Reader’s links for Dec. 10 – 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

70 Replies to “Reader’s links for Dec. 10 – 2015”

  1. Quelle surprise! Calais now most right-wing town in France after Front National victory (express, Dec 9, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/625598/Calais-crisis-Front-National-victory-Marine-Le-Pen-French-regional-elections

    “CALAIS – who this year have been gripped in an out of control migrant crisis – is now the most right-wing town in France after residents widely voted for the far-right Front National (FN).

    Marine Le Pen’s far-right party won a massive 49 per cent of the votes last Sunday in the region of Nord-Pas-de Calais-Picardie during the first round of regional elections.

    The figures come as a new French poll revealed 44 per cent of voters want the FN to run a region.

    Calais is currently home to around 6,000 migrants desperate to cross the Channel into the UK.

    The FN’s support has more than doubled since the last regional elections in 2010 – when there were only around 800 migrants in the town.

    Residents in the northern French port town have vigorously complained about crime, violence and intimidation by refugees from the infamous Jungle camp.

    The FN’s hardline anti-immigration policies have struck a chord with disgruntled Calais habitants who have complained that their town is overrun by refugees living in a squalid camp…”

  2. Thousands of Muslim clerics issue fatwa against evil Islamic State and other terror groups (express, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/625619/Muslim-Fatwa-ISIS-Islamic-State-al-Qaeda-Taliban-Islam-Paris-Attacks-Daesh

    “THOUSANDS of Muslim clerics have passed a fatwa against savage terrorist organisations such as Islamic State, the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

    The clerics issued the ruling – commonly handed down by recognised leaders under Islamic law – against the depraved organisations who claim to conduct evil acts in the name of Islam.

    Almost 70,000 defiant leaders denounced the brutal death cults, claiming they are “not Islamic organisations” at an annual ceremony marking the death of Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Qadri.

    Around 1.5 million followers signed a document condemning the barbaric terrorist groups.

    One of the clerics who passed the fatwa Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori said: “From Sunday onwards, when the annual Urs began, members of Dargah Aala Hazrat have been distributing forms among followers seeking signatures to show that those signing stand against terrorism.

    “Nearly 15 lakh (1.5 million) Muslims have recorded their protest. Around 70,000 clerics from across the world, who were part of the event, passed the fatwa.”

    The cleric also requested media organisations to stop branding the terrorist groups “Muslim organisations”.

    Mohammed Ehsan Raza Khan, another leader, deplored the atrocious Paris acts recently committed by ISIS – also known as Daesh – in which 130 people lost their lives.

    He said: “It is written in the Quran that killing one innocent person is equivalent to killing all humanity.

    World Islamic Mission general Mohammad Farogh-ul Quadri also slammed the attacks.

    He said: “I condemn the barbaric terrorist attack in Paris on innocent civilians and call for an international ban on the radical extremist IS [ISIS] and its counterparts with different names across the world.”
    The clerics also opposed the US-led coalition’s decision to bomb Syria – claiming innocent people have been killed in the air strikes.

    They called on Western nations to focus on destroying terrorist organisations, but not at the cost of civilian lives.”

  3. Now David Cameron admits Britain could be forced to LEAVE the EU over migration crisis (express, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/625622/David-Cameron-Migration-European-Union-Refugee-Referendum-Donald-Tusk-EU-Member-States

    “DAVID Cameron has warned the migration crisis could force Britain into leaving the European Union as he continued talks aimed at striking a new deal with Brussels.

    The Prime Minister said the short-term impact of the influx of migrants arriving in the EU could lead voters to “push Europe away”.

    His remarks come as the number of migrants claiming asylum in the EU this year passed a staggering one million according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

    But hinting he may consider a lengthy campaign before his promised referendum on EU membership, Mr Cameron said that the “longer term reaction” to the migration crisis could be to make sure that there was a relationship with Brussels that “works”.

    The Prime Minister was in Poland on the latest leg of his diplomatic offensive to win backing for the reform programme he hopes will allow him to recommend the UK remains within the 28-member bloc.

    A major obstacle is his call for a ban on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits in Britain until they have been in the country for four years – which he hopes will deter citizens of other member states from coming to the UK.

    But Mr Cameron said the wider migration crisis – triggered by people seeking to come to Europe – could harden British opinion against the EU.

    He said: “I think with both the eurozone crisis and the migration crisis, the short term impact is for people to think, ‘oh Christ, push Europe away from me, it’s bringing me problems’.”

    Indicating he may consider delaying a referendum until nearer the end of 2017, Mr Cameron added: “I think the longer term reaction might actually be, well if they are going to have a single currency and they are on our doorstep and they are going to try and make it work, let’s make sure our relationship with them works and then we have safeguards, not least for our vital financial services industry so that the system doesn’t work against us.”…”

    • But that would disappoint POTUS:
      Obama urges UK to stay in European Union

      The UK must stay in the European Union to continue to have influence on the world stage, US President Barack Obama has told the BBC.
      He said the UK’s EU membership “gives us much greater confidence about the strength of the transatlantic union”.
      […]
      Speaking to the BBC’s North America editor Jon Sopel, he said the EU “made the world safer and more prosperous”.
      Mr Obama said the UK was America’s “best partner” because of its willingness to project power beyond its “immediate self-interests to make this a more orderly, safer world”.

      http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-33647154

  4. ISIS ‘could be DESTROYED as Putin’s torrent of airstrikes leaves them in FINANCIAL RUIN’ (express, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/625624/ISIS-Islamic-State-Profit-IHS-Think-Tank-Bombings-Putin-Russia-Airstrikes-Daesh

    “THE Islamic State is facing financial ruin after being battered by airstrikes targeting the heart of the terror group’s economic infrastructure, according to a new report.

    Think tank IHS revealed the Western effort targeting ISIS is paying off with the regime’s oil resources “largely destroyed” including its “refining capacity, and ability to transport oil via tanker convoy”.

    The group said the weakened terror cult is “struggling to balance its budget” with reports of “cuts to fighters’ salaries, price hikes on electricity and other basic services, and the introduction of new agricultural taxes”.

    Putin’s bombers have also ravaged ISIS targets since waging war on ISIS at the end of September.

    It was revealed yesterday that Russia crushed more than 600 Islamic State targets in just three days in the latest series of bombardments against the evil terror group.

    But the study claimed the coalition effort to wipe ISIS off the grid needs to be ramped up, with the regime raking in an astonishing £53 million a month.

    The savage death cult – also known as Daesh – is pulling in the staggering profit from taxes, confiscated property, smuggling drugs, selling oil and even electricity.

    The report highlights that ISIS has financial clout greater than any other terror organisation – relying far less on donations from sympathisers.

    Senior analyst Ludovico Carlino explained the savage terror group’s elaborate business model, claiming it is able to make profits from sectors it is not involved in.

    He said: “One of the Islamic State’s main sources of income comes from taxation on economic activity and basic services, including electricity, mobile phone networks, internet access, retail, industry and agriculture, within territory it controls.

    “They charge a 20 percent tax on all services.

    “Its business model, which is heavily focused on intermediaries and taking percentage cuts, also means that the Islamic State is able to make profits from areas and sectors where it is not directly involved.”

    The worrying report also revealed how civilians in war-ravaged Syria have become dependent on black markets and smuggling – which have both been exploited by the abhorrent terror regime.

    It also added that ISIS earns its massive profit by kidnapping people for ransom and even staging bank robberies.”

    • Putin wants to keep Assad in power and must destroy ISIS to do it, Obama wants the MB to win so he won’t do anything besides create a few headlines.

  5. STOP FREALOADING !!!!!
    I love ( for example) to read WrathofKahn’s videos I would never have seen outside of vladblog, I tune in to this blog every morning either from Paris or Sydney because I know that I will get the latest, etc etc …. (I am just back from a very boozey Christmas Do and might not be all that articulate about things that matter) but have you readers (including WrathofKahn) bought your James Matamoros yet?
    If not why not?
    Look at the right hand side of this blog – and buy the damnd thing. I ordered 3 just now – I had alread one delivered some months ago – it’s a lovely pendant…..if nothing else. Order it, Pay for it, Get it !!!

    • Dearest Rita,
      SOME of us purchased and wrapped all our Christmas gifts months ago. I do it every year just to be able to brag about it. I’m that little witch in college who turned in term-papers a week early then skipped off on vacation.

      I mean the Matamoros might not be desired by everyone at the moment.
      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
      TO all my Friends here who may not realize it,
      You’re all invited to send a donation to help support this glorious site without even having to buy the jewelry! Really, it’s true. Isn’t that great?

      See that tiny orange capsule at the top of the sidebar – so small you’ve got to squint a little? Follow the link to send your contribution.

      Whatever you can, it’s quick and anonymous and I guarantee you’ll feel just a little better for pitching in. Give your step an extra bounce for the shortest daylight hours of the year. [Or the other way around if you’re from the Land Down Under, like Rita.]

      From here on the cold and rocky coast of New England,
      I’m yours truly Yucki, YankeeKafir

  6. Purchase Sterling Silver Cross of St. James Matamoros
    This is an original modification of the classic cross of St. James Matamoros, the patron saint of the Reconquista of Spain in its war to reclaim its own people, culture, religion and lands from the Muslims who had conquered and ruled it with an iron fist and boot. Cost including shipping is USD $60.00

  7. Petition

    Don’t ban Trump from the United Kingdom

    There are proposals to ban Donald Trump from the United Kingdom. At least, there’s a petition on the topic. This is totally illogical.

    For starters we shouldn’t be banning people for their opinions on domestic actions in a US political race that doesn’t concern us. But more importantly if he does actually win the nomination, and then goes on to win the presidency. We then have to work with a man who we banned from our country in the first place – which totally offsets and upsets relations between two closely bonded countries. Leave the decision making on appropriate responses to the Americans. Lets mind our own business.

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/114907

  8. Ex-Guantanamo detainee now an al Qaeda leader in Yemen

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/12/ex-guantanamo-detainee-now-an-al-qaeda-leader-in-yemen.php

    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new video featuring a former Guantanamo detainee, Ibrahim Qosi, who is also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani.

    In July 2010, Qosi plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism before a military commission. His plea was part of a deal in which he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors during his remaining time in US custody. Qosi was transferred to his home country of Sudan two years later, in July 2012.

    Qosi joined AQAP in 2014 and became one of its leaders. Qosi and other AQAP commanders discussed their time waging jihad at length in the video, entitled “Guardians of Sharia.”

    Islamic scholars ensure the “correctness” of the “jihadist project,” according to Qosi. And the war against America continues through “individual jihad,” which al Qaeda encourages from abroad. Here, Qosi referred to al Qaeda’s policy of encouraging attacks by individual adherents and smaller terror cells. Indeed, AQAP’s video celebrates jihadists who have acted in accordance with this call, such as the Kouachi brothers, who struck Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris earlier this year. The Kouachi brothers’ operation was sponsored by AQAP.

  9. Germany’s Steinmeier urges EU to unite on refugees, or else fail

    http://www.oann.com/germanys-steinmeier-urges-eu-to-unite-on-refugees-or-else-fail/

    BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union must unite in its response to dealing with the huge number of refugees surging into the bloc or else it will fail, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday.

    Faced with an expected influx of around one million refugees this year alone, Germany is looking to its EU partners to help manage the crisis but is running up against resistance from some countries, particularly in eastern Europe.

    “Either Europe stands together and acts with solidarity in times of hardship for hundreds of thousands, or fences and barriers will again be raised,” Steinmeier said in a speech to fellow Social Democrats (SPD) at their annual party congress.

    “And then the vision of a united Europe crumbles,” added Steinmeier, a former leader of the Social Democrats, who are the junior partner in Germany’s coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.

  10. UK -After Trump’s Muslim ban, 400,000 Brits want to ban him

    More than 400,000 Brits and counting have signed a petition to get Donald Trump banned from entering Britain after his unpopular remarks about London and his proposal to restrict all Muslims from immigrating to the U.S.

    Around midday on Thursday in London, 406,771 people had signed the request asking the U.K. Home Office to deny the U.S. presidential candidate any access to the British Isles. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in the Parliament.

    The plea to ban Trump from entering the U.K. comes after the controversial U.S. presidential candidate earlier this week called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S. Trump said that the travel ban should remain in force until the government “can figure out what is going on,” referring to the latest shootings and violence related to Islamic State.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/after-trumps-muslim-ban-100000-brits-want-to-ban-him-2015-12-09

    • Russia: Muslims ‘didn’t come to Britain to bring Sharia law’ – Ken Livingstone at RT anniversary

      Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone said that Muslim migrants in Britain had not come to bring Sharia law, but had left “their medieval villages to give their children the quality of life,” making the statement during RT’s 10-year anniversary conference in Moscow, Thursday.

      Following the remarks, Livingstone purported that “almost every Muslim that has left their own country in Britain is mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh,” going on to cite a British opinion poll from 2007 that estimated 90 percent of British Muslims consider themselves to be British.

  11. Syria: Local ceasefire sees 700 M I L I T A N T S leave besieged Homs

    … evacuated under the supervision of the UN and the Red Crescent from the al-Vaara district of Homs

  12. SWITZERLAND – MAXIMUM TERROR ALERT: Swiss police hunt four Paris attack suspects

    SWITZERLAND is on MAXIMUM TERROR ALERT as armed police hunt suspects linked to the Paris attacks.

    The UN has posted guards armed with MP5 sub-machine guns at its European HQ in the city – which has one of Europe’s busiest airports – as Swiss police raise the terror alert level.

    Cops are acting on a tip off from Swiss federal authorities that suspects linked to the November 13 Paris attacks are in the city or wider region.

    “The Geneva police, on the basis of this information, have increased their level of vigilance and reinforced the number of police agents on the ground,” the Geneva department of security said in a statement.

    Investigations were being carried out to “locate and arrest these individuals”, the statement said.

    The terror alert comes just 24 hours after a British school in Budapest was evacuated after a bomb threat in the Hungarian capital.

    http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/480565/terror-alert-switzerland-suspects-intelligence

    PIC of the four Muslims : 🙁 🙁 🙁
    :
    https://twitter.com/tdgch/status/674950907155451905

    CNN – Manhunt for suspects linked to Paris attacker

  13. Hillary Clinton accused Republicans of undermining American efforts to fight Islamic terrorism, saying Wednesday that the “hateful” campaign rhetoric of Donald Trump and other Republicans provides new material for Islamic State propaganda

    • BREITBART – Surge: Donald Trump Leads By Widest Margin Yet

      After months of the DC Media ganging up to annihilate him, after months of the Republican Establishment’s plotting, planning, and scheming to take him out, according to the Real Clear Politics poll of polls, billionaire businessman Donald Trump currently enjoys his widest lead yet — 14.8%.

      As of Thursday, in the national Republican primary, Trump averages 30.4% support. His closest competitor is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with just 15.6% support.

      […]After a month of the worst press imaginable for him and the best for her. Trump is only -3.3% behind Hillary Clinton.

      That collective gulping sound you just heard was our Ruling Class and their DC Media enablers coming to terms with the fact that a Revolution has begun, and their corrupt, comfortable, left-wing temples are in very real peril.

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/12/10/donald-trump-leads-by-widest-margin-yet-15/

      The Telegraph – Donald Trump: Why can you be banned from the UK?

  14. Key Syria rebel faction pulls out of opposition talks

    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A powerful Syrian insurgent faction pulled out of an opposition conference held in Saudi Arabia on Thursday in protest at the role given to groups it said are close to the Syrian government.

    Ahrar al-Sham, a Saudi-backed ultraconservative group that operates mainly in northern Syria, said in a statement that it was withdrawing also because some of its comments and recommendations have been disregarded at the meeting.

    The group’s withdrawal came at the end of the two-day conference in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, which sought to form a unified opposition front ahead of proposed peace negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

    Earlier, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at a climate conference outside Paris, had described the talks in Riyadh as “very constructive.”

    “I think everybody is moving in the direction that they want to rapidly get to a political process and get it underway under U.N. auspices. So we made progress but we have some tough issues to get over,” he said.

    Kerry told reporters that he had spoken to Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to organize the next Syria meeting, tentatively set for Dec. 18 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. He added that while he was “working toward” the U.S. meeting the arrangements were “not locked in yet.”

    Speaking at a news conference earlier on Thursday, Al-Jubeir said that Assad has two choices, “either to leave through negotiations” or be forcibly removed from power, arguing that the Syrian people would not accept any other outcomes. He said he hoped the various opposition factors could come up with a common vision for Syria.

    Saudi Arabia has been a key backer of Sunni opposition blocs pushing for Assad’s ouster throughout the nearly five year old Syria conflict. Among those participating in the meetings in Riyadh are hard-line Saudi-backed groups such as Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, who had long rejected any negotiations with Assad’s government while he remained in power.

    The largest bloc at the meeting, with around 20 delegates, is the Western-backed opposition group known as the Syrian National Coalition. Also in attendance are representatives of the Syria-based National Coordination Body, an organization sometimes accused by other opposition members of being too conciliatory toward Assad’s government.

    Security was exceptionally tight at the hotel venue on Thursday. The hotel entrance was blocked off to the general public by armored vehicles and dozens of security guards were stationed outside the building and in the lobby.

    A peace plan agreed last month by 20 nations meeting in Vienna set a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of talks between Assad’s government and opposition groups.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ad4e978fab86467e82ae32cde60f26f0/saudi-fm-syrias-assad-must-leave-or-be-forced-out

    • This is what you get when you promote people for political reliability rather then competence, I don’ know but suspect that the investigators were ordered not to find evidence of any other terrorists, it is well know that the Clintons ordered the FBI to ignore any evidence that Oklahoma City was done by anyone besides a home grown right wing. After all a Moslem President doesn’t want us to know about terror cells in the US.

  15. APNewsBreak: Dealer: Gun Linked to Paris Attack Came Thru US (abcnews, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/apnewsbreak-dealer-gun-linked-paris-attack-us-35697324

    “One of the guns linked to Islamic militants in the Paris attacks that killed 130 people was exported to the United States in 2013, the head of a Serbian arms factory said Thursday.

    Milojko Brzakovic of the Zastava arms factory told The Associated Press that the M92 semi-automatic pistol’s serial number matched one his company delivered to an American online arms dealer in May 2013. It was not clear how the gun got back to Europe.

    At least seven of the weapons used or discovered after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris have been identified as being produced by the Serbian factory located in Kragujevac, in central Serbia. Most were manufactured before Yugoslavia broke up in a civil war in the 1990s and most of those are modified versions of the Soviet AK-47, or Kalashnikov.

    Brzakovic said all the guns were delivered legally but could have later found their way into illegal channels.

    “One was delivered to Bosnia in 1983, one to Skopje, Macedonia in December 1987, one to Golubici, near Knin (Croatia) in 1988, one to Zagreb (Croatia) 1987,” he said.

    He said the M92 pistol “is a semi-automatic weapon, a hunting and sporting weapon … it cannot fire barrage fire, only single shots … which are legal in America.”

    He said it was exported to an online arms seller in the United States, the Florida-based Century Arms, to which his factory exports up to 25,000 hunting and sports guns every year. He said the gun was delivered as a semi-automatic, but he did not know whether someone turned it into an automatic after delivery. The so-called “shortened Kalashnikov” is listed by U.S. arms dealers as selling for about $460 apiece.

    In a video posted online in December 2013, Century Arms advertised they were selling the AK-style pistol PAP M92, “a brand new firearm from the Zastava factory in Serbia” and demonstrated its attributes.

    The AP left messages seeking comment on the gun with Century Arms, the FBI and another U.S. government agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    Brzakovic insisted that all arms exports from Serbia are under strict government control.

    “We submit a request to our government to give consent and authorize the export. Until we receive that, we make no contract. Once we get a permission to export, we make a contract and arrange the dynamics,” he said.

    He said it would be wrong to accuse Zastava of selling weapons to terrorists.

    “Here’s where the weapons ended, there’s the data. Zastava cannot be blamed for where it went afterward,” Brzakovic said.

    But he agreed that an illicit gun deal could have taken place even after arms were delivered legally.

    “Wherever there are wars, there are bigger possibilities for abuse and to hide the channels for guns. They end up where they shouldn’t,” he said, adding: “We have a data base in the factory for the last 50 years, we know where a gun has been delivered.””

  16. Triple Bombings in Northeastern Town in Syria Kill 15 (abcnews, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/retakes-key-town-homs-province-syrian-forces-35689812

    “Triple car bombs exploded in a town in northeastern Syria’s predominantly Kurdish province of Hassakeh on Thursday, killing 15 civilians and wounding dozens more, Syria’s state-run news agency said.

    It said one of the explosions took place near a medical center and another at a crowded market in the town of Tal Tamr, adding that the vehicles were packed with large amounts of explosives and significantly damaged shops and businesses.

    The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 people were killed in the bombings, adding that the death toll was likely to rise because of the large number of wounded and missing.

    The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said the exploding vehicles were likely tankers, causing the massive explosions.

    Tal Tamr is an overwhelmingly Kurdish town where the main Kurdish fighting force in Syria — People’s Protection Units, or YPG — is in control. The group is the most effective fighting force against the Islamic State group, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

    Earlier Thursday, the Islamic State group retook a strategically important town in the central province of Homs from government forces, activists said.

    The government had recaptured the town of Mheen and surrounding villages from the extremists two weeks ago as part of a general offensive to secure the highway connecting Damascus to the country’s northwest.

    The loss deals a setback to the Syrian army’s strategy to fortify the corridor with support from Russian airpower….”

  17. Female Guantanamo Guards Still Barred From Moving Prisoners (abcnews, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/female-guantanamo-guards-barred-moving-prisoners-35699948

    “A military judge refused Thursday to lift an order barring female guards at Guantanamo from having physical contact with five men charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, at least for now.

    Army Col. James Pohl denied a request by prosecutors to lift a temporary order he imposed in January. Their request followed three days of testimony by Guantanamo Bay detention center officials who said the rule interfered with prison operations and discriminated against women soldiers.

    Pohl is expected to take up the matter again following additional testimony at a hearing early next year.

    The defendants say being moved from their high-security prison to court on the U.S. base in Cuba by women is an affront to their Muslim beliefs.

    Arguments over the order have stalled proceedings in the case for the men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

    The five face charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder in violation of the law of war. They could get the death penalty if convicted. A trial date has not been set.”

  18. Hate letter with ‘suspicious substance’ sent to US Muslim group (BBC, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35066403

    “A leading Muslim organisation in the US has evacuated its headquarters in Washington after receiving a hateful message and white powder in the post.

    Two employees of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) were initially quarantined in the office.

    A note reading “die a painful death, Muslims,” was in the envelope with the powder, the group’s lawyer said.

    Initial tests showed that the powder is not hazardous, and the quarantine has been lifted.
    The BBC’s James Reevell at the scene says the package is now being passed to the FBI for further inspection.

    Hazardous materials crews locked down the building and surrounding area shortly before 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT), while staff from CAIR waited outside…”

  19. Islamic State finance chief ‘killed in air strikes’ (BBC, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35064400

    “The finance chief of so-called Islamic State has been killed in air strikes by the US-led coalition, a US military spokesman has said.

    Muwaffaq Mustafa Mohammed al-Karmoush, aka Abu Salah, and two other senior leaders were killed in the strikes which took place in “recent weeks”.

    No further details were given.

    The coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS militants in Iraq and Syria for over a year. One recently also killed an IS leader in Libya…”

  20. Erdogan says Turkish troops not leaving Iraq yet

    Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said it was “out of the question for the moment” that Turkish troops would withdraw from Iraq, after Baghdad accused Ankara of sending them in without permission.

    The row has badly soured relations and saw the Turkish ambassador to Iraq summoned on Saturday to demand that Turkey immediately withdraw hundreds of troops deployed in recent days in northern Iraq, near the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul.

    Iraq’s foreign ministry said Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of Baghdad, which viewed their presence as a “hostile act”.

    Speaking at a news conference, Erdogan said the troops were there to train Kurdish peshmerga fighters and not for combat purposes. He reiterated an earlier statement that they had been deployed following an invitation by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi last year.

    “The number of our soldiers (in northern Iraq) might increase or decrease depending on the number of peshmerga being trained,” Erdogan stated.

    “Withdrawing our soldiers is out of the question for the moment.”

    Erdogan said there would be a trilateral meeting between Turkey, the United States and Kurdish northern Iraqi authorities on Dec. 21 but made no mention of talks with Baghdad.

    Later on Thursday, prime ministerial sources said PM Ahmet Davutoglu had at the request of U.S. officials spoken to Vice President Joe Biden.

    Davutoglu told Biden that Turkey co-ordinating with Iraq in its efforts to tackle Islamic State, and that a letter to the Iraqi prime minister laying out the Turkish position was being delivered by a high-level delegation which included Turkey’s spy chief, Hakan Fidan.

    “He expressed that Turkey will continue to contribute to the government of our friend Iraq’s fight against (Islamic State), in coordination with Baghdad,” one source added. The White House confirmed the call had taken place.

    Speaking to his counterpart earlier this week, the Turkish foreign minister emphasized Ankara’s respect for Iraqi territorial integrity and said further troop deployments had been halted for now.

    The furor is the latest blow to Turkey’s beleaguered regional relations. Ties with former allies Egypt and Libya are troubled, and Ankara is trying to defuse a row with Moscow after Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane last month.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-iraq-idUSKBN0TT2FC20151210
    Turkey: Erdogan says recalling troops from Iraq is ‘out of the question’

    SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “Our troops have not gone there to fight. They are there for training purposes. The number of our troops could increase or decrease according to the number of Peshmergas they are training. Calling our troops back is out if question at the moment.”

  21. Canada welcomes wave of Syrian refugees (BBC, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35065008

    “The Canadian military is transporting hundreds of Syrian refugees from Jordan to Toronto to be resettled throughout the country this week.

    One military aircraft arrived in Toronto on Thursday, and another will arrive in Montreal on Saturday.

    The newly elected Liberal government has pledged to take in 25,000 refugees by the end of February.

    Immigration Minister John McCallum said all 10 provinces in Canada are in favour of accepting the refugees.

    “This is a great moment for Canada,” he said. “This shows the way we really are. It truly is a non-partisan, national project.”

    Since early November, hundreds of Syrians have already arrived in Canada via commercial aircraft.

    About 300 Syrians will arrive this week. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be at the airport in Toronto on Thursday to greet them.

    The Toronto Star, the country’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, ran a cover on Thursday welcoming the refugees…”

  22. Migrant crisis: Greece, Croatia and Italy face EU legal action (BBC, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35064599

    “The European Commission says it has begun legal action against Greece, Croatia and Italy for failing to correctly register migrants.

    It says the three failed to implement the Eurodac Regulation, which involves fingerprinting asylum seekers and registering the data within 72 hours.

    The commission said it warned about the shortfalls two months ago.

    It has also launched an infringement case against Hungary over its asylum legislation.

    Hundreds of thousands of migrants have arrived in Europe in recent months, causing divisions among EU states.

    Almost half a million people arrived in Greece between 20 July and 30 November but Greek authorities have only fingerprinted about 121,000 of them, according to the European Commission.

    “Effective implementation of the Eurodac Regulation is essential for the functioning of the Dublin system and EU relocation schemes,” a statement said.

    “The European Commission sent administrative letters to Greece, Croatia and Italy in October.

    Two months later, concerns have not been effectively addressed. The European Commission has therefore decided today to send Letters of Formal Notice to Greece, Croatia and Italy, the first step of an infringement procedure.”

    Italy and Greece have both called on EU states for more help to deal with the huge influx of asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing war and poverty.

    In Athens on Thursday, 4,500 migrants arrived from Greek islands and 3,000 arrived from the Macedonian border, where authorities have blocked them from travelling further north.

    Macedonia says it is only accepting migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan….”

    • I got a full score. (You “have” to trust me on this one.) Can you get a full score too? A hint; one ought to consider (be aware of) the propaganda factor involved in quizzes like this one. Most people here probably are quite aware how BBC, Saudia, UN and other similar orgs operate. So you would have to apply this knowledge to win nothing… 🙂

  23. CAIR office evacuated over ‘foreign substance’

    The Muslim advocacy group CAIR evacuated its national office in Washington after a “foreign substance” was received in the mail. CNN’s Evan Perez has the details.

  24. Austria: Torch-lit vigil held in Vienna against ‘religious intolerance’

    Hundreds of protesters calling for the protection of Christians and ‘religious freedom’ in Muslim majority countries held a torch-lit vigil in Vienna, Thursday.

  25. ISIS media activity has declined under international bombardment: Egypt’s Dar El-Ifta (ahram, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/173042/Egypt/Politics-/ISIS-media-activity-has-declined-under-internation.aspx

    “ISIS militant group’s media activity is facing a drop off as air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Syrian air force, and Russian warplanes have reduced the group’s media capabilities, Egypt’s Dar El-Iftaa Monitor for Extremist Fatwas said on Wednesday.

    “Military strikes, and the resulting human and material losses, have impaired ISIS’s media capacity,” the monitor said in a statement on Wednesday.

    “Their losses are directly reflected in their (ISIS) media activity, as much of its information infrastructure was brought down,” the statement explained.

    Unlike other terrorist organizations, ISIS is widely known for its usage of varied forms of media activity, such as its own English monthly magazine “Dabaq” and its social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

    The monitor says that after following 30 media platforms affiliated with the terrorist organization, it became obvious that ISIS activity is facing a decline compared to the previous quarter.

    “Following our observation, we witnessed a decline in quantitative and qualitative information materials published and broadcasts by the organisation,” added the monitor of Egypt’s top authority that issues edicts to Muslims.

    “When the terrorist group was at peak violence, their performance was very active on social media, and that was the case by the end of year 2014 and the beginning of 2015 when ISIS military strength was on top, but when the decline took place in the last three months, their media activity declined as well,” the statement added.

    The monitor estimates that 63 percent of ISIS media content in general are photos and 20 percent are videos, adding that when the group gains full control of a territory, it releases non-military-related photos and images.

    “From June 2015 until September 2015, ISIS released around 3217 photos from Syria and 3762 from Iraq, but from October to December the group released 2500 photos from Syria and 2700 photos from Iraq, while videos declined from 728 in August to 500 in October,” the statement added.

    The monitor estimates that the aforementioned figure shows that ISIS is more influential in Syria than Iraq.

    The Syrian town of Raqqa, which is now claimed by ISIS as its capital, is frequently the target of air strikes by the US-led coalition, as well as the Syrian air force and Russian warplanes that began an air campaign in Syria in late September.

    Raqqa has been under ISIS control since January 2014 after heavy fighting between the militants and opposition fighters, who had seized it from regime control in March 2013.

    Russia stepped up strikes against ISIS after the group claimed to have downed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in October.”

  26. Egyptian naval commander receives Type-209 submarine from Germany (ahram, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/173150/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian-naval-commander-receives-Type-submarine-f.aspx

    “The commander of Egypt’s naval forces, Rear Admiral Osama Mounir, attended in Hamburg, Germany the inauguration of a German-built Egyptian submarine on Thursday, according to the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson.
    This is Egypt’s first Type-209/1400 submarine with the latest technology installed for this type of vessel.

    Egypt had signed the deal with Berlin to buy two German-made Type-209 submarines in 2011, and then ordered two more in 2014.

    The submarine was built by the German ThyseenKrupp Marine System.

    In his speech at the inauguration, Mounir stated that this “great technological addition” to Egypt ‘s navy will further its capability to bolster Egyptian national security.

    The inauguration of the submarine was attended by the German Navy Vice Admiral Rainer Brinkmann, Egypt’s ambassador to Germany Badr Abdel-Atti, as well the Egyptian consul in Hamburg and a number of German and Egyptian military officials.”

  27. Policeman killed in drive-by-shooting in Egypt’s Giza (ahram, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/173106/Egypt/Politics-/Policeman-killed-in-drivebyshooting-in-Egypts-Giza.aspx

    “Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a policeman tasked to guard a post office in Giza’s Badrashin city, a statement by the interior ministry read.

    Spokesperson for the Ambulance Authority Ahmed Al-Ansary confirmed to Ahram Online that an attack took place in Badrshin. However, he couldn’t confirm if there were other casualties.

    The identity of the assailants was not immediately known, according to the interior ministry.

    In a similar incident late November, unknown gunmen shot dead four members of the Egyptian security forces on a road near the Giza pyramids, south of Cairo.

    Hundreds of police and army personnel have been killed in targeted bombings, drive-by shootings and other attacks orchestrated by Islamist militant groups since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.”

  28. Lal Masjid cleric moves SC on imposition of Sharia law (tribune, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1007500/lal-masjid-cleric-moves-sc-on-imposition-of-sharia-law/

    “The infamous cleric of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, on Thursday approached the Supreme Court regarding the imposition of Sharia Law across the country.

    Aziz moved the constitutional petition through his counsel Tariq Asad under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

    In the petition, Aziz urged SC to “direct federal and provincial governments to take steps as required under the Constitution in order to enable the lives of Muslims in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Quran.”

    Further, the petition requested the top court to “direct the state under Article 25-A to provide free and compulsory education to all children between ages of five to 16 years.”

    A request was also included in the petition to direct President Mamnoon Hussain and governors to present a report before the National Assembly and Provincial Assembly on the observance and implementation of the Principles of Policy.

    Last month, Maulana Abdul Aziz rejected a warning issued by the district administration against his recently launched campaign for implementation of ‘Sharia Law’ across the country.

    “Pakistan was created for the Islamic system but has been far away from Islam since birth,” Aziz said in a video released on Sunday, adding he would go ahead with his plans.

    “I demand a committee be formed to determine if the present British-era judicial system is in accordance with Quran and Sunnah,” Aziz is seen asking in the 25-minute video.

    The prayer leader said nothing could deter him from his mission, adding he wanted to tell the government and all state institutions his movement for the implementation of the teachings of Quran and Sunnah will continue.

    “I demand enforcement of Quran and Sunnah as it a constitutional obligation,” he said, and offered himself for an open trial if there is any case pending against him. “I want to put myself on trial but that should be in line with Islamic Sharia.”

  29. Erdogan friends Zuckerberg over pro-Muslim message (tribune, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1007742/erdogan-friends-zuckerberg-over-pro-muslim-message/

    “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for emphasising the difference between Islam and terror, after the billionaire social network tycoon posted a message defending Muslims against discrimination.

    Erdogan, who once threatened to ban Facebook in his country, used his official page on the website to respond to Zuckerberg both in Turkish and in English.

    “I highly value Mark Zuckerberg’s message for pointing out the profound difference between Islam and terrorism since these two concepts are often mentioned in the same breath these days,” he wrote.

    “As I always express on different platforms, Islam is a religion of peace. Murderous networks that abuse Islam for their self-serving goals are massacring innocent people every day, particularly Muslims.”

    In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said that the Muslim community should not have to fear being “persecuted for the actions of others” following attacks in Paris and elsewhere carried out by Islamic extremists.

    “If you’re a Muslim in this community, as the leader of Facebook I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you,” he said….”

  30. Germany contributes AFN 5 billion to Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (khaama, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.khaama.com/germany-contributes-afn-5-billion-to-afghanistan-reconstruction-trust-fund-1791

    “The government of Germany has pledged to contribute AFN 5 billion in a bid to start and run development projects in Afghanistan as well as covering recurrent costs, such as salaries.

    An agreement was signed two days ago between Afghanistan and Germany in this regard.

    “Germany will pay the sum into the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). More than thirty donor countries provide financial assistance for the Afghan government through the trust fund. This year, the German government’s contribution to the fund is the highest it has ever made,” a statement by German government said.

    With an aim to help the Afghan government manage its financial resources efficiently and for the long term, Head of German Development Cooperation, Mr. Klaus Kraemer, said “The German Government wishes to assist the Afghan Unity Government in its effort to address country-wide periodic costs and development needs through budget support.”

    According to the statement, the money from the ARTF’s so called “Investment Window” is currently used for 20 development projects in five different sectors, such as agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, human development, and governance. In 2015, 8.7 million Afghans, 38% women, benefited from these projects. The contribution from the “Recurrent Cost Window” is used for state employees’ salary payments…”

  31. Amnesty International: ‘The people will not be stopped’ (DW, Dec 10, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/amnesty-international-the-people-will-not-be-stopped/a-18908972

    “The influx of refugees will be among the biggest challenges in the coming years, activists from Amnesty International in Germany have said, criticizing the EU’s approach on International Human Rights Day.

    The international community should fight the causes of the migration wave, by stopping the human rights abuse in the countries of origin, the German representatives of Amnesty International said.

    “The so-called refugee crisis is actually a crisis of international solidarity and responsibility,” the General Secretary of group Selmin Caliskan said on Wednesday, ahead of December 10’s International Human Rights Day.

    The organization specifically decried the international failure to stop the war in Syria, which prompted millions to flee.

    Caliskan also criticized the selfishness of individual EU countries when dealing with the newcomers. Trying to seal off the bloc’s borders would prove useless, she warned. “The people will not be stopped,” Caliskan said…”

  32. ISIS terrorists are now just PRINTING their own FAKE PASSPORTS…

    http://therightscoop.com/isis-terrorists-are-now-just-printing-their-own-fake-u-s-passports/

    With the U.S. and other countries on high alert for ISIS attacks, American authorities are warning the terror group’s followers may have infiltrated American borders with authentic-looking passports ISIS has printed itself with its own machines, according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News.

    The 17-page Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Intelligence Report, issued to law enforcement last week, says ISIS likely has been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian passports since taking over the city of Deir ez-Zour last summer, home to a passport office with “boxes of blank passports” and a passport printing machine. Another passport office was located in Raqqa, Syria, which has long been ISIS’s de facto capital.

    “Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and Deir ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria with passports ‘issued’ in these ISIS controlled cities or who had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.,” the report says.

    The report notes that the primary source for the information was rated at “moderate confidence,” the second-highest rating given for source assessments. Testifying before lawmakers Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey first publicly revealed the nation’s top security officials’ very real anxiety over the problem.

    “The intelligence community is concerned that they [ISIS] have the ability, the capability to manufacture fraudulent passports, which is a concern in any setting,” Comey said.

    Former Department of Homeland Security intelligence official and ABC News consultant John Cohen said, “If ISIS has been able to acquire legitimate passports or machines that create legitimate passports, this would represent a major security risk in the United States.”

    Fake Syrian passports have already been discovered in Europe, most notably two used by suicide bombers in the horrific terrorist attack on Paris last month. The two men are believed to have slipped into Europe with a flood of Syrian refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland.

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-intel-isis-passport-printing-machine-blank-passports/story?id=35700681

  33. DAILY MAIL SAUDI ARABIA – Hajj stampede killed THREE TIMES the number of deaths reported by Saudi Arabia: New figures find that 2,411 pilgrims were crushed to death

    Official Saudi death toll of September disaster is 769
    Saudi has dismissed efforts by others to join a probe into the deaths
    Crush occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road

    A stampede during the hajj in Saudi Arabia in September killed at least 2,411 pilgrims, according to a new count, some three times the number of deaths acknowledge by the kingdom.

    Figures compiled by the Associated Press established that the crush at Mina was the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage.

    Saudi Arabia rebuffed criticism from its regional rival Iran and efforts by other countries to join a probe into the deaths. Although King Salman ordered an investigation into the tragedy almost immediately, few details have been made public since.[…]

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3353850/AP-count-Over-2-400-killed-Saudi-hajj-stampede-crush.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

  34. San Bernardino Shooter’s Friend’s Purchase of Assault Rifles Probed

    New details emerged Thursday about Enrique Marquez, the man who purchased two of the assault rifles used by the San Bernardino shooters, including that the 24-year-old Riverside man spoke to KTLA in April on an unrelated story.

    Marquez, who has been cooperating with federal investigators in the case, made the purchases for his friend and neighbor, Syed Farook.

    Farook, along with his wife Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people and injured 22 others at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2.

    On Thursday, federal sources told the Los Angele Times that Farook asked Marquez to buy firearms for him so that the former could dodge a background check. The purchases were made around the time that officials said Farook was “radicalized.”

    In November 2014, Marquez married Farook’s sister-in-law’s sister — Mariya Chernykh — in a marriage that was under investigation, the Times reported Wednesday. Chernykh’s sister was married to Farook’s older brother, the Times said. Both sisters are from Russia, the newspaper reported.

    A bespectacled cycling enthusiast who reportedly wanted to join the U.S. Navy, Marquez converted to Islam several years ago and attended the same mosque as other members of the Farook family, but members of the Islamic center he attended said his presence was infrequent, the Times reported.

    On Thursday, Marquez’s mother spoke off camera to news media, and said her son had been interviewed by KTLA in spring.

    In April, Marquez spoke to the KTLA’s Rick Chambers for a story about his friend’s dog being bitten by a rattlesnake during a hike Jurupa Hills. Marquez said he ran for the car and got help for the dog.

    Marquez’s mother, Armida Chacon, tearfully told reporters outside her home that she had no knowledge of her son’s involvement in events leading up to the shooting.

    “He was a good person. How would I know? I didn’t know,” Chacon said, adding that she has not been interviewed by investigators.

    “He was a good young man. Whatever I asked him to do he would do. He watched over his brothers. He helped me a lot. He was my right hand around the house,” she said.

    “I want to be left in peace. When I am ready, I will sit down and talk to you. My life changed since Wednesday,” Chacon said. “My son is a good person. A good person. The rest, I don’t know how it happened. I want to see him.”

    Marquez is a security guard at Wal-Mart. He lived next to Farook on Tomlinson Avenue in Riverside, and neighbors said the two young men worked on their cars together.

    He told the FBI he and Farook in 2012 planned an attack in California but abandoned their plan after four men were arrested for attempting to travel to Afghanistan to get training from the Taliban and al-Qaida.

    Those four men have been convicted of providing material support to terrorism, and were not plotting an attack in the U.S., said David Bowdich of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

    Bowdich has refused to provide details about Marquez.

    “I’m not going to address anything to do with Mr. Marquez at this point,” Bowdich said at a news conference in San Bernardino Thursday afternoon.

    Officials cautioned that Marquez’s claim about a 2012 attack could turn out to be false and an attempt to deflect his role in helping buy weapons Farook used, CNN reported.

    A federal investigation found that Marquez purchased the two AR-15 assault rifles that were used by Farook and Malik, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

    Marquez gave the firearms to Farook but never reported the ownership transfer, officials told CNN. They were purchased in 2011 and 2012.

    Marquez reportedly checked himself into a mental health facility in Long Beach after the attack.

    He has waived his Miranda rights, cooperated with investigators and provided information, according to the officials. He has not been charged and has not spoken to news media since the shootings.

    http://ktla.com/2015/12/10/san-bernardino-shooters-friends-purchase-of-assault-rifles-probed/

  35. DAILY CALLER – Report: Obama Told NSC And FBI To ‘Downplay’ Terrorist Angle Of San Bernardino

    The FBI has taken heat for failing to immediately classify the San Bernardino shootings as terrorism, but a new report shows that FBI reluctance could have been due to external pressure from the White House.

    A source told Jack Murphy of SOFREP that the FBI instantly believed the shooting, which left 14 dead, to be a clear act of terrorism. The White House, however, didn’t feel the same way and quickly moved in to squash the terror classification.

    This source added that as soon as the shooting took place, Obama convened a meeting with the National Security Council and the heads of other federal enforcement agencies to discuss a public relations strategy.

    Part of the reason for trying to avoid the designation of the shootings as terrorism is because it threatens to upset the Obama administration’s strategy in Syria. A case of Islamic terrorism in the U.S. would put additional pressure on the administration to play a much more active role in the conflict.

    But in this case, because the preponderance evidence so pointed to terrorism, the FBI’s hand was forced, and the agency declared the existence of a terrorism investigation, going against top-down priorities from the White House. Syed Rizwan Farook, the shooter, had contact with ISIS and other groups.

    In response, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Department of Justice was ready and waiting to prosecute people engaging in “anti-Muslim” rhetoric.

    Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said publicly that the Obama administration wants to completely sideline discussion of terrorism, because it contradicts the claim that al-Qaida is dwindling. Obama recently suffered major embarrassment after he claimed that ISIS was contained, only one day before the Paris attacks took place.

    In the end, Obama told the American people in a public address from the Oval Office that the attacks were an act of terrorism, though he hedged his admission by saying that the war is not on Islam, but against ISIS.

    He added that sending boots on the ground into Syria and Iraq would be a huge mistake. Obama has already violated previous promises not to send boots on the ground by authorizing 50 special operations forces into northern Syria, where the Kurds hold sway.

    White House press secretary Josh Earnest insisted that the troops didn’t really count because they are not part of a combat mission.

    http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/10/report-obama-told-nsc-to-downplay-terrorist-angle-of-san-bernadino/
    =======================================================
    FBI San Bernardino Shooting Investigation Stymied by White House Politics

    Sources indicate heated tension between President Obama and FBI Director James Comey about the nature of the San Bernardino shooting, which left 14 civilians dead. Although the FBI believed that it was an act of terrorism from the beginning, immense political pressure was brought down on investigators to avoid using the term “terrorism,” with Obama stating, “It is possible that this is terrorist related, but we don’t know…It is also possible that this was workplace related.”

    A SOFREP source confirmed that after the shooting, Obama held a meeting in the Oval Office with his National Security Council, the attorney general, and the directors of the DHS, FBI, and NSA, in which a directive was given to downplay the terrorism angle. Such meetings are not held for mass shootings. Besides that, SIGINT aircraft like the ones the U.S. military flies over Africa (programs such as Creek Sand and Aztec Archer previously detailed on SOFREP) and Afghanistan don’t slurp up data from the skies over California unless the government is actively searching for other members of a terrorist cell. The same was done after the Boston bombings and the attempted Times Square bombing.

    If the San Bernardino killings are linked to terrorism, especially if they were directed or even inspired by ISIS, then the administration will come under immense pressure to “do something” in Syria. It has previously sought a minimalist strategy focused on not overly committing U.S. ground troops to the fight. Beyond this, it was clear early on that this was an act of terrorism. The two suspects, Tashfeen Malik and Sayad Farook, are radicalized Muslims who had pledged allegiance to ISIS on social media.

    The FBI’s Los Angeles field office and local police are scared of losing any and all credibility by not declaring the shootings an act of terrorism, especially considering another recent incident in which they were made to look as if they were hiding information from the public. In the face of relevations about Farook having contact with ISIS, Al-Nusra, and Al-Shabaab, the FBI was finally forced to make an announcement that they were pursuing a terrorism investigation, whether the White House liked it or not.

    Attorney General Loretta Lynch simply announced that the Department of Justice would prosecute people for anti-Muslim rhetoric. Former DIA chief Michael Flynn has also recently gone on the record to say that Obama is downplaying domestic terrorism angle because it doesn’t fit his reelection narrative claiming al-Qaeda was on the run. “I think that they did not meet a narrative the White House needed,” he said, referencing the rise of ISIS.

    The FBI is said to be frightened of crossing the White House’s party line while they attempt to investigate the San Bernardino shootings. After 9/11, and the more recent attacks in Paris, law enforcement officials served warrants, investigated known associates, and did what they needed to do to gather evidence and make arrests. Now, the FBI is afraid of investigating the mosque Farook attended, as Obama’s priority seems to be avoiding anti-Muslim backlash. All Director Comey can do is plead with the White House to allow his agents to properly investigate the crime.

    It is also worth noting that the FBI cannot access the suspects’ phone logs due to the expiration of bulk collection warrants that came in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden scandal. The warrant expired four days prior to the San Bernardino attack.

    Finally, last night, President Obama made a direct appeal to the American public in an address from the Oval Office, in which he directly called the San Bernardino killings an act of terrorism. There was no further patience for labeling the incident anything else. Much of the president’s speech was on target. He told Americans that one of the biggest mistakes we could make is categorizing the war against ISIS as a war against Islam, that committing to a large ground force in Iraq and Syria would be a strategic mistake, and that we should take a closer look at how terrorists are allowed to obtain U.S. visas.

    Obama also rightly called on Congress to authorize military action against ISIS, as the American campaign has thus far taken place under the auspices of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was enacted following 9/11. This congressional authorization would give further legitimacy to the strategy Obama has been pursuing in Syria and Iraq, using air strikes, special operations teams, and local partners to defeat ISIS.

    Obama then veered far off course, stating that Americans who are placed on the “no fly” list should not be able to purchase a firearm. Individuals placed on the “no fly” terrorist watch list are not allowed to board an airplane in the United States, and the list itself has come under intense criticism over the years as almost anyone can be placed on it for little reason. Less than one percent of the people requested to be put on the no fly list are rejected, and there is no clear path to be taken off the list. Stripping Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms without due process is simply illegal.

    However, Obama’s most egregious, and dangerous, gaffe came when he stated that at the moment there is no intelligence indicating that the San Bernardino shooters received direction or funding from terrorist organizations overseas. While Obama made this statement on television last night, the Department of Defense and Special Operations Command’s Threat Finance Agency has concluded that Malik and Farook most likely received funding from terrorists abroad. With this in mind, the Threat Finance Agency has issued alerts to the appropriate banking institutions to flag financial transitions from specific banks accounts.

    For the moment, America will continue to live with Islamic terrorism, a problem Obama described as a cancer with no clear cure.

    http://sofrep.com/45079/fbi-san-bernadino-investigation-stymied-by-politics/