Posted tagged ‘USA’

Iran Sues U.S. to Take $2 B Away From American Terror Victims

June 17, 2016

Iran Sues U.S. to Take $2 Billion Payout Away From American Terror Victims

BY:
June 16, 2016 12:06 pm

Source: Iran Sues U.S. to Take $2 B Away From American Terror Victims

Iran has filed suit against the United States in the International Court of Justice, seeking some $2 billion in assets recently frozen by U.S. courts and awarded to American victims of terror attacks sponsored by the Islamic Republic, according to Iranian leaders.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced late Wednesday that Iran has sued the United States over the Supreme Court’s recent decision to award some $2 billion in Iranian assets to victims of the 1983 Beirut bombings, which was organized by the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani vowed to pursue the case until Iran retrieves the money set aside for these terror victims, according to comments published in the country’s state-controlled press.

“We shouldn’t remain silent vis a vis this event and we officially filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice yesterday [Tuesday] and will pursue the case until attaining results,” Rouhani was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

“The U.S. courts have issued illegal rulings and said that the properties should be provided to the Americans and the families of those people killed in Lebanon and it is not clear what the Americans did in Lebanon (at the time) and how the issue is related to Iran,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who has emerged as a close ally of Secretary of State John Kerry, also took aim at the Supreme Court ruling, saying in a recent press conference that Iran does not recognize U.S. court decisions.

“The U.S. has long been taking decisions against Iran which contradict the international laws and the Americans have filed different lawsuits against Iran during the past years; [but] we don’t recognize the U.S. courts’ rulings,” Zarif was quoted as saying in May.

Severe cyber-attack could be a case for NATO action

June 16, 2016

Severe cyber-attack could be a case for NATO action

Stoltenberg Published time: 16 Jun, 2016 07:45

Source: Severe cyber-attack could be a case for NATO action – Stoltenberg — RT News

© Patrick Baz / AFP

NATO could respond to a powerful cyber-assault with conventional weapons, the military alliance’s secretary-general told German media. NATO member states are expected to declare cyberspace a warfare domain, along with air, land, sea and space.

“A severe cyber-attack may be classified as a case for the alliance. Then NATO can and must react,” Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview to Germany’s Bild newspaper on Thursday. “How, that will depend on the severity of the attack,” he said.

Stoltenberg pointed out that the alliance faces a complex of threats with tendency to expand, so NATO member states have made a decision to regard cyber-attacks just like any other threat.

In early June, the German military’s top brass announced that all 28 NATO member states would likely agree to declare cyberspace an operational warzone, during the Warsaw summit, to be held in the Polish capital on July 8-9.

likely to declare cyberspace a warfare domain at summit – German general http://on.rt.com/7e9t 

NATO Begins Encirclement Of Russia

June 16, 2016

NATO Begins Encirclement Of Russia Tyler Durden’s picture

by Tyler Durden – Jun 15, 2016 2:00 AM

Source: NATO Begins Encirclement Of Russia | Zero Hedge

Via German Economic News, translated by Eric Zuesse,

NATO prepares a veritable military buildup in Eastern Europe: German soldiers are operating in Lithuania, the British take over Estonia, and US soldiers move in to protect Latvia. The Canadians will be in Poland. Also in the Mediterranean, combat units are being increased. Russia perceives the activity as a threat, but hasn’t yet announced any countermeasures.

Source: RiskAdvisory

At the NATO summit during July 8th-9th in Warsaw, the Alliance will adopt a massive military presence along Russia’s border. Russia is classified by NATO as a threat. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said in Washington that the US and the EU have the right in the form of NATO to defend its territories on foreign soil. Critics of this strategy believe that it’s possible this upgrade will increase significantly the danger of a conflict between the superpowers. Wednesday in Brussels, the defense ministers want the military alliance to take decisions which will then be sealed by the leaders in Poland. NATO wants to strengthen its military presence on its eastern borders significantly, and to position foreign combat troops battalions in Poland and the three Baltic states. Germany is the core of the Association in Lithuania, the British in Estonia, and the United States is expected to be that in Latvia. What remains unclear, however, is who will be sending troops to Poland.

Maybe Canada will take on this task, it was last reported from Polish diplomatic sources as quoted by Reuters. “’The summit in Warsaw will be President Obama’s last (NATO summit) and the U.S. wants it to be a success. It will ensure that the fourth framework country is found, possibly by leaning on Canada,’ the source said. ‘Washington will bend over backwards here.’”

Germany wants to send at least 600 soldiers to Lithuania, which will constitute the core of the local battalion there with about 1,200 soldiers.

The battalions are to include around 1,000 soldiers each, and are not permanently stationed in the eastern countries, but replaced regularly. By means of this rotation, the military alliance wants to avoid a formal breach of the NATO-Russia Founding Act 1997, which prohibits the permanent stationing of a “substantial” number of combat troops in the east. What specifically “substantial” means, however, is controversial. [In other words: Obama wants to be more aggressive than the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997 might allow; he wants to violate the treaty in such a way that he’ll be able to say he’s not really breaking the treaty.]

Poland and the Baltic countries want to push NATO to be even more aggressive. They demand among other things, increased aerial surveillance by fighter jets of the alliance partners on the Baltic. Poland had in the past also repeatedly demanded the permanent stationing of NATO combat troops [which would clearly violate the NATO-Russia Founding Act]. The Baltic States and Poland have been feeling threatened since Russia’s March 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

NATO defense ministers will also discuss a new mission in the Mediterranean. What exactly is planned there, is difficult to judge. Officially the rise of extremist ISIS militias and the refugee crisis are given as reasons for that expansion of NATO. ISIS is financed and otherwise supported by Saudi Arabia, the closest ally of the West in the Middle East. A good reason why NATO, the most powerful fighting force in all of the world’s military, have not coped with that group of more or less random ragtag mercenaries, is not known. Russia is fighting on the side of Syria against ISIS and against previously officially the US-backed al-Nusra Front [Al Qaeda in Syria — the Syrian affiliate of the group that did 9/11].

The NATO alliance is looking for a new combat mission in the Mediterranean, as the 11 September 2001 NATO response “Active Endeavor” patrolling the Mediterranean to stop terrorists there, has actually become obsolete. The ministers therefore want to consider whether the mission should be transformed into a more general one to strengthen security in the Mediterranean. Also being considered is to transform that mission to a closer cooperation with the European Union, which maintains its own naval deployment off the Libyan coast against human traffickers and the rescue of refugees in distress under the name “Sophia”. At dinner on Tuesday therefore also the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and government representatives from the non-NATO countries Finland and Sweden will also be in NATO headquarters.

The agenda on Wednesday also includes the future of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. According to current plans, the US wants to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from its current 9800 to 5500. Whether Obama will hold to that objective despite the poor security situation in Afghanistan isn’t yet clear.

Hillary Clinton Had Secret Memo on Obama Admin ‘Support’ for ISIS

June 15, 2016

Hillary Clinton Received Secret Memo Stating Obama Admin ‘Support’ for ISIS

by Patrick Howley

14 Jun 2016

Source: Hillary Clinton Had Secret Memo on Obama Admin ‘Support’ for ISIS

WASHINGTON, DC — Hillary Clinton received a classified intelligence report stating that the Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.

The memo made clear that Al Qaeda in Iraq was speaking through Muhammad Al Adnani, who is now the senior spokesman for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Western and Gulf states were supporting the terrorist group to try to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, who was being propped up by the Russians, Iranians, and Chinese.

In August 2012, a “SECRET” classified memo was sent to various top Obama administration officials and agencies, including to the State Department and to Clinton’s office personally.

“The document is an IAR, an intelligence information report,” said Christopher J. Farrell, who serves on the board of directors of Judicial Watch, which obtained the document. “It is produced by somebody within the Defense intelligence agency (DIA). It is reporting from the field by an intelligence agent” who could be a U.S. government agent, a defense attaché, or a source.

“It’s a report from the field back to headquarters with some intelligence that somebody is willing to bet their career on,” Farrell said.

Farrell confirmed that the report was sent to Clinton’s office, based on the recipient marking “RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC.”

The report identifies Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) as being one of the principal elements of the Syrian opposition, which the West was choosing to “support.”

THE GENERAL SITUATION:

A. INTERNALLY, EVENTS ARE TAKING A CLEAR SECTARIAN DIRECTION.

B. THE SALAFIST, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND AQI ARE THE MAJOR FORCES DRIVING THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA.

C. THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY SUPPORT THE OPPOSITION; WHILE RUSSIA, CHINA, AND IRAN SUPPORT THE REGIME.

The intelligence report contains an extensive backgrounder on AQI and its methods and capabilities, noting that AQI was speaking through the spokesman of the Islamic State of Iraq Muhammad Al Adnani.

Al Adnani is now the chief spokesman for the current version of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

According to the report:

AL QAEDA – IRAQ (AQI):

A. AQI IS FAMILIAR WITH SYRIA. AQI TRAINED IN SYRIA AND THEN INFILTRATED INTO IRAQ.

B. AQI SUPPORTED THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION FROM THE BEGINNING, BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND THROUGH THE MEDIA. AQI DECLARED ITS OPPOSITION OF ASSAD’S GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT CONSIDERED IT A SECTARIAN REGIME TARGETING SUNNIS.

C. AQI CONDUCTED A NUMBER OF OPERATIONS IN SEVERAL SYRIAN CITIES UNDER THE NAME OF JAISH AL NUSRA (VICTORIOUS ARMY), ONE OF ITS AFFILIATES.

D. AQI, THROUGH THE SPOKESMAN OF THE ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ (ISI) ABU MUHAMMAD AL ADNANI, DECLARED THE SYRIAN REGIME AS THE SPEARHEAD OF WHAT HE IS NAMING JIBHA AL RUWAFDH (FOREFRONT OF THE SHIITES) BECAUSE OF ITS (THE SYRIAN REGIME) DECLARATION OF WAR ON THE SUNNIS. ADDITIONALLY, HE IS CALLING ON THE SUNNIS IN IRAQ, ESPECIALLY THE TRIBES IN THE BORDER REGIONS (BETWEEN IRAQ AND SYRIA), TO WAGE WAR AGAINST THE SYRIAN REGIME, REGARDING SYRIA AS AN INFIDEL REGIME FOR ITS SUPPORT TO THE INFIDEL PARTY HEZBOLLAH, AND OTHER REGIMES HE CONSIDERS DISSENTERS LIKE IRAN AND IRAQ.

E. AQI CONSIDERS THE SUNNI ISSUE IN IRAQ TO BE FATEFULLY CONNECTED TO THE SUNNI ARABS AND MUSLIMS.

The intelligence report also predicts the rise of a broad “Islamic State” forming from segments of Al Adnani’s group:

THIS CREATES THE IDEAL ATMOSPHERE FOR AQI TO RETURN TO ITS OLD POCKETS IN MOSUL AND RAMADI, AND WILL PROVIDE A RENEWED MOMENTUM UNDER THE PRESUMPTION OF UNIFYING THE JIHAD AMONG SUNNI IRAQ AND SYRIA, AND THE REST OF THE SUNNIS IN THE ARAB WORLD AGAINST WHAT IT CONSIDERS ONE ENEMY, THE DISSENTERS. ISI COULD ALSO DECLARE AN ISLAMIC STATE THROUGH ITS UNION WITH OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA, WHICH WILL CREATE GRAVE DANGER IN REGARDS TO UNIFYING IRAQ AND THE PROTECTION OF ITS TERRITORY.

“AQI HAD MAJOR POCKETS AND BASES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER TO FACILITATE THE FLOW OF MATERIEL AND RECRUITS,” the report states.

“THERE WAS A REGRESSION OF AQI IN THE WESTERN PROVINCES OF IRAQ DURING THE YEARS OF 2009 AND 2010; HOWEVER, AFTER THE RISE OF THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA, THE RELIGIOUS AND TRIBAL POWERS IN THE REGIONS BEGAN TO SYMPATHIZE WITH THE SECTARIAN UPRISING. THIS (SYMPATHY) APPEARED IN FRIDAY PRAYER SERMONS, WHICH CALLED FOR VOLUNTEERS TO SUPPORT THE SUNNI’S IN SYRIA,” the report continues.

“IN PREVIOUS YEARS A MAJORITY OF AQI FIGHTERS ENTERED IRAQ PRIMARILY VIA THE SYRIAN BORDER.”

Al Adnani was named by the State Department as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in 2014.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on this report.

 

 

Netanyahu slams ‘misleading’ reports of US aid cut – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva

June 15, 2016

Netanyahu slams ‘misleading’ reports of US aid cut Prime Minister’s Office accuses commentators of issuing misleading headlines for political reasons; ‘Expressions of panic not warranted.’

By Arutz Sheva Staff

First Publish: 6/15/2016, 2:16 PM

Source: Netanyahu slams ‘misleading’ reports of US aid cut – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Miriam Alster/Flash90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has slammed “misleading” reports over alleged cuts in American military aid to Israel, accusing those circulating the reports of attempting to sow panic.

“In the wake of numerous misleading reports, the Prime Minister’s bureau would like to clarify there has been no cut in American assistance,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office read.

Echoing comments made earlier Wednesday by Israel’s acting National Security Council chief, the PMO noted that the discussions are  part of “an internal debate between Congress and the White House on the size of the annual supplement to the missile defense program.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is working to anchor this supplement as part of the discussions on the assistance agreement for the next ten years,” the statement explained, emphasizing that “not only will security assistance for missile defense not be cut, it will be increased.”

“The attempt to turn the dialogue with the US into a domestic Israeli political tool is improper,” it concluded. “Expressions of panic are not warranted.”

Earlier, acting National Security Council chief Yaakov Nagel took to Army Radio to blast the “ridiculous” reports circulating in the Israeli media. Nagel explained that the military aid Israel currently receives is not up for discussion, but rather the option of a new, separate “anchored” aid package for missile defense systems.

After 9/11, Saudis Had Huma Abedin-Connected Group Removed from Terror List

June 14, 2016

After 9/11, Saudis Had Huma Abedin-Connected Group Removed from Terror List

by Lee Stranahan

14 Jun 2016

Source: After 9/11, Saudis Had Huma Abedin-Connected Group Removed from Terror List

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin has deep and, so far, unexplained connections to a Saudi Arabian man who ran a Saudi organization that U.S. intelligence connected to terror funding during both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush’s administrations, but escaped scrutiny after pressure from the Saudi Arabian government.

Details about the group called the Muslim World League were originally published in 2001 and 2004, but their significance was not fully clear until recently, with Huma Abedin acting as co-chairwoman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Although Abedin has made headlines in recent months for her central role in the Hillary Clinton email server scandal, as well as a Showtime movie that highlights her husband, disgraced former Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner’s failed New York mayoral bid, Abedin has managed to avoid any serious scrutiny from the press. However, given the clear danger posed by Islamist terror groups like the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), the newly unearthed material about Huma Abedin’s direct connection to a man who ran a group that U.S. intelligence suspected of direct involvement with terrorism raises deeply troubling questions.

The man, Abdullah Omar Naseef, and his connection to both Huma Abedin and her family, has already been verified by mainstream media such as Vanity Fair, which described Naseef “as a high-ranking insider in the Saudi government” who “sits on the king’s Shura Council” and as “the patron” of a journal run by Abedin’s family for which Abedin herself worked. The article gives more detail and Abedin and Naseef:

Abedin was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is Pakistani; her late father, Syed Zainul Abedin, was Indian. Both were intellectuals. When Abedin was two years old, the family moved to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, where, with the backing of Abdullah Omar Nasseef, then the president of King Abdulaziz University, her father founded the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, a think tank, and became the first editor of its Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.

Now, for the first time, Breitbart News reveals that reports from mainstream media sources at the time show that intelligence officials believed for years that Naseef’s Muslim World League was connected to terror, but failed to inform the public of the connections due to pressure from Saudi Arabia.

As Newsweek reported less than a month after the 9/11 attack (emphasis added):

The Saudis have probably done more to penetrate Al Qaeda than any other foreign intelligence service, but Al Qaeda in turn has penetrated the Saudi regime. Two interrelated global charities directly financed by the Saudi government–the International Islamic Relief Organization and the Muslim World League –have been used by bin Laden to finance his operations. The organizations were left off the list of groups sanctioned by the United States last week, U.S. officials hinted to NEWSWEEK, in order to avoid embarrassing the Saudi government.

This inaction against Naseef’s Muslim World League was confirmed in a 2004 story by Harper’s. They wrote:

In other cases, the Bush Administration made a conscious decision not to pursue major Saudi conduits for terrorist funding. The clearest example involves two ostensible charities that are long known to have funneled money to Al Qaeda–the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the Muslim World League (MWL). Both are financed directly by the Saudi government. MWL is an evangelical organization that was created to help spread Wahhabism, the Saudi brand of Islamic fundamentalism; IIRO is a humanitarian relief organization that operates primarily in Muslim countries.

Harper’s also noted that during the Clinton administration the Central Intelligence Agency issued a report about Naseef’s Muslim World League and the International Islamic Relief Organization.

Consider the timing: in the fall of 1996, Huma Abedin began working in the White House. Harper’s wrote:

Yet a 1996 CIA report alleged that IIRO helped to fund six militant training camps in Afghanistan, and noted that the former head of the group’s Philippines office–Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law–had been linked to plots to “target the pope and U.S. airlines.”

Now consider this: two years later, Huma Abedin was now embedded in the White House as one of Hillary Clinton’s top aides. We know this because Hillary Clinton spoke of her at events like the annual Ramadan dinner that was initiated by the Clintons, as previously reported by Breitbart News.

While Huma Abedin had direct access to the White House and Hillary Clinton, her family patron’s Muslim World League was thought to be involved in terrorism against the United States. According to Harper’s:

U.S. intelligence officials also believe that MWL employees were involved in the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Although both IIRO and MWL were known to have funded Al Qaeda, U.S. government sources indicated to Newsweek in October 2001 that the Bush Administration left the two organizations off the list of designated terrorist groups in order to spare the Saudi government from embarrassment.

Defenders of Clinton and Abedin have attempted to spin concerns about Abedin’s disturbing connections as a crazed right-wing conspiracy theory, but the facts are coming out, and with America focused on the presidential race and terrorism, it is just a matter of time before the truth comes out.

Trump: US Muslims aren’t handing over potential terrorists

June 13, 2016

Trump: US Muslims aren’t handing over potential terrorists Republican candidate doubles down on aggressive rhetoric, says ‘thousands’ of people in the US are ‘sick with hate’

By AP and Times of Israel staff

June 13, 2016, 5:06 pm

Source: Trump: US Muslims aren’t handing over potential terrorists | The Times of Israel

Republican candidate for President Donald Trump arrives in his plane to speak to supporters at a rally at Atlantic Aviation on June 11, 2016 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump asserted Monday that American Muslims know the identities of potential terrorists but are not reporting them. He also said there are thousands of people living in the United States “sick with hate” and capable of carrying out the sort of massacre that killed at least 49 people in a Florida nightclub.

“We can’t let people in…. We have to be very, very strong,” the presumptive nominee said in one of a host of broadcast interviews ahead of a speech he planned later Monday in New Hampshire.

 “The problem is we have thousands of people right now in our country. You have people that were born in this country” who are susceptible to becoming “radicalized,” the billionaire real estate mogul told the Fox News channel’s “Fox & Friends.” He claimed that there are Muslims living here who “know who they are” and said it was time to “turn them in.”

The gunman, identified by police as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old US citizen from Fort Pierce, Florida, opened fire with an assault-style rifle inside a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, killing at least 49 people before dying in a gunfight with police. Another 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition.

Trump’s longstanding proposal to temporarily ban foreign-born Muslims from entering the United States has triggered outrage from Democrats and Republicans alike, who see it as unconstitutional, un-American and counterproductive. But it has helped him win over many primary voters who fear the rise of Islamic extremism and believe that “political correctness” — the fear of offending Muslims — is damaging national security.

Trump said Monday “there are people out there with worse intentions” than the perpetrator of the shootings in Orlando early Sunday. “They have to report these people,” he said.

“This is a case of surveillance,” he said on CNN. “You will find that many people that knew him (the Orlando shooter) felt that he was a whack job.”

“You look at the people that have come to the country, and are here, and for that we need intelligence-gathering,” he said. “We have to look at the mosques. The (Muslim) communities know the people that have the potential for blowup.”

Trump planned later Monday to further address the deadliest shooting in modern US history in a campaign speech originally intended to attack Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. That switch came a day after Trump called for Clinton to drop out of the race for president if she didn’t use the words “radical Islam” to describe the Florida nightclub massacre.

Trump will retool his talk in New Hampshire to “further address this terrorist attack, immigration and national security,” his campaign said Sunday.

A gunman wielding an assault-style rifle and handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with police. Another 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition. Authorities identified the shooter as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old US citizen from Fort Pierce, Florida.

Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims was a hallmark of his primary campaign. Besides proposing a temporary prohibition on foreign Muslims from entering the country, he has advocated using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods to try to stave off future attacks.

In the hours after the Orlando shooting, Trump issued a statement calling on President Barack Obama to resign for refusing “to even say the words ‘radical Islam’” in his response to the attack. He also said Clinton should exit the presidential race if she does the same.

In an address from the White House, Obama called the tragedy an act of terror and hate. He did not talk about religious extremists. He said the FBI would investigate the shootings in the gay nightclub as terrorism, but added the gunman’s motivations were unclear.

On Monday Trump said, “We’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind. People cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he is and cannot even mention radical Islam.”

Like Obama, Clinton called the shootings acts of terror and hate, but did not use the words radical Islam in a statement released by her campaign. Instead, she said the country must “redouble our efforts” to defend the country, including “defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home.”

Hours after Obama spoke, a law enforcement official confirmed to The Associated Press that Mateen made a 911 call from the club during which he professed allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The official was familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

While some Republican leaders have encouraged Trump to abandon his proposed Muslim ban in an effort to broaden his support among voters before November’s general election, the Orlando attack appeared Sunday to harden the billionaire businessman’s position.

“What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough.”

ISIS claims responsibility for Orlando mass shooting

June 13, 2016

ISIS claims responsibility for Orlando mass shooting – affiliated agency

Published time: 12 Jun, 2016 18:30 Edited time: 13 Jun, 2016 12:26

Source: ISIS claims responsibility for Orlando mass shooting – affiliated agency — RT News

Law enforcement officials gather on the street in front of the apartment building where shooting suspect Omar Mateen is believed to have lived on June 12, 2016 in Fort Pierce, Florida. © Joe Raedle / Getty Images / AFP

Amaq News, a Syrian news agency with close ties to the Islamic State, says the group is responsible for the attack on an Orlando gay club, which has killed 49 people, and left 53 injured.

LIVE UPDATES: Mass shooting at Orlando gay nightclub

The armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida which left over 100 people dead or injured was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” Amaq said.

Read more

Orlando police officers seen outside of Pulse nightclub after a fatal shooting and hostage situation on June 12, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. © Gerardo Mora

“That has not been confirmed. We’ll have to see what those connections are once we get the details,” said Florida Senator Bill Nelson.

Initially police announced that 50 people were killed, apparently mistakenly counting Mateen as a victim.

FBI have also stated Omar Mateen, had proclaimed his loyalty to Islamic State in a 911 call, and mentioned the Tsarnaev brothers, who bombed the Boston Marathon in 2013.

The agency revealed that Mateen had been investigated in 2013, and 2014, over alleged social media threats and contacts with “a known suicide bomber”, but that no charges had been brought forward, due to lack of evidence of any wrongdoing.

Last month, the Islamic State spokesman urged Western-based jihadists to execute attacks during holy month of Ramadan, which is now ongoing, “to punish the Crusaders” in a widely-distributed audio tape.

Mateen, a 29-year-old Muslim US citizen, who was brought up by a family of first-generation Afghan immigrants.

Earlier, Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, claimed the mass shooting, the worst in US history, had “nothing to do with religion,” and speculated that it was caused by his son’s dislike of public displays of homosexuality.

Orlando Killer Worked For Company Transporting Illegal Immigrants Inside US; Was Interviewed By FBI 3 Times

June 13, 2016

Orlando Killer Worked For Company Transporting Illegal Immigrants Inside US; Was Interviewed By FBI 3 Times.

Source: Orlando Killer Worked For Company Transporting Illegal Immigrants Inside US; Was Interviewed By FBI 3 Times | Zero Hedge

In a surprising discovery, the Palm Beach Post first reported that according to state records, Orlando shooter Omar Mateen – who as we reported earlier was licensed as a security guard and also holds a firearms license – was employed by the US subsidiary of G4S plc, a British multinational security services company, whose US-headquarters are located in Jupiter, Fla, and which also happens to be the world’s largest security company by revenue.

Shortly thereafter, G4S confirmed that Omar Mateen has worked for the company since 2007. This is the statement released from G4S:

 “We are shocked and saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the Orlando nightclub. We can confirm that Omar Mateen had been employed with G4S since September 10, 2007. We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy.”

In other words, Mateen who according to preliminary reports, had been on a terrorist watchlist, and who still managed to obtain weapons thanks to his various licenses and permits just last week, was employed by one of the world’s largest security companies, where he may have had extensive clearances well above his pay grade, not to mention access to sophisticated military weapons and equipment.

But where it gets more disturbing is that as Judicial Watch reported several days ago, in a post titled, “DHS Quietly Moving, Releasing Vanloads Of Illegal Aliens Away From Border“, border patrol sources said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was quietly transporting illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to Phoenix and releasing them without proper processing or issuing court appearance documents. As a reminder, the government classifies them as Other Than Mexican (OTM) and this week around 35 were transferred 116 miles north from Tucson to a Phoenix bus station where they went their separate way. Judicial Watch was present when one of the white vans carrying a group of OTMs arrived at the Phoenix Greyhound station on Buckeye Road.

And this is where the Mateen-G4S link emerges: as JW reported previously, a security company contracted by the U.S. government is driving the OTMs from the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector where they were in custody to Phoenix, sources said. The firm is the abovementioned G4S, the world’s leading security solutions group with operations in more than 100 countries and 610,000 employees. G4S has more than 50,000 employees in the U.S. and its domestic headquarters is in Jupiter, Florida.

Judicial Watch noted that it had filed a number of public records requests to get more information involving the arrangement between G4S and the government, specifically the transport of illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to other parts of the country. The photo below shows the uniformed G4S guard that transported the OTMs this week from Tucson to Phoenix.

Outraged Border Patrol agents and supervisors on the front lines say illegal immigrants are being released in droves because there’s no room to keep them in detention. “They’re telling us to put them on a bus and let them go,” said one law enforcement official in Arizona. “Just move those bodies across the country.” Officially, DHS denies this is occurring and in fact earlier this year U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske blasted Border Patrol union officials for denouncing this dangerous catch-and-release policy. Kerlikowske’s scolding came in response to the congressional testimony of Bandon Judd, chief of the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union that represents line agents. Judd told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee that illegal immigrants without serious criminal convictions can be released immediately and disappear into the shadows. Kerlikowske shot back, telling a separate congressional committee: “I would not stand by if the Border Patrol was — releasing people without going through all of the formalities.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Hill reported that Mateen’s employment, and gun licenses, were untouched even though the FBI confirmed it had interviewed the 29-year-old three times before the shooting took place early Sunday morning.  An official said that the FBI first became aware of the suspect, Omar Mateen, 29, in 2013 when he made “inflammatory comments to coworkers alleging possible terrorist ties.”

 In the course of that investigation, Mateen was interviewed twice, but the FBI was unable to verify the substance of his comments.

Then, one year later, in 2014 the FBI conducted an investigation into possible ties between Mateen and an American suicide bomber. The FBI conducted another investigation, which included an interview with Mateen, but determined that the contact did not constitute a threat at that time. Which may be an overstatement: the FBI’s 2014 probe allegedly found that the  Orlando shooter had “minimal” contact with Florida al-Nusra fighter Moner Abusalha who blew himself up in Syria.

In 2015, after Moner Abusalha became the first American suicide bomber in Syria, the FBI investigated Omar Mateen’s connection to Abu-Salha. Abu-Salha went to the Middle East, trained, and returned to the Treasure Coast, specifically Vero and fort Pierce, to recruit. The FBI says he didn’t recruit anyone, but it’s possible he did have contact with Mateen.

The FBI said it is looking into any and all connections, both domestic and international to the shooting. It appears to have found nothing despite it all being laid out in front of its face.

The agent at Sunday afternoon’s press briefing also confirmed reports that the shooter called 911 before the massacre, and said his remarks had general connections to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group. The content of those calls is now federal evidence.

* * *

It gets even more bizarre: despite his chequered history and his numerous FBI encounters, the Orlando Police just reported that he had managed to purchase firearms in just this past week.

A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson confirmed that Mateen legally purchased 2 firearms — a handgun and a long gun, “within the past few days.”

* * *

Armed with all this information, the big question, now that it has emerged that Mateen worked for the same company that has been tasked – under questionable circumstances – to transport illegals into the US, is whether or not this individual who swore allegiance to ISIS moments before the worst mass shooting and who was also employed by G4S for almost a decade, and who had been interviewed by the FBI three times and yet still managed to buy guns just last week, was also tasked in any way in facilitating the transport of illegal immigrants across the border, and if so, whether he helped other like-minded radical islamists enter the country.

We are confident all these questions will be addressed by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the government, and that the media – liberal or otherwise – will promptly follow up on these key questions.

Here We Go – Orlando Jihadist Was Radicalized By Prison Trained Black Panther Marcus Dwayne Robertson

June 13, 2016

Here We Go – Orlando Jihadist Was Radicalized By Prison Trained Black Panther Marcus Dwayne Robertson…

Posted on June 12, 2016

by sundance

Source: Here We Go – Orlando Jihadist Was Radicalized By Prison Trained Black Panther Marcus Dwayne Robertson… | The Last Refuge

Oh boy, all the dots are connecting quickly now…. We suspected this would happen. This is going to make the White House very uncomfortable because it connects the Muslim/Islamist elements of the •Black Lives Matter, •Fuck The Police, and •New Black Panthers… connections we have been outlining for five years.

Orlando Jihadist Omar Matten was radicalized by New Back Panther Party Member, Marcus Dwayne Robertson (below left), who is a known advocate of radical Islam in Florida and was formerly famous for being a bodyguard for the Blind Sheik.

Marcus Robertson (above left) is a severely anti-gay Muslim activist, and has an on-line radicalization class known as “Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.”  CTH readers will also know the names of other participants in his studies such as Eric Sheppard Jr and the “F**k The Flag” movement.

Fortunately Fox News is covering the angle:

(Via Fox News) The gunman who murdered at least 50 people in a Florida nightclub early Sunday morning was a follower of a controversial gang leader-turned-bank robber who was released from prison last year despite warnings from prosecutors that he would recruit people to carry out violent acts, sources told FoxNews.com.

Omar Mateen, whose bloody siege inside a packed Orlando gay nightclub ended when SWAT teams stormed the building and killed him, was a radical Muslim who followed Marcus Dwayne Robertson, a law enforcement source said.

“It is no coincidence that this happened in Orlando,” said a law enforcement source familiar with Robertson’s history of recruiting terrorists and inciting violence. “Mateen was enrolled in [Robertson’s online] Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.”

Robertson and several associates were rounded up for questioning early Sunday, according to law enforcement sources, a development his attorney refused to confirm or deny.

“No comment,” Corey Cohen said in an email reply when asked if his longtime client was in custody. Police also did not confirm or deny picking up Robertson.

Robertson’s school may not have been the only source of Mateen’s spiritual guidance. The gunman was at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce with Imam Shafiq Rahman two days before the nightclub attack, according to The Washington Post.

That mosque was frequented by American-born suicide bomber Monar abu Salha, who blew himself up in Syria in 2014, and the two knew each other, according to officials. Mateen’s association with Salha led the FBI to interview him in 2014. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mike McCaul told Fox News law enforcement determined at the time their contact “was minimal.”

FoxNews.com has reported extensively on Robertson, a former U.S. Marine who served as a bodyguard to the Blind Sheik involved in the 1993 World Trade Center Attack and led a gang of New York bank robbers called “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” before resurfacing in Orlando, where he started an Islamic seminary.

The school, recently renamed the Timbuktu Seminary, is operated by Robertson, a 47-year-old firebrand known to his thousands of followers as Abu Taubah.

Robertson, who recently spent four years in prison in Florida on illegal weapons and tax fraud charges before being released by a Florida judge one year ago, has openly and enthusiastically preached against homosexuality. The targets of Mateen’s bloody rampage were members of the gay community of Orlando, an hour’s drive from the 29-year-old’s home in Fort Pierce.  (read more<— PLEASE KEEP READING

This event in Orlando has the potential to show EVERYTHING that’s existed for a long time, yet the media avoid it like the plague.

♦ Remember the Trayvon Martin rallies in Fort Mellon Park where the New Black Panther Party was handing out the Zimmerman “Dead or Alive” flyers?

Mellon Park Rally

2012 - Benjamin Crump, Daryl Parks and Al Sharpton appear at Fort Mellon Park (Sanford, Florida) with New Black Panther Party. The unified goal in 2012 was the arrest of George Zimmerman.

2012 – Benjamin Crump, Daryl Parks and Al Sharpton appear at Fort Mellon Park (Sanford, Florida) with New Black Panther Party. The unified goal in 2012 was the arrest of George Zimmerman.

♦ The same NBPP/Islam affiliates, under various social justice names, align with the Ferguson riots (Mike Brown), the Baltimore riots (Freddie Gray), and the Valdosta State flag burning constructs (Eric Sheppard Jr).

saint-louis-flag-burning-4

flag stomping

It’s all connected.  We previously outlined how radical Islamists were using the racial componentry of the Black Lives Matter affiliates toward a common goal.

(From The Article) […]  While in the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Seminole County [FLORIDA], Robertson was considered so dangerous, he was kept in shackles and assigned his own guards. Whenever he was transported to court, a seven-car caravan of armed federal marshals escorted him. He was initially moved into solitary confinement after prison authorities believed he was radicalizing up to 36 of his fellow prisoners.

In seeking enhanced terrorism charges during sentencing for the two crimes, prosecutors said Robertson has been involved with terrorism activities, “…focused on training others to commit violent acts as opposed to committing them himself” … “overseas instead of inside the United States.”

Yet efforts by federal prosecutors to tack on another 10 years to his sentence, based on enhanced terrorism charges under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, were not persuasive enough for U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell, who freed Robertson in June 2015 with time served.

Robertson had denied being involved with terrorist activities, in court and in postings on social media and in statements from his attorney to Fox News.

Federal law enforcement has been familiar with Robertson since 1991.

As a former U.S. Marine who became the leader known as “Ali Baba” of a notorious New York gang “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves”, Robertson and his crew robbed more than 10 banks, private homes and post offices at gunpoint, shot three police officers, and attacked one cop after he was injured by a homemade pipe bomb.

During the same period, federal authorities claimed Robertson served as a bodyguard to Omar Abdel Rahman, nicknamed the “Blind Sheik,” who led the terrorist group that carried out the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and donated more than $300,000 in stolen funds to mosques he attended, both claims Robertson denied. Robertson has adamantly denied the claims.

After he was arrested in 1991 along with most of the other members of the gang, prosecutors cut a deal with Robertson, and let him serve four years in prison before going to work undercover for the FBI between 2004 and 2007 to document terrorists’ plans and networks in Africa, Egypt and the United States.  (read more)

obama-black-panthers-e1333537416640

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