media: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Jordan may send 90,000 military to fight IS

World December 10, 11:16 UTC+3

Source: TASS: World – Media: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Jordan may send 90,000 military to fight IS

Iraq Press Agency quoted politician Hanan Al Faltawi as saying she received that information from reliable sources after talks between US Senator John McCain and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi

© EPA/ALI HASSAN

BEIRUT, December 10. /TASS/. Around 100,000 foreign military, including 90,000 from Arab countries, may be deployed to Iraq to fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, Iraq Press Agency quoted politician Hanan Al Faltawi as saying.

Al Fatlawi said that she received this information from reliable sources after talks between US Senator John McCain and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. The meeting took place on November 27 in the joint American-Iraqi operational headquarters in Baghdad that coordinates military actions against IS, she added.

Foreign forces of 100,000 – 90,000 from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan and 10,000 from the United States – will be stationed in Iraq’s western parts,” Al Fatlawi noted. The politician added that “the Iraqi prime minister openly expressed bewilderment over McCain’s statement but was told that everything had already been decided.”

Islamic State extremist organization

The Islamic State is an extremist organization banned in Russia. In 2013-2014, it called itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In June 2014, IS announce the establishment of the “Islamic caliphate” on the territories seized in Iraq and Syria. According to US’ Central Intelligence Agency, the extremist group includes around 30,000 people, while Iraqi authorities claim there are around 200,000 in IS. Among members of the group are citizens of 80 countries, including France, Great Britain, Germany, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, US, Canada, as well as Russia and other CIS countries. According to reports, militants now control around 40% of the Iraqi territory and 50% of the Syrian territory.

Turkish jets strike Kurdish positions in Iraq amid rising tension between Ankara & Baghdad

December 10, 2015

Turkish jets strike Kurdish positions in Iraq amid rising tension between Ankara & Baghdad

Published time: 9 Dec, 2015 18:35 Edited time: 9 Dec, 2015 20:04

Source: Turkish jets strike Kurdish positions in Iraq amid rising tension between Ankara & Baghdad — RT News

© Umit Bektas
Ankara carried out airstrikes targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) forces in northern Iraq, the Turkish army said on Wednesday. The action comes in the wake of rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq.

Ten F-16 fighter jets launched an attack between 10pm and 10:50pm on Tuesday, targeting PKK positions in the Kandil, Hakurk, Zap and Avasin-Baysan regions in northern Iraq, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement. It added that the targets were “destroyed in an aerial campaign.”

Tensions have been rising between Ankara and Baghdad after Turkey deployed hundreds of troops equipped with tanks and artillery to Iraq’s northern Nineveh Governorate last Thursday, saying they will train forces battling Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Baghdad said it had not asked for the help of Turkish forces, and demanded their withdrawal after it said Turkey had “illegally” sent the troops into Iraq. Describing the move as violation of sovereignty, the Iraqi government also asked NATO to intervene.

Read more

© Cem Ozdel

Meanwhile, Shiite paramilitary groups have threatened to use force against Turkey unless it pulls its forces out of Iraq. Likening the Turkish incursion to the occupation of Iraq by IS militants, Badr Brigade spokesman Karim al-Nuri said “all options” were available.

We have the right to respond and we do not exclude any type of response until the Turks have learned their lesson,” Nuri said on Wednesday. “Do they have a dream of restoring Ottoman greatness? This is a great delusion and they will pay dearly because of Turkish arrogance.”

Also on Wednesday, the Iraqi parliament unanimously approved a motion condemning the Turkish intervention, supporting the government in taking whatever measures it viewed as appropriate.

Russia raised the issue at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, expressing hope that Ankara will avoid escalating the situation in the region with any further reckless actions. Following the meeting, Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow expects Ankara to “settle the situation in Iraq in a way that would satisfy the Iraqi government.”

“Now the situation is within the focus of the attention of the Security Council, so we hope it will help resolve [it] to the satisfaction of the Iraqi government, whose sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence will be respected,” he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed Ankara’s actions while speaking to Italian media on Wednesday.

Lavrov proposed a thorough examination of how Turkey performs goals set by the coalition in Syria. “We need to examine how a member of the US-led coalition – the Republic of Turkey – performs goals set by the coalition,” the minister said. “Why is it not bombing terrorists as such, but the Kurds instead?”

READ MORE:West’s reaction to Turkish invasion – an exercise in hypocrisy

On Wednesday, Ankara argued that Turkish soldiers were sent to northern Iraq after a threat from IS to Turkish military trainers in the area. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the deployment was an act of solidarity, not aggression.

The [military] trainers in the Bashiqa camp were threatened by Daesh (Islamic State) because it is 15-20 kilometers from Mosul and they have only light arms,” he told media in Istanbul. “So when these threats increased… we sent some troops to protect the camp, not as an act of aggression but as an act of solidarity.