Reader’s links for July 20 – 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

10 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 20 – 2016”

  1. UN: Islamic State Fighters Face Possible Defeat in Libya (abcnews, July 20, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/islamic-state-fighters-face-defeat-libya-40715085

    “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Islamic State fighters in Libya are facing the “distinct possibility” of defeat in their last stronghold and are likely to scatter elsewhere in the North African country and the region.

    The U.N. chief said in a new report to the U.N. Security Council that member states’ estimates of the number of IS fighters range between 2,000 and 7,000 from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Mauritania.

    Ban said one member state recently reported between 3,000 and 4,000 IS fighters in Sirte, the extremist group’s last bastion along Libya’s northern coast which he called “the most active war front” in the country.

    But he said as a result of the recent offensive against IS, by forces aligned with the U.N.-brokered government and others, “the current number of those in Sirte is now likely well under 1,000,” with large numbers of those who have recently fled the city likely relocating and regrouping “in smaller and geographically dispersed cells throughout Libya and in neighboring countries.”

    According to one unnamed U.N. member state, Ban said dozens of Tunisians fighting for IS have already returned home “with the intent to conduct attacks.”

    The secretary-general said in the report on the threat posed to Libya and neighboring countries by foreign fighters, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, that the current political divide in Libya continues to make the country attractive for foreign fighters who are actively recruited by IS and al-Qaida-linked groups to boost their military capabilities…”

  2. 17 Soldiers Killed, 35 Wounded in Attack on Mali Army Base (abcnews, July 19, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/10-soldiers-killed-38-wounded-attack-mali-army-40695449

    “Gunmen killed 17 soldiers and wounded 35 in an attack early Tuesday on an army camp in central Mali, the government said, and two separate groups claimed responsibility.

    A government statement issued late Tuesday said it was not yet clear who had attacked the city of Nampala.

    The Macina Liberation Front, which is said to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for the attack on social media. The extremist group is made up primarily of members of the Peul ethnic group, and it claimed responsibility for several attacks on the army last year.

    The group’s attacks in central Mali have raised alarm because it represents an escalation in extremism much further south…”

  3. ANOTHER German festival hit by migrant sex attacks as girls groped by groups of Afghanis (express, July 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/691121/German-festival-Breminale-migrant-sex-attacks-girls-groped-by-Afghanis

    “ANOTHER German festival has been plagued by sex assaults after girls were groped by “groups” of migrant men.

    Eighteen cases of sexual assault are being investigated by German police after the open air festival Breminale in Bremen.

    Some incident were reported to the police by concerned passersby while in other cases victims contacted officers.

    Police arrested six suspects during the five-day festival, who were all released on Monday.

    Officers confirmed those taken into custody were “mostly” refugees from Afghanistan.

    Teenagers as young as 17 said they were “hugged and groped” by groups of men on a busy dance floor…”

  4. WikiLeaks releases thousands of private Turkish government emails following failed coup (express, July 20, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/691217/Wikileaks-release-Turkey-emails-failed-coup

    “WIKILEAKS has released hundreds of thousands of private emails from Turkey’s ruling AKP party following President Erdogan’s brutal response to the coup.

    The site, which publishes sensitive government material, has released private emails sent by senior AKP Party members.

    WikiLeaks released the emails in response to President Erdogan’s brutal backlash to the failed military coup last week.

    Erdogan has rounded up political enemies, including high-ranking military personnel and senior judges, while others have been detained in a move many feel is the Turkish President seizing the opportunity to tighten his rule.

    WikiLeaks released a statement on its site, which was founded by Julian Assange…”

  5. Turkey coup: Crackdown toll passes 45,000 (BBC, July 20, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36842073

    “At least 45,000 people have been rounded up, sacked or suspended from their jobs by Turkey’s government in the wake of last week’s failed coup.

    The purge of those deemed less than loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan widened on Tuesday to include teachers, university deans and the media.

    The government says they are allied to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies claims he directed the uprising…”

  6. US mulls ‘pause’ in support of Syrian rebels following beheading of Palestinian boy (RT, July 20, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/usa/352193-pause-support-syrian-rebels-beheading-boy/

    “The US says it may reconsider its affiliation and support for the Syrian opposition if reports of anti-Assad rebels beheading a Palestinian boy are confirmed. The State Department has vowed “consequences” if the gruesome videos of the death are true.

    “If we [the United States] can prove indeed what happened and this group [al-Zenki] was involved in it… it would give us pause about any assistance or frankly any further involvement,” Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department, Mark Toner, told reporters at a daily briefing Tuesday…”

  7. Erdogan Taking Turkey Down Extreme Islamist Path – US Tactician (sputniknews, July 20, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160720/1043311858/erdogan-islamist-path.html

    “The wide-ranging purge launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after last week’s failed military coup is part of his masterplan to turn Turkey into a radical Islamist state, retired US Army Colonel and historian Douglas Macgregor told Sputnik.

    WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Since the failed coup, Erodgan has ordered the arrest of at least 70 generals and admirals, fired 21,000 school teachers across Turkey from their jobs and told CNN he wants Parliament to discuss reintroducing the death penalty, which was abolished in 2004.

    “Turkey is now moving as I forecast in chapter 3 of my book ‘Margin of Victory’ down the Islamist Path,” Macgregor, a leading US military tactician and combat hero of the 1991 Gulf War, said on Tuesday.

    Macgregor interpreted these events as signs that Erdogan was showing his true colors as a radical Islamist after 13 years of slowly but steadily increasing his personal power.

    “Once elected, Islamists do not surrender power: That is the lesson everyone in the West must finally accept. The coup was the last opportunity to arrest this tragic development.”

    Erdogan would still try and present himself to the United States and the European Union (EU) as a moderate democrat but the reality of his political actions would tell a very different story, Macgregor warned.

    “In the short-run, Erdogan will attempt to the extent he can to cultivate a ‘moderate’ image but his violent suppression of internal dissent and political opposition will make it very difficult for all but the most gullible to believe in his alleged democratic credentials.”

    Macgregor argued that Erdogan had played a far larger role in helping to create and sustain the Daesh, than Western governments and media had realized. He predicted that even though Daesh was being destroyed, Erdogan would seek to replace it with a similar movement.

    “Daesh, in large part a creation of Erdogan, Qatar and the Saudis, is now a dying Frankenstein’s monster. As it diminishes, another will arise that is likely more closely aligned with and obedient to Erdogan’s wishes.”

    However, as these developments unfolded, Erdogan would no longer be able to present himself to the West as a democrat and moderate, Macgregor predicted.

    “In the long-run, the proverbial hand writing is on the wall. Ultimately, Erdogan will be unable to conceal his true identity as Sunni Islam’s leader Jihadist Champion against the West, Russia, Iran and Israel.”

    On Tuesday, US Department of State spokesperson Mark Toner rejected media allegations that the US government had any involvement in Friday’s military coup in Turkey that resulted in 300 deaths and more than 1,400 wounded.”

  8. France to extend state of emergency for six months (BBC, July 20, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36842311

    “France’s National Assembly has voted to extend the state of emergency for six months.

    The move follows last week’s attack in Nice in which 84 people were killed and scores injured when a lorry was driven into crowds.

    The state of emergency was brought in after terror attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead.

    Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France must expect more deadly attacks despite precautions taken by his government.

    Speaking at the debate in the National Assembly, he said France would have to learn to live with the threat…”