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US slaps sanctions on six militants after cutting aid to Pakistan (tribune, Jan 26, 2018)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1618554/3-us-slaps-sanctions-on-six-militants-after-cutting-aid-to-pakistan/
“The US warned Pakistan Thursday to do more to crack down on the Taliban and Haqqani groups, as it added six officials from the groups to its sanctions blacklist.
The Treasury said five of the six were in charge of raising and transferring funds as well as equipment and materials to support the operations of the closely-linked groups, while the sixth was a senior Taliban military affairs official.
The sanctions ban any individual or company with a US presence from doing business with them.
“We are targeting six individuals related to the Taliban or Haqqani Network who have been involved in attacks on Coalition troops, smuggling of individuals, or financing these terrorist groups,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
“The Pakistani government must work with us to deny the Taliban and the Haqqani Network sanctuary and to aggressively target their terrorist fundraising,” he said in a statement.
Three of the four Taliban officials sanctioned, Abdul Qadeer Basir Abdul Baseer, Abdul Samad Sani, and Hafiz Mohammed Popalzai, worked under the head of the Taliban Finance Commission, Gul Agha Ishakzai.
Under his direction they collected funds from drug traffickers, precious stone sales, hostage ransoms and donors to be distributed to Taliban fighters, the Treasury said.
A fourth, Maulawi Inayatullah, was identified as a Taliban military affairs official responsible as recently as 2016 for attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces in Kabul.
Two others placed on the sanctions blacklist – Faqir Muhammad and Gula Khan Hamidi – were said to help the Haqqani network raise and move money and help fighters travel to the Middle East and beyond.
Muhammad was called a major Haqqani fundraiser, while Hamidi was described as important in managing the Haqqani network outside of the region, reaching into Syria, Iran, and Turkey, and cooperating with al Qaeda.
On top of his Haqqani work, the Treasury said, Hamidi “has also been involved for years in coordinating travel and smuggling activity, to include working with an Iran-based smuggler regarding the travel of persons from Afghanistan to Europe in late 2017.””
BBC Brexit bias EXPOSED: Flagship programmes under-representing anti-EU views for DECADES (express, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/910077/BBC-Brexit-bias-anti-EU-views-News-watch-euro-sceptic-referendum
“BBC flagship news programmes have under-represented anti-Brussels views for decades, a report published by a leading social policy think tank claimed last night.
In-depth analysis of broadcasting output since 1999 based on monitoring by the watchdog News-Watch found Euro-sceptic voices were “marginalised” by the corporation.
And the alleged bias has continued following the national referendum vote to quit the EU in 2016, the report said.
“The clear preference of a large section of the population for withdrawal, and the reasons for so many people taking this stance, have been continually under-represented in the news coverage of the BBC,” the report said.
The findings were set out in “Brussels Broadcasting Corporation?” published by the think tank Civitas.
Since the European Parliament elections in 1999, News-watch has compiled 38 mainly half-yearly reports, based on 8,000 programme transcripts covering almost 300 hundred hours of EU content.
Analysis of the News-Watch research for the Civitas report found that out of 4,275 guests talking about the EU on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme between 2005 and 2015, only 132, equivalent to 3.2%, were supporters of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
In 274 hours of monitored BBC EU coverage between 2002 and 2017, only 14 speakers were left-wing advocates.
Their contribution accounted for just 12 minutes of total broadcasting output, the report said.
Yet during the same period, the two ardently Europhile Tories Kenneth Clarke and Lord Heseltine made 28 appearances between them.
The report also found “a determined reluctance” to address the questions of whether Britain should quit the EU.
Between 2005 and 2011, only 20 questions about leaving the EU were posed in 1,073 surveyed editions of Today.
The News-Watch researchers calculated that there was an average of one question for every 153 programme hours.
The report said the alleged bias continued after the vote for Brexit.
A month of the Today Programme in October and November 2017 carried 97 interviews on EU topics, but only nine were with long-term supporters of Brexit.
David Keighley and Andrew Jubb, the authors of the report, said: “When opinion in favour of leaving the EU has featured, the editorial approach has – at the expense of exploring withdrawal itself – tended heavily towards discrediting and denigrating opposition to the EU as xenophobic, and to cast those who supported it as incompetent and venal.
“The overview provided here is a shocking indictment of the BBC’s failure to achieve impartiality, and in particular to incorporate the views of those who desired to leave the EU into its news output. Despite frequent requests to the Chairman and Director General of the BBC from a cross-party group of MPs concerned about BBC bias, the Corporation has been unable to provide a single programme that has examined the opportunities of Brexit. And we cannot find one either.
“The corporation is impervious to all complaints in this domain. It may well be that in the face of this lofty intransigence, something more radical – such as a Judicial Review of the complaints process – might be the only way forward.”
Responding to the report, a BBC spokesman said: “There have been a number of flawed ‘analyses’ trying to depict the BBC as favouring one side or other.
“The reality is we’re no longer covering the binary choice of a referendum held 18 months ago, we’re covering the process towards Brexit in a responsible and impartial way independent of political pressure.
“The job of impartial journalism is to scrutinise the issues and interrogate the relevant voices, not advocate for a position.
“It’s precisely for this reason that the public trusts the BBC.””
Moroccan socialist party calls for country’s withdrawal from Saudi-led military operations in Yemen (memo, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180126-moroccan-socialist-party-calls-for-countrys-withdrawal-from-saudi-led-military-operations-in-yemen/
“Morocco’s Unified Socialist Party has called for the country’s withdrawal from the Saudi-led military coalition that has been fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias.
The party added in the concluding statement of its fourth congress, held in Rabat, that Morocco should not get involved in any such military interventions.
These steps could tarnish Morocco’s reputation and standing, according to the party’s statement.”
Sudan bans 130 import-export companies from banking transactions for failing to pay foreign currency revenues to government (memo, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180126-sudan-bans-130-import-export-companies-from-banking-transactions-for-failing-to-pay-foreign-currency-revenues-to-government/
“Sudan’s central bank banned 130 import-export companies from all kinds of banking transactions, according to a statement cited by Anadolu Agency.
The ban comes in response to the companies’ failure to pay their revenues to the Sudanese government, the bank added in its statement…”
Kurdistan denies agreeing to hand over its oil to Baghdad (memo, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180126-kurdistan-denies-agreeing-to-hand-over-its-oil-to-baghdad/
“The prime minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, has said that his government will not hand over the Iraqi region’s oil to the federal government in Baghdad, contrary to what Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi had said on Thursday.
Speaking to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Abadi added that his country will abide by OPEC limits to keep the price of oil stable.
Abadi said in the conference that Iraq’s reconstruction will require between $55 and $100 billion dollars, according to Reuters…”
Jonathan Spyer:
Iraqi Kurdistan Four Months after the Referendum
Four months on from the referendum which they had hoped would be a foundation stone for the building of statehood, Iraq’s Kurds are demoralized and facing an increasingly uncertain future.
The loss of Kirkuk to the Iraqi army and its Shia militia allies halved the Kurdish Regional Government’s revenues in a single stroke.…
The impact of the closure is felt in various ways. One KRG official who spoke to the Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity described a situation in which wounded Peshmerga needing specialized medical treatment are unable to travel abroad to seek treatment, foreign companies can no longer bring their employees into the KRG, and Baghdad makes problems for journalists seeking to cover the Kurdish areas (prior to the airport closure of late 2017, the KRG administered its own far more lenient visa system for foreign visitors). Tourism, once an important source of revenue for the KRG, has come almost to a halt….
Teheran has invested heavily in the politics of Shia Arab Iraq, as part of its more general regional program of outreach. Had a large chunk of Iraq split off, taking with it the oil wealth of Kirkuk, this would have represented a disaster for Iran. The fact that the ruling KDP is pro-western and pro-US greatly compounded the issue. The newly born Kurdish state would also have served as an example for Iran’s restive Kurds. Kordestan province in Iran is contiguous to the KRG area.
Major General Qassem Suleimani of the Revolutuonary Guards Corps was directly involved in the negotiations with a section of the Kurdish Talabani family which formed the prelude to the Iraqi and Shia militia descent on Kirkuk. He appears to have been involved in brokering the deal which led to the PUK Peshmerga leaving the field and rendering Kirkuk indefensible in October, 2017.…
There appears at the moment to be an emergent US-led strategy to seek to roll back Iranian influence in the Levant and Mesopotamia. The decision to retain a US presence in eastern Syria forms a key part of this. Support for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Yemen, and acknowledgement of Israel’s security needs in south west Syria are additional components.
It is not clear why the US appears to be following a precisely opposite policy in Iraq, where its preferred candidate for the prime ministership in Baghdad is a close collaborator with the Iranian regional design. This policy has left the staunchly pro-US Iraqi Kurds, in the words of the KRG official, ‘choked and cornered’ in their now truncated and cash-strapped autonomous area.
[Jerusalem Post]
https://jonathanspyer.com/2018/01/20/choked-and-cornered-irai-kurdistan-four-months-after-the-referendum/
______
It is not clear why…
Brett McGurk, 0’s man on the job, is still on the job.
CJTF-OIR: Kirkuk a ‘misunderstanding’ attributed to ‘limited visibility conditions’
…US military officers and officials have also provided cover for the PMF, wh is primarily comprised of militias controlled or influenced by Iran. Since Iraq made the PMF an official security apparatus, and US commanders were insistent on defeating the IS at all costs, even at the expense of throwing in their lot with militias that remain hostile to America and are responsible for killing hundreds if not thousands of Americans, US generals provided cover for the PMF, and even supported their operations with air strikes.
In May 2015, General (retired) John Allen, who at the time was the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition To Counter the Islamic State, told us that “the fact that militias are involved and tribes are involved in this part of the campaign, this part of the implementation of supporting Iraq ultimately to recover the country, should not alarm us.”
Brett McGurk, the current Special Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State, and other US officials have also continuously legitimized and provided cover for the PMF and lauded their role in operations against the Islamic State.
And yet today, these same militias are taking direction from Iran and have attacked America’s only remaining true and reliable, if imperfect, ally inside Iraq: the Kurdistan Regional Govt. Perhaps that should alarm us.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/10/cjtf-oir-kirkuk-a-misunderstanding-attributed-to-limited-visibility-conditions.php
China testing facial-recognition systems to track Uighur community (asiancorrespondent, Jan 26, 2018)
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/01/china-testing-facial-recognition-systems-track-uighur-community/#7Y4YwqCB2Zfy34Di.97
“CHINA is testing a new facial recognition system that tracks targeted members of the Muslim Uighur community and alerts police when they stray beyond designated “safe areas.”
According to a report from Bloomberg, the technology is being used in the Muslim-dominated villages on China’s western Xinjiang region. Police are alerted when tracked individuals venture more than 300 metres from their home or workplace, according to a person familiar with the project.
The alert project links security cameras to a database of individuals who have attracted the attention of authorities and tracks their movements within a particular area, Bloomberg’s source said, adding that police can then follow up by intercepting the individuals, visiting their homes, or questioning their families and friends…”
Uighur’s are toxic:
Uighur Group in Syria Creates Palestinian Sub-Unit
KGT, a Uighur jihadist group in Syria, has announced the creation of the Strangers-Foreigners of Palestine company to accommodate the Palestinians and other Arabs in its ranks.
The announcement included photos showing Palestinian members of KGT battling against regime forces in Aleppo.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/01/uighur-group-in-syria-creates-palestinian-sub-unit.php
One more time I must insist that (regardless of ethicality), it’s well worth paying attention to how Red China deals with its Muslim population.
At the very least, this will be one of the few times that Western nations have a lesson to learn from the ChiComs.
Arab Coalition Hands over 27 Child Soldiers to Yemen’s Legitimate Government (aawsat, Jan 26, 2018)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1155321/arab-coalition-hands-over-27-child-soldiers-yemen%E2%80%99s-legitimate-government
“The Arab coalition has handed over 27 children arrested during battles with Houthi militias to the representative of the legitimate government of Yemen.
An official source from the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen said Thursday the children had been arrested during military confrontations with the insurgents on a number of battlefronts near the Saudi border.
The source pointed out that the Iran-backed Houthis are forcing Yemeni children and youths to head to the battlefronts and using them in failed operations…”
Jordan King: Saudi Arabia Draws Red Lines for Iran’s Regional Activities (aawsat, Jan 26, 2018)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1155331/jordan-king-saudi%C2%A0arabia-draws-red-lines-iran%E2%80%99s-regional-activities
“Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia was assuming a positive role in the Middle East and was drawing “red lines” for Iran’s worrying activities.
During a discussion session with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, King Abdullah stressed that King Salman bin Abdulaziz was leading an unprecedented proactive Saudi role in the Middle East.
As for Iranian interference in Arab affairs, he said: “The Saudi policy is to say: the red lines are here.”
King Abdullah pointed to Tehran’s meddling in a number of Arab countries, warning of its exploitation of militias and its use of religion in regional conflicts.
He added that Saudi Arabia was not the only country concerned about Iran’s destabilizing activities, but also all states in the region, “especially after we saw the repercussions of these policies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.”
The Jordanian monarch said he did not believe that Iran would change its foreign policy, which was adopted decades ago.
“We believe in Jordan that dialogue is the best way to solve problems, but the policy of Iran poses major challenges in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen,” he noted, emphasizing his concern about the future of Lebanon, which has suffered significantly during the past decades.
“We do not want these (Iranian) trends to create new problems inside Lebanon,” he stated…”
The drunken dwarf kinglet talks with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
Not fake news.
Mine explosion on civilian vehicle central Mali kills 26 (reuters, Jan 26, 2018)
https://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFKBN1FF0N6-OZATP
“A landmine explosion blew up a civilian passenger vehicle in central Mali on Thursday, killing 26 people and wounding several others, state TV reported.
The vehicle had crossed the volatile border with neighbouring Burkina Faso, where militants loyal to Islamic State are known to operate, when it ran over the mine, Malian army spokesman Colonel Diarran Kone said.
State TV said many of the dead and wounded in the explosion, which took place by the village of Boni, not far from central Mali’s medieval Islamic city of Mopti, once a popular tourist spot, were Burkina Faso nationals.
In the past three years, Islamist groups that had long been destabilising the thinly populated desert north of Mali have swept south into its wetter, more populated central regions, exploiting local conflicts to spread jihad.
That has shifted the battlefield closer to the more prosperous south and capital Bamako, raising concerns for the security of a presidential election expected between July and November.
In a separate incident, the Malian military said its forces came under attack in the town of Youwarou, also near Mopti, but that they had repelled it.
“They neutralised seven terrorists and recovered equipment abandoned by the assailants,” it said in a statement.
Mali and its western neighbour Senegal plan to deploy 1,000 troops soon in an operation to pacify central Mali and contain jihadists who had previously been confined to its Saharan expanses in the north..”
Three Turkish Servicemen Killed in Operation in Syria’s Afrin – Health Ministry (sputniknews, Jan 26, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801261061089115-three-turkish-servicemen-killed-afrin/
“Three Turkish servicemen were killed during the country’s operation in Syria’s Afrin and 16 remain hospitalized, a spokesperson of the Turkish Health Ministry told Sputnik on Friday.
“To date, three Turkish servicemen were killed during the operation in Afrin …Several dozens were injured, most of them received medical assistance on site. As many as 16 are in the hospital, their condition is not in danger,” the spokesperson said.
According to the latest data released by the Turkish military, a total of 343 “terrorists” have been eliminated since the beginning of the Olive Branch operation, which was launched on January 20…”
Erdogan: Turkey’s Battles to Continue Until No Terrorist is Left on Iraqi Border (sputniknews, Jan 26, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801261061088888-erdogan-turkey-battle-syria-iraq-border-afrin/
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Ankara will continue battling until no terrorist is left at the country’s border with Iraq.
According to Erdogan, Turkey will rid Syria’s Manbij of terrorists after Afrin and nobody should be bothered by this.”
Syrian Kurds seek Damascus’ protection as Turkey’s Erdogan vows to return Afrin to ‘owners’ (RT, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.rt.com/news/417028-afrin-kurds-help-assad-deploy-troops/
“Kurdish officials in Afrin have urged Damascus to send troops to protect Syria’s sovereignty from the “Turkish occupier.” Ankara insists it will return the enclave to its “original owner” after its “liberation” from “terrorists.”
The self-administrated, Kurdish-held enclave in the northern Syria issued a plea for help to the Syrian government on Thursday, reiterating its commitment to the integrity of the country.
“We reaffirm that the Afrin region is an integral part of Syria and that our forces are the people’s protection units,” it wrote in a statement, arguing that the Turkish military operation in Afrin “threatens the territorial integrity of Syria and the security and lives of the civilians.”
While the Kurdish units will continue to repel the Turkish military offensive and resist attempts by the Turkish forces to overrun the city, the central Syrian government must dispatch its own forces to “protect its borders with Turkey from attacks of the Turkish occupier,” the Kurdish authorities suggested as operation “Olive Branch” went into its sixth day…”
Israelis say there’s less here than meets the eye.
The Turk is whipping up tards into a frenzy about what amounts to sporadic and limited engagement. Neither the Russians nor the Americans are getting involved, and the Kurds have pulled back.
But Turk-TV is playing this like Ottoman über alles.
Erodgan is starting the propaganda ploy to make him seem more like a Caliph. Right now he isn’t much but we need to watch him as he continues to try and rebuild the Ottoman Empire.
For almost a decade, Turkey’s sole objective has been to position itself as the center-point of a new Islamic caliphate. Saudi Arabia and Iran be damned (we wish). Restoration of the Ottoman Empire is a central goal and all of Erdogan’s whinging about EU admission is meaningless window dressing compared to whatever it takes for Turkey to gain ascendancy throughout the Middle East.
Not a chance. Burak Bekdil puts what all the Arab papers are saying in a nutshell:
Turkey, the Arab World Is Just Not That into You
• Sunni Arabs do not wish to revisit their Ottoman colonial past. Still, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists.
• A poll by Zogby found that 67% of Egyptians, 65% of Saudis, 59% of UAE citizens, and 70% of Iraqis had an unfavorable opinion of Turkey.
• For the Sunni Saudis, the Turks were allies only if they could be of use in fighting Shiite Iran or its proxies, such as the Iraqi government or the Syrian regime. Meanwhile, as Turkey, together with Qatar, kept on championing and giving logistical support to Hamas, an Iranian satellite, Saudi Arabia and Egypt distanced themselves from the Palestinian cause and consequently from Turkey.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11730/turkey-arab-world
……..
They hate him, they laugh at him, it’s embarrassing. He stands a better chance of creating a NEW Neo-Ottoman Empire in Western Europe.
Revolting thought.Liberia imposes 12-month moratorium on female genital mutilation (RT, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.rt.com/news/417016-liberia-female-genital-mutilation-ban/
“Liberia’s outgoing leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed an executive order last week banning the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) for 12 months, but the moratorium may not be enforceable claim rights activists.
Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president, handed over power to former soccer star and president-elect George Weah on January 22, having signed the Domestic Violence Bill as one of her final acts as head of state. The move has not been widely publicized in Liberia as it took place on the eve of Weah’s inauguration.
“While we applaud former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for signing (the Executive Order on the Domestic Violence Bill), it is too early to celebrate as there is still a long way to go before there is zero tolerance to FGM in Liberia,” Grace Uwizeye, part of Equality Now’s End Harmful Practices team which campaigns to end FGM, told RT.
“The law itself is not strong enough to deter communities from practising FGM. If someone is found guilty, a judge can either determine counselling or a fine as punishment for perpetrators.”
The temporary ban makes it an offense to perform FGM on anyone under the age of 18, and requires explicit consent if performed on an adult. Liberia has a population of 4.6 million people and it is estimated that over 50 percent of women in the country have undergone the procedure. Sirleaf’s executive order however is set to expire after 12 months.
“Policymakers need to develop an effective strategy to protect women and girls from FGM by using this law, and we need discussion on extending protection to those over 18. Even though the Bill includes a provision on required consent, the pressure from the community is so great that women may have no choice but to undergo FGM,” Uwizeye added.
Roughly 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries around the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO)…”
Liberia imposes 12-month moratorium on female genital mutilation
In other news, Liberia has imposed a 12-month moratorium on rape.
If you believe any of this, please contact me regarding prime waterfront Florida real estate and several large bridges that are up for sale.
Thankyouverymuch,
NorseRadish
READY FOR WAR: Iran fires ’15 nuke-capable’ ballistic missiles after signing nuclear deal (express, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/910140/Iran-nuclear-deal-ballistic-missile-launch-USA-Donald-Trump-doomsday-clock
“IRAN has fired at least 23 ballistic missiles – 15 of which are said to be nuke-capable – since signing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a leaked report has claimed.
The report’s leak comes after Donald Trump has repeatedly branded the Iran nuclear deal, signed under his predecessor Barack Obama, a “very bad deal”.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also know as the Iran nuclear deal, is an agreement by Tehran to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium – an ingredient used to make nuclear weapons.
In October last year, President Trump warned he was close to tearing up the deal adding Iran was violating the “spirit” of the deal.
At the time the US President said: “We’ll see what phase two is. It might be a total termination. That’s a very real possibility.
“I’m tired of being taken advantage of as a nation.”
Now a report by the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FfDD) reveals Iran fired around 23 missiles since it signed the deal.
The FfDD report said: “Out of all the ballistic missiles Iran fired in 2017, only four or five missiles can be considered nuclear-capable.
“In 2016, Iran fired 10 to 11 missiles that can be considered nuclear-capable.”
“It is highly likely that the administration’s threat intimidated Tehran, altering its flight-testing calculus.”
According to the report’s author, Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior Iran analyst at the foundation, researchers “identified as many as 23 ballistic missile launches by Iran since the conclusion of the July 2015 nuclear deal”.
The report also cited an Iranian outlet which quoted Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps complaining of test delays over concerns of a potential response by the US.
Yesterday the Doomsday Clock time was moved 30 seconds closer to midnight as experts warn humanity edges towards destroying itself with “nuclear weapons taking centre stage”….”
Yemen’s Houthis control 100 miles of Saudi Arabia’s territory (memo, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180126-yemens-houthis-control-100-miles-of-saudi-arabias-territory/
“The Houthi armed group control a large swath of territory inside Saudi Arabia, The New Khalij has reported, however the kingdom has not mentioned this publically.
“The real story is about a cover-up of Saudi military embarrassment and the imminent risk of wider conflict from which Iran, at little cost to itself, will only profit,” Simon Henderson, Baker Fellow and Director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Programme at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said.
“The Houthis effectively control a strip of Saudi territory several miles deep along the border, from opposite the city of Jizan eastwards to Najran – we are talking about 100 square miles of the kingdom, possibly more,” he added.
“There is some debate whether the land can be described as occupied or not, and occasionally the Saudi military makes forays into it, but essentially it serves as a launching area for Houthi attacks on Saudi military positions and border towns,” Henderson continued…”
‘Day Zero’: Water shut-off looms in South Africa’s Cape Town
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-5315733/Day-Zero-Water-shut-looms-South-Africas-Cape-Town.html#ixzz55IdLy3OL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – Long lines of South Africans collect water daily from a natural spring pipeline in an upscale suburb of Cape Town, illustrating the harsh impact of a drought that authorities say could force the closure of most taps in the country’s second largest city in just over two months, an occasion ominously known as “Day Zero.”
The prospect that large sections of South Africa’s showcase city, famously perched near two oceans, might go without running water has induced anxiety as well as resolve among its nearly 4 million residents. It has attracted scrutiny from scientists and city managers worldwide who also face the dual challenge of ballooning populations and shrinking resources. This would be the world’s first major city to go dry.
“There are a lot of people who have been in denial and now they suddenly realize this is for real,” said Shirley Curry, who waited to fill a plastic container with spring water from one of several taps outside a South African Breweries facility in the Newlands suburb.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-5315733/Day-Zero-Water-shut-looms-South-Africas-Cape-Town.html#ixzz55IdSlcuM
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
‘Day Zero’: Water shut-off looms in South Africa’s Cape Town
And so begin the “Water Wars”.
They are coming. It’s not a matter of whether they will arrive but WHEN.
Search on “Water Poverty” and “Food Security” if you doubt this.
Again, if you think these wars about oil are bad, just wait until the wars about water begin. Humanity endured some 100,000 years without any dire need for oil. During that same time frame, humans have rarely been able to live over a SINGLE WEEK without water.
Tourists sexually assaulted in Senegal’s Casamance region (BBC, Jan 26, 2018)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42833218
“A group of European tourists have been robbed and sexually assaulted while driving through the Casamance region of southern Senegal, an official says.
Armed men stopped the car as it was in the town of Diouloulou and assaulted three of the four tourists…
The four Europeans were being driven through Casamance near the border with The Gambia when the armed men attacked, the commander of the gendarmerie paramilitary force in Diouloulou, Mamadou Samba, told the Senegalese Press Agency (APS).
They also made off with 4,400 euro ($5,480; £3,850) and 315,000 CFA francs ($595; £420).
One of the tourists is currently undergoing medical examinations following the sexual assault.
The Senegalese police and army are currently looking for the perpetrators…”
What type of idiot goes on vacation in Africa these days?
The kind that votes for Merkel, et al.
Got me there.
Shaddap!!!
And I meant that in the very kindest way.
As in, “The kind that votes for Merkel, et al.”
[cough] Shaddap! [/cough]
“What type of idiot goes on vacation in Africa these days?”
Le bingo! These can only be “ghetto holidaymakers” and if they do not understand the risks being taken, then they are victims, not “tourists”.
FBI considered Patrick Fitzgerald as special prosecutor for Hillary Clinton emails
Grassley releases more texts between FBI agent and attorney
Senior FBI officials involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server considered naming former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as a special prosecutor for that probe, according to text messages released Thursday.
The proposal for a special counsel appears to have arisen in March 2016, relatively early in the FBI’s inquiry into Clinton’s email use, based on a limited set of texts exchanged by senior FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page that were made public by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.
While it appears from the messages that the idea of a special prosecutor was discussed at high-level FBI meetings, it is unclear whether the thought of naming Fitzgerald to that job was as widely discussed.
“Thought of the perfect person [FBI Director James Comey] can bounce this off of?” Strzok wrote in a March 18, 2016 text to Page. “Pat….You got to give me credit if we go with him….And delay briefing him on until I can get back and do it, Late next week or later.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/hillary-clinton-emails-patrick-fitzgerald-fbi-special-prosecutor-370489
Trump poised for clash with DOJ over classified memo
By Katie Bo Williams – 01/26/18 05:56 AM EST
The fight over the release of a classified memo alleging FBI misconduct has set up a potentially bitter clash between President Trump and the Justice Department.
Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd — a Trump appointee — wrote in a letter to Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that releasing the memo publicly would be “extraordinarily reckless” and endanger national security.
If the Intelligence Committee votes to release the four-page memo, which could happen early as early as next week, Trump would have an opportunity to veto the decision.
But the White House has signaled tacit support for the move and it’s widely expected that the president, who has previously claimed that the Obama administration “wiretapped” his campaign, will permit the release of the document.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/370801-trump-poised-for-clash-with-doj-over-classified-memo
German prosecutors charge Nigerian as Boko Haram member (abcnews, Jan 26, 2018)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-prosecutors-charge-nigerian-boko-haram-member-52629052
“German prosecutors say they’ve have charged a Nigerian man on allegations he was responsible for multiple killings in his homeland as a member of the militant Boko Haram group.
Prosecutors said Friday that 27-year-old Amaechi Fred O., whose surname wasn’t released in line with privacy regulations, was arrested Wednesday in southern Germany and charged with membership in a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors allege he joined Boko Haram in 2013, an Islamic extremist group has killed more than 20,000 people in its nine-year insurgency.
He is accused to have been part of four attacks on Nigerian civilians during his year with the group, including two on schools and one on a village where he allegedly “killed multiple people himself.”
It wasn’t immediately clear when he came to Germany.”
Yemeni officials say heavy fighting in Taiz kills 48 (abcnews, Jan 26, 2018)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemeni-officials-heavy-fighting-taiz-kills-48-52629608
“Yemeni security officials and witnesses say fighting between Shiite rebel forces and others loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the southwestern city of Taiz has killed at least 48 people on both sides.
They said Friday that fighting intensified earlier this week when forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi attempted regain full control over the city and expel rebel forces surrounding it.
They also said that Saudi-led coalition forces backing Hadi carried out several airstrikes on Houthi-controlled bases. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, while the witnesses did so for fear of reprisals.
The coalition has been at war with the Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015 to reinstate Hadi’s government.”
YOU’LL HAVE A BLAST Kim Jong-un plans ‘world level’ North Korean beach resort to lure foreign tourists…but there’s a catch
The reclusive regime announces that the coastal Kangwon province is to be home to a new resort
NORTH Korea has boasted of plans for a new “world-level” tourist project – but there is just one problem.
Yesterday the reclusive regime announced the coastal Kangwon province would be home to the new resort.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5429200/kim-jong-un-north-korea-holiday-resort-beach/
Facebook Wants To Know Who Or What You Sleep With
Photo of Eric Lieberman
Eric Lieberma
Facebook is reportedly asking some users who or what they are sleeping with, and it is not exactly clear why.
The social media company often asks people to provide more basic personal information to be included on their respective profiles, like gender, birthday, former schools, work history, email addresses, and even religion if one feels so inclined. But it also apparently asks some users to finish the statement “I usually sleep with…” in order “to help friends get to know you,” according to Business Insider.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/25/facebook-asks-sexual-preferences/
Does Google Home know who Jesus is? This man says no
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Audio technology like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa are becoming a dominant source for information.
But now, it appears one of the most common names is unknown to Google Home.
And some people are sounding the alarm about what the technology tells you when you ask about Jesus.
Brentwood resident David Sams owns a Google Home and an Amazon audio speaker. He says both give two different answers when asking “Who is Jesus Christ?”
“I even asked Google who is David Sams? Google knew who I was, but Google did not know who Jesus was, Google did not know who Jesus Christ was, and Google did not know who God was,” Sams said.
http://fox17.com/news/local/does-google-home-know-who-jesus-is-brentwood-resident-says-no
Has Trump gone squish on DACA, Mueller probe?
By J.E. Dyer January 26, 2018
I’m not buying it. The big news Wednesday was that Trump said he was looking forward to talking under oath with the Mueller team. The big news Thursday is that Trump will agree to a path to citizenship for 1.8 million people here illegally, a process said to involve 10 to 12 years and “morphing.”
Oh, and Trump will require $25 billion for a wall. He wants any immigration/border security agreement to end “chain migration” and the green card lottery.
Intriguing as the morphing thing is, this doesn’t sound to me like Trump caving. It sounds to me like Trump negotiating.
It’s interesting that so many can’t seem to keep their heads around Trump, even when observing him from a distance. Pondering why that is, and the fact that it’s the problem of each individual who can’t keep his head – otherwise what do moral accountability and the idea of adult responsibility even mean? – would be a full-time job, for those who are up to it.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/26/trump-gone-squish-daca-mueller-probe/
Read this entire article, J.E. isn’t a Trump supporter but instead is someone who thinks the duly elected President is to be supported as long as they don’t harm the nation. She looks at Trumps past history and doesn’t believe the propaganda of the left, this lets her bypass the daily freakout about what Trump is saying.
His statements on immigration, negotiation. This is Trumps specialty, he is playing the Dems and the media like a fiddle and will end up getting what he wants.
The offer to testify, if this report is true someone has stepped into a bear trap, the question is who? Trump or Mueller? Don’t forget Trump is a self made billionaire, self made when the Federal and State regulations make that very difficult. Don’t fall for the BS that he is a bumbling clown, that is the left trying to deligimitize his administration and since they believe their own propaganda they leave themselves open to manipulation by Trump. They are predictable, we do this all the time. Trump is also predictable, not as easily predictable as the Dems but he is still human and has patterns, if you look for those patterns you can see what he is doing.
Remember back in the early stages of the primaries when the Repub establishment was trying to get him to promise to support the person getting the nomination? He didn’t do this until after everyone else had done so, he maneuvered them into promising to support him. Since then there has been a lot of times something similar has happened, he talks the media spreads BS the left falls for what is happening and Trump gets what he wants. Knowing this why does everyone believe that he is going to fall for any trick of Mueller’s? As President he can use anything that happens to his advantage, if anyone should be afraid it is Mueller and the team of wanna be assassins that he hired.
MfD: Former Prague imam, his relatives accused of terrorism (praguemonitor, H/T jihadwatch, Jan 24, 2018)
http://www.praguemonitor.com/2018/01/24/mfd-former-prague-imam-his-relatives-accused-terrorism
“The Czech police have accused former Prague imam Samer Shehadeh, his brother Omar Shehadeh and the brother’s wife Fatima (formerly Kristyna Hudkova) of terrorism and the latter two of joining a terrorist group fighting in Syria, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) wrote on Tuesday.
All the three suspects are Czech citizens, the two men are of Palestinian origin. They have been prosecuted as fugitives, the paper writes, citing the Czech National Centre for Organised Crime (NCOZ).
The former imam helped his brother and the brother’s wife travel abroad, join a terrorist group in Syria and he approved their actions, MfD writes.
Omar Shehadeh travelled to a war zone in Syria, via Jordan and Turkey, in October 2016 and joined the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group, a successor to Al Nusra, in Idlib. He was trained in fighting with arms and then chosen for training for committing terrorist attacks, the paper writes…”
Algerian army kills seven armed men in Khenchela province: ministry (reuters, Jan 26, 2018)
https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN1FF1U5-OZATP
“Algeria’s army killed seven armed men on Friday in Khenchela province, 700 km east of the capital Algiers, the Defence Ministry said.
The men described as “dangerous terrorists” were killed in an ambush and the soldiers seized assault rifles, the ministry said in a statement, without identifying the men.
Algeria emerged from a conflict with armed Islamists in the 1990s that left an estimated 200,000 dead. But al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and small bands of fighters allied to Islamic State have been active in remote parts of the oil producer.”
Teenager who planned to travel to Syria to be an ISIS nurse is jailed (birminghammail, Jan 26, 2018)
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/teenager-who-planned-travel-syria-14206635
“A teenager who planned to travel to Syria to commit terrorist acts after being radicalised in on-line chatrooms has been jailed.
Muslim convert Sandeep Samra, aged 18, has been handed a three-and-a-half-year custodial sentence.
The teenage girl, from Coventry, became frantic to obtain a new passport after her original travel documents were cancelled, frustrating her hope of “going for death” in the so-called Islamic State.
Birmingham Crown Court was told Samra, of Alder Road, wrote “May Allah give me death in the cause” in a social media message shortly before her arrest in nearby Old Church Road last July.
The health and social care student, originally from a Sikh background, told the court her “jihad” would have been working as a nurse in Syria.
Rejecting that claim and jailing Samra, the Recorder of Birmingham, Judge Melbourne Inman QC told the teenager: “You were intent on leaving the UK to travel to Syria as quickly as possible.
“You were deeply radicalised and in possession of the most extreme material, which you were effectively training yourself to watch given the horrific nature of it.
“Fortunately you were found and stopped before you were ever able to in fact travel.”
The judge, who ordered Samra to serve an extended one-year licence period after her release, praised her family and staff at her former school for involving the police in attempts to halt her radicalisation…”
She would’ve gotten a pat on the head if she didn’t come from a Sikh family.
DOJ recovers missing text messages between Strzok and Page
By Ben Bowles January 25, 2018
Apparently when the Department of Justice sets its mind to it, it can do its appointed job. Fox News is reporting that inspector general for the DOJ says they have recovered many of the missing text messages sent between anti-Trump FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and are in the process of unearthing more.
In a letter sent to congressional committees, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office “succeeded in using forensic tools to recover text messages from FBI devices, including text messages between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page that were sent or received between December 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017.”
“Our effort to recover any additional text messages is ongoing,” Horowitz said. “We will provide copies of the text messages that we recover from these devices to the Department so that the Department’s leadership can take any management action it deems appropriate.”
Fox News further notes that the recovered texts came from “at least four” phones belonging to Strzok and Page.
The dates on the recovered messages all fall within the critical gap in records between Dec. 14, 2016, and May 17, 2017.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/25/doj-recovers-missing-text-messages-strzok-page/
Richard: Missing my @$$, the deep state was trying to play us and got caught in a rat trap.
Antifa activist asks rowdy football fans after Eagles win: ‘Burn a police station for me’
By LU Staff January 25, 2018
Remember this dude? He is an Antifa activist and was an adjunct professor at John Jay College in New York (blessedly, he is no longer on the faculty), who last September expressed gratitude for a chance to teach “future dead cops.”
Now he is back in the headlines for having weighed in Sunday on the Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship win, saying “burn a police station for me, Philly.”
Former economics professor Mike Isaacson tweeted the remark following reports of disorderly conduct around the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles match. Isaacson is a co-founder of Smash Racism D.C., an Antifa group.
“Burn a police station for me, Philly,” wrote Isaacson before asking “is Tom Brady still a Trump supporter?” and “can I please get more Eagles NFC riot porn please and thank [sic]?”
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/25/antifa-activist-asks-rowdy-football-fans-eagles-win-burn-police-station/
Why you should ignore every 2020 election poll
By Myra Adams January 25, 2018
Here is a recent headline that surely confounds young, hip, Democratic women looking forward to fresh, future leadership: “Poll: Biden holds double-digit lead over field of 2020 Dem presidential contenders.”
That headline is not a late-night comedy joke, but it could be, considering the following: Former vice president Joe Biden is a white male born in 1942. He will be 78 years old on Election Day 2020. Biden is a poster child for the much-disparaged label “Washington insider.” His pre-VP résumé virtually defines the establishment swamp: thirty-six years as a U.S. senator and two unsuccessful attempts at a presidential run, in 1987 and 2007.
Biden also has a long record as a human gaffe machine, which is mostly lovingly dismissed as “Joe being Joe.” His collection of “greatest hits” includes this racially insensitive 2007 zinger about his future boss:
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/25/ignore-every-2020-election-poll/
Hi Vlad.
New development in Poland.
Polish Parliament ,passed today new Law.. From now on those who slander and accused Poland and Polish people for II World War atrocities in the form of misleading and manipulative information like for example “Polish Death Camps” so often used by German and American MSM will be prosecuted and punished to 3 years in prison and harsh financial penalties…https://twitter.com/KancelariaSejmu/status/956833139585900544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
ps. Meeting V4 in Budapest today…Frontal attack on EU Commission and following statement regarding “subsidies” received from EU…
also CEE states want to have say in ‘new blueprint’ for EU
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-hungary-visegrad/cee-states-want-to-have-say-in-new-blueprint-for-eu-idUKKBN1FF1TL
Plainclothes Police Officers Severely Beaten by Drug-Dealing Migrants (breitbart, Jan 26, 2018)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/01/26/plainclothes-police-officers-severely-beaten-drug-dealing-migrants/
“Three Austrian plainclothes police officers were injured after they attempted to arrest two teenage Afghan asylum seekers who tried to sell them drugs.
The incident took place in the Prater area of Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district which contains one of the city’s main train stations and has become a hub for drug dealing and violence, often involving migrants. The officers were offered drugs by the Afghans and when they attempted to arrest the 16- and 19-year-old, they were met with heavy resistance Kronen Zeitung reports.
One officer suffered a broken nose after one of the asylum seekers punched him in the face, another had a major wound on his leg, and the third officer escaped the ordeal with bruises and cuts on his hands.
After the pair of asylum seekers were arrested last Friday, they were both taken to Korneuburg Prison where the 19-year-old admitted to being a part of the drug scene.
The following day, officers from the Task Force on Street Crime arrested three more suspected drug dealers and were able to confiscate small amounts of cocaine and approximately 240 euros.
Much of the drug crime on the streets of Vienna is linked to migrants, according to police. Breitbart London reported in 2016 that migrants had caused drug offences to rise by 10 per cent and that Nigerian migrants made up 80 per cent of the offences committed under the Narcotic Substances Act.
Migrants have also been linked to the drug trade in neighbouring Germany. The police in the region of Schleswig-Holstein have expressed concern that migrants may be taking over the drug scene and they are not afraid of using violence to achieve their goals.
Violence against police in Vienna is also a cause for concern for officers. Many anticipate that this weekend could see large-scale riots and acts of violence toward officers as far-left activist groups like Antifa plan to protest a ball linked to the anti-mass migration Freedom Party.”
“FBI Leaders Aiding and Abetting Terrorists”
Understanding the Threat – January 25, 2018
To hear 0bama’s voice squeak out even a single word is enough to make me vomit.
These are America’s worst enemies. That a sitting American president should praise these persistent foes of Western Civilization makes me
want topuke.To everlasting hell with 0bama, Hillary, and all of their kin.
SWEDEN: Ann Heberlein writes book about rape and immigration – now her crowdfunding is stopped.
“We need to know the facts about why rape is increasing in Sweden” she wrote on Twitter January 24th. She intends to title her book: Rape And Culture: A Survey Of Group Violence In Sweden 2012-2017.
Original Article: http://www.friatider.se/ann-heberlein-skriver-bok-om-v-ldt-kter-och-invandring-nu-stoppas-hennes-crowdfunding
Suspended Crowdfunding account:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708347418/valdtakt-och-kultur-ann-heberlein?ref=thanks_tweet
https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&nv=1&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.friatider.se/ann-heberlein-skriver-bok-om-v-ldt-kter-och-invandring-nu-stoppas-hennes-crowdfunding
“Bill Warner PhD: Sharia– Destroyer of Civilizations”
Political Islam – January 25, 2018
No one here is going to be surprised by this one….
Prominent Canadian Imam: “Not praying is worse than child-raping” + “Any (muslim) believer who rapes and murders, but never misses a prayer time – is far better than anyone that doesn’t commit any crime”
“Refugees”, rats, and now baboons -on the loose in Paris:
BREAKING NEWS: Paris zoo is evacuated after 52 baboons escape their enclosure
“Baboons are not naturally a danger, but can attack humans and cause serious injuries if they feel they are being threatened.
The public had been warned the evacuation was necessary because the animals can be unpredictable when stressed.
‘They are stronger than us,’ officials warned.
‘They are almost certainly all in the park woods, but anybody in the area needs to keep a look out,’ the spokesman added.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5316817/Paris-zoo-evacuated-baboons-escape-enclosure.html
I bet they are at the mosque.
racisssssss…..
LOL
Steyn: Elite leaders at Davos don’t believe in democracy
Most in the Middle East are against extremism, Rania Al-Abdulla
Video, covert , by Tommy Robinson of an interveiw with the BBC. Tommy had a friend wear a hidden camera as to counter BBC selective editing.
https://www.facebook.com/thetommyrobinson/videos/1176149175854468/
Democrats will fill balcony with ‘Dreamers’ for State of the Union
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats will fill the balcony with so-called Dreamers and other immigrants during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week as the party panned a White House attempt on Thursday to reach a deal on immigration reform.
The White House released a one-page framework for legislation that includes a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers — recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA — and other undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The proposal, the work of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, was offered as a bipartisan compromise to give young undocumented immigrants a legal foothold in exchange for more than $25 billion in increased border security and a sharp reduction in future legal immigration.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/state-union-2018-dreamers-trump-370805
Richard: Lets hope ICE has a field day.
the rebel -David Menzies: Worst media reaction to “hijab hoax” comes from…
YouTube: Keeping Americans in the Dark on Islam
A look at the more subtle side of the two-pronged war on the West.
January 26, 2018
Raymond Ibrahim
In certain respects, the real struggle between Islam and the West has less to do with an inherently weak Islam and more to do with subversive Western elements that cover up for and thus empower Islam.
Out-and-out censorship is one of these tactics. In a January 10 email titled, “We’re Suing Google – Here’s Why,” Prager University, which produces short videos on subjects “important to understanding American values,” explained that “YouTube has chosen repeatedly to restrict some of our videos for violating their ‘Community Guidelines.’ Those guidelines are meant to protect users against viewing sexual content, violent or graphic content, and hate speech,” even though “our videos contain nothing even remotely close to any of these categories.”
Prager U had “filed a complaint with YouTube, hoping that there was some kind of innocent mistake. That’s when we were told by YouTube that after reviewing our videos, they determined that they were, indeed, ‘not appropriate for a younger audience.’” Accordingly, several Prager U videos do not appear on YouTube accounts that block sexual or graphic content. (For more on this matter and/or to sign Prager U’s petition against YouTube’s decision, click here.)
To appreciate just how much YouTube’s decision is based on preventing Americans (especially its youth, its future) from understanding the threats Islam poses—and thereby empowering Islam vis-à-vis America—consider the videos I made for Prager U, which are among those currently being restricted by YouTube.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269112/youtube-keeping-americans-dark-islam-raymond-ibrahim
Will the Voters Choose Sizzle or Steak?
How the government shutdown reveals who has the advantage going into the midterm elections.
January 26, 2018
Bruce Thornton
The three-day government shutdown last Saturday has sharpened the debate about which party has the advantage going into the midterm elections in November, and which will profit from another possible shut-down if the February 8 deadline for coming up with a solution for the expiring DACA program isn’t met. More interesting than these analyses and prognostications is what they say about the pundits’ estimation of the American people’s ability to sort out the style “sizzle” from the policy-success “steak” come November.
The Democrat instigators of the current shutdown are for now paying a political price for bluffing and then caving to the Republicans, even though Republicans usually are blamed by the media and voters who have tarred them as the mean and greedy party of small government that always wants to starve the big-government Leviathan. Before the shutdown this received wisdom got support from A Washington Post poll that reported 48% of those polled would blame Republicans, 20 points more than those who’d blame the Dems. In fact, a later poll put 58% of voters blaming the Democrats.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269089/will-voters-choose-sizzle-or-steak-bruce-thornton
Obama vs. Trump: Who Really Colluded with Russia?
Trump didn’t collude with Russia. Obama did.
January 26, 2018
Daniel Greenfield
eptember 2009.
Obama hadn’t even been in office for a whole year when he gave in to Moscow’s biggest demand by dropping the missile defense shield for Poland and the Czech Republic. During his campaign, he had enthusiastically backed the defensive program, declaring, “We have to send a clear signal that Poland and other countries in that region are not going to be subject to intimidation and aggression.”
Like all of his campaign promises that were based on political triangulation, law enforcement, counterterrorism, Jerusalem and gay marriage, it was a campaign lie to be thrown out after the election.
Putin praised Obama’s sellout of our allies as a “brave decision.” In his first year, President Trump touted the sale of Patriot missiles to Poland. That was a truly brave decision.
After the Russian invasion, Obama refused to provide Ukraine with military assistance. While he had handed out weapons to Islamist terrorists in Syria and Libya, the Ukrainians were only offered MREs. The same administration that covertly shipped a fortune in foreign currency on unmarked cargo planes to Russia’s Iranian allies took months to meet Ukrainian requests for boots and spare tires.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269124/obama-vs-trump-who-really-colluded-russia-daniel-greenfield
John Kerry Sabotages US Foreign Policy
Former Sec of State urges the Palestinians to resist Trump.
January 26, 2018
Joseph Klein
Former Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly sought to undermine the Trump administration’s current policy in dealing with the nihilist Palestinian leadership. According to an article appearing in Maariv, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post, Kerry met a senior Palestinian leader, Hussein Agha, in London recently and told him to convey a clandestine message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The message was that Abbas should “play for time” and “not yield to President [Donald] Trump’s demands.” Kerry reportedly predicted that President Trump would not be in office for long – perhaps not more than a year. Possibly for that reason, Kerry allegedly advised that the Palestinians should aim their criticisms at President Trump personally, rather than more broadly at the United States. According to the report, Kerry also offered to help the Palestinians devise an alternative peace plan and advance it with Europeans, Arab states and the international community at large. Finally, Kerry reportedly told Agha that he was seriously considering running for president in 2020, as if he had not done enough damage to U.S. national security already in negotiating, for example, the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269132/john-kerry-sabotages-us-foreign-policy-joseph-klein
Syrian Army Finds Terrorists’ Modern Equipment of European Origin – Russian MoD (sputniknews, Jan 26, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801261061083237-syrian-army-european-equipment/
“The US established a military base near the town of al-Tanf on the Syria-Iraq border back in April 2017, citing the need to carry out operations against Daesh.
“During the search at the site of the fight with terrorists, the Syrian forces found modern radio-electronic equipment manufactured in Europe, ammunition for light weapons and Daesh literature,” the statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
The Syrian forces have also found banners and emblems of the oppositional Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo group, trained by US instructors at the al-Tanf training camp to form ‘The New Syrian Army,’ the ministry said, adding that thus the US was trying to impede the Syrian peace process by forming a pro-Daesh armed opposition that it would control itself.
“These facts show the involvement of the US in the training and formation of a US-controlled armed opposition created from the defeated pro-Daesh forces,” the ministry said.
The ministry noted further, citing refugees who had managed to flee the US-controlled al-Tanf zone that “the militants were planning a breakthrough operation in the nearest future.”
“The main aim of the terrorists is to conduct sabotage operations in the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Deir ez-Zor to draw the attention of the Syrian army that is conducting an operation against al-Nusra in the Idlib province,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, Syrian military patrol killed five terrorists near al-Tanf deconfliction zone on January 24 and destroyed two gun-equipped vehicles.
“During patrolling the perimeter of the deconfliction zone in the At-Tanf area on January 24, Syrian military patrol detected a convoy of three vehicles belonging to militants and equipped with guns… as a result of the fight two vehicles were destroyed and five terrorists killed,” the statement read.”
CIA Director: US Can’t Block North Korean Smugglers
Blocking international shipments into North Korea is believed to be out of CIA’s capacity as the US renews efforts to cut off the revenue for the Pyongyang’s military program, said CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
He said while attending an event “We’re not quite where we need to be.” The Event was being hosted by the American Enterprise Institute based in Washington, D.C.
He said, “Our mission is not complete, but we have officers all around the world working diligently to make sure that we do everything we can to support the U.S. pressure campaign and to tighten sanctions in such a way that we have the opportunity to prevail and to achieve the president’s mission, which is denuclearization of the peninsula.”
Pompeo’s statement came just 4 days after a news source went on to reveal that evidence was being gathered for at least 6 of the Chinese ships, which would be entering North Korean Ports and would transport all the illicit cargos to Russia and Vietnam and would violate all the United Nation Sanctions against Pyongyang.
http://libertynewsnow.com/cia-director-us-cant-block-north-korean-smugglers/article8634
zero hedge – WSJ Asks What Are Adam Schiff, The Justice Department, & The FBI Trying To Hide?
Operation ‘Sabotage The Memo’
Rep. Adam Schiff has many talents, though few compare to his ability to function as a human barometer of Democratic panic. The greater the level of Schiff hot, pressured air, the more trouble the party knows it’s in.
Mr. Schiff’s millibars have been popping ever since the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on which he is ranking Democrat, last week voted to make a classified GOP memo about FBI election year abuses available to every House member. Mr. Schiff has spit and spun and apoplectically accused his Republican colleagues of everything short of treason. The memo, he insists, is “profoundly misleading,” not to mention “distorted” and “political,” and an attack on the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He initially tried to block his colleagues from reading it. Having failed, he’s now arguing Americans can know the full story only if they see the underlying classified documents.
This is highly convenient, given the Justice Department retains those documents and is as eager to make them public as a fox is to abandon the henhouse. Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes had to threaten a contempt citation simply to get permission for his committee to gain access, and even then investigators had to leave Capitol Hill to view them, and were allowed only to take notes. Mr. Nunes has no authority to declassify them. The best he can do in his continuing transparency efforts is to summarize their contents. Only in Schiff land is sunshine suddenly a pollutant.
The Schiff pressure gauge is outmatched only by the Justice Department and the FBI, which are now mobilizing their big guns to squelch the truth. That included a Wednesday Justice Department letter to Mr. Nunes—written by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, designed as a memo to the media, copied to its allies in Washington, and immediately leaked to the public. And the department wonders why anyone doubts the integrity of all its hardworking professionals.
Mr. Boyd gets in his cheap shots, for instance slamming Mr. Nunes for moving to release a memo based on documents that Mr. Nunes hasn’t even “seen.” He apparently thinks Rep. Trey Gowdy —the experienced former federal prosecutor Mr. Nunes asked to conduct the review of those docs—isn’t qualified to judge questions of national security. He hyperventilates that it would be “reckless” for the committee to make its memo public without first letting the Justice Department review it and “advise [the committee] of the risk of harm to national security.” Put another way, it is Mr. Boyd’s position that the Justice Department gets to provide oversight of Congress. The Constitution has it the other way around.
The bigger, swampier game here is to rally media pressure, and to mau-mau Mr. Nunes into giving the department a veto over the memo’s release. Ask Sen. Chuck Grassley how that goes. Mr. Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, recently sent a referral to the department for a criminal probe into dossier author Christopher Steele. He then in good faith asked the department its views on an unclassified portion of that referral that he wants to make public. The department invented a classified reason to block public release, and has refused to budge for weeks.
The Boyd letter is also a first step toward a bigger prize: President Trump. Under House rules, a majority of the Intelligence Committee can vote to declassify the memo. Mr. Trump then has up to five days to object to its release. If he doesn’t object, the memo goes public. If he does, a majority of the House would have to vote to override him.
The shrieks of reckless harm and national security are designed to pressure Mr. Trump to object.
And wait for it: In coming days the Justice Department’s protectors will gin up a separate, desperate claim that Mr. Trump will somehow be “interfering” in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe unless he objects to the release. According to this view, it is Mr. Trump’s obligation not just to sit by while the media and the Mueller team concoct their narrative, but to block any evidence that might undercut it.
The slippery shadow in all this is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal put Mr. Rosenstein in charge of digging into the actions—right or wrong—of the Justice Department and FBI in 2016. Instead of taking up that challenge, he named an old and dear friend of the FBI as special counsel, and directed him only to look at Mr. Trump. And Mr. Rosenstein appears to have signed up as an active participant in the effort to thwart any congressional investigation of the other side of the issue.
A department head interested in truth doesn’t flout subpoenas. He doesn’t do a runaround of the Intelligence Committee and try to sucker House Speaker Paul Ryan into aiding a stonewall by asking him to intervene just before a deadline and block a contempt citation. He doesn’t sit on the knowledge of outrageous texts between FBI agents and force Congress to drag it out of him. And he doesn’t sign off on the leaks and character assassination in which his department daily engages to undermine Congress.
The good news is that these frantic reactions are a sign Americans are getting closer to the truth. So long as the truth-tellers keep moving forward.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/operation-sabotage-the-memo-1516925395
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-26/wsj-asks-what-are-adam-schiff-justice-department-fbi-trying-hide