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Commander: Most IRGC Missiles Can Reach Israel

March 8, 2016

Commander: Most IRGC Missiles Can Reach Israel, TASNIM News Agency, March 8, 2016

IRG leader

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The occupying Zionist regime of Israel is within the range of most of the missiles in IRGC’s possession, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said Tuesday.

Whoever feels more hostility towards Iran will be naturally more fearful of the country’s military capabilities and achievements, the top general told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of an ongoing missile drill staged by the IRGC, codenamed ‘Might of Velayat’.

Since most of the IRGC missiles have the enough range to reach the lands occupied by the Zionist regime of Israel, the Tel Aviv regime has the most degree of concerns, he added.

“Enemies of the Islamic Revolution and security in the region should be in panic about the roar of the IRGC missiles,” Jafari stated.

The commander noted that the launch of various types of missiles in the drill was only a slight indication that the IRGC’s missile silos, scattered all over the country, are fully operational.

He underscored that the country’s missile capabilities have been achieved under sanctions imposed by the foreigners, stressing that Iran’s missiles are fully indigenous.

The message of the missile drills is security for Iran and the neighboring countries, Major General Jafari underlined.

The missile drill has been in progress for a couple of days, but its final stage kicked off on Tuesday in different parts of the country.

According to the IRGC, the exercise is meant to demonstrate Iran’s might and sustainable security in light of unity, convergence, empathy and harmony.

Iranian officials have already made it clear that the country’s military program, including the routine exercises and test of new missiles, will not be hampered by anything, including a recent nuclear deal with the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), which took effect on January 16.

Categories: Iran scam, Iranian missiles, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Israel
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Donald Trump’s message to Lower Slobbovia

March 8, 2016

Donald Trump’s message to Lower Slobbovia, Washington Times, Wesley Pruden, March 7, 2016

(Hey! Wait a minute! Trump might change things. We can’t have that! — DM)

GOP_2016_Trump.JPEG-0c383_c0-434-5184-3456_s885x516Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Monday, March 7, 2016, in Madison, Miss. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Ringling Brothers, ever on the hunt for the latest wild man from Borneo with two heads and three feet, should move the greatest show on earth into the Big Top and charge admission. Everybody wants to watch, even if the faint of heart complain that the sight of it all makes them leave the tent with wet pants.

Reuters, the British news service, reports that foreign diplomats are alarmed by the Donald’s “inflammatory and insulting public statements.” The folks in Foggy Bottom, who are trained to view with alarm and never have to learn to point with pride, are stumped for what to tell them. “As the Trump rhetoric has continued,” one of the officials tells Reuters, “and in some cases ‘amped’ up, so too have concerns by certain leaders around the world.” Three officials who were willing to talk about the shortage of fainting couches in the frightened precincts of the world, declined to say exactly where these precincts are, but conceded that some of them were in India, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

But leaders in Britain, France and Canada have indeed gone public with their not-so-private fears. The economics minister of Germany, who you might think would be devoting full attention to the swarms of migrants from the Islamic world threatening to make Muslims of Germans, says the Donald threatens peace and prosperity.

A spokesman for the Mexican embassy wouldn’t confirm that any Mexican diplomat had complained to anyone in Washington about Trump fatigue, but observed that its top diplomat, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, had called Mr. Trump “ignorant” and, of course, “racist,” and his plan to build a wall to keep Mexicans at home was “absurd.” The fear of such a wall is that it might actually work, as such a wall has worked in Israel, and hamper the dumping of an excess of Mexicans.

Foreign governments in the past have always kept their criticisms of American elections muted. There’s something of an agreement among the gentlemen (and ladies) in striped pants. If the prime minister of Lower Slobbovia, for example, won’t say anything in public about a scary candidate in America, maybe an American president won’t say anything about the mayhem and abuse in Lower Slobbovian elections.

Foreign criticism is thus mostly hyperventilation; diplomats must have someone to complain to, and to report that he said something in what used to be called “cables” to the Home Office. Now everything is sent via email, secure or, in the case of a famous former American secretary of State, not so secure. However, diplomats from countries where everyone must mind his tongue lest it be removed with a rusty knife, never quite learn how America works, and think the U.S. government can control what a candidate, like everyone else, is allowed to say.

Donald Trump scares these foreign diplomats because they think he might mean what he says about forcing the rest of the world to do their share of the heavy lifting required to keep the free world more or less free. In fits of candor, some diplomats concede concerns that the United States might become “more insular” under President Trump, who has threatened to repeal or revise trade agreements and push allies to take a larger role in facing up to the radical Islamic threat in the Middle East.

“European diplomats are constantly asking about Trump’s rise with disbelief and now with growing panic,” a senior NATO official tells Reuters. “With the European Union facing a [serious] crisis, there’s more than the usual anxiety about the United States turning inward when Europe needs American support more than ever.”

Gen. Philip Breedlover, the senior U.S. commander in Europe, says he’s getting more questions than usual about how American elections work. “And I think they see a very different sort of public discussion than they have in the past.”

Indeed they do, and if these foreign diplomats in Washington had been paying closer attention to what’s going on in the United States, particularly in the flyover country that is as foreign to American elites as it is to the rest of the world, they would have seen the phenomenon of 2016 coming. Donald Trump did not come out of nowhere, like a summer squall that ruins the picnic.

The great Republican unwashed feel betrayed. So do many Democrats, as Bernie Sanders could tell you. The wheel that goes around comes around, and it may be about to crush anyone who doesn’t get out of the way. That’s the message to be sent to Lower Slobbovia.

Categories: Donald Trump, Foreign leaders, Foreign policy
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Iran Threatens to Walk Away From Nuke Deal After New Missile Test

March 8, 2016

Iran Threatens to Walk Away From Nuke Deal After New Missile Test, Washington Free Beacon,  , March 8, 2016

FILE - This file picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, claims to show the launching of an Emad long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile in an undisclosed location. Iran tested a ballistic missile again in November 2015, a U.S. official said Dec. 8, describing the second such test since this summerís nuclear agreement. The State Department said only that it was conducting a "serious review" of such reports. The test occurred on Nov. 21, according to the official, coming on top of an Oct. 10 test Iran confirmed at the time. The official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that, but declined to elaborate. The official wasnít authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

FILE – This file picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, claims to show the launching of an Emad long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile in an undisclosed location. Iran tested a ballistic missile again in November 2015, a U.S. official said Dec. 8, describing the second such test since this summerís nuclear agreement. The State Department said only that it was conducting a “serious review” of such reports. The test occurred on Nov. 21, according to the official, coming on top of an Oct. 10 test Iran confirmed at the time. The official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that, but declined to elaborate. The official wasnít authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

Iranian leaders now say that they are poised to walk away from the deal if the United States and other global powers fail to advance the Islamic Republic’s “national interests.”

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Iran on Tuesday again threatened to walk away from the nuclear agreement reached last year with global powers, hours after the country breached international agreements by test-firing ballistic missiles.

Iran’s most recent ballistic missile test, which violates current U.N. Security Council resolutions, comes a day after the international community’s nuclear watchdog organization disclosed that it is prohibited by the nuclear agreement from publicly reporting on potential violations by Iran.

Iranian leaders now say that they are poised to walk away from the deal if the United States and other global powers fail to advance the Islamic Republic’s “national interests.”

“If our interests are not met under the nuclear deal, there will be no reason for us to continue,” Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, warned during remarks delivered to a group of Iranian officials in Tehran.

“If other parties decide, they could easily violate the deal,” Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iran’s state-controlled media. “However, they know this will come with costs.”

Araqchi appeared to allude to the United States possibly leveling new economic sanctions as a result of the missile test. The Obama administration moved forward with new sanctions earlier this year as a result of the country’s previous missile tests.

Iran’s latest missile test drew outrage from longtime regime critics on Capitol Hill.

“The administration’s response to Iran’s new salvo of threatening missile tests in violation of international law cannot once again be, it’s ‘not supposed to be doing that,’” Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) said in a statement. “Now is the time for new crippling sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ministry of Defense, Aerospace Industries Organization, and other related entities driving the Iranian ballistic missile program.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) warned that the nuclear agreement has done little to moderate Iran’s rogue behavior.

“Far from pushing Iran to a more moderate engagement with its neighbors, this nuclear deal is enabling Iran’s aggression and terrorist activities,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Sanctions relief is fueling Iran’s proxies from Yemen to Iraq to Syria to Lebanon. Meanwhile, Khamenei and the Iranian regime are acting with impunity because they know President Obama will not hold them accountable and risk the public destruction of his nuclear deal, the cornerstone of the president’s foreign policy legacy.”

McCarthy went on to demand that the Obama administration step forward with new sanctions as punishment for the missile test.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department had difficulty Monday explaining why the nuclear agreement limits public reporting by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, on potential deal violations by Iran.

Yukiya Amano, the IAEA’s chief, disclosed on Monday that his agency is no longer permitted to release details about Iran’s nuclear program and compliance with the deal. The limited public reporting is a byproduct of the nuclear agreement, according to Amano.

When asked about these comments again Tuesday, a State Department official told the Free Beacon that the IAEA’s reports would continue to provide a complete picture of Iran’s nuclear program, though it remains unclear if this information will be made publicly available.

“There isn’t less stringent monitoring or reporting on Iran’s nuclear program,” the official said. “The IAEA’s access to Iran’s nuclear program and its authorization to report on it has actually expanded. It’s a distortion to say that if there is less detail in the first and only post-Implementation Day IAEA report then that somehow implies less stringent monitoring or less insight into Iran’s nuclear program.”

While the IAEA “needs to report on different issues” under the final version of the nuclear agreement, the agency continues to provide “a tremendous amount of information about Iran’s current, much smaller nuclear program,” the source maintained.

The IAEA’s most recent February report—which was viewed by nuclear experts as incomplete and short on detail—“accurately portrays the status of Iran’s nuclear program,” including its efforts to uphold the nuclear deal, the official added.

“We expect this professional level of reporting to continue in the future,” the official said.

Categories: Foreign policy, IAEA, Iran - secret deal, Iran nuke inspections, Iran scam, Iranian missiles, Iranian nukes, P5+1
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Article In Iraqi Newspaper: Iraq Needs A Hitler To Stop The Jews Who Are Planning A Takeover Of Iraq

March 8, 2016

Article In Iraqi Newspaper: Iraq Needs A Hitler To Stop The Jews Who Are Planning A Takeover Of Iraq, MEMRI, March 8, 2016

On March 6, 2016, the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman published an article titled “Iraq Needs Hitler” by Karim Al-Taee that quoted some of Hitler’s statements about the Jews from Mein Kampf stating that they were correct also about the Jews today in Iraq.

The article added that the Jews living in northern Iraq today have a secret plan to take over Mosul, in order to prepare for a Jewish-Western takeover of all Iraq’s resources. They are doing this by means of distracting the Iraqis, overloading the political arena with bogus issues, and by means of taking advantage of the Iraqi MPs that they control.

The following are translated excerpts from the article: 

“Hitler said: ‘I could have killed all the Jews, but I kept some [alive] so the world would understand why I killed them.’

“When I read Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, I discovered that the situation from which Germany suffered is identical to that which has beset Iraq ever since the 2003 replacement [of the Saddam Hussein regime] in 2003. The main reason for the war in Germany was the Jews, because they weakened the nation and its people and [completely] consumed [the country’s] resources. They exploited [their control] of funds and the interest [earned on them] in order to attain the most senior positions in the state, and to kill its people both spiritually by poisoning their minds with ideas distancing the people from their nationalism and affiliation, and physically by starving them and making the daily concern about food into their main worry.

“The course of events in Iraq is like a nice game played by the West, with the Jews at their head. Everyone knows that the Jews are settling in Iraq’s northern regions, and that since 2007 they have been [implementing] a clandestine settlement plan in Mosul by purchasing land at rock-bottom prices. Planning for the Islamic State’s entry into Iraq had by then already been completed [at that point], because the Jewish strategy is to lay the groundwork from within prior to attacking.

“Hitler said: ‘The Jews are like parasitic plants that burden the nations and compete with them for their sources of income. The Jew conceals his [true] aspirations behind the mask of his powdered face, and behind the screen of the Jewish community. Then, when he thinks he is capable of imposing his rule and establishing his state, he reveals his true self, and begins implementing his malice and actualizing his objectives.

“Isn’t this what is happening in Iraq[?]! Has anyone wondered what is the most important thing to be concerned about – the future? Or the present? Indeed, I maintain that the future is grim, and the present is of no value. [The Jewish-Western] imperialism has made pawns of the Iraqi people, exploiting their intellectual weakness and the fact that their material needs go unmet even though Iraq is a ship floating in a sea of oil!! This is because they [i.e. the imperialists] have transformed the [Iraqi] citizen into… merely a consumer, incapable of acting and changing, inert in all respects. Iraq does not take advantage of its own resources for a simple reason: People must be preoccupied with imaginary things, so that imperialism can consume these resources without being called to account. [Additionally], religion is one of the main things that the Jews have exploited in order to start a war of all against all, that is, religion against religion.

“This barbaric [Jewish] entity, that has gotten completely out of control, has no basis for existence. It was created… to distract the people from important affairs of state, and to clear the decks for the thieves and the bloody games in parliament, that are manipulated by the West to its heart’s content.

“The problem is that the people’s pan-Arab sentiment and sense of belonging have been destroyed by hunger, poverty, unnatural death, and the ideas sown in order to fully attain this objective. This is in addition to the years of intellectual and material siege experienced by [the people] under the most tyrannical dictator of all the Arab governments [i.e. Saddam Hussein].

“The [Jewish-Western] chessboard allows millions of stratagems for defeating their rival – and yes, that rival is that Iraqi who solicits [charitable] donations…. The rival is that grandmother collecting tin cans from the garbage dump and selling them to provide the bare minimum to sustain her martyred son’s orphans. The rival is those powerless women now for sale in the slave market. The rival is us, and anyone who thinks the fate of his country is important.

“The West has killed off nationalism and pan-Arabism in the Iraqi people; their voice goes unheard, and they have no government to represent them. [Yet] the [do-nothing] MPs can pass laws for their salaries the same day. The parliament is fertile ground for the plague-like spread of oppressive ideas! People who do not understand politics cannot be blamed for electing [such] representatives.

“As Hitler said: ‘Parliamentary government gives politicians an opportunity to carry out worthless tasks that preoccupy the political arena… This ensnares the hearts and besots the minds of the politicians, who benefit from their political posts. The moronic politician need not feel responsible for his actions, because he knows full well that he will not be in the political arena for long.’ …

“If we [the Iraqis] take a close look at the situation, we will clearly see the evil of the game that has been forced on us, or into which we have inserted ourselves. But even though everyone, or most, are aware of all the real and dangerous moves, they ignore them, claiming falsely that they do not notice them. What truly interests the people are legitimate material demands; what primarily interests politicians is stealing money and filling their Western bank accounts.

“We [Iraqis] are revolving around a single axis – the Jews. They are the first and last manipulator of their pawns among the Iraqi politicians and MPs. The only solution for Iraq is a genuine revolution; a student intifada will bring a better future if we place the voice of the homeland, the citizen, and civics above everything else;  subject ourselves to the law of reason and logic; raise the slogan of ‘Iraq and only Iraq,’ and at least for a while, set aside our secondary identities.”

Categories: Hitler, Iraq, Jews
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Palestinian terror spirals for Biden visit

March 8, 2016

Palestinian terror spirals for Biden visit, DEBKAfile, March 8, 2016

Israeli security and medics at the scene where two Israeli policemen were severely wounded in a shooting attack, with bullet wounds to the head. A Palestinian attacker driving a motorcycle opened fire at a group of Israeli Border Police officers at Salah Al-Din Street, near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. The Palestinian gunman was reported shot and badly wounded. March 08, 2016. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ????

Israeli security and medics at the scene where two Israeli policemen were severely wounded in a shooting attack, with bullet wounds to the head. A Palestinian attacker driving a motorcycle opened fire at a group of Israeli Border Police officers at Salah Al-Din Street, near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. The Palestinian gunman was reported shot and badly wounded. March 08, 2016. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash

Palestinian terrorist attacks came in quick succession Tuesday, March 8, from the morning of the arrival of US Vice President Joe Biden in Israel and after his landing that night.  A further escalation of terror is feared Wednesday when he arrives in Jerusalem to call on President Reuven Rivlin and hold talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The three knifing attacks in Jaffa, killing one civilian and injuring nine – some of them tourists – were perpetrated by a single terrorist not far from the venue of the Peres Center for Peace, where the US vice president was scheduled to deliver a lecture soon after his arrival.

Questions are being asked about why the police did not cordon off that part of Tel Aviv-Jaffa as a “sterile zone” ahead of Biden’s arrival.

The Jaffa killer was hunted down as he fled towards the Jaffa sea promenade.

Shortly before Biden landed at Ben Gurion Airport, three serious terrorist attacks were staged in Jerusalem and Petach Tikva near Tel Aviv. Altogether one Israeli was killed and 15 injured, including two gravely hurt Border Guards policemen in Jerusalem.

DEBKAfile’s counterterrorism sources maintain that it can no longer be claimed that the current wave of terror is caused by individuals acting spontaneously. This day’s violence was patently organized by a single Palestinian command center in order to synchronize with the visit to Israel of the American vice president – and not for the first time. During the Second Intifada, Palestinian terrorist organizations habitually staged outbreaks of extreme violence whenever a high-ranking US official visited Israel or Ramallah.

Categories: Biden, Israel, Palestinian terrorists
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Romney’s Attack on Trump Backfires: 31% ‘More Likely’ to Support GOP Frontrunner Now

March 8, 2016

Romney’s Attack on Trump Backfires: 31% ‘More Likely’ to Support GOP Frontrunner Now, Truth Revolt, Tiffany Gabbay, March 8, 2016

trump_romney

Echoing the sentiments of David Horowitz, I too had always considered Mitt Romney to be a decent man — perhaps not the strongest nor most conservative of the GOP leaders, but a class act in his own right. That notion was stretched to its limits, however, last week when the former Republican presidential candidate played party-attack dog in an effort to detail current frontrunner Donald Trump.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of Romney’s attack last week was its hypocrisy. Not four years prior, Romney was all too happy to take Donald Trump’s endorsement and hefty financial contribution while praising the real estate mogul’s business savvy and success.

What, then, could justify Romney’s complete about face without painting the failed Republican candidate as a complete user and hypocrite?

Apparently, nothing, as polls reveal.

In fact, Romney’s attack-plan backfired and in no small way.

A new Morning Consult survey taken between Friday and Sunday reveals that 31 percent of GOP voters say they are “more likely” to support Trump now, as a result of Romney’s Thursday attack.

Only 21 percent said they are “less likely” to back Trump following Romney’s speech.

With fewer candidates and a tough debate showing last week, Trump still remains in the lead. The NY Post cites a recent poll placing Trump at support levels of 34 compared to Ted Cruz at 25 percent, Marco Rubio with 18 percent and John Kasich at 13 percent.

Indeed, while the overall race is tightening, it seems the GOP’s concerted effort to derail Trump has turned the frontrunner, ironically, into the underdog.

 

Categories: Donald Trump, Mit Romney, Republicans
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Syria Ceasefire Already Collapsing

March 8, 2016

Syria Ceasefire Already Collapsing, Front Page Magazine, Joseph Klein, March 8, 2016

syria-bashar

The two week “cessation of hostilities” within Syria is about to run out. Negotiated by the United States and Russia, who were responsible for bringing the parties over which they have influence along, the lull was intended as a confidence building measure and as a way of getting critical humanitarian supplies to besieged and hard to reach areas of Syria. Talks between Syrian government and opposition representatives are supposed to resume in Geneva on March 9th.

Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the agreement to temporarily halt the violence in a conflict that has taken more than 250,000 lives as “a moment of promise.”  While there is evidence that the fighting has dropped noticeably overall since the cessation of hostilities went into effect on February 26, 2016, the violence never really stopped. On the second day alone of the lull, there were reportedly “35 breaches, 27 by violations by government forces, 8 by Russian forces,” according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

Airstrikes continued throughout Syria, some by Russia on the pretext that they were aimed at fighting ISIS and al Nusra. Rebel-held enclaves in and around Aleppo have come under particularly intense bombing attacks, said to be by Russian planes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said last Saturday that 135 people have lost their lives in areas where there was supposed to be a pause in hostilities. According to Israeli sources, the Syrian government has reportedly used chemical weapons against civilians since the cessation of hostilities were supposed to go into effect.

The United Nations has nevertheless been able to use the drop in hostilities to deliver some desperately needed humanitarian relief, although it has been stymied by bureaucratic obstacles put in the UN’s way by Syrian authorities. Sometimes, Syrian officials have gone so far as removing medical supplies from humanitarian convoys that had received permission to deliver their cargoes.

Perhaps the United States and Russia will push for an extension of the cessation of hostilities. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have called for a prompt resumption of the peace talks in Syria, which would be hard to assemble if fighting resumes full throttle. They are evidently hoping that the partial success of the lull in fighting so far will provide momentum for successful talks. If so, they are dreaming. Kerry in particular is relying on the fatally flawed road map to a negotiated political solution in Syria that was laid out in last December’s UN Security Council Resolution 2258 (2015).  As I wrote last December when the resolution was adopted, the players were simply kicking the can down the road to no avail.

The Syrian regime, with Russia’s help, has made major military gains on the ground in recent months. Momentum is on its side. The opposition groups are losing negotiating leverage every day as a result of the regime’s advances and the opposition’s own internal divisions. Though the opposition is at least united on calling for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down immediately, they are whistling in the wind. Assad has no reason to go as long as Russia and Iran remain willing to stand behind him.

Russia has clearly changed the whole strategic situation in Syria by showing its willingness to engage militarily to the extent necessary to keep Assad in power as long as he serves their purposes. Just as President Obama foolishly dismissed the ISIS threat early on, his dismissal of Russia’s determination and capabilities was premature, to say the least.

The Obama administration’s vacillations in its Syrian policies, which left vacuums for both ISIS and Russia to fill, are now limiting its options going forward. Even in the unlikely case that President Obama now believes that the introduction of a large number of U.S. ground troops has become necessary to fight ISIS, give a nudge to Assad to abdicate and help stabilize what is left of Syria, the American people would not support the prospect of another protracted conflict in the Middle East.

Moreover, the Obama administration cannot even lead the way among its own allies, much less bridge the gap with Russia and Iran who remain committed to Assad. The administration’s efforts to assemble a real coalition of Arab nations willing to commit major ground troops to fight ISIS in tandem with our stepped up airstrikes have gone nowhere. Saudi Arabia and Qatar do not appear willing to cut off the flow of arms and money to the jihadists, whether or not they belong to ISIS or al Nusra. Saudi Arabia is even insisting on which opposition groups should officially represent the opposition in the Geneva talks, with little apparent pushback from the Obama administration.

Turkey is presenting its own headaches for the Obama administration. Its strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Obama administration of adopting a policy that has turned the Mideast into “a sea of blood.” He was particularly upset that the U.S. is relying on Kurdish fighters in Syria to help take on ISIS. The Kurds have been among the most effective ground forces we have to push back ISIS from territories it controls. Erdogan, however, regards the Kurds as terrorists who are more dangerous than ISIS. He blocked the Syrian Kurds from having any official representation in the Geneva peace talks, and is asking the U.S. to choose between Turkey and the Kurds as allies. The way Erdogan has been acting the last several years, we should tell him that unless he starts to fully cooperate and subordinate his parochial concerns to the global fight against ISIS, we will be prepared to support an independent Kurdistan right on his border. That should get his attention.

In short, the cessation of hostilities interlude, even if extended, will do nothing to change the underlying dynamics preventing a viable peace accord leading to the kind of inclusive Syrian government the Obama administration would like to see. However, to the extent lives have been saved and humanitarian relief has been allowed to get through for the first time, the pause in fighting has been a good thing in itself.

Categories: Assad, Kerry, Obama and Syria, Russia - Syrian war, Syria ceasefire
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UK Megamosque Backs Persecution of Christians in Pakistan

March 8, 2016

UK Megamosque Backs Persecution of Christians in Pakistan, Front Page Magazine, Daniel Greenfield, March 8, 2016

UK megapreacher

When Muslim leaders in the UK make it clear that they want to see the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, what do they intend for the Christians and other non-Muslims in the UK? It’s a very good question that we all ought to think about.

Asia Bibi is a defenseless Pakistani Christian woman who was maliciously accused of “blasphemy” by her Muslim neighbors. They did this to settle a score after she committed the other “crime,” as a non-Muslim, of drinking water from the same cup as them. Asia was sentenced by Pakistan’s courts to death by hanging in 2010. She languishes in jail awaiting execution until this day. So far, so obscene.

Five years ago, Asia must have thought she had been given a lifeline. Imagine the delight felt by this powerless woman—for Christians are a tiny and discriminated against minority in Pakistan—when the governor of Pakistan’s largest province, the flamboyant secular Muslim, Salmaan Taseer, publicly took up her case…

In 2011 Salmaan Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri… Qadri came to be regarded as a hero by many Barelwi Pakistani Sufi Muslims for “defending” the “honor” of the Prophet Muhammad.

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world exist to lock in Muslim authority over non-Muslims. The Bibi case is typical. When Muslims speak of defending the honor of Mohammed, they really mean defending their own honor and their subjugation of non-Muslims. And in the UK, there’s plenty of support for Qadri.

One of Europe’s largest mosques, the Barelwi Sufi managed Ghamkol Sharif in Birmingham, UK, held a wake “in honor of the lover of the Prophet, Warrior Mumtaz Qadri, the martyr.”

Another Barelwi Imam, Muhammed Asim Hussain, whose verified Facebook page has been liked nearly 137,000 times, posted his position openly:

“A dark day in the history of Pakistan; the day Ghazi [warrior] Mumtaz was wrongfully executed and martyred in the way of Allah, when he did what he did in honor of the Prophet.”

A mainstream conservative Barelwi leader, Muhammad Masood Qadiri who presents a weekly show on Ummah TV, available on the Sky TV platform, doubled-down after hailing “warrior” Qadri as a “martyr”:

“This does not make me a terrorist sympathizer as I, along with millions of fellow Muslims do not accept that Gazi Mumtaz Qadri was a terrorist in the least. I have always been the first to condemn terrorism wherever in the world it takes place. I am also an Islamic religious minister. I therefore have a duty to express an opinion on fundamental matters concerning Islam and on this occasion, the crime of blasphemy.… As for having travelled to the funeral of Gazi Mumtaz Qadri, along with hundreds of thousands of others who also attended, I am not at all ashamed of this.”

If you believe in killing people in the name of Islam… you are a terrorist. It’s that simple. Any supporter of Qadri should be treated as a supporter of Islamic Supremacist terrorism.

Ghamkol Sharif is one of the UK’s megamosques. It can fit in 5,000 people. It’s one of those “moderate” megamosques though. And doesn’t at all want its support for murdering anyone who defends Christians to be viewed as “extremism”.

“Some are equating honouring Mumtaz Qadri to extremism. The issue must be holistically understood before any judgements are made,” the megamosque posted on Facebook.

Because when you shoot someone. You should understand that holistically.

The victim who was murdered for trying to protect a Christian woman, “while being aware of the strong religious sentiments of the Pakistani Muslims, he said the law- regardless of how it was applied- was a ‘Black Law’ and compared it to his excrement.” And so naturally his Jihadist killer, “is being hailed a hero not just for standing up to what he believed in but as a victim of a system that should have been fair. Comparing this case to terrorism and extremism is an absurdity.”

Sure. It’s absurd to compare terrorism to terrorism.

This is the Islamofascist infrastructure that has set up shop in the UK that justifies murder for blasphemy. Under these conditions, freedom of speech and religion becomes structurally impossible. The UK must choose between these and Islamic supremacism.

Categories: Islam and Christianity, Islamisation, Multiculturalism, Pakistan, UK
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Israel blasts Iran’s new cash-for-terrorists scheme aimed at rewarding families of ‘martyrs’

March 8, 2016

Source: Israel blasts Iran’s new cash-for-terrorists scheme aimed at rewarding families of ‘martyrs’ | Fox News

By

Published February 25, 2016

At least 32 Israelis and one Palestinian have been murdered, andmore than 100 suspected terrorists killed by authorities in the the wave of violence that began in September. (Reuters)

At least 32 Israelis and one Palestinian have been murdered, andmore than 100 suspected terrorists killed by authorities in the the wave of violence that began in September. (Reuters)

Iran’s new cash-incentive plan for “martyrs” who strike in Jerusalem is proof the Islamic Republic intends to spend billions reaped in the recent nuclear deal on terrorism, Israeli officials told FoxNews.com Thursday.

Already identified as the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism, Iran will now pay the equivalent of $7,000 “to every family of a martyr of the intifada in Jerusalem,” Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon said Wednesday at a news conference in Beirut. What’s more, Tehran will pay $30,000 to the family of any terrorist whose home gets bulldozed by Israel, a tactic the Jewish state has employed in the West Bank to deter attacks.

“Iran continues to sow terror throughout the world and is fueling the flames of Palestinian terror and incitement.”

– Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to UN

“This demonstrates again Iran’s role in encouraging terror,” Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry told FoxNews.com. “Following the nuclear agreement, Iran continues being a major player in international terror.”

The Iranian diplomat, Mohammad Fathali, giddily unveiled the new scheme to benefit the families of terrorists involved in the ongoing uprising in Jerusalem, which began on Sept. 13, 2015. So far, 32 Israelis and one Palestinian have been murdered, and 357 people injured. The latest figures issued by Israel show 188 stabbings, 75 shootings and 39 vehicle attacks. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed during the same period by Israeli security forces and armed members of the Israeli public, with most reportedly shot while carrying out attacks.

المؤتمر الصحفي لتنفيذ إعلان طهران دعم انتفاضة القدسIranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fatahali, (center), makes announcement at press conference in Beirut. (Screenshot/TheAlgemeiner)

Attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians and military personnel continue to take place on a near-daily basis, and with no condemnation from either the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority or the Hamas government in Gaza. On the contrary, attackers are routinely referred to as “martyrs” in Palestinian state media, and many have had streets and public buildings named in their honor.

Paying stipends to the families of terrorists killed attacking Israelis was pioneered by Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi dictator told a TV audience in March 2002 he would pay $25,000 to the families of deceased Palestinian suicide bombers. Less than a week later, a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up in Jerusalem’s Moment Café, killing 11 Israelis and seriously wounding 16 more. Just three months later, the mother of the suicide bomber received a check from Hussein, as promised, for $25,000.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday urged the international community to speak out against Iran’s latest plan.

“Iran continues to sow terror throughout the world and is fueling the flames of Palestinian terror and incitement,” Danon wrote in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. “If the UN is really interested in bringing calm to our region, they must cut off the flow of Iranian financial support of terrorism.”

Also on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned that Iran intends to sponsor terror on the streets of Europe and the United States.

“The Iranian regime, through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps, is building a complex terror infrastructure, including [sleeper] cells that are stockpiling arms, intelligence and operatives, and are ready to act on order, including in Europe and America,” Ya’alon said.

The U.S.-brokered agreement between six world powers and Iran, finalized earlier this year, gave Tehran access to an estimated $100 billion of previously frozen funds in exchange for Iran pledging to drop its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Israel has already charged Iran is shipping more weaponry to its Lebanon-based proxy army, Hezbollah, which is believed to have thousands of missiles – both short and medium range – aimed at the Jewish state.

Paul Alster is an Israel-based journalist. Follow him on Twitter @paul_alster and visit his website: www.paulalster.com.

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Israel’s Netanyahu cancels US visit, catching White House off guard

March 8, 2016

Source: Israel’s Netanyahu cancels US visit, catching White House off guard | Fox News

Published March 08, 2016

March 6, 2016: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

March 6, 2016: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

The Obama administration said Monday that it was “surprised” to learn that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled a planned visit to Washington later this month, and denied an Israeli media report that claimed the White House was unable to arrange a meeting between President Obama and Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s visit had been planned to coincide with the American-Israel Political Affairs Committee’s annual conference. The White House said Israel had proposed for the two leaders to meet on either March 17 or 18 and the U.S. had offered to meet on March 18.

“We were surprised to first learn via media reports that the Prime Minister, rather than accept our invitation, opted to cancel his visit,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday. “Reports that we were not able to accommodate the Prime Minister’s schedule are false.”

A report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited sources close to Netanyahu who claimed “no appropriate time” could be found to hold the meeting.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday that Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. informed the White House last week there was a “good chance” Netanyahu would not make the trip.

An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, told the Associated Press Netanyahu wanted to avoid meetings with presidential candidates.

The unusually pointed pushback from the White House was the latest signal of ongoing tensions between the U.S. and its closest Mideast ally, which have never fully recovered since Obama incensed Netanyahu’s government by pursuing and then enacting a nuclear deal with Iran. The flare-up comes just days before Vice President Joe Biden is set to meet with Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem.

This isn’t the first time Obama had been caught off guard by Netanyahu’s travel plans. Last year, the White House accused Netanyahu of a breach of longstanding diplomatic protocol when he announced plans to speak to a joint session of Congress without consulting or notifying the president. Netanyahu used that speech to implore U.S. lawmakers to reject the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel sees as emboldening its archenemy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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