Links posted by readers to this site for July 28 – 2015

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

95 Replies to “Links posted by readers to this site for July 28 – 2015”

  1. DAILY MAIL – UK – Back on the streets of Britain, fanatic who ‘inspired 7/7’: Convicted terrorist returns to the UK to celebrate Eid festival just days after his release from US prison

    Babar Ahmad jailed for 12 years last July after being extradited to the US
    He had pleaded guilty to providing material to support terrorism online
    Freed in June after authorities took into account 8 years in custody in UK
    Last week, he slipped back into Britain to celebrate Eid festival with his parents, staying in their London maisonette

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3176590/Back-streets-Britain-fanatic-inspired-7-7-Convicted-terrorist-returns-UK-celebrate-Eid-festival-just-days-release-prison.html

  2. Liberal Muslim say non-muslims have only to deal with Political Islam – and the whole thing goes away.

    Apart from asking why violence and murder should only emminate from this particular self-tacqyya religion of peace; and then why should it be the kufar’ problem to invest and setup racist Contortion Clinics to perform lobotomies in ethnic minority areas; and then realize this is a load of BS from another muslim.

    • What is happening in China is going to happen around the world, the socialist economics calles for the government to delibertly create inflation to make the high price employees take a pay cut and stimulate the economy. The “pay cut” occurs when the inflation reduces the purchasing power of the currency. The problem on this method is that it reduces the purchashing power of everyone and the economy slows, to counter this the government either prints money or borrows it and spends in to “prop” up the economy. When the west does this they do it through purchases of bonds at the central banks, the Chinese did this by purchasing stock. Both methods create a bubble (the prices of stocks, bonds and if done properly real estate increase beyond that there true value is). Bubbles also occur when investers jump on some band wagon and buy beyond good sense, the dot come bubble of the late 90s is the example that springs to mind. In this type of bubble people who are really gamblers (usually called day traders) are buying stock thinking the price of the stock will raise and aren’t looking at the amount of profit the stock will generate. China has had the first type of bubble burst and is scrambling to let the government regain control of the market. Something similar to this caused the Soviet Union to collapse. The entire West is in both types of bubble and no one can think of a way to quietly deflate them without causing a major crash. This is why I am so concerned by the monetary crisis in Greece and by extension the rest of the PIIGS.

        • Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain. These areThe the nations where the borrowing to pay welfare is the worst although Ireland is suppose to have managed to put some kind of a lid on their borrowing and are reducing their debt. The question is have they managed to reduce their debt to a level that will reduce their situation after an economic collapse to serious rather then a disaster.

  3. before and after photos of dhimmi European leaders
    https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Federica_Mogherini_daticamera.jpg

    http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/28/422231/Iran-EU-Mogherini-Zarif

    Speaking at a press conference with visiting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday, Zarif said Iran-EU “high-level” talks are to resume in the “near future.”

    She noted that “full implementation” of the agreement would help Iran-EU relations.

    The EU foreign policy chief arrived in Tehran for talks on implementing a recent nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers.

    Mogherini, who is accompanied by EU political director Helga Schmid, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, from Saudi Arabia.

  4. Third graphic Planned Parenthood video released

    A new undercover video released by opponents of Planned Parenthood has graphic depictions of a technician sorting through the tissue collected after an abortion.

    The graphic tapes — three released so far — have created a political outcry and calls for defunding Planned Parenthood from GOP presidential contenders, in Congress, and in some states. Congressional panels have also announced investigations into Planned Parenthood practices.

    The latest tape also includes footage of a physician in a laboratory talking with an actor posing as a purchaser of tissue samples. “I think the per-item [pricing] works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it,” she said. The group that made the videos, which calls itself the Center for Medical Progress, identified the physician as Dr. Savita Ginde, who is vice president and medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Denver.

    The video, the third to be released by the Center for Medical Progress, includes an interview with a woman who says she used to work at Stem Express, in a Planned Parenthood clinic. “I thought I was going to be just drawing blood, not procuring tissue from aborted fetuses,” Holly O’Donnell, the former procurement technician, says in the video.

    Planned Parenthood has said that the first two videos released by the Center were highly edited and highly deceptive. The group has said that it has done nothing illegal; it has merely collected tissues to be donated for legitimate medical research only with a patient’s consent.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/third-planned-parenthood-video-out-120712.html

    • Nope, no more. I’ll take your word for it.

      And that’s been a stretch – I really didn’t believe it, certainly don’t want to.

      Ok, ok, I do. Enough.
      Now where's that mental delete key…?

      • It is hard for sane people to delete memories, although there is some research on doing this, or at least suppressing them to help people with PTSD.

        • I recently started low-dose PTSD meds. Specialists say that a very specific region in the brain is responsible for clinical symptoms.

          It’s a very hot research field. Every day more people are exposed to the kind of trauma that used to be confined to the battlefield.

          Or any place in Israel.

          • The VA is looking at some people who are using yoga or Ti Chi and claim it helps.

  5. REBEL MEDIA – Hamas “summer camps,” the new Suez Canal and more Middle East news

  6. DAILY MAIL – UK – The THREE-year-old jihadi: Child is identified as extremism risk by counter-terror project

    121 under-18s were referred to the Channel project in April-June 2014

    Suggests the annual figure will be 66% higher than in 2012-13

    Scheme was set up in the wake of 7/7 attacks to identify youngsters at risk

    A child aged just three is among hundreds identified as being at risk of radicalisation, it emerged today.

    With fears growing about children and teenagers being drawn into terrorism, a project set up by the Home Office in the wake of the 7/7 bombings has reported a sharp rise in the number of youngsters being referred including dozens under the age of 12.

    Since it was rolled out nationwide in 2012, the youngest person involved has been a child aged three whose whole family was referred.

    Ministers vowed to challenge the ‘twisted narrative that has corrupted some of our vulnerable young people’.

    Officers from the Channel project have previously revealed how a child drawing bombs and guns or writing about wanting to be a suicide bomber can lead to a referral.

    Between April 2012 and June 2014 a total of 834 under 18-year-olds were reported to Channel.

    Around one in ten – 84 – were under 12, data from the National Police Chiefs Council ( NPCC) obtained by the Press Association shows. […]

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3176011/Children-identified-terror-risk-DAY-including-12s-risk-radicalisation.html

  7. ITALY – Venice court to decide fate of Biennale “mosque”

    Art world figures rally for Christoph Büchel’s Icelandic Pavilion project which closed after only two weeks

    The Icelandic Art Center (IAC) in Reykjavik—the commissioner of artist Christoph Büchel’s mosque in a disused church at this year’s Venice Biennale which was shut down by city authorities—has filed a claim seeking the immediate reopening of the project.

    The mosque, based at the former Catholic church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in the Cannaregio neighbourhood, was closed late May after being open for only two weeks. The IAC is also asking for €360,000 in compensation from the city of Venice for the closure of the mosque, as well as an unspecified sum for “damages”.

    The Padua-based lawyer Marco Ferrero who has represented local Muslim groups on numerous occasions, lodged the claim with the supervisory court for the Veneto Region on behalf of the Icelandic Art Center earlier this month, according to a report in the Venetian newspaper La Nuova.

    The IAC was granted access to the city’s files on the Büchel project which outline alleged breaches of health and safety regulations submitted by officials who claim that the number of visitors exceeded the capacity of the building on several occasions. These constitute adequate legal grounds for closure of the project, says the city council. According to international press reports, the authorities also argue that the mosque poses a security threat and could incite attacks by Islamist extremists.

    The IAC has gathered testimonies from leading international curators including the Italian scholar Germano Celant who, says an Icelandic Art Center spokeswoman, have vouched that the mosque is indeed a work of art (Celant could not be reached for comment).

    In May, the IAC issued a statement saying that the purpose of the project was “to provide a platform for dialogue about and communication between different cultural positions”.

    The court in Venice is scheduled to examine the case on 29 July and announce its decision a few days later.

    http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/news/157986/

  8. Saudi king backs Turkish military action

    Saudi King Salman has expressed support for Turkey after it launched air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Kurdish militants in Iraq, state media reported on Tuesday.

    The king told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday that he backed Turkey’s right to self-defence, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

    Erdogan had telephoned Salman to brief him on the air strikes it launched last week after a deadly bombing inside Turkey blamed on IS and a reprisal killing of police by Kurdish militants.

    The king condemned the attacks and said he “supports Turkey’s right to defend itself and protect its citizens from terrorist acts” which pose a threat to the security of the region and the world, SPA said.

    Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria since last September.

    But Turkey had previously stood aloof, prompting accusations — strongly denied by Ankara — of complicity with the jihadists.

    Turkey and Saudi Arabia have had strained relations since 2013 when Riyadh supported the overthrow by the Egyptian army of Ankara-backed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

    But SPA said the two leaders “emphasised the excellent relations” between their countries in their telephone call.

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/136434/World/Region/Saudi-king-backs-Turkish-military-action.aspx

    • Regional manoeuvres: A Hamas visit to Riyadh leaves Egypt, Iran wondering

      A visit to Riyadh by the head of Hamas left consternation among some parties and questions among some observers.

      What did Saudi Arabia aim to achieve, asks Ahmed Eleiba

      The visit by Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Meshaal to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with King Salman Bin Abdel-Aziz raised the issue of how the kingdom has opened up to the group under King Salman’s reign. The visit is part of a series of meetings with other Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood leaders and key figures in the Yemeni Reform Party (Al-Islah), Abdel-Meguid Al-Zindani and Salman Al-Ouda.

      Senior sources close to Hamas, however, stated there were problems between the kingdom and Hamas that delayed the visit by two months, but that the Muslim Brotherhood general guide in Jordan, Hamam Said, visited Saudi Arabia two weeks ahead of Meshaal’s trip.

      Said was invited by Saudi Minister of Religious Endowments Saleh Bin Abdel-Aziz Al-Sheikh and talks resolved most outstanding issues between the two sides. Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shukri on Thursday, said “there was no political visit by Hamas to the kingdom”, trivialising the significance of Hamas visit, saying it was only a religious pilgrimage and Riyadh’s position on the Palestinian Islamist movement remains unchanged.

      In Cairo, the main theme when analysing Meshaal’s visit to Saudi Arabia revolved around a rapprochement between the kingdom and the Muslim Brotherhood, which is contrary to the position of the previous king on the 30 June 2013 events in Egypt and his wholehearted support for them.

      Supporting this perception is the existence of contrasting strategic points between Cairo and Riyadh on issues such as Saudi Arabia’s position on Yemen under the new king, which many view as incompatible with the traditional approach of Egypt. While Egyptian and Saudi diplomatic sources continuously deny leaks highlighting disputes between the two sides, tensions have been unmistakable.

      A press statement released by Hamas stated that Meshaal and his delegation met Friday with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Nayef and second-in-line Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. A day earlier, they met with Intelligence Chief General Khaled Bin Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Hemedan. Hamas added that during the two-day visit Meshaal and his delegation also performed a smaller pilgrimage (omra) and attended Eid prayers in Mecca. According to the statement, the delegation also included politburo members Moussa Abu Marzouq, Saleh Al-Arouri and Mohamed Nizal.

      Ismail Haniyeh, deputy chief of Hamas’ politburo, said that the visit was fruitful and a success. Haniyeh said at a news conference in Gaza that he hoped the trip would be a promising start for “restoring historic ties and brotherly bonds with our brothers in Saudi Arabia”. “The relationship between us and Saudi Arabia and our Arab brothers is organic,” he said. “Hamas is an Arab Islamic Palestinian liberation movement and we need our entire nation.”

      Earlier, Saudi Arabia had released a leading figure in Hamas after his arrest upon US request under a claim of funding terrorism. After his release, this figure met with Meshaal in Jeddah during his trip, and he is likely to leave for Qatar soon. According to Osama Hamdan, who is in charge of Hamas’s foreign relations, the visit is a true breakthrough in relations between the two sides after three years of silence.

      Meanwhile, others believe a network of new alliances in the region is being formed based on current strategic and geopolitical transformations, especially what will happen after Iran’s nuclear issue is settled with the West.

      “We should not look at the issue from the narrow perspective of the relationship between Hamas, an offshoot of the main Muslim Brotherhood organisation, and Saudi Arabia during that visit,” stated Sobhi Esseila, an expert at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. “It is natural for Hamas to ask Saudi Arabia to put in a good word with Cairo about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. However, the priority for Saudi Arabia is forming alliances to confront Iran’s regional political impact in the wake of the nuclear deal. Thus, Riyadh is keen on winning everyone to its side; it does not want to lose Egypt or Hamas especially since the group is funded by Iran.”

      Esseila said Egypt is not worried about this strategy: “We must understand that the Gulf is the main loser in the nuclear deal and that the West has entirely abandoned the Gulf.”

      In Saudi Arabia, there is a belief that there can be flexibility with the Muslim Brotherhood because the scheme that worried the kingdom has failed. “The Brotherhood took a huge loss in Saudi Arabia because it declared its existence there 25 January, contrary to the agreement between Saudi Arabia founder King Abdel-Aziz Bin Saud and Muslim Brotherhood founder Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna,” Nageh Ibrahim, a key Muslim Brotherhood figure, told Al-Ahram Weekly. “This was not a prudent move by the group and it paid a high price.”

      Saleh Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi expert, told the Weekly that, “Saudi’s relationship with Egypt is a red line, and Egypt’s stability is paramount for Saudi Arabia. Riyadh wants to strike a balance between Saudi strategic interests. This requires it to strengthen its hand in its next confrontation with Iran, including winning Hamas to its side, and meanwhile maintain key and strategic relations with Egypt.”

      Hamas returned to Iran’s fold after a boycott because of Iran’s policies in Syria and its war there, which had required Hamas to support it and stand by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. Hamas refused and moved the headquarters of its politburo from Damascus to Qatar, which also became the destination of choice for Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figures after the latter fell from power mid-2013. According to Palestinian sources in Gaza, Lebanon’s Hizbullah sought to repair relations between Hamas and Tehran because of common fundamentals on resistance and fighting Israel. The first meeting between the two sides took place in Beirut in late July 2013, less than one month after the Muslim Brotherhood was deposed in Egypt. What is unusual is that the Cairo-based Abu Marzouq appears to be planning to relocate to Qatar after heart surgery there in April, and that Egypt officially refused to renew his residence.

      Iranian media strongly criticised Meshaal’s visit to Saudi Arabia and interpreted it as using Hamas in the war in Yemen that is overseen by Defence Minister Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. According to Fares news agency, Prince Bin Salman asked Hamas to send 700 fighters to train Yemenis for mountain combat, and that Meshaal asked for $20 million to pay for salaries and other financial shortages in the Gaza Strip resulting from the siege. However, a Palestinian source close to Hamas told the Weekly that the Iranian news agency analysed the visit from its own perspective, as did everyone else from their viewpoint.

      “The visit is not such a big deal,” he asserted. He explained that perhaps Hamas and other factions in Gaza were receiving this sum annually from Tehran, and so the Iranians felt Hamas would ask Riyadh to replace Tehran since Iran fell out with Hamas.

      The source added that Hamas immediately denied via social media reports any discussions of a role for Hamas in Yemen.

      Fatah, meanwhile, has another perspective on the visit. Pro-Fatah outlets criticised the visit from a Palestinian and inter-Palestinian reconciliation perspective. Last week, pro-Fatah news websites criticised Hamas for undermining the Palestinian coalition government, which Fatah is asking Saudi Arabia to help reach reconciliation with Hamas refusing. According to Hamas’s Risala website, Saudi Arabia asked for official written authorisation from both Fatah and Hamas, and that Hamas had obliged via Meshaal and his delegation. However, the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, refused to sign such authorisation.

      The website quoted Azzam Al-Ahmed, who is in charge of the reconciliation issue in Fatah, as saying that he rejects any agreement or new attempt to replace the Egyptian mediation role. He said: “From the start, Hamas welcomed a Saudi role supporting reconciliation to lay the foundation for a Mecca 2 agreement, whereby the kingdom and other Arab parties would oversee the implementation of any agreement that will be reached.”

      In Cairo, a source involved in the reconciliation process said that Riyadh understands Egypt’s role in this regard and there is clear agreement between the two sides on all aspects of the matter. “However, Hamas is trying to promote certain positions for political reasons depending on circumstances,” stated the source.

      In conclusion, all parties interested in Hamas interpreted the meeting between King Salman, Saudi officials, Meshaal and the Hamas delegation in their own frames. Iran viewed it as part of Saudi Arabia’s new policies; Egypt viewed it as spelling closer ties with the Muslim Brotherhood; in Ramallah it was seen by Fatah as exploiting the issue of reconciliation. However, no one addressed the Saudi position and what it wanted to achieve through the visit. The only comment was by prominent media personality Jamal Al-Khashoqgi who said after a phone call (without elaborating more) that “Meshaal confirmed Hamas’s support of an Islamic Arab project under Saudi leadership.”

      http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/151/136392/Egypt/Features/Regional-manoeuvres-A-Hamas-visit-to-Riyadh-leaves.aspx

      • I’ve been really curious too. Wheels inside of wheels inside of wheels. This is a perfect Mideast conspiracy vehicle. How many balls can they keep in the air at the same time?

        • A lot, the Sunni Terrorists receiving money and weapons from Shia clerics to murder Jewish enemies.
          Win Win for them, Hamas gets money and weapons and Iran gets an armed enemy on hte other side of Israel to split the Israeli attention, intel organizations and military. Welcome to the Middle East, stray thought, this could have been where the Italians during the Renaissance learned to be so devious.

          • That’s true, they were awfully good at it. And they were the Europeans most exposed to the Mohammedans.

            • They got into the resistance to the first Islamic conquest early and stayed for the entire fight. Don’t forget Sicily was occupied by the Moslems for a long time.

      • Qatar supports operations of Turkish air force against IS, PKK

        Qatar supports the operations of the Turkish air force against the “Islamic State” and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said the statement from Qatar ’s Foreign Ministry.

        Turkey has the right to ensure its own security, said the statement.

        “As a country opposing any form of terrorism, Qatar fully support’s Turkey in this issue,” said the Foreign Ministry.

        ?Turkish air force started large-scale operations July 25 in Iraq ’s north where the PKK camps as located. The country’s air force destroyed the military camp of PKK in Hakurk in Iraq ’s north July 27.

        Turkish Parliament adopted the so-called Syrian mandate in 2012. Under this mandate, Ankara is empowered to take any measures against terror and other threats against the country, repulse the threat that can come from terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, protect the country’s interests before and after the crisis, as well as, in the case of necessity, to involve the army in the military operations in other countries (Syria and Iraq).

        The mandate envisages the possibility of presence of foreign troops on the country’s territory and their use at the discretion of the Turkish government when needed.

        http://en.trend.az/world/turkey/2420375.html

        Turkey’s Erdogan says peace process with Kurdish militants impossible

        Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday it was impossible to continue a peace process with Kurdish militants and urged parliament to strip politicians with links to them of immunity from prosecution.

        His comments come days after the Turkish air force bombed camps in northern Iraq belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), following a series of attacks on police officers and soldiers in Turkey blamed on the Kurdish militant group.

        The PKK said the air strikes, launched virtually in parallel with strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria, rendered the peace process meaningless but stopped short of formally pulling out.

        “It is not possible for us to continue the peace process with those who threaten our national unity and brotherhood,” Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara before departing on an official visit to China.

        Western allies have said they recognize Turkey’s right to self-defense but have urged the NATO member not to allow peace efforts with the PKK to collapse. While deeming the PKK a terrorist organization, Washington depends heavily on allied Syrian Kurdish fighters in battling Islamic State in Syria.

        An emergency NATO meeting in Brussels on Tuesday offered political support for Turkey’s campaigns in Syria and Iraq, and Erdogan signaled Turkey may have a “duty” to become more involved.

        For NATO allies, the prospect of Turkey, which borders Iran, Iraq and Syria, fighting a domestic conflict against Kurdish as well as Islamist fighters is a deep concern. But for many in Turkey, Kurdish rebellion remains the primary national threat.

        Besir Atalay, spokesman for the ruling AK Party, said it was too soon to declare the peace process over and said it could resume if “terrorist elements” put down arms and left Turkey.

        “There is currently a stagnation in the mechanism but it would restart where it left off if these intentions emerge,” he told a press conference in Ankara.

        Braving nationalist anger, Erdogan introduced tentative reforms on Kurdish rights and in 2012 launched negotiations to try to end a PKK insurgency that has killed 40,000 people since 1984. A fragile ceasefire had been holding since March 2013.

        However, any calculation Erdogan may have had that his political gamble would reap broad electoral support from Kurds, some 20 per cent of the population, demonstrably failed.

        The pro-Kurdish HDP party won 13 per cent of the vote in a June 7 poll, helping to deprive the AKP Erdogan founded of a majority in parliament for the first time since 2002.

        Many Kurds believe that by reviving conflict with the PKK, Erdogan seeks to undermine support for the HDP ahead of a possible early election. That poll – so runs the argument – could then provide him with the majority he seeks to change the constitution and increase his powers.

        Turkey has shut down almost all Kurdish political parties over the years. Erdogan, who wants the AKP to win back a majority and has recently accused the HDP of links to the PKK, said he opposed party closures, but urged parliament to lift the immunity of politicians with links to “terrorist groups.”

        “We have committed no unforgivable crimes. Our only crime was winning 13 per cent of vote,” HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtas told party members in parliament.

        “The only way for the AKP to be in government on its own is if the HDP is liquidated. Tomorrow the HDP’s 80 lawmakers will submit a request for immunity to be lifted,” he said, effectively challenging parliament to fulfill Erdogan’s threat.

        Casting the operations as a war on terrorist groups “without distinction,” Turkey opened its air bases to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched air strikes against the jihadists in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq last week. It has since been rallying international support.

        “No steps back will be taken in our fight against terrorism. This is a process and it will continue with the same determination,” Erdogan said, after phone calls overnight with French President Francois Hollande, the king of Saudi Arabia and the emir of Qatar.

        Presidential sources said all three leaders had expressed their support.

        But Western allies are also concerned that Erdogan should not abandon several years of work on a peace process with the PKK, which has entailed giving Kurds more cultural rights with the prospect, over time, of greater autonomy in the southeastern regions where they constitute a majority.

        “Dangerous rhetorics in Turkey against HDP, which won 6 million votes in last elections. Time to face that reality,” the European parliament’s Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri wrote on Twitter.

        Some Kurdish activists have accused Erdogan of deliberately refraining from action in the past against Islamic State, seeing them as a counter-weight to Kurdish fighters. Such a policy, they say, led directly to last week’s suicide bombing in southeast Turkey that killed 32 and has been blamed on the Islamist militant group.

        Turkish officials deny this and also reject the notion that the action against the PKK is motivated by domestic politics, pointing to a series of militant attacks on the security forces in recent weeks.

        On Monday, a gendarmerie major in the eastern province of Mus died after being shot by suspected PKK militants, while in the nearby province of Van a military unit came under fire.

        There have been more attacks since the air strikes began. Suspected PKK militants blew up a bridge late on Monday on a major highway in the southeast, while gunmen attacked a soldier in the town of Semdinli, triggering clashes. The military said the soldier later died, at least the fourth member of the security forces to be killed over the past week.

        http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/turkeys-erdogan-says-peace-process-with-kurdish-militants-impossible/article25731503/

        Kurds in southeastern Turkey scared by Erdogan’s ‘massacres’

        • Caucasus Emirate in Syria displays US-made anti-tank missile

          A fighter from the Caucaus Emirate in Syria, an al Qaeda-affiliated group, released a photo showing ownership of a US-made BGM-71 anti-tank missile. It is unclear when or where the photograph was taken, but it is likely recent and taken in northern Syria. A note card reading “Imarat Kavkaz” or “Caucasus Emirate” in Chechen can be seen in the foreground.

          The Caucasus Emirate in Syria was formed when the former emir of Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Helpers), Salahuddin Shishani, was removed from his post along with his deputy, Abdul Karim Krymsky, last month. Shishani announced his pledge to Muhammad Abu Usman, the new leader of the Caucasus Emirate, in a short video that was released by Akhbar Sham, a Russian-language website that previously promoted Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar’s activities and leaders in Syria. However, according to From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks Russian-speaking jihadists in Syria, it is not a new organization; rather, it is the same group in Syria that had sworn allegiance to the Caucasus Emirate, only now independent from Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar.

          http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/07/caucasus-emirate-in-syria-photographs-us-made-anti-tank-missile.php

  9. Turkey-Iran gas pipeline blown up in eastern Agri province

    Turkey-Iran gas pipeline blown up in eastern Agri province, energy minister Taner Yildiz said on July 28, Anadolu Agency reported.

    He said that the explosion caused panic among local people.

    Turkish air force destroyed the military camp of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Hakurk in Iraq’s north July 27.

    It is the second PKK camp bombed by Turkish air force in the last two days. Earlier, Turkish air force bombed the PKK camp in Metina in Iraq’s north.

    Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu previously said that the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq supports Turkey’s operations against the PKK.

    Turkish air force started large-scale operations July 25 in Iraq’s north where the PKK camps are located. No details of the operation have been reported.

    Turkish Parliament adopted the so-called Syrian mandate in 2012. Under this mandate, Ankara is empowered to take any measures against terror and other threats against the country, repulse the threat that can come from terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, protect the country’s interests before and after the crisis, as well as, in the case of necessity, to involve the army in the military operations in other countries (Syria and Iraq).

    http://en.trend.az/world/turkey/2420159.html

  10. Jonathan Pollard to be released November 20

    Jonathan Pollard, the incarcerated Israeli agent convicted by the US of spying for Israelis, is set to be released from jail on November 20 following a decision by the US Parole Commission, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said Tuesday.

    http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Jonathan-Pollard-to-be-released-November-20-410419

    Jonathan Pollard granted parole, will be released in November

    The Wall Street Journal reports that the decision by the federal parole board was unanimous and the US government didn’t oppose his release.

    Pollard, 60, was serving a life term in a North Carolina prison after pleading guilty to spying for Israel from June 1984 until his arrest in November 1985.

    The former Navy intelligence officer — using his Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information access to national defense information — provided Israel with thousands of pages of US intelligence on military and technical intelligence on the Soviet Union, Arab states, and Pakistan.[…]

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/reports-israeli-spy-jonathan-pollard-has-been-granted-parole-and-will-be-released-in-november-2015-7#ixzz3hD4w3Y9n

    http://www.businessinsider.com/reports-israeli-spy-jonathan-pollard-has-been-granted-parole-and-will-be-released-in-november-2015-7

  11. Jordan Court Sentences 12 in Alleged Hamas Plot

    A government official says Jordan’s state security court sentenced 12 defendants to prison terms ranging from one to 15 years in what local media described as a plot by the Islamic militant Hamas group to carry out attacks in the West Bank.

    The official says eight defendants received terms from one to five years Tuesday and four others were sentenced in absentia to 15 years each. He says charges included conspiring against state security, but did not provide details about the alleged plot. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss court proceedings with the media.

    The al-Ghad newspaper says the charge sheet alleges recruits were trained in Jordan and in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The report says the training involved shooting, making bombs and street fighting.

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/jordan-court-sentences-12-alleged-hamas-plot-32737197

  12. Planned Parenthood hires crisis communications firm

    Planned Parenthood has hired high-profile Washington public relations firm SKDKnickerbocker as it scrambles to deal with the ongoing scandal and release of a third undercover video Tuesday showing a clinic’s staff handling fetal tissue after an abortion.

    The additional PR firepower reflects the growing pressure on the women’s health organization amid building GOP calls to cut its $540 million in government funding. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this week called to halt Planned Parenthood’s federal funding while Congress investigates whether the organization broke a federal ban on profiting from fetal tissue donation. The Senate plans to hold a vote on a defunding amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and others that is likely to fail.

    SKDKnickerbocker is no newbie to working on Planned Parenthood issues. The Democratically aligned firm is run by well-connected operatives, including Anita Dunn and Hilary Rosen. It also worked with the group during the 2012 election cycle, according to SKDKnickerbocker’s website.

    The group circulated a memo to reporters and producers late Monday that discouraged them from airing the undercover videos, arguing that they were obtained under false identification and violated patient privacy.

    “The extremists who entered Planned Parenthood labs under false pretenses violated research protocol, and, worse, violated the privacy of patients involved,” the memo says. “Those patients’ privacy should not be further violated by having this footage shared by the media.”

    Planned Parenthood also has lobbying firms Capitol Counsel on retainer. Glover Park Group has also previously done work for the group. Planned Parenthood spent nearly $1.3 million on lobbying during the first six months of 2015, according to federal disclosures.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/planned-parenthood-crisis-communications-firm-video-120725.html

    • “The extremists who entered Planned Parenthood labs under false pretenses violated research protocol, and, worse, violated the privacy of patients involved,”

      So, the dead babies getting cut up for scrap are now “patients” whose privacy is being violated? I thought you said they were “tissues.”
      Make me sick why don’t you?

        • It is being prepared for them, alongside all of the other people who support child sacrifice. One of the nastiest PR wins ever was when the Devil convinced people he and hell don’t exist. When there is no evil all things are good.

            • I was raised going to hellfire and brimstone Churches, I believe in Hell and pray I don’t go there. I also believe in Purgatory even thought it isn’t part of the Baptist beliefs, I do expect to spend some time there. Maybe we will meet in Purgatory.

              • Someone needs to start a religion with another level where it isnt exactly purgatory and it isnt quite heaven, but there is a better selection on Netflix and there is an unlimited supply of Gaviscon. Maybe call it the waiting zone, or the grand foyer or something.

                It could be for the perpetually non-committal.

  13. Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: The Caliphate Will Eliminate the West in Its Entirety

  14. USA – Key West Man Arrested For Plotting To Use Weapon Of Mass Destruction

    KEY WEST (CBSMiami) – A South Florida man has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in Key West.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Harlem Suarez, a/k/a “Almlak Benitez,” 23, of Key West was posting extremist rhetoric on his Facebook page which promoted the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organization.

    That caught the attention of the FBI.

    The criminal complaint states Suarez told an undercover FBI informant that he wanted to make a “timer bomb.”

    Suarez bought galvanized nails, which were to be hidden in a backpack and remotely detonated by cell phone, states the complaint. It also says Suarez planned to bury the bomb at a public beach in Key West and detonate it.

    On Monday, July 27th, Suarez took possession of an inert explosive device and was arrested.

    “The top priority of the Department of Justice is to protect the security of the American people. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the FBI, works tirelessly to advance this mission by continuing to thwart home-grown acts of terrorism,” stated U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer.

    Suarez made his first court appearance Tuesday in Miami. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

    Suarez was charged with knowingly attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property within the United States.

    If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

    “There is no room for failure when it comes to investigating the potential use of a weapon of mass destruction,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “The FBI and our local, state and federal partners work around the clock to prevent such catastrophic weapons from being used against our citizens. Even so, we ask the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activity to law enforcement.”

    http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/07/28/key-west-man-arrested-for-plotting-to-use-weapon-of-mass-destruction/

  15. I’ve just dropped everything to share something too good to wait.

    Whenever I see the name “Niall Ferguson”, I groan and look away. He’s a tool of the Saudis, must be on a retainer. But he’s no fool.

    I wanted to try out Babs’ tip about googling the Wall Street Journal to bypass the paywall. It works, so there’s an editorial by Niall Ferguson about The Iran Deal.
    ~~ the enemy of my enemy ~~
    Awesome, devastating:
    The Iran Deal and the ‘Problem of Conjecture’
    Obama is hoping that the nuclear pact will lead to equilibrium in the Middle East. All the evidence points the other way.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iran-deal-and-the-problem-of-conjecture-1437780084

    • He may not be a fool but he thinks we are, Obama would have the goal of leaving the US in better shape to fight Iran and defeat ISIS if he hadn’t gutted the US military establishment.. Despite the tehlogical advantage that let us know that no one could stand on the stage opposing us and only our best friends that we let have or tech could stand beside us and do any good he has reduced the US military to the point where some one is going to take a look and decide they can force us into a negotiated surrender of our overseas bases if they attack. if the author is as good as he should be he knows this fact at some level and is ignoring it, just as he is ignoring the way all of Obama’s actions leave the US in a weaker position.

      • What I like is a Saudi mouthpiece getting real for the WSJ:

        “What, by contrast, is the strategy today? Faced with two forms of Islamic extremism, Shiite and Sunni, we are tilting toward Iran, the principal sponsor of the former. We are alienating our allies, moderate Sunnis as well as Israelis. In doing so, I fear, we are stoking the flames of sectarian conflict at all levels, from the local to the national to the regional. And all the while President Obama repeats the hollow mantra that ‘Islam is a religion of peace.’

        “To repeat: No one can say for sure what will come of the president’s strategy. It may magically produce equilibrium in the Middle East, as he hopes. But all the evidence points the other way: toward a continuing escalation of violence in the region, and indeed throughout the Islamic world.

        “According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ Armed Conflict Database, total fatalities due to armed conflict increased world-wide by a factor of roughly four between 2010 and 2014. The Middle East and North Africa accounted for more than 70% of the increase.

        “According to the statistics on terrorism gathered by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, the number of terrorist incidents world-wide quadrupled between 2006 and 2013, while the number of fatalities rose by 130%. In that period, the percentage of fatalities attributable to Muslim groups rose to 92% from 75%.”

        • I didn’t get that far into the article before my blood pressure rose to the point I decided to stop reading, sorry.

      • One more passage I like:

        “In short, for all the high-flown rhetoric of the president’s speeches, his goal is the classic realist objective of a balance of power in the region. The technicalities of the Iran deal—the number of centrifuges, the size of the enriched-uranium stockpile, the rigor of the inspections regime—need not detain us here. The key question is whether or not slowing down Iran’s nuclear program will increase regional stability. Critics of the deal should acknowledge that it might, for in the realm of conjecture there are no certainties. But the president and his advisers should admit that the probability is very, very low.

        “’The really important question,’ Mr. Obama told the Atlantic magazine in May, is ‘how do we find effective partners—not just in Iraq, but in Syria, and in Yemen, and in Libya—that we can work with, and how do we create the international coalition and atmosphere in which people across sectarian lines are willing to compromise and are willing to work together in order to provide the next generation a fighting chance for a better future?’ The answer: Not this way.”

        • Well you sure don’t do it by stabbing your allies in the back, we have done this and no one will trust us to cover their backs. The other damage Obama has done is small change compared to that, it will take decades for the US to regain the credibility and trust that Obama has destroyed. The people who think the trust will be regain when a new President is sworn in are dreaming, Obama has proven that it is possible for the US to back stab our allies and from now on each President will have to earn that trust rather then have it given with out thought.

    • Niall Ferguson is married to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I had wondered why AHA has started calling for reform of Islam. Maybe this explains it.

      She used to talk much more sensibly, saying that Islam cannot be reformed to become less dangerous. She used to advocate that Muslims should give up Islam, becoming either atheist or Christian.

      Islam has been reformed; the result was the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists who returned to the original Islam of the Qur’an and ahadith.

      • That’s just a wild piece of information, Julie!
        I doubt Ferguson is a closet Mohammedan, but he’s comfortable serving as a valet in the closet of the Wahabis.
        Just thinking about the compromises entailed makes me want to take a bath.

    • The colonial masters are showing the natives who is boss, given the French history of revolts I wouldn’t dare be this arrogant.

  16. Shooting in Lebanon Refugee Camp Leaves 2 Dead, 3 Wounded (abcnews, July 28, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-nato-meets-emergency-session-32726667

    “Palestinian officials say a shooting in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon has killed two people and wounded three.

    Tuesday’s shooting in the Ein el-Hilweh camp comes three days after an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party — Talal Baladneh, who was also known as Talal the Jordanian — was ambushed and killed in a hail of gunfire near the camp.

    The Palestinian officials say one of killed men was a member of the extremist Jund al-Sham group while the other belonged to Fatah. The wounded included two civilians and a Jund al-Sham member. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

    Shootings are common in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp and a haven for militants and fugitives.”

  17. Bahrain policemen killed in ‘terrorist bombing’ (BBC, July 28, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33686571

    “Two policemen have been killed in “a terrorist bombing” in Bahrain, the country’s interior ministry has said.

    Six other officers were injured, one seriously, on the island of Sitrah.

    Bahrain has suffered unrest since a 2011 uprising in which the Shia majority demanded reforms from the Sunni-led government.

    The latest attack comes just days after Bahraini authorities said they had foiled an arms smuggling plot linked to Iran.

    Two Bahrainis were arrested after they admitted receiving a shipment of explosives, automatic weapons and ammunition from Iranian handlers, officials said.

    Bahrain’s government has previously accused Iran of supporting Shia militants in the kingdom.
    It also recalled its ambassador to Tehran on Saturday, over “hostile comments” by Iranian leaders.

    The explosion in Sitrah is the latest in a series of blasts that have targeted police in villages with a predominately Shia population.

    Roads leading into the town were blocked by officers, as the wounded were taken to hospital.

    Iran has always denied interfering in Bahrain, although it acknowledges it does support opposition groups seeking greater political and economic rights for the Shia Muslim community.”