Reader’s links for May 28 – 2016

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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

80 Replies to “Reader’s links for May 28 – 2016”

  1. ISIS have Euro 2016 ‘in their sights’ and could turn event into BLOODBATH, experts warn (express, May 28, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/674663/ISIS-terrorists-target-Euro-2016

    “TERRORISTS are planning to turn the EURO 2016 football championships into a bloodbath, German intelligence has warned.

    Islamic State militants have the upcoming sporting event in France “in their sights” and could wage a large-scale bombing campaign, according to security experts.

    The head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen, is convinced that jihadi terror groups want to launch attacks against high-profile Western targets, such as the Euros…”

  2. BRITAIN TERROR WARNING: Increasing threat forces London Mayor to order ‘URGENT’ review (express, May 28, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/674659/Britain-terror-warning-London-Mayor-urgent-review

    “THE new London mayor has ordered an “urgent” review of how ready the city is to deal with a major terror attack because the depraved criminals are always “evolving their tactics”.

    Sadiq Khan warned terrorists “want to attack London”, particularly in light of the recent Paris and Brussels attacks.

    He stressed public security is a top priority, prompting him to ask former Metropolitan Police Authority Lord Harris to lead a review into London’s safety against an imminent terror attack.

    Mr Khan said: “It is quite clear that terrorists want to attack London. They have attacked Paris. They have attacked Brussels. They have tried to attack London in the past. We have got to make sure we are constantly vigilant.

    “I have asked Lord Harris to carry out an urgent independent review to reassure me that our city is prepared for, God forbid, a major terrorist incident.”

    The London mayor said he wanted a fresh look at all current arrangements including how the city would cope if multiple terror attacks were launched…”

  3. Russia Increases Strikes on Illegal Oil Transport Routes in Syria (sputniknews, May 28, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160527/1040348464/russia-syrian-general-staff.html

    “Russian air forces increased strikes on illegal oil production sites in Syria since May 20, Russian General Staff said Friday.

    Russian warplanes have increased airstrikes against illegal oil production sites and oil smuggling routes in Syria since May 20, head of the Russian General Staff Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy said Friday.

    According to him, Moscow and Washington have agreed on the need to decrease the economic potential of the terrorist groups Daesh and Al-Nusra…”

  4. Turkey Says 104 IS Militants Killed in Air and Land Strikes (abcnews, May 28, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-104-militants-killed-air-land-strikes-39447500

    “Turkey’s state-run news agency says U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against the Islamic State group in Syria have killed 104 militants.

    Anadolu Agency says on Saturday said the strikes came late Friday, hours after rockets fired from Syria hit a southern Turkish town and wounded five people.

    It said the airstrikes and artillery fire also destroyed 7 buildings used as IS headquarters. The claim could not be independently verified, and Turkey has not explained how it can count casualties in Syria.

    Cross-border fire from Syria has claimed 21 lives and wounded dozens of others in the border town of Kilis this year.

    Authorities blame the attacks on IS which has a presence in northern Syria. Turkey typically responds by shelling IS positions.”

  5. Iraqi illegal immigrant who travelled to the UK ‘wanted to become an ISIS jihadi after taking an instant dislike to living in Sheffield’
    Shivan Hayder Azeez Zanagana, 20, known as Aziz, was arrested on May 17
    Aziz arrived in UK from Iraq, via Italy, and went to live in Sheffield
    A court heard he plotted to join a Kurdish group fighting alongside ISIS
    Aziz and two other men were at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613959/Iraqi-illegal-immigrant-travelled-UK-wanted-ISIS-jihadi-taking-instant-dislike-living-Sheffield.html#ixzz49xDuhKK3
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  6. Protesters battle with Australian FLAGS as rally in Melbourne turns into an ugly skirmish between anti-racist and anti-Islam groups True Blue Crew and United Patriots Front
    More than 300 people gathered for an anti-racism and an anti-Islam rally
    Protesters used the Australian flag as a weapon during a violent riot
    Members of True Blue Crew and United Patriots front were involved
    The riot broke out when rival rallies violently clashed in Melbourne’s north
    Police used capsicum spray on protesters that were behaving violently
    Seven people were arrested during the Coburg riot on Saturday morning

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613943/Protesters-battle-Australian-FLAGS-rally-Melbourne-turns-ugly-skirmish-anti-racist-anti-Islam-groups-True-Blue-Crew-United-Patriots-Front.html#ixzz49xEa0Wz4
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    • Australia: Anti-migrant protesters clash with ‘No To Racism’ activists in Melbourne

  7. RIP this Britain: With academic objectivity, Oxford Professor and population expert DAVID COLEMAN says white Britons could be in the minority by the 2060s – or sooner

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613682/RIP-Britain-academic-objectivity-Oxford-Professor-DAVID-COLEMAN-one-country-s-population-experts-says-white-Britons-minority-late-2060s-sooner-current-immigration-trends-continue.html#ixzz49xF8ngRV
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    • This assumes that nothing changes in either political attitudes, immigration and other important areas. In reality making demographic statements for that far in the future is just a mental exercise that produces results that have little to no validity.Look up the predictions about from the 1960s and 70s about what would be happening now.

  8. Islamic council proposes allowing men to ‘lightly beat’ their wives if they do not ‘dress as he desires’, refuse to have sex, or fail to take a bath after their period
    20-member Council of Islamic Ideology advises Pakistani government
    It proposes in a new bill that women can be beaten for various reasons
    Those include women talking to strangers or failing to wear a hijab

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3612356/Islamic-council-proposes-allowing-men-lightly-beat-wives-not-dress-desires-refuse-sex-fail-bath-period.html#ixzz49xHgn6EL
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  9. The tragic but brutal truth: They are not REAL refugees! Despite drowning tragedy thousands of economic migrants are still trying to reach Europe
    Syrians, Libyans and Moroccans came ashore from the Italian naval ship
    They waved at the waiting crowd of TV crews as if they were celebrities
    Total of 12,000 migrants rescued from boats off coast of Libya in past week

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613603/The-tragic-brutal-truth-not-REAL-refugees-Despite-drowning-tragedy-thousands-economic-migrants-trying-reach-Europe.html#ixzz49xLR5TDT
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  10. 100ft from disaster: Drone flown ‘intentionally’ at passenger jet taking off nearly causes mid-air smash

    A MANIAC risked a deadly mid-air smash by flying a drone within feet of a packed holiday jet.

    The captain of the Boeing 757 spotted it as he took off from Manchester Airport.

    He was at 1,500ft during a “critical phase of flight” — and officials said there was a high risk of a potentially fatal collision.

    Experts claim the object was “flown into conflict” intentionally as it was in an area regularly used by pilots taking off.

    The captain immediately alerted airport staff, who began scrambling to identify the mystery object’s owner.

    A safety report said the drone had a “high risk” of causing a potentially fatal collision.

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/7180232/100ft-from-disaster-Drone-flown-intentionally-at-passenger-jet-nearly-causes-mid-air-smash.html

    • This was probably a test run of a new type of terror attack, place a small amount of explosive on the drone and crash it into a plane either taking off or landing and the odds are it will crash and butn.

  11. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/world/americas/venezuela-economic-government-collapse.html?_r=0

    Venezuela Drifts Into New Territory: Hunger, Blackouts and Government Shutdown

    CARACAS, Venezuela — The courts? Closed most days. The bureau to start a business? Same thing. The public defender’s office? That’s been converted into a food bank for government employees.

    Step by step, Venezuela has been shutting down.

    This country has long been accustomed to painful shortages, even of basic foods. But Venezuela keeps drifting further into uncharted territory.

    In recent weeks, the government has taken what may be one of the most desperate measures ever by a country to save electricity: A shutdown of many of its offices for all but two half-days each week.

    But that is only the start of the country’s woes. Electricity and water are being rationed, and huge areas of the country have spent months with little of either.

    Many people cannot make international calls from their phones because of a dispute between the government and phone companies over currency regulations and rates.

    Coca-Cola Femsa, the Mexican company that bottles Coke in the country, has even said it was halting production of sugary soft drinks because it was running out of sugar.

    • The perfect example of what the end result of socialism is and no one is covering it.

  12. A First Look at America’s Supergun

    The Navy’s experimental railgun fires a hardened projectile at staggering velocity—a battlefield meteorite with the power to blow holes in enemy ships and level terrorist camps
    By Julian E. Barnes

    DAHLGREN, Va.—A warning siren bellowed through the concrete bunker of a top-secret Naval facility where U.S. military engineers prepared to demonstrate a weapon for which there is little defense.

    Officials huddled at a video screen for a first look at a deadly new supergun that can fire a 25-pound projectile through seven steel plates and leave a 5-inch hole.

    The weapon is called a railgun and requires neither gunpowder nor explosive. It is powered by electromagnetic rails that accelerate a hardened projectile to staggering velocity—a battlefield meteorite with the power to one day transform military strategy, say supporters, and keep the U.S. ahead of advancing Russian and Chinese weaponry.

    In conventional guns, a bullet loses velocity from the moment the gunpowder ignites and sends it flying. The railgun projectile instead gains speed as it travels the length of a 32-foot barrel, exiting the muzzle at 4,500 miles an hour, or more than a mile a second.

    “This is going to change the way we fight,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the Office of Naval Research.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-first-look-at-americas-supergun-1464359194

    • I don’t know much about this one but back in the 80s when we first started working on this it would put a 40mm copper clad chunk of plastic through tank armor at (I hope memory is serving me correctly) 10 miles.

    • I have some cheese they can try it on. If it can get through it, Ill take one.

  13. BELGIUM – Antwerp terror suspects planned attack on Flemish nationalist Filip Dewinter

    A group arrested in Antwerp earlier this week on suspicion of being terrorists planned to shoot Filip Dewinter, the leader of the anti-immigration Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party, Belgian media reported Friday.

    Federal police said the plans were at an early stage but were advanced enough to cause great concern, according to the newspaper De Gazet van Antwerpen.

    Four people were arrested on suspicion of being part of a terrorist group and planning to commit a terror attack, the federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

    One of the suspects is alleged to have wanted to walk into Dewinter’s office and “shoot him down.” However, they later changed their focus to a large-scale terror attack using explosive belts.

    Their lawyers said it was doubtful that the men would have gone ahead with their plans because of their young age — the youngest is reported to be 16.

    Dewinter said he was shocked by the news: “I have been threatened a lot, even with weapons, but I am shocked each time.”

    https://rinf.com/alt-news/newswire/antwerp-terror-suspects-planned-attack-on-flemish-nationalist-filip-dewinter/

  14. Muslims in Turkey demand right to pray at Hagia Sophia

    ISTANBUL: Thousands of Muslim worshippers descended Saturday on Istanbul’s world famous Hagia Sophia, the towering former Byzantine church that is now a museum, to demand the right to pray there, Turkish media reported.

    An imam led a prayer in front of the vast building that was once a Greek Orthodox basilica, then a mosque and now a museum before crowds called for it to be restored as a Muslim place of worship.

    “Let the chains break, open Hagia Sophia,” chanted the crowds who gathered on the plaza in front of the museum, according to Turkey’s Dogan news agency.

    “In the name of thousands of our brothers we demand to be allowed to pray inside the Hagia Sophia mosque,” said Salih Turhan, the president of the Anatolia Youth Association which organized the demonstration coinciding with celebrations for the anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.

    Built in the sixth century, Hagia Sophia, which means Holy Wisdom in Greek, was converted to a mosque in 1453 when the Ottomans conquered what was then called Constantinople.
    After the Ottoman Empire crumbled and modern secular Turkey was founded on its ruins, the mosque was transformed into a museum in 1935.

    The edifice, a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, features an immense dome supported by huge pillars, its walls sheathed with marble and decorated with mosaics.
    After the city fell to the armies of Sultan Mehmet II The Conqueror, four minarets were added to the structure and the interior was decorated with Islamic art.
    Since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, advocates of Turkish secularism have feared that the Hagia Sophia could be transformed back into a mosque.

    http://www.arabnews.com/node/931026/middle-east

    ========================================

    Thousands perform conquest prayer in front of Hagia Sophia

    Thousands gather to mark the 563rd anniversary of the Conquest of Istanbul by performing prayer in front of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, demanding museum be turned into mosque again

    Thousands of people performed prayer on the 563rd anniversary of the Conquest of Istanbul as part of an event held by the Anatolian Youth Association in front of Hagia Sophia of Turkish province of Istanbul.

    The prayer was performed by Murat Mustafa el-Hasan, a Hedjaz imam, [ from Mecca ] and the prayer was followed by slogans for the opening of Hagia Sophia.

    The head of Anatolian Youth Association, Salih Turhan, said that they are hoping to perform prayers inside Hagia Sophia.

    “Hagia Sophia, which was turned into a museum in 1934, should serve as a mosque again because the decision was fait accompli without public’s will,” he said.

    “Demanding Hagia Sophia to be used as a church is as nonsense as claiming Istanbul is not a Turkish city but a Byzantine city,” he said.

    The head of Istanbul district of Anatolian Youth Association, Ali Ugur Bulut, said that they are celebrating the conquest with longing for Hagia Sophia.

    “Keeping Hagia Sophia closed is becoming the target of 80 million Muslims’ curse. Hagia Sophia will be opened again,” Bulut said.

    Originally built as a Christian basilica in the 6th sixth century during the Byzantium Empire, Hagia Sophia is currently on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It was a church for 916 years.

    Hagia Sophia remained a keystone of Orthodox Christianity until 1453, when Istanbul was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II. Sultan Mehmet ordered the Hagia Sophia to be converted into a mosque as a symbol of Ottoman victory, and it served as a mosque for 482 years. It was converted into a museum in 1935.

    http://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/thousands-perform-conquest-prayer-in-front-of-hagia-sophia-2472687

      • Totally spontaneous, Erdowahn has absolutely nothing to do with it.

        In time they’ll deny there ever was a church there. They’ll say that’s colonialist Christian cultural appropriation. In fact even the shadow cast by an infidel defiles the sanctity of this eternal Mohammedan holy place.

    • Istanbul to mark Ottoman conquest of city with grand ceremony (hurriyetdailynews, May 27, 2016)
      http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbul-to-mark-ottoman-conquest-of-city-with-grand-ceremony.aspx?PageID=238&NID=99765&NewsCatID=341

      “Istanbul is set to mark the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul on its 563rd anniversary with a major event created by a grand team of 1,200, as expectations rise for the event, which is expected to attract 1 million spectators.

      “A 563-men Mehter concert [an Ottoman military band], a show by the Turkish Air Force ‘Turkish Stars’ [the air force’s aerobatics team], special conquest celebration and a fireworks display will be performed for Istanbulites and the entire world through a live broadcast,” Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said.

      The celebration will feature Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m on May 29.

      In its statement, the municipality said a large crew of 520 who are “experts in their fields” had been working on preparations at the city’s seaside Yenikap? venue, which is being decorated with advanced technology.

      The world’s largest 3D mapping stage will be employed to revive the conquest of Istanbul, then called Constantinople, by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (“Mehmed the Conqueror”) on May 29, 1453.

      Around 1 million people are expected to attend the celebrations using the 150 gates amid tight security measures, the municipality said.

      The live broadcast will not only be in Turkish but also in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian and sign language.

      A number of roads, including Aksu Avenue in Bak?rköy and the coastal road stretching between Fatih and Aksakal Street will be closed in Istanbul on March 29 between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m.

      Last year’s celebrations in Yenikap? Square were also a major political tour de force as hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the venue just a week before the general election of June 7, 2015.

      A new ceremonial brigade, the 478-man “Conquest Unit” that was formed by the Turkish Armed Forces on Erdo?an’s order, was present at the event, dressed as Ottoman soldiers. They were joined by an 84-men Ottoman military band, known in Turkish as the “Mehter.”

      A 4,709-square-meter poster at the square, featuring Erdo?an and then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, who also attended the event, entered the Guinness Book of World Records, according to Anadolu Agency.”

    • Greece: Refugees evicted from Idomeni gather at new makeshift camp

      Some 2,500 refugees have set up a makeshift camp near an EKO petrol station close to Polykastro, with the site’s population increasing every day.

      Many of the refugees arrived at the camp by foot from Idomeni following the eviction of the Idomeni refugee camp. Volunteers from Nurture Project International and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were seen offering food to the asylum seekers on Saturday.

    • Greece: One stabbed after brawl erupts at makeshift refugee camp in Evzoni

      One man was stabbed after a brawl broke out between Syrian and Afghan refugees at the makeshift camp at the Hotel Hara near Evzoni, Friday.

  15. RT – LIVE: Far-right ‘Generation Identitaire’ to rally against immigration in Paris

    Supporters of the French anti-immigration youth-movement Generation Identitaire are due to rally in Paris on Saturday, May 28.
    According to organisers, the rally has been called to demand that France remains true to “its laws, values and identity,” while blaming a so-called “migrant invasion” for a turn in the history of the country.

    • France: Man, reportedly armed, detained by police as far-right demo kicks off

  16. Germany: Pro-refugee activist throws cake at Wagenknecht during party convention

    [.... Left vs Left.... ]

    A protester threw cake at Die Linke leader Sahra Wagenknecht, during the leftist party’s convention in Magdeburg, Saturday. Other anti-fascist activists threw papers into the crowd, protesting Wagenknecht’s positon that not all refugees can come to Germany.

    The protesters, calling themselves ‘The anti-fascist initiative for cakes for enemies of the people’, said that Wagenknecht’s stance on the limited capacity for Germany to take in refugees aligned her with AfD party member Beatrix von Storch.

  17. ‘Terror group insignia’: US troops wearing Kurd badges infuriate Turkey

    In a stunning attack on Washington, Turkey’s Foreign Minister says US forces in Syria should wear the insignia of terror groups. The shock accusation came after US elite troops were spotted in Syria wearing the insignia of Kurdish fighters, whom Ankara considers terrorists.

    • Pentagon Denies Troop Presence on Syria Front Lines Despite Photographs

      The Pentagon Thursday denied the presence of U.S. troops on the front lines in Syria despite photographic evidence showing special operations troops fighting alongside Kurdish forces in an offensive to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State.

      Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, maintained the Obama’s administration’s claim that ground troops in Syria are solely serving in advisory and assistance roles in the war-torn region.

      “They are not on the forward line. They are providing advice and assistance,” Cook said during a testy exchange with reporters. “That mission has not changed, their role has not changed. They are not leading this fight. They are supporting those forces that are at the leading edge of this fight, and they are doing it in a very effective fashion.”

      Agence France-Presse published photos earlier in the day purporting to show U.S. special operations forces riding in a pickup truck across a rural town less than 40 miles from ISIS’ de facto capital Raqqa. Some of the servicemen are shown wearing the insignia of the Kurdish YPG.

      Cook refused to comment specifically on the photos.

      “What I will say is that special operations forces when they operate in certain areas do what they can to, if you will, blend in with the community to enhance their own protection, their own security… And they might be, again, for visual purposes, might be blending in with the local community,” he said.

      The AFP reported that U.S. commandos were seen climbing onto a rooftop “carrying U.S.-made anti-tank missiles.” A fighter with the Syrian Democratic forces told the outlet that U.S. troops are taking part in the group’s operation against ISIS.

      The revelations contradict the Obama administration’s insistence that ground troops are in Syria solely to advise and assist local forces.

      Ahead of the president’s announcement last month that he would deploy an additional 250 special operations forces to Syria, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes reiterated that U.S. troops would not be acting in a combat role

      “Obviously, any special forces troops that we deploy into Iraq or Syria are going to be combat-equipped troops,” Rhodes said. “They’re not being sent there on a combat mission. They’re being sent there on a mission to be advising and assisting and supporting the forces that are fighting against ISIL on the ground.”

      One reporter pressed Cook to clarify the difference between a “forward line” and a “front line.” He replied vaguely that he didn’t “have a yardstick measurement” and that the front lines of war are always “fluid.”

      http://freebeacon.com/national-security/pentagon-denies-troop-presence-syria-front-lines/

      • In order to gain trust from the indigenous people they are training and advising the US forces have to engage the enemy with our local allies. A fact that continues to escape the grasp of the left, they always insist that our personal remain many miles from combat. Thus ensuring that we have allies that don’t trust us and that we end up losing wars that were easily winnable. In Nam and Iraq, and Afghanistan the left has shown great genius in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Since the current war is a war of survival we can’t let this stand, we have to once again win the war and stop the left from surrendering to the enemy.

    • Turkey: Erdogan compares Kurdish groups to Islamic State

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a rally in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, on Saturday, where he condemned various Kurdish groups, equating them to the self-proclaimed Islamic State

      Referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Erdogan called them “terrorist organisations.”

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “The PKK, PYD, YPG and Daesh ; there’s no difference between them. They’re all terrorist organisations. I call out from Diyarbakir, I condemn the support the Americans have given the PYD and YPG. This is not the promise we were made. This is not the promise we were made. I am someone who believes that politics should be conducted with honesty. Therefore those who are our friends, who are with us in NATO, should not and cannot send their troops to Syria wearing YPG patches.”

    • New Syrian Army virtually wiped out by ISIS suicide bomber attack

      The U.S. trained New Syrian Army – not to be confused with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) – has virtually been wiped out, according to the Washington Post.

      It now transpires the small rebel group was hit by a major ISIS suicide attack on May 7, killing most of its members, according to its leader Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Tallaa.

      The New Syrian Army otherwise seized the al-Tanf border crossing on the Iraqi-Syrian border on March 5th, earlier this year.

      The unit was created in Jordan after receiving training by the CIA. It was subsequently funnelled across the Syrian border into southeastern Homs to combat ISIS.

      Most of the group’s fighters are originally from Deir Ezzor; a governorate in eastern Syria of which ISIS expelled all rebel groups during an offensive 2 years ago.

      Nevertheless, the New Syrian Army is still in control of the al-Tanf border crossing, according to U.S. spokesman Colonel Steve Warren.

      “They still have Tanaf, they have been resupplied, and we think they can hold,” he said. “We think they have enough firepower, and we are providing support with airstrikes as available.”

      https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/new-syrian-army-virtually-wiped-isis-suicide-bomber-attack/

      Wa Po -The last remaining Pentagon-trained rebel group in Syria is now in jeopardy

      Throughout the fiasco of the Pentagon’s $500 million effort to train and equip a force of Syrian rebels to take on the Islamic State, one small group endured.

      The New Syrian Army completed the U.S. training course in Jordan, infiltrated into Syria and then, in March, without fanfare or publicity, seized a pinprick of territory from the militants at the remote Tanaf border crossing with Iraq in the far southeast corner of the Syrian province of Homs.

      There they have remained, holding their ground without deserting, defecting or getting kidnapped, unlike many of the other similarly trained rebels whose mishaps prompted the temporary suspension of the program last year.

      Even this modest success is now in jeopardy, however, following an Islamic State suicide attack this month. An armored vehicle barreled into the rebels’ base shortly before dawn on May 7, killing a number of them, said Lt. Col. Mohammed Tallaa, a Syrian officer who defected and is the group’s commander.

      […]New Syrian Army fighters saw the suicide bomber hurtling through the desert toward them when the vehicle was two miles away, Tallaa said. They opened fire with everything they possessed, but the bullets, mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades bounced harmlessly off the ­Russian-made armored vehicle, which had been reinforced with extra plates. Though they called for airstrikes, planes arrived only after the car bomb hit the base.

      “If the program continues like this, there will never be an army big enough to fight ISIS,” Tallaa said. “And more than that, we will lose the guys we already have.”

      The U.S. military also failed during the recruitment effort to understand some of the dynamics of the Syrian rebel movement, making poor choices when it selected commanders for the units being trained, said Barabandi, who cited Tallaa as one of the problematic commanders.

      But there is no question that the suicide bombing has badly shaken faith in the U.S. commitment to supporting the force, he said. “This generated a lot of mistrust,” he said.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-last-remaining-pentagon-trained-rebel-group-in-syria-is-now-in-jeopardy/2016/05/27/91de194a-1c5f-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html

    • J.E. Dyer’s seriously concerned about what she sees going on here:
      Playing Kurds, flying BUFFs: U.S. courting serious danger for our forces in Syria-Iraq mission

      Do you remember anyone declaring that America is at war in Syria or Iraq?

      And if not, why are we engaging in questionable and potentially very dangerous operations there – as if we were at war, and needed to put our troops’ lives on the line by taking risks we wouldn’t otherwise take?

      … I’ve seen at least two things in the last few days that really bother me. They’re the kind of things we might take a less-cautious approach to if we were in a fight for our national survival, and we had no other choice. But in a discretionary operation overseas, where we have no firmly stated objectives and seem to be throwing stuff against the wall to see if it sticks, there can be no justification for putting our people in danger this way.

      http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/05/27/playing-kurds-flying-buffs-u-s-courting-serious-danger-forces-syria-iraq-mission/

      • She is right, the problem is that through Obama and Hillarys actions we have created a monster (IS) and are now responsible for destroying them. Something the left around the world will deny to their dying day.

  18. BREITBART – HUNGARY – Thousands of Migrants Arrive at Hungarian Border

    Thousands of migrants have arrived at the border of Hungary and Serbia in recent weeks leading to the formation of new makeshift migrant camps.

    As the notorious Idomeni camp in Greece is cleared there are fears a similar camp could be well on it way to creation on the Serbian-Hungarian border as thousand of migrants have descended on the area in recent weeks. Just hundreds of meters from the crossing at Roszke/Horgos a new camp is slowly being formed on the Serbian side of the heavily fortified border Spiegel reports

    300 migrants currently call this section of the border their home and are camped in makeshift shelters make of blankets and sticks or in tents. As new migrants come on a daily basis it proves that the so called Balkan route is hardly closed. Hungary has announced that they have registered some 15,000 migrants since the start of the year but the majority have only arrived since mid March and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.

    13,000 of the migrants were caught by Hungarian border security as they tried to cross the barbed wire fencing and even more are stranded on the Serbian side of the border. In March Hungary closed all of it’s asylum reception centres because the wall which they had built seemed to be working. There had been some signs of migrants gathering along the border there were no more than a thousand.

    The transit zone into Hungary allows generally no more than 15 to 20 migrants on a daily basis and never at set times throughout the day. The Hungarians prioritize the sick, old, women with infants and young unaccompanied minors. The new emerging camp is still full of both infants and families, some who have waited there for over a month.

    Sanitary conditions at the camp are similar to the Idomeni camp or the Calais Jungle, more or less non existent. There is fresh water but no medical care or working toilets leading to migrants defecating in trenches along the border. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has been visiting the area to provide food and medicine from Hungary and Hungarian authorities have distributed drinking water, bread and canned goods.

    The UNHCR wants to set up larger tents and create more of an established settlement for the migrants and said they will try and negotiate with the Hungarian border patrols in order to better supply the migrants at the camp.

    Asylum lawyer Tímea Kovács declared that the hard line stance of the Hungarian government is “absurd,” and said that the restriction of border crossings will only make the migrants look for illegal ways to get into Hungary. The Hungarian government countered the claim saying they were simply stopping illegal immigration.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/28/thousands-migrants-arrive-hungarian-border/

  19. DAILY MAIL –GERMANY – Iraqi migrant who bought a T-shirt saying ‘I’m Muslim, don’t panic’ is hospitalised by three Islamic asylum seekers who thought he was insulting their religion

    The 23-year-old bought T-shirt for a joke near his asylum home in Berlin
    But his fellow Muslim refugees failed to see funny side and beat him up
    Three angry Muslims ‘ripped up the T-shirt and ran off’, two later arrested

    An asylum seeker who jokingly wore a T-shirt saying ‘I’m Muslim, don’t panic’ was so savagely beaten by his fellow refugees that he had to be rushed to hospital.

    The 23-year-old Iraqi had thought that his fellow Islamic asylum seekers would see the funny side, but instead they accused him of offending their religion and decided to teach him a painful lesson.

    The man was attacked in the evening as he returned to his asylum seeker home in Berlin, Germany wearing the T-shirt which he had just bought.

    He was allegedly confronted by three angry Muslims who ripped up the T-shirt and ran off after beating him.

    Two of the alleged attackers, a 27-year-old from Syria and a 33-year-old from Lebanon, were later arrested on charges of aggravated GBH.

    Police said a report would be prepared for prosecutors.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613001/Iraqi-migrant-bought-T-shirt-saying-m-Muslim-don-t-panic-hospitalised-three-Islamic-asylum-seekers-thought-insulting-religion.html

  20. How Muslim Refugees In Europe Parse Their New Home’s Foods

    Muslim asylum seekers in Europe are taking it to Facebook to make sure what they eat in Europe is not ‘haram’

    Muslim refugees and asylum seekers in Europe, recently arrived in a foreign land, are turning to Facebook groups to puzzle out an important question: what’s OK to eat?

    “Guys, do not buy cakes like this one here, as it includes alcohol. Be careful of such products,” Abo Haidr, a Syrian who currently lives in Germany posted in one of the largest Facebook groups for the refugee community. Abo Haidr’s post there is one of many by recent arrivals trying to adapt to the new variety of products while avoiding pork and alcoholic ingredients, to adhere with Muslim dietary restrictions. Everything from gum to medicine is brought up and vetted by the group.

    One of the solutions offered to the confused customers on the refugees and asylum seekers discussion boards is HalalCheck. The app was launched in mid 2014 and it allows users to input a product’s code and get a feedback on whether that product is allowed according to Islam. Halal describes food, especially meat, that’s permissible under Muslim law.

    http://www.vocativ.com/322996/how-muslim-refugees-in-europe-parse-their-new-homes-foods/

  21. I will follow up this video with news articles about the same subject, I don’t know anything about the INL so I don’t know how much to trust the report about Russia expecting a first strike.

    https://youtu.be/huUWcwbIsd4

    • US military convoy rolling through Europe ‘aggressive, provocative’ step

      The American military convoy called the Dragoon Ride is traveling through Europe is clearly a provocation by NATO and particularly the US, Richard Becker of the anti-war Answer Coalition told RT.

      NATO tanks and other army vehicles, which are part of the so-called Dragoon Ride military parade, reached Prague on Sunday. Dozens of anti-war protesters met the convoy as it rolled into the city. The Dragoon Ride march is touring six European countries. The final destination is a military base in Germany.

      READ MORE: Breakdown: Czech spectators give up waiting for US Army convoy after 7hr wait

      RT:Some people protesting the NATO parade have labeled it a provocation. What do you think about this assessment?

      Richard Becker: Yes, I think it is clearly a provocation. I have just recently seen a YouTube video showing that A-10 Warthog planes were flying over one part of this convoy that is going through Eastern Europe. This is an aggressive step, another aggressive step by the US and by NATO, but particularly by the US. That was the US Army General [Ben] Hodges who is in charge of the US Army in Europe, who came up with this plan. It’s not Russia that has been the aggressor in this situation, it’s the US and NATO trying to absorb Ukraine to move closer and closer right up to the critical border of Russia that has created the crisis that we’re seeing.

      https://www.rt.com/op-edge/245581-nato-czech-republic-us-tanks/

  22. Imam of Al-Azhar prays at the Paris Bataclan concert hall, scene of the attacks of November 13th

  23. Tariq Ramadan, Islam’s Goebbels
    […]
    Tariq Ramadan is Islam’s Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda. This Nazi official punctually arrived late at his own rallies: “It increases the tension”, Goebbels said. And to those who reproached him because he used a taxi, Goebbels replied: “You have no idea of what is propaganda. I would have to get two taxis, one for me and one for my bag.”

    It was Goebbels’ idea to launch the Nazi appeal to the heart in order to manipulate public opinion. “The art of propaganda” he said, “consists precisely in the ability to solicit the public’s imagination with an appeal to the feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will attract attention and will touch the hearts of the masses of the nation.”

    Joseph Goebbels was frail, slender, with a large head and a hollow face, a beautiful voice. People flocked to hear him, because he was able to instill in the public different feelings such as hysteria, hatred, enthusiasm. He knew how to use every means: books and films, radio and music, media and tourism.

    He conquered writers, philosophers, scientists, intellectuals. “It is nice to exercise power with guns, but wonderful is gaining power over the hearts and the brains,” Goebbels said.

    This is exactly what Mr. Ramadan and other Islamists are doing today in Europe: the ferocious appeal to the Muslim masses, the manipulation of hatred and emotions through mosques and schools, the conquest of brains and hearts through televisions and rallies.

    Dr. Goebbels and Dr. Ramadan also share the same goal: the submission of Europe. Yesterday to the Aryan race, today to Islam.
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18941

  24. Germany: Turkish groups protest vote on Armenian genocide resolution

    Around 1,000 members of pro-Turkish organisations to the streets of Berlin, Saturday, to protest against Bundestag’s vote on a resolution regarding the recognition of the Armenian genocide.

    SOT, Yuksel Arslan, member of Turkish association (German): “Parliaments are not courts and parliament is no court. Deputies are neither judges nor historians. We reject politicians judging us on our coexistence and Turkish history. Turkish history cannot be written by politicians. Turkish history has to be placed in Turkish school books correctly. We demand from all the deputies of the parliament to be fair and that they cannot judge upon historical events.”

  25. Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of the leftist ‘Die Linke’ party, has been hit by a creamy chocolate cake during a party congress in Magdeburg. Antifascist militants said she was no better than members of the far-right AfD.

    Members of the antifascist group “Torte für Menschenfeinde” or “Cake for Misanthropists” took responsibility for the attack. They accused Wagenknecht of translating public anger into political demands and of assuming an anti-refugee stance, similar to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

    The leftist politician has been criticized for saying she didn’t think that all refugees could come to Germany and for anti-migrant comments after migrants sexually harassed and robbed hundreds of women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.

    http://www.dw.com/en/linke-party-mp-gets-cake-in-the-face-from-antifascist-group-at-magdeburg-congress/a-19290661

  26. Niger Military Kills 10 Boko Haram Extremists (abcnews, May 28, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/niger-military-kills-10-boko-haram-extremists-39452915

    “Niger’s army has killed at least 10 Boko Haram militants after they tried to attack a military post in the country’s southeast near its border with Nigeria.

    Col. Moustapha Michel Ledru said Saturday that three soldiers were also wounded in fighting in the Diffa region between Niger’s military and the Nigeria-based Islamic extremists.

    He said the Boko Haram fighters retreated after the military fought back, taking arms and ammunition from the extremists…”

  27. Iraqi Sunni politicians reject visit by Iran’s Sulaimani to Fallujah (gulfnews, May 28, 2016)
    http://gulfnews.com/news/mena/iraq/iraqi-sunni-politicians-reject-visit-by-iran-s-sulaimani-to-fallujah-1.1836364

    “Baghdad (Reuters): Sunni politicians in Iraq condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qasem Sulaimani to Shiite paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive Daesh militants out of the Sunni city of Fallujah.

    Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar said the visit by Iran’s Al Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdad’s assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to defeat Daesh, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis.

    Fallujah, which lies about 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, is a bastion of the insurgency that fought the US

    occupation of Iraq and the Shiite-led authorities that replaced former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussain, a Sunni…”

  28. Pakistan fails to seal F-16 deal after financing row with US — report (gulfnews, May 28, 2016)
    http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/pakistan/pakistan-fails-to-seal-f-16-deal-after-financing-row-with-us-report-1.1836356

    “Islamabad: Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the $700 million (Dh2.5 billion) deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the US following a row between the two countries over their financing, a media report said on Saturday.

    The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but Dawn News reported that the document was not issued, leading to expiry of the offer.

    “Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired,” a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the daily.

    However, Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, told the daily that “a dead-end has not been reached as yet”…”

  29. US tells Pakistan to go after terrorists (gulfnews, May 28, 2016)
    http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/pakistan/us-tells-pakistan-to-go-after-terrorists-1.1836345

    “Washington: The US has asked Pakistan to go after terrorists, especially the Taliban leadership, days after an American drone killed Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the country’s troubled Balochistan province.

    “We continue to cooperate closely with Afghanistan, but also urge Pakistan to go after terrorists, especially Taliban leadership, and that cooperation continues,” State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

    Meanwhile, a former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham, said the drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour inside Pakistan should send a signal that the United States will not tolerate terrorist safe havens…”

  30. Pakistan should stop supporting terrorist groups: Modi (tribune, May 28, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1111832/pakistan-stop-supporting-terror-groups-modi/

    “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Pakistan should halt “state or non-state” support to terrorist groups to boost ties between the two countries.

    India-Pakistan ties can “truly scale great heights” if Pakistan removes the “self-imposed” obstacle of terrorism, Modi said in an interview to Wall Street Journal…”

  31. Taliban suffer heavy casualties in south, 52 killed, 29 wounded (khaama, May 28, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/taliban-suffer-heavy-casualties-in-south-52-killed-29-wounded-01085

    “The Taliban insurgents have suffered heavy casualties during the clearance operations in southern parts of the country, the 205th Atal Corps of the Afghan National Army said.

    According to a statement by 205th Atal Corps, at least 52 militants were killed and 29 others were wounded during the operations.

    The statement further added that the operations were conducted in Gundu, chenarto Kariz, Koh Albak, Albak and Siya Oba villages in north of Shawali Kot in Kandahar and Kandahar-Uruzgan highway.

    At least 4 Ford Ranger police vehicles and 25 motorcycles in custody of the militants were also destroyed during the operations, the statement added.

    According to the 205th Atal Corps, the operations were conducted with the support of the Afghan Air Force and the artillery units of the Afghan National Army…”

  32. Libyan soldiers who were jailed for sex attacks while training in Britain have their application for asylum thrown out by court (dailymail, May 28, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3613664/Libyan-soldiers-jailed-sex-attacks-training-Britain-application-asylum-thrown-court.html

    “Three Libyan soldiers who applied for asylum after being jailed for a string of sex attacks on British women have had their ‘insulting’ applications rejected.

    In a victory for common sense, the men – who were being trained here to help bring peace to their home country – have now been kicked out of the UK.

    There was outrage last September when it emerged that Khaled El Azibi, 19 at the time, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 28, were seeking sanctuary despite their ‘despicable’ attacks…”

  33. Daniel Pipes:
    Cruel Hoax: The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act

    In a unanimous voice vote on May 17, the U.S. Senate approved the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act(JASTA), which permits victims of terror attacks and their surviving family members of on U.S. soil to bring lawsuits against foreign governments for supporting terrorism. In particular, it permits lawsuits against the Saudi government for its alleged role in 9/11.

    Arguing in favor of the bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer noted that, “If the Saudis did not participate in this terrorism, they have nothing to fear about going to court. If they did, they should be held accountable.”

    JASTA cosponsors Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) exit a news conference on May 17.

    In turn, the Saudis threatened to sell off their holdings in U.S. government paper; but while this has been rumored to amount to $750 billion, recent disclosures indicate that it amounts to a not-too-impressive $117 billion.

    But then, a week later, it became clear why JASTA passed the Senate without opposition. At the last moment, Schumer inserted an addition that nullifies the bill’s purpose. Paul Sperry, who broke this story in the New York Post, explains:

    The section that was slipped in at the last minute — ‘Stay of Actions Pending State Negotiations’ — leaves it up to the secretary of state to merely ‘certify’ that the United States is ‘engaged in good-faith discussions with the foreign-state defendant concerning the resolution of claims against the foreign state.’

    The attorney general, in turn, can petition the court for an extension of the stay for “additional 180-day periods,” effectively delaying lawsuits against the Saudis indefinitely.

    Add to this that the House is unlikely to take up the bill, Obama is opposed to it, and the Saudi government has mobilized against it, and the vote does appear to be, as Sperry calls it, “a cruel hoax.”

    It’s tricks like this that fuel support on the Left (Sanders) and Right (Trump) for candidates who promise integrity in government.

    http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2016/05/cruel-hoax-the-justice-against-sponsors

    • My summary of the presentation:
      Richard Miniter:
      The MB’s tactics of how to do jihad in the West. (see Stephen Coughlin)

      Bruce Thornton
      We are in a war that has been going on for 14 centuries. And the Taliban have a saying, “You have the watch as we have the time.”

      Islam is “theologized tribalism”
      Any tribal people, they have some similarities. And one of them is the tribe is everything and everybody else is nothing. A lot of tribes don’t even have a word for humans. Humans are themselves. Islam follows this. There’s the dar al-Islam, the dar al-harb. So they have built in a kind of supremacy.

      For awhile after 9/11 we kept hearing, “Well, you know they feel bad because Europeans have been picking on them and everything.” NO. Their problem is too damn much esteem. Right? They think too highly of themselves. And that needs to be knocked out of them.

      We did it to end WW2. The enemy had to be thoroughly defeated and made to know that no, sorry, you’re not the super race. Germans do not have a right to rule everybody else. Similar thing happened in Japan and they’ve been very good global citizens since then.

      “And by the way, don’t ever let some of history’s most brutal successful imperialist powers whine to us about imperialism or colonialism”. Read Chruchill and don’t put up with false history.
      They have to be defeated militarily, whatever that takes.

      If we don’t start getting that mentality, if we keep thinking that we can bribe or negotiate or sweet talk or understand or tell them how wonderful their religion is and how much we love it and do all the things […] which are absolutely wrong things to do, then if you say, “How to defeat the jihad?” we’re not going to defeat jihad. It will be incremental. It will be insidious and at one point in the near future we’re going to wake up and we’re not going to recognize the country we’re in.

      Robert Spencer
      We…need to reconfigure our international alliances. Our international alliances are still based on the Cold War. I’m happy to say the Cold War is over. The Soviet Union is gone. Maybe, it’ll be back. But right now, to continue to pretend that Pakistan and Turkey are our allies is just a waste of money to the point of being suicidal.

      Vladimir Putin said, “Obama we need an international alliance against jihad terror,” and Obama refused. Now, I think Putin has a terrible record in many ways, but we allied with Stalin to beat Hitler. We can’t ally with Putin beat ISIS?

      We need to reconfigure our alliances such that we are standing with the countries that are threatened by jihad, as we are, and against the countries that are enabling it. Instead, right now, we are allied with far too many countries that are enabling it, and we are helping to finance our own killers.

  34. Jeffrey Herf. Note the familiar slander, the Communist enemy defamation of the Jewish state, and see where it comes from.
    East Germany’s Assault on Israel
    After World War II, the Communist regime aided and abetted terror against the Jewish state

    East Germany faced in West Germany an adversary that sought to isolate and delegitimize it by refusing to have diplomatic relations with any state that recognized the East. In playing the anti-Zionist card, East Germany found a means to . . . open the floodgates of diplomatic recognition.

    A breakthrough with the Arab states began in 1969, when Iraq became the first non-Communist government (after Cambodia) to establish diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic. A joint declaration by the foreign ministers of the two countries made a clear connection between Iraq’s decision to establish diplomatic relations and East Germany’s antagonism to Israel, stressing their “shared struggle?.?.?.?against imperialism, neo-Nazism, colonialism, and Zionism” and describing Israel as “racist, imperialist, reactionary, and aggressive.”

    The description of Israel as a racist state and an imperialist tool, and the implication that both it and West Germany were expressions of neo-Nazism, was thus embedded in East Germany’s diplomatic relations with the Arab states. . . . The East Germans presented themselves as a different sort of “good German,” a German state that was an enemy of Israel; their antagonism to Israel contributed to their considerable popularity among Third World states. Following its admission to the United Nations in 1973, East Germany repeatedly found itself in the middle of the huge General Assembly majorities voting in favor of unbalanced resolutions denouncing Israel.

    In June 1979, the [East German secret police] Stasi signed a formal agreement of cooperation with the PLO intelligence services based on their shared interest in preventing the use of East Germany as a base for terrorist operations against Western Europe and, instead, fostering it as a base for terrorist operations against Israel. . . .

    During the 1970s, the PLO and [its] affiliates, . . . notably the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP), carried out numerous terrorist actions against the cities and towns of northern Israel from bases in southern Lebanon. . . . East Germany’s diplomats in the region were in contact not only with [Yasir] Arafat but also with leaders of the PFLP and PDFLP. During these years, East Germany joined the Soviet bloc in sending these groups weapons of terror, including thousands of Kalashnikovs, hand grenades, and abundant ammunition and in offering them military training and medical care.

    https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/east-germanys-assault-israel/