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HUMPHRIES: Our troops are political pawns to the Obama administration

July 20, 2016

HUMPHRIES: Our troops are political pawns to the Obama administration

By Rusty Humphries – – Thursday, June 5, 2014

Source: HUMPHRIES: Our troops are political pawns to the Obama administration – Washington Times

 

H/T L.S

Democrats never miss a chance to proclaim their love for the troops, but you can see from the Bowe Bergdahl story that it’s a very qualified sort of love.

Within two days of speaking up about the conditions of Bergdahl’s disappearance — pretty clearly not the battlefield capture of a war hero the Obama Administration portrayed it as — White House aides were slandering every man who served with Bergdahl for “swift boating” him.

Now, “swift boating” has a very specific meaning to Democrats. The term comes from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Vietnam vets who spoke out against falsehoods and distortions peddled by John Kerry during his presidential run. It’s an article of religious faith on the Left that the Swift Boat Veterans were somehow “discredited,” even though the majority of their criticisms were right on target and Kerry was forced to retract some of his more fanciful war stories. When a liberal talks about “swift boating,” he means unfair attacks launched by partisan operatives.

Unfortunately for the White House, the media is tugging at the threads of its story as it unravels. The Washington Post got in touch with some of the Afghan villagers who encountered Bergdahl after he left his post, and they confirmed he was not captured in battle. It seemed pretty clear he was trying to find the Taliban. Some of the villagers thought he was crazy, or maybe smoking hashish. I guess that whole village must be full of “swift boaters.”

It’s also been reported that troops involved in the search for Bergdahl over the past five years were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements. Something similar was done with survivors of the Benghazi attacks.

One man who served alongside Bergdahl, former Army Spc. Josh Fuller, said everyone in the unit knew Bergdahl had deserted but they were instructed not to tell the truth about it. That’s some awesome love and respect for the troops there.

Military commanders and intelligence officials protested the release of the five incredibly dangerous Taliban captives President Obama traded away. You can also watch my exclusive interview with the former “warden” at Gitmo, Col. Mike Bumgarner (ret.) to hear his personal stories of these detainees and why they are a danger.

A source at the Pentagon told Time magazine that Obama’s release of the prisoners was a victory for White House and State Department officials who wanted the military to “suck it up and salute.”

“Suck it up and salute.” Feel the love, soldiers of America!

It’s not difficult for most Americans to choose between troops who served in Afghanistan and Obama’s team of political hacks when it’s time to decide who knows the real story about Bergdahl. The White House lied about nearly every detail of the Taliban prisoner swap, and it’s all coming apart at the seams around them, faster than any scandal of the past six years has ever exploded.

This was supposed to be a distraction from the VA scandal. Instead, it reinforced everything bad for Obama about that story, and contains echoes of Benghazi too — right down to National Security Adviser Susan Rice getting sent onto Sunday talk shows to lie about how Bergdahl “served with distinction” and was captured in battle.

Military vets and their families were supposed to shut up and play their parts as pawns in Obama’s latest political game. They didn’t play along, so now they’re under attack from liberals. They don’t like pawns who talk back.

I don’t believe our soldiers should ever be treated as pawns. These men and women put their lives on the line for our country and deserve the respect that goes along with it. Not to be used, to get some politician out of the news for a few days.

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Turkey Set for Emergency Measures to Quell Post-Coup Turmoil

July 20, 2016

Turkey Set for Emergency Measures to Quell Post-Coup Turmoil

BY:
July 20, 2016 10:39 am

Source: Turkey Set for Emergency Measures to Quell Post-Coup Turmoil

By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey will announce emergency measures on Wednesday to try to shore up stability and prevent damage to the economy as it purges thousands of members of the security forces, judiciary, civil service and academia after an abortive coup.

Around 50,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the military coup attempt, raising tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria’s chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State.

Academics were banned from traveling abroad on Wednesday in what a Turkish official said was a temporary measure to prevent the risk of alleged coup plotters in universities from fleeing. State TRT television said 95 academics had been removed from their posts at Istanbul University alone.

“Universities have always been crucial for military juntas in Turkey and certain individuals are believed to be in contact with cells within the military,” the official said.

President Tayyip Erdogan blames the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for Friday night’s attempted coup, in which more than 230 people were killed as soldiers commandeered fighters jets, military helicopters and tanks to try to overthrow the government.

Erdogan has vowed to clean the “virus” responsible for the plot from all state institutions. The depth and scale of the purges have raised concern among Western allies that Erdogan is trying to suppress all dissent, and that opponents unconnected with the plot will be caught in the net.

He will chair meetings in his palace on Wednesday of the cabinet and the National Security Council, after which a series of emergency measures are expected to be announced.

In a sign of how shaken Turkey’s leadership has been by the coup attempt, with dozens of generals arrested as well as Erdogan’s aide de camp, government ministers and top officials have not been briefed in advance of the meetings.

“The cabinet meeting is classified at the highest level for national security reasons. The palace will give ministers a dossier just beforehand,” one senior official told Reuters.

“Ministers do not yet know what is going to be discussed.”

Around a third of Turkey’s roughly 360 serving generals have been detained since the coup bid, a second senior official said, with 99 charged pending trial and 14 more being held.

The threat of prolonged instability in a NATO member country, which had not seen a violent military coup for more than three decades, has shaken investors’ confidence.

The lira hit a 10-month low in early trade on Wednesday, touching 3.063 to the dollar. The Istanbul stock index is down 8 percent so far this week, its worst three-day performance since 2013. The cost of insuring Turkish debt against default rose to its highest in nearly a month, according to data from Markit.

Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told Reuters a priority in the measures to be discussed on Wednesday would be preventing damage to the economy. He also said on Twitter they would be “market-friendly” and would prioritize structural reform.

MILITARY CHIEF REFUSED TO BACK COUP BID

Around 1,400 people were wounded as soldiers commandeered tanks, attack helicopters and warplanes, strafing parliament and the intelligence headquarters and trying to seize the main airport and bridges in Istanbul.

At the height of the abortive coup, the rebel pilots of two F-16 fighter jets had Erdogan’s plane in their sights as he returned to Istanbul from a holiday on the coast. Erdogan said he was almost killed or captured by the mutineers.

In testimony published by the Hurriyet newspaper and corroborated by a Turkish official, an infantry lieutenant-colonel said the coup plotters had tried to persuade military chief Hulusi Akar, who was being held hostage, to join the effort to overthrow Erdogan but that he had refused.

“When he refused, they couldn’t convince the senior commanders either. Akar’s refusal to be a part of this paved the way for the failure of the coup attempt,” the written transcript published by the newspaper said.

Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, ministers, senior commanders and generals had been due to be taken one by one during the night of the coup bid, the testimony said.

Turkey’s Western allies have expressed solidarity with the government over the coup attempt but have also voiced increasing alarm at the scale and swiftness of the response, urging it to adhere to democratic values.

On Tuesday, authorities shut down media outlets deemed to be supportive of Gulen and said 15,000 people had been suspended from the education ministry along with 100 intelligence officials. A further 492 people were removed from duty at the Religious Affairs Directorate, 257 at the prime minister’s office and 300 at the energy ministry.

Those moves come after the detention of more than 6,000 members of the armed forces, from foot soldiers to commanders, and the suspension of close to 3,000 judges and prosecutors. About 8,000 police officers, including in the capital Ankara and the biggest city Istanbul, have also been removed.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, voiced “serious alarm” on Tuesday at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors and urged Turkey to allow independent monitors to visit those who have been detained.

The foreign ministry has said criticism of the government’s response amounts to backing the coup.

TENSIONS WITH U.S.

Erdogan’s spokesman said on Tuesday the government was preparing a formal request to the United States for the extradition of Gulen. U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the status of Gulen in a telephone call with Erdogan on Tuesday, the White House said, urging Ankara to show restraint as it pursues those responsible for the coup attempt.

Seventy-five-year-old Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania but has a network of supporters within Turkey, has condemned the abortive coup and denied any role in it.

A former ally-turned critic of Erdogan, he suggested the president staged it as an excuse for a crackdown after a steady accumulation of control during 14 years in power.

Prime Minister Yildirim accused Washington, which has said it will consider Gulen’s extradition only if clear evidence is provided, of double standards in its fight against terrorism.

Yildirim said the justice ministry had sent a dossier to U.S. authorities on Gulen, whose religious movement blends conservative Islamic values with a pro-Western outlook and who has a network of supporters within Turkey.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed Ankara had filed materials in electronic form with the U.S. government, which officials were reviewing. Any extradition request from Turkey, once submitted, would be evaluated under the terms of a treaty between the two countries, he added.

Such a request would face legal and political hurdles in the United States. Even if approved by a judge, it would still have to go to Secretary of State John Kerry, who can consider non-legal factors, such as humanitarian arguments.

“I urge the U.S. government to reject any effort to abuse the extradition process to carry out political vendettas,” Gulen said on Tuesday in a statement issued by the Alliance for Shared Values, a group associated with the cleric.

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Turkish Civil War

July 20, 2016

Turkish Civil War

3 days ago

Source: Turkish Civil War – Liberty Vibe

What is really going on in Turkey’s Civil War?
Two Muslim factions are fighting each other for control.

Obama’s friend Tayyip Erdagon is the recognized ruler of Turkey. These two gentlemen are also NATO allies. Erdogan is known for having ties with the Muslim brotherhood. Endrogan ties to Muslim Brotherhood

Fethulllah Gulen is a Muslim cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. He is the assumed leader of the military coup that occurred on July 16th. He is also the founder of Harmony and Magnolia STEM charter schools in America. Reports have been leaking for some time now that these schools are front organizations for radicalizing American school children, into Gelen’s cultish version of Islam. American parents believe they are giving their children a leg up in academics at these schools. They have no idea what is really going on. These charter schools are taxpayer funded, and largely employ H1 B workers from… you guessed it…Turkey. As stated before, Obama is friends with Erdogan. But it is not uncommon for the United States to lend assistance in both sides in foreign conflicts. Keep in mind that Gelen’s Harmony schools are a huge contributor to Hillary’s campaign. I think Erdagon senses a double cross.Islamic Cleric tied to Clinton Foundation

 

Erdogan and Gelen are rivals, and Erdogan has stated that Gelen is responsible for Turkish coup, and is demanding Gelen’s extradition back to Turkey.

Erdogan has closed the Incirlik Military Airport in Turkey from American use until Gelen is returned. He is also holding 1500 US servicemen hostage. Mainstream media is telling us that this is the airport that Turkey allows us to use to fight Isis. This however is not the real reason why the closure of this airport is a problem.

US to keep nukes in Turkey

The real reason is the NATO agreement the United States has with Turkey: You see, one of the benefits of being in NATO is the “sharing” of nuclear weapons. Turkey has been kind enough to be the storage facility of many of NATO’s nukes. Currently, Turkey is housing upwards of 90 of these nuclear weapons in a facility in this airport. In short, Turkey is holding these weapons “hostage” until they get what they want from us.

 

image

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Top Trump advisor to ‘Post’: Settlement annexation legitimate if Palestinian Authority continues to avoid real peace – US Elections – Jerusalem Post

July 20, 2016

Top Trump advisor to ‘Post’: Settlement annexation legitimate if PA continues to avoid real peace

By DANIELLE ZIRI \

07/19/2016 21:10

Source: Top Trump advisor to ‘Post’: Settlement annexation legitimate if Palestinian Authority continues to avoid real peace – US Elections – Jerusalem Post

Trump sees in Netanyahu “all the things that were lacking in Obama,” David Friedman says.

CLEVELAND – Israeli annexation of settlements in the West Bank could be viewed by a Trump administration as a legitimate way for Israel to move forward if the Palestinians continue to avoid a real and genuine peace deal, David Friedman, a senior advisor to Donald Trump, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Speaking as the Republican Party convention entered its second day in Cleveland, Friedman, who advises Trump on matters related to Israel, said that in his view, settlements in the West Bank were not illegal and were not the real impediment to peace with the Palestinians.

“The impediment to peace is very clear in both of our minds and that is the failure of the Palestinians to renounce hatred and renounce violence,” Friedman said. “Everything else is barely important.”

Friedman, a Manhattan-based attorney for Donald Trump and president of the American Friends of Bet El Institutions who serves as an Israel advisor to Trump alongside Jason Greenblatt, told the Post that in his view annexation of the settlements would be a legitimate way for Israel to move forward.

“If there is no agreement with the Palestinians, Israel has to move forward and maybe there is another path and a better path that is not a two-state solution and obviously under those circumstances that [annexation D.Z.] is certainly an option,” he said “I don’t know when or if that would be implemented but it’s certainly not a third rail in terms of options. It is certainly a legitimate possibility.”

Friedman went on to say that a one-state solution was also a viable option for ending the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

What I’m saying is a two-state solution is not the only solution. It’s failed in the past and I think it’s reasonable to consider any other alternatives people of good faith may propose,” he said. “A two-state solution might be a solution. It could work, but it’s not the only solution.”

The one-state idea was a viable solution, he said, since Israel was recognized as a protector of minority rights.

“So I think they have a wonderful track record to import into Judea and Samaria,” he said. “Second of all, the demographics with regard to the entire region are trending in a way that – according to the most credible demographic report – a one state solution would not deprive Israel of its Jewish character.”

According to Friedman, the best solution for the conflict is for the Palestinians to stop killing Israelis.

“The question is: Are people going to kill each other? And let me be clear – the Palestinians have to stop killing the Jews, because that’s where all this violence is initiating,” he said. “Do people have to keep trying? If you have a stomach ache, and you went to 10 different doctors and they all gave you the same medicine and after that you still have a sick stomach, you probably will start thinking about a different medicine or doctor, no?”

Under Trump, Friedman said, the Israeli-American alliance would look 180 degrees different than it has been for the past eight years under President Barack Obama.

“The first and most basic is the presumption on the part of president Trump that Israel actually knows what it is doing, and that Israel wants peace and the people of Israel desperately want peace,” he said. “I think we presume that they want peace and will know the best way to achieve peace and therefore there is no need to pressure them or impose any conditions on them or against their wishes, begin any summits, initiatives, conference that they are not ready for.  That is the first major philosophical difference – Israel knows what is best for Israel.”

He said he was also confident that Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would develop a strong relationship.

“The relationship will be far different and better at the core because there’s going to be a high level of mutual respect,” he said.

“On our side of things – Trump has great respect for Bibi. He sees in Bibi all the things that were lacking in Obama…I think Bibi and Trump have a similar view of the world: The United States and – to a similar extent Israel – have to deal with their enemies from a position of strength. Obama deals from a position of weakness and apology, from a position of conceding whenever necessary. I think Trump recoils from that approach and I think Bibi is the same way. I think they would get along great. They have a very similar world view,” he added.

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Chris Christie plays judge, jury and executioner at RNC (Full speech)

July 20, 2016

Chris Christie plays judge, jury, and executioner at RNC (Full speech), NJ.com via YouTube, July 19, 2016

Categories: 2016 elections, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Republican National Convention
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A Big Night for Republicans

July 20, 2016

A Big Night for Republicans, Power Line, John Hinderaker, July 19, 2016

Trump wasn’t my first choice for the nomination, or my second or fifth, or tenth. I labored pretty hard to help others get the nomination. But Trump was, obviously, the story of the election season. He may be an imperfect vessel, but he speaks powerfully to a great many Americans. For myself, I am feeling unified behind the nominee these days.

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Day two of the Republican convention was a success. The first speaker I saw was Tiffany Trump. I read somewhere that Tiffany was the weak link in the family, I guess because she is Marla Maples’ daughter. In fact, she was great–a 22-year-old (or so) graduate of Penn, she was cool as a cucumber, and her speech was terrific. My wife, whose emotional intelligence is superior to mine, pointed out that Tiffany told the sorts of personal anecdotes that warm peoples’ attitudes toward Donald, and that Melania didn’t. It was a remarkable performance by an intelligent and poised young Republican.

She was followed by Chris Christie. Christie has taken a fair amount of abuse lately, but he is a formidable guy. Let me put it this way: for four decades, I was a litigator. I spent years of my life in court, tried over 100 jury cases, took thousands of depositions and argued hundreds if not thousands of motions. And I would not have liked to go up against Chris Christie. He is very, very good.

Christie put Hillary Clinton on trial. Maybe there was a teleprompter somewhere, but Christie wasn’t using it. He was on a roll, indicting Hillary for one failure, disaster or lie after another. The convention audience pronounced her guilty, bringing to mind the old Doonesbury cartoon:

guilty

Christie’s indictment was overwhelming, so Democratic commentators no doubt scrambled to term his speech dark, overly intense, too negative, and so on. I just hope millions were watching.

After Christie, Donald Trump Jr. took the stage. He spoke longer than his sister Tiffany, and was more nervous. But he did a very good job. He portrayed his father as a sort of blue-collar hero, and pointed out that Hillary Clinton is the first presidential candidate who couldn’t pass a background check. (That is true, actually, not hyperbole.) The Fox commentators thought Trump Jr. was dynamite; I wasn’t quite that impressed by him, but no doubt he moved the ball forward for the GOP.

trump kidsTiffany Trump and Donald Trump, Jr.

Ben Carson wrapped up the evening, but by the time he took the stage delegates were on their way out to enjoy, I guess, the pleasures of Cleveland’s night life. Dr. Carson did fine, I think, but I confess that I started this post before he was done.

It was a good night, because of the combination of Christie’s fiery denunciation of the eminently vulnerable Hillary and two very good appearances by members of the Trump family. Maybe liberals will be able to find words in Donald Jr’s speech that were previously uttered by a Democrat: “a,” “the,” “and,” who knows. But I doubt that they will be able to blunt the positive effect of the evening’s festivities.

A key goal of the convention is to unite the Republican Party behind Donald Trump. Trump wasn’t my first choice for the nomination, or my second or fifth, or tenth. I labored pretty hard to help others get the nomination. But Trump was, obviously, the story of the election season. He may be an imperfect vessel, but he speaks powerfully to a great many Americans. For myself, I am feeling unified behind the nominee these days.

Categories: 2016 elections, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Republican National Convention, Trump family
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Did Erdogan Stage the Coup?

July 20, 2016

Did Erdogan Stage the Coup?, Clarion Project, Meira Svirsky and William Reed, July 20, 2016

turkey coup busA leader of the ‘coup’ is arrested by Erdogan’s intelligence agency. (Photo: Video screenshot)

The European Union commissioner in charge of Turkey’s bid, Johannes Hahn, to join the EU echoed these sentiments, saying, “It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage,” Hahn said. “I’m very concerned. It is exactly what we feared.”

[M]ost Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey of which there are 2.7 million, are sympathizers of ISIS. “As opposed to what is thought,” Gezici said, “60 percent of the Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey have come to Turkey fleeing Syrian head of state Bashar al-Assad. And a large majority of this group sees ISIS as a savior; they have sympathy for it.”

*********************

In the aftermath of the attempted coup in Turkey Friday night, thousands of teachers as well as police, military personnel, judges, governors and more have been dismissed.  The list includes:

  • 21,000 private teachers have licenses removed
  • 15,000 suspended from education ministry
  • 8,000 police officers detained or suspended
  • 6,000 soldiers detained
  • 1,500 staff at Ministry of Finance dismissed
  • 2,745 judges dismissed
  • 1,577 deans – Education board demands resignation
  • 492 sacked from Religious Affairs Directorate
  • 399 from Ministry of Family and Social Policies stripped of responsibilities
  • 257 fired from the prime minister’s office
  • 100 intelligence officials sacked
  • 47 district governors dismissed
  • 30 provincial governors dismissed
  • 20 news websites blocked

In addition, public sector employees have reportedly been forbidden from leaving the country.

The alacrity with which the above thousands  were either arrested or purged from their position, has led many to assume that Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan had prepared the lists before the coup.

The European Union commissioner in charge of Turkey’s bid, Johannes Hahn, to join the EU echoed these sentiments, saying, “It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage,” Hahn said. “I’m very concerned. It is exactly what we feared.”

Moreover, many dubious circumstances surrounding the coup have led others to question whether the coup was, in fact staged, to allow Erdogan to execute these purges and declare a state of emergency where authoritarian rule will be imposed on the country.

These circumstances include the fact that the coup’s plotters:

Failed to seize power

  • Neither Erdogan nor any members of the cabinet or high-ranking officials of Erdogan’s Islamist AK party were detained or killed.
  • Sent commandos to the hotel where Erdogan was staying after he had already left.
  • Erdogan’s $600 million presidential palace was not attacked or occupied.
  • Erdogan’s plane was not intercepted or shot down as he flew back to Istanbul, despite the fact that top generals in the Air Force were involved in the plot.
  • Coup plotters occupied Ataturk International Airport but left before Erdogan’s plane landed.
  • Attacked the parliament building, which was all but empty at the time.

Failed to seize control of media

  • After initially taking control of the state’s TRT station and CNN Turk, the plotters immediately relinquished control of these news outlets back to the government, which allowed Erdogan to leverage appeal to his followers to take to the streets in support of the government.

Whether the coup was staged or Erdogan received a tip-off about it, as other have suggested, he was able to bring the Islamist “street” out in force to support him. The fact that the Turkish public seems to be becoming increasingly radicalized is borne out by a recent poll taken in Turkey in May of this year.

According to a May poll of the Gezici Research Company, close to 1 in 5 people in Turkey (19.7 percent) support the Islamic State and over 23 percent have sympathy for it.

The poll, which was conducted face-to-face with 2,455 Turkish citizens in 24 cities,  also indicates that Turkish support for ISIS has increased 100 % in the last 2 years.

The owner of the research company that conducted the poll, Murat Gezici, explained the surprising results. “95 percent of Turkey’s population is Muslim. And a large majority of them are pious and conservative,” Gezici said.

“At the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, a German tourist group was targeted. In Suruc, leftists were targeted. The attack at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport took place at its international terminal,” he added. “The conservatives in Turkey see that Muslims are not targeted in the attacks that are told by official sources to have been carried out by ISIS.”

Gezici also said that most Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey of which there are 2.7 million, are sympathizers of ISIS. “As opposed to what is thought,” Gezici said, “60 percent of the Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey have come to Turkey fleeing Syrian head of state Bashar al-Assad. And a large majority of this group sees ISIS as a savior; they have sympathy for it.”

In 2015, the Gezici Research Company was raided by government inspectors after releasing an opinion poll and its pollsters were detained after releasing results of an opinion poll showing that Turkey’s ruling party would losing votes in an upcoming election.

“Police told our surveyors that they were not authorized for the field study. In reality, we have had all licenses for political, economic and market studies since 2011,” said Gezici at the time.

Meanwhile, jihadi propaganda is becoming more and more common in the Turkish Islamist media. In just one example, Misvak, an Islamist “humor” magazine known to be close to the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party), recently published a cartoon praising the Islamic State.

These current statistics as well as recent events challenge the myth that Turkey is a secular, democratic state worthy of Western support, NATO membership and an appropriate candidate for EU membership.

In truth, the history of Turkey is not foreign to Islamic State-like atrocities  and has witnessed tremendous persecution of religious minorities – including the Yazidis, Christians, Alevis, Jews and others.

From the 1915 Armenian genocide, to the 1937 Dersim Alevi massacres, the 1955 anti-Greek pogroms in Istanbul, the 1978 massacre of Alevis in Maras and the 1980 massacre of Alevis in Corum, among others, many Turkish governments and a considerable part of the Turkish society have carried out brutal crimes against their minority citizens.

Religious violence is largely endemic to political Islam. Doubtlessly, the Islamic State is a huge threat to human rights and liberties worldwide, but Islamist crimes should not be restricted to this terror group only.

Analyzing the history of Islamist crimes against non-Muslims – both in Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world – as well as the Islamic doctrine of jihad would give us a better insight into why many Muslims can so easily feel sympathy for a horrific group like ISIS and why many pious Muslims can even see ISIS as a source of humor.

Categories: Erdogan, Islam in Turkey, Islamic refugees, Islamic State, Turkey's failed coup
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‘Bloody massacres’: Syria appeals to UN after French & US airstrikes ‘kill over 140 civilians’

July 20, 2016

‘Bloody massacres’: Syria appeals to UN after French & US airstrikes ‘kill over 140 civilians’

Published time: 20 Jul, 2016 12:09 Edited time: 20 Jul, 2016 12:11

Source: ‘Bloody massacres’: Syria appeals to UN after French & US airstrikes ‘kill over 140 civilians’ — RT News

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle © US AIR FORCE / Reuters

Syria is demanding the UN take action after it says French war planes killed more than 120 civilians during airstrikes on Tuesday near the Turkish-Syrian border. The deaths came just a day after US air assaults killed a further 20 people in Manbij.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to the UN secretary general and to the president of the UN Security Council, which at present is Japan.

Damascus wants the organization to look into atrocities committed by France, which is a member of the US-led international coalition, after it targeted the village of Toukhan Al-Kubra, located near the Turkish-Syrian border and the city of Manbij.

https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/755359880022601728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“The French unjust aggression claimed the lives of more than 120 civilians, most of them are children, women and elderly, in addition to tens of wounded citizens, the majority of them are also children and women as reports say that the fate of scores of other civilians who still under debris are unknown too,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry wrote, as cited by the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The mass death toll in Toukhan Al-Kubra came just a day after US war planes killed around 20 people, mainly women and children, while many more were injured in and around the city of Manbij, the Foreign Ministry states.

“The government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemns, with the strongest terms, the two bloody massacres perpetrated by the French and US warplanes and those affiliated to the so-called international coalition which send their missiles and bombs to the civilians instead of directing them to the terrorist gangs… Syria also affirms that those who want to combat terrorism seriously should coordinate with the Syrian government and army,” the ministry added.

In the letter, the Syrian Foreign Ministry added that it condemns the continued support by the US, France, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Qatar to terrorist organizations such as Al-Nusra Front and Jaish Al-Islam, despite these groups having clear links to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Qaeda.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International also hit out at the US-led coalition, saying that it needs to do more to prevent the deaths of civilians.

“Anyone responsible for violations of international humanitarian law must be brought to justice and victims and their families should receive full reparation,” Amnesty’s interim Middle East director Magdalena Mughrabi said, as cited by Reuters.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense says that it is aware of the loss of civilian life in Syria.

“We are aware of reports alleging civilian casualties near Manbij, Syria, recently. As with any allegation we receive, we will review any information we have about the incident,” Matthew Allen said in a statement.

“We take all measures during the targeting process to avoid or minimize civilian casualties or collateral damage and to comply with the principles of the Law of Armed Conflict,” he added.

 

https://amp.twimg.com/v/a918350f-8013-4f34-bcfc-b82f18a6180a

The US-led coalition has been providing air support to the rebel group the Syrian Arab Coalition, which is involved in heavy fighting around the city of Manbij, currently under the control of Islamic State.

The terrorist group has been in control of the city since it seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.

In an interview with NBC News last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that the US is not interested in defeating terrorists in Syria as it really wants “to control and use them.”

“The reality is telling that, since the beginning of the American airstrikes, terrorism has been expanding and prevailing,” he told the channel, specifying that “during the American and alliance airstrikes, ISIS was expanding and taking over new areas in Syria.”

“It’s about being serious, having the will. The United States doesn’t have the will to defeat the terrorists. It had the will to control them and to use them as a card, like they did in Afghanistan. That will reflect on the military aspect of the issue,” Assad said.

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Syria post near Golan border bombed, unclear if Israel involved

July 20, 2016

Syria post near Golan border bombed, unclear if Israel involved IDF declines to comment on report of jets hitting Assad government-held building near Quneitra; Hezbollah points finger at Nusra Front

By Ilan Ben Zion

July 20, 2016, 1:33 pm

Source: Syria post near Golan border bombed, unclear if Israel involved | The Times of Israel

Smoke rises following an explosion in Syria’s Quneitra province as Syrian rebels clash with President Bashar Assad’s forces, seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in 2014. (AP/Ariel Schalit, File)

A Syrian government building near the Golan border was bombed Wednesday, with some reports initially attributing the attack to Israel.

However, Hezbollah and several Arab media outlets indicated the building in Medinat al-Ba’ath had been attacked by rebel groups.

 It wasn’t immediately clear what purpose the building served, or whether it was occupied at the time of the strike. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the planes targeted Hezbollah operatives in the area.

The Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news agency denied the accuracy of reports attributing the bombing to Israeli airstrikes in Syria, quoting Hezbollah saying the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front launched rockets at Quneitra, inflicting casualties.

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, meanwhile, claimed Free Syrian Army forces fired rockets at Assad forces in Medinat al-Ba’ath.

The Syrian Qasioun news agency claimed that the building was an Assad government command post that may have been used for Hezbollah activities.

There was no immediate response to the reports in the Syrian official news agency and the IDF Spokesman’s Unit said it didn’t comment on reports regarding Israeli strikes in Syria.

Shortly after the reported strike, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria reported that Assad government helicopters bombed the nearby towns of Umm Batna and Ajraf.

Syrian Army artillery then were said to target and destroy Nusra Front positions in response to the reported rocket attacks on Medinat al-Ba’ath.

Earlier in the day, gunfire hit an army post near the Israeli town of Metulla on the Lebanon border. The IDF said it was investigating but believed the bullets to be stray fire from across the border.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked 10 years since the Second Lebanon War with Hezbollah by warning that “if the need arises, we will respond to aggression — and the response will be powerful. Whoever thinks they will find ‘spiderwebs’ here will get… an iron fist.”

He was alluding to a 2000 speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in which he called the Jewish state “feebler than a spiderweb.”

Israel has maintained an official policy of nonintervention in the Syrian civil war, which has wracked the country for over five years and left over 250,000 dead and millions displaced but Israeli officials have made clear that Israel would act to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria or Iran.

The IDF has also retaliated when fighting by the various rebel groups and government forces struck Israel.

Earlier this month the IDF struck two Syrian artillery pieces after errant fire struck just inside the border fence with Israel.

On Sunday, the army also attempted to shoot down a drone that infiltrated the Golan from Syria, but failed to hit it with two Patriot missiles and a missile shot from a jet.

The IDF has been bolstering defenses along the northern border, expanding the network of fences and surveillance capabilities, to prepare for a possible war with Hezbollah, the Shiite group that fought a war with Israel in 2006 and has vowed to destroy the Jewish state.

The border has been largely quiet in the ten years since the Second Lebanon War, with Hezbollah’s forces deployed to support Iranian and Assad regime forces in the Syrian civil war.

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Erdogan locks US airmen, nuclear arms in Incirlik

July 20, 2016

Erdogan locks US airmen, nuclear arms in Incirlik

DEBKAfile Special Report July 20, 2016, 11:29 AM (IDT)

Source: Erdogan locks US airmen, nuclear arms in Incirlik

 

Some 1,500 US airmen and their families have been locked in the southern Turkish air base of Incirlik together with a stock if tactical nuclear bombs since President Reccep Erdogan crushed an attempted coup on Saturday, July 16. In the four days up until Wednesday, July 20, therefore, no air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq have been staged that Turkish base.
This extraordinary situation, reported here by debkafile’s military sources, whereby a large group of American military personnel are held virtual captive by an allied government, was almost certainly raised in the phone call that took place Tuesday between President Barack Obama and Erdogan.  But the most outlandish aspect of this affair is that no American official has raised it in public – nor even by the administrations most vocal critics at the Republican convention which nominated Donald Trump as presidential candidate.
The situation only rated a brief mention in some Russian publications under the heading: “Turkish investigators enter & search Incirlik air base where US nukes are housed.”
Our military sources report that deep bunkers located near the base’s running strips house B61 tactical nuclear gravity bombs.
In the course of the massive sweep-cum-purge Erdogan is conducting in every corner of the country, hundreds of police officers accompanied by Ministry of Justice and Attorney General Office investigators are the only people permitted to enter the strategic air base, and only emergency cases may leave, after coordinating with the Turkish authorities.
The base is under virtual siege by large police contingents, cut off from electric power for several days except for local generators which will soon run out of fuel. This pressure appears to be Erdogan’s method of turning hundreds of Americans on the base into hostages to force Washington into extraditing Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of orchestrating the failed coup from his place of asylum in Pennsylvania.
The victims of Erdogan’s strategy of extortion are several US units deployed in Incirlik under squadron command. They include engineering, communication, logistics, air control, a military hospital with medical and operational facilities, air transportation and more.
The Turkish squadron and base commander, Brigadier Gen. Bekir Ercan, is under arrest, suspected of a senior role in planning and executing the coup, by assigning the aircraft and helicopters to support it, responsibility for the disappearance of a large number of aircraft and aiding the defection of air crews to Greece.
He is one of the more than 6,000 military personnel including fellow generals arrested on suspicion of active complicity in the coup plot.

By Wednesday, more than 50,000 people had been rounded up, sacked or suspended from their jobs by Turkey’s government in the wake of last week’s failed coup, including 9,000 police officers, the suspension of about 3,000 judges and widening Tuesday to include teachers, university deans and the media who are accused of links with Gulen.
However, fears for the fate of the US airmen trapped in Incirlik and the tactical nukes were exacerbated by the comments of two top officials of the Erdogan regime Tuesday.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim insinuated that the Americans may be viewed as partners, at least passive ones, in the conspiracy, in view of the use the plotters made of Incirlik for sending aircraft based there and arming them for the missions of intercepting the President’s airplane (which was never realized) and  bombing the Parliament building in Ankara (which was).
The Turkish Labor Minister, Süleyman Soylu, was more explicit: “This coup has America behind,” he twitted in his Twitter account.
The Obama administration’s caution over the scary Incirlik impasse appears to derive from trepidation, shared by Riyadh, Cairo and Jerusalem, that the autocratic Turkish ruler’s Stalinist purge reaching into all branches of government and all walks of Turkish society is part and parcel of a comprehensive Muslim revolution underway in Turkey. An incautious word from Washington may quicken the process.

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