Links post 1 for Sept. 30 – 2014

24 Replies to “Links post 1 for Sept. 30 – 2014”

1. Europe’s newest front line against ISIS: a Spanish town in North Africa

   …But the Spanish authorities fear that among this tide of the helpless may be some intent on bringing jihad to Europe, using the same routes used by people-smugglers across North Africa.

   …Foreigners, and especially journalists, are not welcome in Cañada (Muslim neighborhood of Melilla), where at least one wall bears graffiti in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and others urge reclaiming everywhere from Sudan to Iraq as Islamist states.

   …The operation to arrest Mohammed was not without incident. A crowd gathered and threw stones at police in riot gear. At one point, witnesses said, police fired in the air as they tried to extricate Mohamed.

   http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/30/world/isis-frontline-melilla-spain/

2. Boston Marathon bombing suspect’s sister appears in court for alleged bomb threat
   http://news.yahoo.com/tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bombing-legal-woes-140543802.html
   http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3209477/posts

3. Highlights of Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.N.

   http://youtu.be/2sCZgZUpIFI

4. CNN – FBI profiler: Okla. killer deranged holding on to religion

5. Moroccan Soccer Fans Chant Pro-ISIS Slogans

   Footage uploaded to the internet recently shows a crowd of Moroccan soccer fans chanting slogans supporting the brutal “Islamic State” terrorist group, also known as ISIS.

   The footage – believed to have been taken on Monday in Casablanca, and translated by MEMRI – shows “Ultras”, or hard-core supporters of Raja Club Athletic giving a very vocal tribute of support to the jihadi group.

   Chants ranged from simply “ISIS, ISIS” to “Allahu Akbar, let’s go on jihad!”

   Although many Muslims throughout the world have condemned ISIS’s bloody rampage through Iraq and Syria, the group’s slick PR campaign has helped it draw support from Islamists the world over. A very large number of the group’s foreign fighters come from northern African countries, including Morocco.

   However, support for ISIS by a group of football fanatics is rather ironic: under the austere interpretation of Islamic law (Sharia) implemented by the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed Caliphate, “western” sports such as soccer are strictly forbidden, much as they were under Taliban rule and still are in other Islamist-controlled areas such as in Somalia.

   What’s more, under the Islamic State’s rule it is strictly forbidden to use the term “Daesh” (Arabic for ISIS), which is deemed derogatory.

   http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185642

6. James Foley Photo Removes From NYC Anti-Islam Ads Following Complaint From Family

   A photo of American journalist James Foley shortly before his beheading by the Islamic state militant group is being removed from anti-Islam advertisements appearing on Monday on 100 New York City buses and two subway stations.

   In response to a complaint from the Foley family, the advertisement is being altered to include an unidentifiable severed head held by the masked militant seen wielding a knife in the video of Foley’s beheading, said David Yerushalmi, lawyer for Pamela Geller, whose group is sponsoring the ads.

   “The use of Mr. Foley’s photo in your advertisement will cause profound distress to the Foley family,” family lawyer J. Patrick Rowan said in a letter to Geller.

   Geller writes a blog criticizing Islam. Her group, American Freedom Defense Initiative, paid for a six-ad series scheduled to run for a month on the city’s mass transit system.

   The ads, including one showing Foley in the video of his beheading released in August, suggest that Islam is inherently violent and extremist, and call for the end of American aid to Islamic countries.

   “Having lived in and reported from communities in which nearly everyone was of Muslim faith, he had great respect for the religion and those who practiced it,” the Foley family lawyer wrote, referring to the journalist.

   “The advertisement you are preparing to run seems to convey the message that ordinary practitioners of Islam are a dangerous threat. This message is entirely inconsistent with Mr. Foley’s reporting and his beliefs.”

   Foley, 40, was kidnapped by armed men in Syria in 2012. Islamic State has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.

   Geller’s lawyer said the image will be replaced out of “compassion for the family’s pain and anguish.”

   New York City politicians and religious leaders last week criticized the ad campaign, saying no faith should be subject to attack ads and calling it an attempt to divide the city.

   Geller was behind a similar ad campaign in 2012 on the city’s transport system, which was initially rejected by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency. A federal judge later decided that the MTA’s rule against ads that demeaned race, gender, religion or several other categories was unconstitutional.

   The MTA has since revised its standard, and so-called viewpoint ads like Geller’s now run with a large disclaimer saying the MTA does not endorse the views expressed.

   http://news.yahoo.com/james-foley-photo-removed-anti-islamic-bus-ads-185218605.html

7. This is cute, watch fat Abdullah wriggle. The KSA is nearly fork-tender.

   How Saudi Arabia is distancing itself from the Islamic State

   http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/saudi-arabia-deny-link-extremism-wahhabism.html

8. Iraqi Pilots Mistakenly Drop Food, Ammo to Militants

   BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Iraqi Air Force mistakenly dropped food, water and ammunition to militants from the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS), thinking they were their own soldiers, US television NBC reported Tuesday.

   The channel quoted Hakim al–Zamili, an Iraqi MP from the fervently Shiite Sadrist bloc, saying that an investigation is underway.

   NBC said the supplies were supposed to help besieged Iraqi army officers and soldiers who had been fighting Islamist extremists for one week in Shaqlawah and the village of Al-Sijar in the country’s western Anbar province.

   “Some pilots, instead of dropping these supplies over the area of the Iraqi army, threw it over the area that is controlled by ISIS fighters,” said al-Zamili, who is also a member of the parliament’s Security and Defence committee.

   “Those soldiers were in deadly need of these supplies, but because of the wrong plans of the commanders in the Iraqi army and lack of experience of the pilots, we in a way or another helped ISIS fighters kill our soldiers,” al-Zamili said.

   The channel also quoted a brigadier-general in Iraq’s Defense Ministry, who did not want to be identified, confirming the incident and saying it took place last week.

   “Yes, that’s what had happened,” the officer said, adding that some air force pilots “do not have enough experience… they are all young and new.”

   Baghdad is trying to rebuild its military after it collapsed before an IS onslaught that has captured a third of the country since June.

   In desperate need of soldiers, the government has granted an amnesty for army deserters who return.

   US jets have been targeting IS positions in Iraq since last month, and a coalition of some 50 nations has gathered to defeat IS forces fighting there and in neighboring Syria.

   http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/30092014

   • That must happen a lot.

     • It does, modern communications helps but it still happens because of lack of experience and at times because of the fog of war, they drop on what was the friendly position when they left base but the friendly’s were forced to move and the enemy gets the supplies. The same thing happens in reverse when you get your planes bombing your positions.

9. Part 2 of an interview with Jonathan Spyer, senior associate with the Gloria Center, a highly regarded Israeli think tank established by the late Barry Rubin. Mr. Spyer covers Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

   Here he describes changes on the ground in Syria and a whole lot more. You can’t get anything more direct unless it’s fed to you by Tokyo Rose.

   • If you’re short on time, skip ahead to about 7:30.
     Who to arm in Syria? Better question, whether to arm anyone?

     • Click on YouTube to watch.

   • Sorry, I forgot the link:
     http://youtu.be/lnVmsiWnWeE

10. CANADA – RCMP took issue with ‘adversarial’ tone of Muslim groups’ counter-radicalization handbook

    RCMP headquarters directed Mounties in Manitoba not to attend the unveiling this week of a counter-radicalization handbook by a group of national Islamic associations because of its “adversarial” tone, officials said Tuesday.

    “After a final review of the handbook, the RCMP could not support the adversarial tone set by elements of the booklet and therefore directed RCMP Manitoba not to proceed with this initiative,” spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox said in a statement.

    The statement did not specify which parts of the handbook the RCMP took issue with. But the 38-page booklet, titled United Against Terrorism and unveiled Monday at a Winnipeg mosque, included a section that recommended Canada’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies avoid using terminology such as “Islamist terrorism,” “Islamic extremism” and “jihad,” and discontinue “inappropriate information gathering techniques,” such as “showing up at workplaces” and “intimidating newcomers.”

    While the handbook encouraged more interaction between the Muslim community and law enforcement “socially and recreationally,” another section of the handbook stated that co-operation with Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP in investigations was “voluntary” and that there was “no obligation” to answer their questions or to provide them personal information about family and friends.

    Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, one of the groups behind the handbook, said Tuesday night she was aware RCMP officials in Ottawa had concerns about the handbook but said she was not given any details. “No one has brought to our attention that we were adversarial. I don’t know what is being referred to,” she said.

    Whenever a bunch of groups collaborate on something, there are bound to be disagreements, she said, pointing out the handbook’s disclaimer on page 2 that says contributors do not necessarily endorse other material in the handbook.

    “This is a democracy and we have a right to our opinion,” she said.

    Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the other group behind the booklet, said in an earlier statement that it “offers Canadian Muslims detailed information about how to actively participate in all aspects of civic life and to respond to misinformation. It also offers concrete steps for families and communities in responding to fears or concerns that a loved one has been swayed by extremist ideology, and strategies for dealing with unfair labels, stereotyping, and stigmatization.”

    The handbook encourages members of the Muslim community to alert elders about people with extremist views and to be vigilant about websites that manipulate Islamic teachings and history.

    It also encourages youth who may be frustrated about foreign conflicts to get involved in political lobbying and civic engagement instead of travelling abroad to fight.

    The RCMP contributed one section of the handbook that explains the role of the force in law enforcement and national security. It was “not responsible for other material contained in this publication,” the RCMP statement said Tuesday.

    Asked to respond to the groups’ calls for law enforcement to resist using language that conflated religion with radicalization, the force said in a statement late Monday night that it could not make such promises.

    “The RCMP hasn’t issued any guidance or guidelines to other departments, nor has it agreed not to use terms such as ‘Islamist terrorism,’ ‘Islamic extremism’ or ‘jihad,’ ” the statement said.

    The dispute over the handbook is a setback for the RCMP, which has spent the past few years on various community-outreach initiatives as part of its broader national security strategy.

    http://o.canada.com/news/national/rcmp-took-issue-with-adversarial-tone-of-muslim-groups-counter-radicalization-handbook

    • Harper is so good, but even he can’t clean house.

11. The Dollar rolls…

    U.S. has already spent nearly $1 billion fighting ISIS (CNN, Sept 30, 2014)
    http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/30/news/economy/isis-cost/index.html

    “The first wave of U.S. military attacks against ISIS has cost nearly $1 billion, according to a military think tank. And costs could rise to as much as $1.8 billion a month if the U.S. military presence grows to 25,000 ground troops, as some have suggested, said the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment (CSBA). U.S. air strikes started in Iraq last month and expanded to Syria last week. So far U.S. military efforts have mostly been limited to air strikes. There are also 1,600 U.S. troops in Iraq serving in advise-and-assist roles and staffing the joint operation centers. However, they aren’t conducting combat operations against ISIS. President Obama said he has no plans for U.S. ground troops to engage in combat.

    The Center said that even if operations don’t escalate, it will cost between $200 million and $320 million a month to maintain the current level of airstrikes and support troops. That works out to as much as $4 billion a year. A Pentagon spokesman told CNN last week that military operations are likely to continue at their current level “for a matter of years.”

12. Europe’s newest front line against ISIS: a Spanish town in North Africa (CNN, Sept 30, 2014)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/30/world/isis-frontline-melilla-spain/index.html

    “A morning thunderstorm has left the waste ground outside Melilla’s compound for migrants and refugees slick with orange mud. Hanging around under overcast skies, a knot of men — unshaven and dressed in a motley collection of T-shirts — watch a convoy of Spanish military vehicles rumble by.

    They have reached this tiny Spanish enclave in North Africa overland — from Mali, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. Some just want a better life in Europe; others are fleeing war. Some have clambered over the three 20-foot (6-meter) fences topped with razor-wire; others have bought forged Moroccan passports to take advantage of Moroccans’ eligibility to enter Melilla as day-laborers or to trade.

    But the Spanish authorities fear that among this tide of the helpless may be some intent on bringing jihad to Europe, using the same routes used by people-smugglers across North Africa. The heavy police presence in Melilla — the military helicopters, armored vehicles and patrol boats — are part of their response…”

13. 1. Victoria Police and AFP conduct anti-terror raids in five Melbourne suburbs

    By opposing the spread of Islam, I hope Australia realises that it legitimises Jihad against Australia.

14. #2&4 The left has forgotten so much history that they don’t understand the danger of turning your intelligence and military professionals against you.

    #5 The continued insistence that there is no terrorist acts in the US and that Islamic terrorist is a aberration rather then the real Islam is driving more and more people to distrust the worlds governments and to drive the US citizens to buying the tools necessary to protect themselves.

    • Counter-productive every which way.
      Woe are we!

      • Yeah, we have been here before but not for a long time, however I have great faith in the ordinary people managing to survive and win if we can keep the useful idiots out of the way.

        • I wish we could at least neutralize POTUS for the rest of his term.

          Bibi’s trying to ease him out of “Peace Process” negotiations gently by promoting bogus-friendly Muslim countries as potential mediators.

          Anything but POS and his fellow traitor appointees.

        • The only way is for the House to impeach and the Senate remove him from office, since the Republicans won’t get enough people to remove him from office the House can’t impeach without handing him a real big propaganda coup. So we are stuck with a POTUS who is actively working to aid our enemies.