Reader’s Links, December 9, 2019

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

93 Replies to “Reader’s Links, December 9, 2019”

  5. The Commentary: The Murder of Augsburg and Merkel’s Failure+++
    Mrs. Merkel,

    what else can one say? A few weeks before the silent night, it has become a fatal fact in Augsburg that a 49-year-old German firefighter can no longer spend Christmas with his loved ones. And again a person dies in your country, is taken from his family, robbed of his future, becomes a victim of so-called environmental violence. This time a fireman, a man who risked his life to serve his fellow citizens, an idealist, a knight in shining armour.In the presence of his wife, he was beaten to death in the bloodlust of perpetrators known to the police. The news of his death is spreading through the media and social networks, hundreds of thousands of people are touched by his fate and have every right to ask why this innocent man died? Because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, is the rather simple answer. Because in December 2019, on his way home from a Christmas market, he walked freely on German streets, felt safe in the streets of your country. According to initial findings, it was a “chance encounter” between the victim and his murderers. Coincidence, Mrs. Merkel, no longer happens in view of the recurring individual cases. How far has your own Germany degenerated in the meantime to the point that as a righteous person one is no longer safe on the streets of your cities? And the perpetrators’ motive? Quite simple: violence, brutality, lack of empathy, cruelty. Perhaps a public prosecutor or an expert of your judicial system will be available who might find verbose a psychological disorder of the perpetrators already known to the police, in order not to have to admit the manifold problems of your immigration and security policy. And what do you do, Mrs. Merkel? You are keeping quiet! And what do you do, Mrs. Merkel? You are keeping quiet! When your minister (Altmaier, Ed.) Humpty Dumpty fell over the stairs, your recovery wishes were sooner in the hospital than the injured patient himself. When one of your fellow countrymen is one of the hundreds of dead in your catastrophic social and security policy, you keep quiet. In lack of empathy and sympathy, you are probably closer to the perpetrators in your stubbornness than you think. You not only fail politically, but also humanly. Merry Christmas 2019!
    More:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-commentary-murder-of-augsburg-and.html

    • “…that as a righteous person one is no longer safe on the streets of your cities…”

      The moral bankruptness of giving up your soul in islam, your mind in Socialism, and your body in LGBTQ+.

  6. David v. Goliath: Strategies of the Hong Kong Protest—Benny Tai | American Thought Leaders

    • Bosnia Puts Off Closing Makeshift Migrant Camp ‘Until Further Notice’

      Bosnian authorities have indefinitely postponed the scheduled closing of a makeshift migrant tent camp in the northwest of the country.

      The closing of the Vucjak camp had been scheduled for December 9, following harsh international criticism of the improper conditions hundreds of people are being housed in. The camp is hosting some 600 migrants, according to the Red Cross.

      Rade Kovac, the director of the Bosnian Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, visited the camp on December 9 and said that the authorities had postponed closing the camp until further notice.

      Aid groups have repeatedly warned that the Vucjak camp is located on a former landfill and close to a mine field from Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, and has no running water or toilets. Living conditions worsened further after snow started falling last week.

      Kovac said the migrants will eventually be moved to one of the reception centers in the Sarajevo Canton. He gave no reason for the postponement, but media reports said the decision was prompted by a lack of proper accommodation at the reception centers.

      Bosnia-Herzegovina’s security minister, Dragan Mektic, last week announced that the occupants of the camp on the border with Croatia would be relocated to other camps outside the region.

      “It was agreed that migrants would be moved early next week from this locality to other reception centers…and that this makeshift camp would be closed,” Mektic said in a statement on December 6.

      The decision to close the camp came after Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, visited Vucjak last week and warned that deaths would be imminent if the camp were not closed at once. “If we don’t close the camp today, tomorrow people will start dying here,” she told reporters while visiting the snow-covered camp.

      On December 6, Mijatovic told a news conference in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, that it was now urgent to relocate the migrants and provide them with “decent accommodation.”

      “Many people lack adequate clothing and footwear,” she said. “It is inhumane and unacceptable to keep people in such conditions.”

      However, some migrants said that despite snow and freezing weather, they will refuse to be moved farther away from the border. Most of the migrants flocked to the northwestern part of Bosnia because they want to continue their journey to Western Europe’s more prosperous countries by crossing the border into European Union member Croatia.

      On December 7, migrants at Vucjak resumed accepting food distributed by the Bihac branch of the Red Cross, after refusing it for several days in protest at the announced relocation of the camp.

      Bosnian authorities have struggled to accommodate thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Migrants enter Bosnia from neighboring Serbia or Montenegro.

      https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia-puts-off-closing-makeshift-migrant-camp-until-further-notice-/30315624.html

  8. Steele warned that IG report contains information previously blacked out, report says

    Christopher Steele, the British ex-spy and author of the anti-Trump dossier, was reportedly told that the Justice Department will release information about him that was previously blacked out in the department’s internal watchdog report on the investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign due on Monday.

    The New York Times, citing two individuals with knowledge of the situation, reported that Attorney General William Barr approved the release of the previously redacted information in Michael Horowitz’s 400-page report. The report called Steele’s heads-up unusual and said he was not given any indication of whether the information would benefit or hurt him. An after-hours email from Fox News to the Justice Department was not immediately returned.

    Steele is poised to be a notable figure in the Horowitz report because he provided opposition research into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia which was funded by Democrats and the Clinton campaign.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/steele-warned-that-ig-report-contains-information-previously-blacked-out-report-says

  9. Pro-Trump protester disrupts impeachment hearing, accuses Nadler of treason

    A pro-Trump protester on Monday launched into a demonstration minutes into the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearing, accusing the panel’s chairman of committing treason by trying to remove President Trump from office.

    The man, who was in the public seating area, stood up and began yelling that Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats were trying to change the outcome of the 2016 presidential election by going through with impeaching Trump over his contacts with Ukraine.

    “Americans are sick of your impeachment sham, they’re sick of the Democrat treason,” the demonstrator yelled.

    The demonstrator, who filmed his protest, appeared to be a host on Infowars, a conservative and at times conspiracy-peddling site.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/473638-pro-trump-protestor-disrupts-impeachment-hearing-accusing-nadler-of-treason

  10. (Richard: Bloomberg in a 2015 speech about gun control and crime, he doesn’t want the speech made public because he admits that the police arrest more minorities the whites because most crimes are committed by minorities.)

    Michael Bloomberg speaks in Aspen, Colorado

  12. House Passes Bill Opening Backdoor Immigration Route for Wealthy Chinese

    The House quietly passed a bill on December 3 to crack open a backdoor route for wealthy Chinese to buy their way into U.S. citizenship by lending money to the U.S. real estate industry.

    Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) portrayed the bill as a boost to trade between the United States and Portugal. But the bill allows wealthy Chinese to get into the United States after first buying Portuguese citizenship.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/06/house-passes-bill-opening-backdoor-immigration-route-for-wealthy-chinese/

  13. Rasmussen on Drudge Report: “We don’t think Matt [Drudge] is there anymore. Word is he sold, just waiting for confirmation.”

    Rasmussen Reports, the influential polling company, tweeted Saturday their belief that Matt Drudge has sold and is no longer running the titanic news aggregator that bears his name, the Drudge Report.

    https://disrn.com/news/rasmussen-on-drudge-report-we-dont-think-matt-is-there-anymore-word-is-he-sold-just-waiting-for-confirmation

  14. Fire and petrol bombs after ‘generally peaceful’ Hong Kong march, police say

    HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong protesters lit a fire outside court buildings, threw petrol bombs and spray-painted graffiti on government buildings, following a “generally peaceful” march at the weekend, police said on Monday.

    Protesters called for strikes across the city on Monday, but most railway and transport links ran smoothly during the morning rush hour and there were no reports of widespread disruptions.
    Report Ad

    Vast crowds of black-clad demonstrators had thronged the streets of the Asian financial hub on Sunday, in the largest anti-government rally since local elections last month and a resounding show of continued support for the pro-democracy movement.

    While the march appeared to be largely peaceful – in marked contrast to some other mass demonstrations over the last six months, where protesters fought pitched battles with police – authorities said there was some damage after it ended.

    https://www.oann.com/peaceful-hong-kong-march-marred-by-fire-outside-court-police-say/

  16. CNN – Analyst: Putin used to pay for trolls. Now, he has Ted Cruz

    CNN’s Ana Cabrera and National Security Analyst Samantha Vinograd discuss the debunked Republican talking point on election meddling by Ukraine

  17. Meddling, collusion, and Ukraine vs. Russia

    In the coming days, it will be important to keep our heads straight. This will require some mental discipline, as the mainstream media seem determined to keep our heads muddled.

    This point occurred to me forcibly while watching Ted Cruz talk to Chuck Todd on Meet the Press on Sunday. More on that, including the video, below.

    The topic here is what we’re talking about when the question of “Ukraine meddling in the 2016 election” comes up. The reality is that there’s not a whole lot there, if you emphasize the words “Ukraine meddling.” There is substance, yes. A Ukrainian court has certified that it thinks Ukraine meddled in the U.S. election.

    But the real issue is whether Americans leveraged cooperation from Ukraine to behave unethically – and possibly to behave criminally – in the 2016 election. Ukraine’s actions could not have any significant effect, undertaken without the complicity of Americans.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/09/meddling-collusion-and-ukraine-vs-russia/

  19. US Investigates Venezuela Providing Passports to Hezbollah Members (sputniknews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/201912091077525144-us-investigates-venezuela-providing-passports-to-hezbollah-members/

    “The United States is aware that Venezuela has provided passports to members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and is closely investigating the matter, a US Treasury Department official said during a briefing on 9 December.

    “We are very concerned that members of Hezbollah do possess Venezuelan passports. We are investigating this matter very, very closely”, the official told reporters.

    The United States has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and considers it to be a regional proxy of Iran.

    Earlier the same day, the US government sanctioned two Venezuelan officials – Gustavo Adolfo Vizcaino Gil and Juan Carlos Dugarte Padron – under the Global Magnitsky Act…”

  20. Dutch Prosecutor Finds No Political Interference in Wilders Discrimination Trial – Reports (sputniknews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912091077524632-dutch-prosecutor-finds-no-political-interference-in-wilders-discrimination-trial–reports/

    “According to the DutchNews portal, Wilders demanded prosecutors drop the case, claiming that the guilty verdict was motivated by political interference.

    The Dutch public prosecution office announced on Monday that there was no ministerial interference in the 2016 conviction of a member of parliament, Geert Wilders, who was found guilty of discrimination due to his role in anti-Moroccan chants among supporters in 2014, national media reported.

    In 2014, Wilders was alleged to have asked a room of supporters if they wanted to have “more or fewer” Moroccans in the country.

    The crowd is said to have replied “fewer,” to which Wilders responded that he would “take care of that,” the portal reported.

    Wilders was found guilty in December 2016 on charges of being discriminatory against Dutch Moroccans. However, he was neither fined nor incarcerated.

    Wilders is the leader of Party for Freedom, a right-wing, anti-migration political party. He has supported a burqa ban in the Netherlands.”

  21. Pakistan’s Spy Agency Using Honey-Traps to Target Indian Army Officers – Minister (sputniknews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912091077523819-pakistans-spy-agency-using-honey-traps-to-target-indian-army-officers—minister/

    “The issue of honey-trapping by foreign intelligence agencies has been gaining credence in India, with the Indian Army issuing an advisory asking its personnel to be cautious and avoid strangers posing as women of foreign origin or spiritual gurus (leader).

    India’s Junior Minister for Defence Shripad Naik has revealed that Pakistan is using its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to honey-trap officials of the Indian Armed forces.

    Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament of Monday, the Minister of State said the government had taken steps to sensitise service personnel and their families about honey-trapping, used as a modus operandi by foreign intelligence operatives.

    “Advisories have been issued to all concerned for compliance, and directives have been issued to take stern action against defaulters under the zero-tolerance policy,” the minister said.
    Special attention is also being paid to recruits at training institutes, he added.

    With the incidents of honey trapping coming to light, the Indian Army tracked nearly 150 profiles used to target army personnel, media reports said.

    “Pakistan-based operatives, through social media, gather contact numbers of senior Army officers, and also deployment patterns,” said a senior Indian Army officer.
    As per the advisory issued by the government, the Pakistan-based intelligence agencies are targeting personnel deployed in sensitive areas of the country.

    The minister said: “Simultaneously, regular intelligence liaisons with other agencies are maintained to detect such attempts. Additionally, security measures to safeguard classified documents and information are in place and updated regularly to counter emerging perspective threats.”

    Honey- trapping, although an old tactic to trap influential people, has caught pace with the increased use of social media. This became evident as the Indian Army warned soldiers to be wary of instant messaging and dating apps, including Tik Tok.

    According to media reports, nearly 50 army men came under the scanner of intelligence agencies for falling victim to honey-traps by the ISI agent in India’s Rajasthan state in early 2019.

    One of the soldiers, in touch with a profile in the name of Anika Chopra on Facebook, regularly chatted on the social media and allegedly exchanged details and information about the jawan’s armoured unit and its movement. The Rajasthan Police later arrested him.”

  22. Indian Army Fires American Origin Ammunition from M-777s Near Pakistan Border (sputniknews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912091077523051-indian-army-fires-american-origin-ammunition-from-m-777s-near-pakistan-border/

    “The 155 mm satellite-guided artillery rounds for Howitzers were ordered from the US following the February 2019 military standoff between India and Pakistan, which erupted following a suicide attack on an Indian military convoy killing at least 40 soldiers.

    The Indian Army carried out a firing test of American-origin Excalibur artillery ammunition from M-777 ultra-light Howitzers at the Pokhran firing ranges on Monday. The M-777, A2 Ultra-Light Howitzer, which can be heli-lifted even in mountainous areas, was handed over to the Indian Army in 2018.

    The firing was witnessed by the senior leadership of the Indian Army including Director General Artillery Lieutenant General Ravi Prasad.

    Excalibur artillery rounds with 155mm trajectory correctable munitions, also referred to as Course Correctable Fuzes, use GPS technology to guide shells to their targets accurately, and facilitate co-ordination for mid-course flight path correction, were implemented in the test.

    TCM (Tuason-Craig-Micromagnum) accuracy and first-round hit probability are significantly higher than that of conventional ammunition. This facilitates their use in close support situations within 150 metres of friendly troops.

    The guided shells have been inducted into army units guarding the Line of Control, a 435-mile line which marks where the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir begin.

    The shells, which can reach up to 57 km, can also be used in the K-9 tracked Howitzer gun that India bought from South Korea in 2017.

    The relationship between India and Pakistan has deteriorated to the level of nadir in February 2019 when the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group claimed a suicide attack on an Indian military convoy which killed at least 40 soldiers in Kashmir’s Pulwama. In retaliation for the suicide attack, a cross border aerial strike was launched on 26 February by the Indian Air Force in the Balakot area inside Pakistan to allegedly destroy terror camps. The following day, the Pakistan Air Force carried out retaliatory strikes using a dozen fighter jets and shot down India’s MiG-21 Bison. India also claimed that its MiG-21 Bison brought down an American made Pakistani F-16 fighter jet, which Pakistan has denied so far.

    For the past four months, a massive deployment of forces took place in the western sector after Pakistan had threatened India with retaliation in the wake of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status being revoked by New Delhi.”

  23. “Let’s Talk Quid Pro Quo”
    BFH – October 12, 2019
    https://iotwreport.com/lets-talk-quid-pro-quo/

    “Obama gave Pearson Publishing $350 million to create Commoncore text and Pearson gave Obama a $65 million dollar book deal in return.”
    by IWB – December 8, 2019
    https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/obama-gave-pearson-publishing-350-million-to-create-commoncore-text-and-pearson-gave-obama-a-65-million-dollar-book-deal-in-return/

    Obama gave $350 million of Your taxpayer dollars to Pearson Publishing. Pearson Publishing gave back to Obama $65 million of Your taxpayer dollars, so he can do what?

  25. Ep. 1130 Panic is Breaking Out on the Left and with the Media

    https://bongino.com/ep-1130-panic-is-breaking-out-on-the-left-and-with-the-media/

    You Tube has marked todays pod cast video as private but his website has the audio.

    Dan points out the Dems are laying the ground work to call the 2020 election is illegitimate, he doesn’t go as far as saying that they are laying the groundwork for a civil war but this is what they are doing.

    He also has a video/audio of Obama saying that the US elections can’t be rigged and that anyone who loses an election and then blames other people isn’t normal.

  26. U.S. officials ‘repeatedly lied about Afghanistan war for 18 years and hid the fact it was unwinnable’, according to bombshell Washington Post report dubbed ‘the Pentagon Papers of today’ (dailymail, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7772325/U-S-officials-repeatedly-lied-Afghanistan-war-18-years.html

    “US officials repeatedly lied to the public about the war in Afghanistan for its 18 year duration by hiding the fact that it was unwinnable and troops were out of their depth, The Washington Post has claimed.

    In a lengthy article published on Monday, the Post claims that top officials knew the military’s chances were slim but that they routinely hid the grave reality and made ‘rosy pronouncements’ about it instead.

    The cache of documents – dubbed the ‘Pentagon Papers of Afghanistan’ – includes interviews that the government carried out with senior military personnel which the newspaper obtained through a Freedom of Information request. They took place between 2014 and 2018 and contain the comments of nearly 400 people.

    In addition to the interview transcripts, the Post obtained memos dictated by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld between 2001 and 2006, during the first phase of the war.

    Together, they paint a picture of a confused military who did not know who the ‘bad guys’ were, let alone where to find them or how to defeat them.

    Among the interviews is a 2015 transcript of one in which Michael Flynn, the disgraced former United States National Security Advisor, said: ‘If we are doing such a great job, why does it feel like we are losing?’

    The military personnel also describe how top brass officials distorted data to make it appear as though the US was winning when in fact thousands were being needlessly killed.

    The alleged failures which troops complained about included not knowing what the point of the war was – whether they were there to fight terror or to make Afghanistan a democratic country – and lacking crucial intelligence which would have helped form their strategies.

    John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, whose agency was in charge of the investigation, told the newspaper in light of the unearthed interviews: ‘The American people have constantly been lied to.’

    The alleged failures include;

    Nearly $1 trillion wasted; troops said they were expected to spend money with no reason in areas that were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of cash and resources
    Misguided attempts to build an Afghan army when all their troops were ‘incompetent’ and some were ‘drug addicts’
    ‘Fatally flawed’ fighting strategies which put US lives at risk
    Distorting data and figures to make it look like the US was winning
    Years of false statements to the American people that progress was being made when it was not
    Confusion over what the mission was; it started as a war on terror but later priorities became building a democracy and improving women’s rights
    ‘Woeful’ deficiency in intelligence from the beginning
    Among the interviewees is General Douglas Lute, who served under Bush and Obama.

    He blamed the 2,400 lives lost in the war to ‘bureaucratic breakdowns’ and said the problems began because the US lacked a ‘fundamental understanding’ of Afghanistan.

    He told government interviewers in 2015: ‘What are we trying to do here? We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.

    ‘If the American people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction … 2,400 lives lost…’

    Others interviewed by Sopko’s teams described how information and research was skewed to make it appear as though the US had a good chance at victory when in fact it was highly unlikely.

    Bob Crowley, an Army colonel who served as a senior counterinsurgency adviser to U.S. military commanders in 2013 and 2014, said: ‘Every data point was altered to present the best picture possible.

    ‘Surveys, for instance, were totally unreliable but reinforced that everything we were doing was right and we became a self-licking ice cream cone.’

    He also claimed ‘truth was rarely welcome’ within the Combined Anti-Armor Team and that ‘everyone’ on the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ‘just wanted to hear good news.’

    Among the major failures troops described was the exorbitant amount of money spent for little in return.They estimate that close to $938billion was wasted on the war.

    ‘What did we get for this $1 trillion effort? Was it worth $1 trillion?

    ‘After the killing of Osama bin Laden, I said that Osama was probably laughing in his watery grave considering how much we have spent on Afghanistan,’ Jeffrey Eggers, a retired Navy SEAL who also worked in the White House for Bush and Obama, said in one interview with officials.

    Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, known as SIGAR, was launched in 2008 to investigate the war effort for waste and fraud.

    It had a branch called Lessons Learned which was solely dedicated to identifying decision making failures that could be avoided in later conflicts.

    As part of Lessons Learned, 600 interviews were conducted.

    It, according to the Post, released reports periodically about its findings but left out the ‘harshest’ details….”

    • “…At the beginning of the conflict, the report claims the clear objective of the war was to retaliate against al-Qaeda and prevent a similar atrocity to 9/11 from happening.

      However, the military personnel say that as the years wore on, the mission became less clear.

      Some officials started focusing on turning it into a democratic country, whereas others wanted to focus on elevating women’s rights, the report claims.

      One person interviewed by officials compared the conflict to a Christmas tree which, beneath it, had a ‘present for everyone’.

      ‘With the AfPak strategy there was a present under the Christmas tree for everyone.

      ‘By the time you were finished you had so many priorities and aspirations it was like no strategy at all,’ the unidentified interview said.

      Others described how military bosses did not know who the good and bad guys were.

      They had trouble differentiating to troops if they should focus on fighting al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other foreign jihadists.

      Some said they did not know whether to treat Pakistan as an ally or foe.

      One unnamed former adviser to an Army Special Forces team admitted not knowing who the ‘bad guys’ were, let alone where to find them.

      ‘They thought I was going to come to them with a map to show them where the good guys and bad guys live. It took several conversations for them to understand that I did not have that information in my hands.

      ‘At first, they just kept asking: “But who are the bad guys, where are they?”‘ he said.

      Some of the names of people interviewed were redacted.

      One of the key failures was the US’s ‘idiotic’ attempt to try to establish a government in Kabul modeled after the one in Washington.

      ‘Our policy was to create a strong central government which was idiotic because Afghanistan does not have a history of a strong central government.

      ‘The time-frame for creating a strong central government is 100 years, which we didn’t have,’ one unnamed official said.

      The US had promised not to try to ‘nation build’ in public speeches from former presidents Bush and Obama.

      However the interviews suggest that is exactly what was being attempted and it was attempted unsuccessfully.

      Another failure was an excess of aid which overwhelmed the country and amounted to a huge waste in money.

      ‘Capitol Hill was always asking, “Did you spend the money? What’s your burn rate?”

      That’s all they ever cared about. The effort was overfunded and lacked data to drive intelligence decision-making. We were burning $400million per month at one point.

      ‘We lost objectivity. We were given money told to spend it, and we did, without reason,’ one unnamed person said in a 2016 interview.

      One contractor said he was told to spend $3million a day in a district that was roughly the size of the average US county.

      He said that he once asked a congressman whether he would be able to spend as much in his district.

      ‘When the congressman, who was not named, answered: ‘hell no’, the contractor told him: ‘Well, sir, that’s what you just obligated us to spend and I’m doing it for communities that live in mud huts with no windows.’

      Another unnamed interviewee shared his complaint.

      Our strategy was, “Money expended equals success.”

      ‘I’d get the s**t kicked out of me at the height of the surge… “why did we say yes to spending money building a 38km road up… why can’t you build this road and you said you could do it…”

      ‘We’d go see it and we’d fly in and get shot at. Why do you expect us to build a road to an area you can’t secure…. we were supposed to build roads in an area so dangerous that armed US military helicopters could not even land near it,’ he said.

      Because so much money was being thrown at the conflict, corruption was inevitable, according to those interviewed, and the US ‘looked the other way’ while Afghanistan’s leaders took advantage of it.

      ‘I like to use a cancer analogy. Petty corruption is like skin cancer; there are ways to deal with it and you’ll probably be just fine.

      ‘Corruption within the ministries, higher level, is like colon cancer; it’s worse, but if you catch it in time, you’re probably OK,’

      Christopher Kolenda, who deployed several times, told investigators.

      ‘Kleptocracy, however, is like brain cancer; it’s fatal,’ he said, after describing how President Hamid Karzai and his deputies had ‘self-organized into a kleptocracy’ within the first five years of the effort.

      As the Afghanistan government became increasingly corrupt, the interviewees claimed, more people turned to the Taliban for order.

      ‘Our biggest single project, sadly and inadvertently, of course, may have been the development of mass corruption.

      ‘Once it gets to the level I saw, when I was out there, it’s somewhere between unbelievably hard and outright impossible to fix it,’ former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker said in a lengthy 2016 interview with investigators.

      Another of the biggest lies, they said, was that the military was helping establish a strong, Afghan army.

      In reality, the troops were disorganized, incompetent and uncommitted, they said.

      The US soldiers sent to train them said they ‘hated them’ and claimed that one third of the Afghan police force they were told to help were ‘drug addicts’ or ‘Taliban’.

      ‘The ALP [Afghan Local Police] members were awful – the bottom of the barrel in the country that is already at the bottom of the barrel.

      ‘Vast majority of ALPs didn’t care and were just collecting a paycheck,’ an unnamed soldier said in a September 2016 interview with Lessons Learned.

      Another failure, they said, was their inability to halt the country’s mass production of opium.

      Under the nose of the US military, the Afghan drug trade flourished, the interviewees said.

      Tackling the country’s drug production was never part of the military strategy but the drug lords became more powerful than the government, they claimed.

      The first strategy was for Brits to pay Afghan farmers to destroy their poppy crops but it only inspired them to plant more, the interviewees said. When the US went back to the farmers and told them to destroy the crops again, this time without payment, it enraged them.

      What compounded this failed strategy, they complained, was a lack of communication between British and US forces.

      The Pentagon has not commented on the release of the documents or on the allegations by troops or the Post that it deliberately lied about the situation.”

      • My Russki says the Russian soldiers felt exactly the same way. They hear “Afghanistan” and their flesh crawls.
        That’s how Egyptians talked about Yemen, their own quagmire in the Nasser era. They told me it’s all dopers, perverts, and mental defectives.

  27. School bans hoodies as they ‘intimidate’ younger pupils (telegraph, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/09/school-bans-hoodies-intimidate-younger-pupils/

    “Asecondary school has banned all of its pupils from wearing hoodies as they claim that younger students are intimidated by them.

    Teachers at Brune Park Community School in Gosport, Hampshire, noticed that older pupils were using the clothes to hide their identities in the playground during break times.

    Mike Jones, the deputy headteacher, was worried that the younger, smaller students were daunted by these groups of teenagers who roamed the school premises with hoodies on.

    Pupils wearing hoodies emblazoned with inappropriate images- such as of cannabis plants- were of particular concern as they were thought to be lowering the image of the school.

    Mr Jones said that the new policy, launched this term, would help to reduce the “negative impression” the garments left on some members of the local community.

    He explained: “When you have large 15 and 16-year-olds wandering around in hoodies it can be quite intimidating, particularly for younger pupils. Some of these hoodies also have inappropriate images such as cannabis plants which creates the wrong impression.

    “When hoods are up it can become difficult to identify students which can be an issue if an incident has occurred,” he added.

    However, the new rules have been criticised by students who claim that staff have created a “dictatorship” at the school…”

  28. Isil ‘matchmaker’ who lured British teen bride to Syria is deported to France (telegraph, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/09/isil-matchmaker-lured-british-teen-bride-syria-deported-france/

    “Turkey has deported to France the “Islamic State matchmaker” who lured a British teen bride to Syria as part of a drive to send foreign fighters back to their countries of origin.

    Tooba Gondal, 25, is among 11 French nationals that Turkey repatriated early on Monday, according to France’s Centre for Analysis of Terrorism, CAT, citing official sources.

    A French judicial source confirmed that four women and their seven children had arrived in France.

    Two of the women returned were already targeted by arrest warrants and will soon face a judge, while the other two were sought by police and have been placed in custody, the French source said. The children have been taken into care.

    Ms Gondal, from Walthamstow, east London, has been “detained for questioning” and faces terror charges, said CAT. She will then likely be detained while awaiting trial.

    She was born in France but moved to UK capital as a child and had British residency.

    A source close to the family told The Telegraph they were upset by the UK’s decision to refuse her return.

    “Her kids most certainly will go into foster care away from her and any of her family in Britain,” said the source.

    Ms Gondal has been accused of acting as an online recruiter and “matchmaker” for the terrorist group by luring women to Syria to marry Isil fighters. Among them was reportedly Bethnal Green schoolgirl Shamima Begum.

    She used social media to post images of herself wearing a burqa and holding an assault rifle.

    In October, Ms Gondal told the Telegraph how she managed to escape from Ain Issa camp with her two infant children, along with hundreds of other foreign suspected Isil women in a mass prison break after Turkey launched its offensive.

    She expressed a desire to be sent to the UK or Turkey.

    “I want to go home, see my family,” the former Goldsmiths, University of London, student said via WhatsApp messages. “But if I am not able, I want to seek refuge in Turkey.”

    Married and widowed three times while living in Isil’s “caliphate”, she was banned from re-entering the UK last November by a Home Office exclusion order, but her three-year-old son is entitled to citizenship because of his British father.

    However, her 18-month-old daughter’s late father was Russian.

    Last month, Turkey stepped up the return of suspected foreign Isil members – either held in Turkish prisons or in Syria – back to their countries of origin, saying Turkey was “not a hotel” for foreign fighters.

    The Turkish interior ministry on Monday confirmed it had sent 11 French relatives of suspected “terrorist fighters” back home.

    According to CAT, one of the deported women was Amandine Le Coz, who had been married to a Moroccan militant killed in Syria. She joined Isil with her husband in 2014.

    The French foreign ministry and interior ministry declined to comment…”

  29. “Americans Are Tired of Your Impeachment Scam!” – Dem Impeachment Coup Interrupted by Pro-Trump Protester Owen Shroyer (VIDEO) …Update: Owen Arrested!

    The Democrat impeachment coup got off to a rocky start on Monday.
    Right off the bat Jerry Nadler’s hearing was interrupted by a pro-Trump protester!
    It was the heroic J. Owen Shroyer who started screaming at Nadler!

    Via 100% Fed Up.

    J. Owen Shroyer.

    Read more

    Owen Shroyer: “You are committing treason. We voted for Donald Trump. Americans are sick of your impeachment scam.”

    UPDATE– Owen Shroyer was arrested for interrupting the coup.

    8.9KShare 323Tweet Email

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    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/americans-are-tired-of-your-impeachment-scam-dem-impeachment-coup-interrupted-by-pro-trump-protester-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  30. Kosovo files IS terror charges against man, wife and mother (abcnews, Dec 9. 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kosovo-files-terror-charges-man-wife-mother-67599424

    “Kosovo prosecutors filed terrorism charges Monday against three ethnic Albanians who returned to the small European country in May after allegedly joining the Islamic State group in Syria.

    Prosecutors said the three are a man, his wife and his mother. They alleged the man fought with the extremist group before bringing his wife and daughter through North Macedonia and Turkey to Syria in 2014.

    The mother joined them in 2015, prosecutors said. The two women allegedly earned a monthly salary while serving IS members, but the whole family surrendered to Kurdish forces as the Islamic State lost ground in Syria, Kosovo authorities said.

    The three adults have been charged with organization and participation in a terror group. If convicted, they could face prison sentences of up to 15 years.

    In April, 110 Kosovo citizens were repatriated from Syria. Kosovo authorities say 30 of the country’s citizens are still actively supporting terror groups in Syria.”

  31. 2 Turkish soldiers killed, 7 wounded while defusing bomb (abcnews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-soldiers-killed-wounded-defusing-bomb-67592188

    “At least two Turkish soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded on Monday while attempting to defuse an improvised explosive device, officials said.

    The device exploded in a village near the town of Idil, in the mainly-Kurdish populated Sirnak province, according to a statement from the regional governor’s office. It said the explosive device was planted by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

    The statement didn’t provide further details but said Turkey’s operations to combat the PKK were continuing with “determination.”

    There was no word on the wounded soldiers’ conditions…”

  32. Four rockets hit military base near Baghdad airport (abcnews, Dec 9, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/rockets-hit-military-base-baghdad-airport-67592013

    “Four Katyusha rockets hit a military base near Baghdad International Airport early on Monday, wounding at least six soldiers, Iraqi security officials said. It was the latest incident in a series of rocket attacks in recent weeks.

    Iraqi security forces discovered a rocket launcher and some defused rockets nearby after searching the area following the the attack, a statement from Iraqi security forces said.

    According to the security officials, the area targeted by the rockets is frequented by military advisers from the U.S.-led coalition. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

    No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack…”

  35. Breaking: Ukrainian Official Reveals Six Criminal Cases Opened in Ukraine Involving the Bidens

    President Trump spoke to the press Saturday at the White House as he departed for Florida for speeches before the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Hollywood and a Republican fundraising dinner in Aventura.

    Trump told the waiting reporters that his personal attorney former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani “found plenty” of “good information” during his recent trip to Ukraine and Europe.

    Trump then added that he believes Giuliani wants to present a report to the Attorney General William Barr and to Congress. Trump added Giuliani has not told him what he found.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/breaking-ukrainian-official-reveals-six-criminal-cases-opened-in-ukraine-involving-the-bidens/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  36. “It Would Be Unconstitutional for Trump to be Impeached on Current Record – an Utter Abuse of Congress!” – Democrat Harvard Attorney Alan Dershowitz

    Democrat Harvard Attorney Alan Dershowitz says the current impeachment process taking place in the Democrat-led House is unconstitutional.

    Dershowitz said,

    “It would be unconstitutional for President Trump to be impeached on the current record. It would be an utter abuse of the power of Congress. The constitution sets out four criteria for impeaching a President; treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Unless one of those criteria is met, Congress does not have the authority to impeach, and if they do, their impeachment would be void.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/it-would-be-unconstitutional-for-trump-to-be-impeached-on-current-record-an-utter-abuse-of-congress-democrat-harvard-attorney-alan-dershowitz/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  37. Schiff’s ‘Whistleblower’ Eric Ciaramella Held Mysterious Meeting in Obama’s White House in September 2016 Likely Covering Ukraine and Soros Groups

    Suspected Deep State ‘Whistleblower’ and leaker Eric Ciaramella held a meeting in September of 2016 in Obama’s White House that based on guests involved, likely covered far-left donor George Soros and the Ukraine.

    There are several peculiar aspects to a meeting chaired by much-reported “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella on September 7, 2016 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. All seven invitees signed in between 1:14-1:17 PM for a scheduled 1:30 PM start. Based on the attendee expertise, the meeting’s topic was likely Ukraine.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/schiffs-whistleblower-eric-ciaramella-held-mysterious-meeting-in-obamas-white-house-in-september-2016-likely-covering-ukraine-and-soros-groups/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  38. NYT – Pensacola Attack Probed for Terrorism Link. Saudi Suspect Clashed With Instructor.

    The F.B.I. said it was conducting a terrorism investigation into the shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, as new information emerged about the gunman’s training at the facility.

    The investigation into the fatal shooting last week at a Navy training center in Florida was officially characterized as a terrorism inquiry on Sunday, as new details emerged about the Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three sailors on the base where he was a visiting student.

    As the F.B.I. continues to conduct interviews with everyone at the Pensacola Naval Air Station who may have had contact with the gunman, identified as Second Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, a new report emerged that the Saudi trainee filed a formal complaint earlier this year against one of his instructors, who left him “infuriated” in class by tagging him with a derogatory nickname.

    The complaint, quoted in a communication circulated among people connected to the flight training, said that the instructor referred to Lieutenant Alshamrani as “Porn Stash” in front of about 10 other aviation students, embarrassing and angering him.

    “I was infuriated as to why he would say that in front of the class,” the Saudi trainee wrote in his complaint, as quoted in the summary. The document was reviewed by The New York Times and authenticated by a person who spoke with Lieutenant Alshamrani shortly after the incident.

    The F.B.I. declined to comment on the April incident, and the special agent in charge of the agency’s Jacksonville office, Rachel Rojas, said on Sunday that investigators are still searching for a motive for the Friday morning attack . There has been nothing to suggest that the classroom incident had any connection to the shooting, which did not occur until more than seven months later.

    Yet little is known of Lieutenant Alshamrani’s life in Florida during his months as a trainee, and the incident in April appears to have been upsetting enough that two American students in the class helped him file his complaint, according to the person who spoke with him about it.

    Lieutenant Alshamrani reported that the confrontation came at the end of a meteorology class, when the instructor, James Day, asked whether students had any questions before he dismissed them.

    The instructor then turned to Lieutenant Alshamrani and asked whether he had any questions, addressing him as “Porn Stash” — spelled that way in the complaint — in an apparent reference to the mustache of a porn actor.

    “Laughing, he continued to ask, ‘What? Have you not seen a porn star before?’” the lieutenant wrote in his complaint, according to the summary. “After I did not respond, he just let go of the subject.”

    Brian Busey, the president of the company that employs Mr. Day, Delaware Resource Group of Oklahoma, declined to discuss details of the classroom incident, but said the company had dealt with the matter in April. He said the company was cooperating with the F.B.I.’s investigation into the shooting.

    “Appropriate personnel action was taken regarding the incident in question, corrective action was taken, the matter was closed back in April, and we have no further comment,” Mr. Busey said.

    Mr. Day also declined, through Mr. Busey, to comment. Officials at the Navy base referred questions to the F.B.I., which also did not comment.

    “We are unable to confirm this type of information due to the active and ongoing investigation,” Amanda Warford Videll, a spokeswoman for the bureau’s Jacksonville office, said in a statement.

    Separately, F.B.I. officials said they are continuing to conduct interviews with anyone who may have had contact with the gunman, who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy at the scene of the attack. They said they are operating on the assumption that he acted alone, but are continuing to investigate whether he may have had help.

    More details have emerged about the gunman’s actions in the days leading up to the shooting.

    The night before the attack, Lieutenant Alshamrani showed videos of mass shootings at a dinner party, according to a person who was briefed on the investigation.

    Days earlier, he and three other Saudi military trainees were in New York City, visiting several museums and Rockefeller Center. There has been no indication that the trip was more than a sightseeing tour.

    Still, several dozen F.B.I. agents and New York Police Department detectives have been working to learn everything they can about the visit, which lasted for about four days, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The agents and detectives have been tracing their movements through credit cards, surveillance video and other means, the person said.

    It was not clear whether the April classroom incident will play any role in the investigation.

    According to the communication describing the encounter, Lieutenant Alshamrani was visibly upset and reported what happened to managers of CAE USA, which provides instruction to civil and military aviation students. (Delaware Resource Group is a subcontractor to CAE.) The American student who helped the lieutenant draft the complaint was one of two who accompanied him when he went to file it, according to the person who spoke with the Saudi trainee about the complaint.

    The CAE managers offered to have the instructor apologize, but Lieutenant Alshamrani turned that offer down, and instead spoke to the naval office that oversees international students, the person said.

    Several government employees thought that disciplinary action should be taken against Mr. Day, but he continued to instruct students, the person said. About a week after the incident in April, Lieutenant Alshamrani was paired with Mr. Day for simulated flight training, according to a schedule reviewed by The Times. He again complained to CAE managers, and the session was canceled and rescheduled with a different instructor, the person said.

    As part of a terrorism investigation, federal authorities will also be attempting to determine whether there was a political or ideological motive behind the shooting.

    The SITE Intelligence Group has flagged a Twitter account that it believes is connected to the gunman, with a posting shortly before the attack that was critical of America’s support for Israel, as well as the “invasion” of other countries by United States troops. The statement, which quoted Osama bin Laden, accused the United States of “committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity.”

    Lieutenant Alshamrani began training with the United States military in August 2017 and was scheduled to complete the training in August 2020, Pentagon officials said. He initially attended language school at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He spent breaks back home in Saudi Arabia. When he returned to the United States in February, friends and colleagues noticed that he had become more religious, according to a person briefed on the investigation.

    The White House said Sunday that President Trump had spoken with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who “reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to working with the United States to prevent a horrific attack like the Pensacola shooting from ever happening again.”

    Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said on “Fox News Sunday” that the Pentagon would review screening procedures for foreigners on American military bases but would maintain the training programs.

    “The ability to bring foreign students here to train with us, to understand American culture, is very important to us,” he said. “We have something that our potential adversaries, such as Russia and China, don’t have.”

    Mr. Esper confirmed that several friends of the gunman were detained during the military’s investigation of the shooting, and said that of those who were detained, “some one or two were filming” the shooting.

    “I’m not trying to pass a judgment on this,” Mr. Esper said. “Today, people pull out their phones and film everything and anything that happens.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/us/pensacola-gunman.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

    • He was disrespected by an infidel instructor.
      Hurt feelers, boo-hoo.
      So it’s really the instructor’s fault !!
      We owe the Saudis an apology.

      yeah…that's it…sure…

  40. Chairman Nadler Fails to Swear In Two Witnesses at Judiciary Impeachment Hearings

    The House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) met on Monday morning to continue their sham impeachment hearing.

    As usual, Nadler ran the hearing like a tyrant and refused the Minority’s right to bring in witnesses.

    Nadler got into it with GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and gaveled him into silence.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/chairman-nadler-fails-to-swear-in-two-witnesses-at-judiciary-impeachment-hearings/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

  41. IG Report: FBI Official Higher Up Than Peter Strzok Involved in Opening “Crossfire Hurricane” to Spy on Trump

    IG Report: FBI Official Higher Up Than Peter Strzok Involved in Opening “Crossfire Hurricane” to Spy on Trump
    Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila December 9, 2019 109 Comments

    652Share 179Tweet Email

    Comey, McCabe, Strzok

    The DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz finally released his report on FISA abuses on Monday.

    The report revealed what we knew to be true all along — the FBI defrauded the FISA court and purposely omitted exculpatory information from the FISA judges in order to obtain FOUR FISA warrants on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

    According to Horowitz’s report, former FBI counterintelligence chief Peter Strzok wasn’t the sole or even highest-level decision maker in opening the CI investigation into Trump’s campaign dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane.”

    In July of 2016, Peter Strzok opened a counterintel investigation into Trump’s camp dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane” on suspicions (based on no evidence) that the Russians had infiltrated Trump’s circle.

    The FBI never even gave Trump’s camp a proper briefing warning him about a possible infiltration.

    Attorney General Bill Barr blasted the FBI on Monday in a statement.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/ig-report-fbi-official-higher-up-than-peter-strzok-involved-in-opening-crossfire-hurricane-to-spy-on-trump/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

  42. DOJ IG Determined That Steele’s Bogus Dossier Played ‘Central And Essential Role’ In Ordering Surveillance Of Carter Page

    The Justice Department’s internal watchdog found requests to conduct surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser were rife with errors and omissions, but also found something far more fascinating.

    The Department’s inspector general said in a new report that a bogus dossier put together by counterintelligence specialist[ Christopher Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), played “a central and essential role in the decision by FBI OGC to support the request for FISA surveillance targeting Carter Page, as well as the FBI’s ultimate decision to seek the FISA order.”

    FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a secret court by which federal officials can petition a judge to conduct physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of “foreign intelligence information” between “foreign powers” and “agents of foreign powers” suspected of espionage or terrorism.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/doj-ig-determined-that-steeles-bogus-dossier-played-central-and-essential-role-in-ordering-surveillance-of-carter-page/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

  46. Yucki here is another western for you.

    FYI: During WWII little baby faced Audi Murphy (the star of the movie) was the most decorated man in the US military. He enlisted at age 17 (in 1942) he enlisted in the Army as a Private in 1945 he was separated from active duty as a First Lieutenant having skipped no ranks and having been awarded every Medal of Valor that the US gives. He also was awarded a French medal and one from either the Belgium’s or the Brits.

  47. Training completed at Xinjiang’s re-education camps: Officials
    https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/us-bill-on-chinas-xinjiang-violates-international-law-regional-official-says

    “All students at Xinjiang’s controversial training centres have graduated from its three-prong programme involving learning Chinese, picking up vocational skills and deradicalisation, and the autonomous region will now embark on another phase of training that is more ad-hoc, say its top officials on Monday.

    The new programme, aimed at grassroots cadres, farmers and the unemployed, will “adhere to the principles of respect for will, independent choice and the freedom to come and go” and involve language-learning and vocational training.

    In a hastily-called news conference on Monday (Dec 9), Xinjiang’s No. 2 official, Shohrat Zakir, also lambasted the US for violating international law and interfering in China’s internal affairs by passing legislation sanctioning Chinese officials for their treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority.

    Tensions deepened between Washington and Beijing after the US pushed through laws supporting the Hong Kong democracy movement and Uighur rights last week.

    China has since cranked up its propaganda machinery, with state-run media producing a series of documentaries showing, for the first time, graphic footage of various terrorist attacks by Xinjiang’s extremists.

    “When the lives and safety of the Xinjiang people were under severe threat, the US chose to turn a blind eye. Now that Xinjiang people enjoy happiness and peace, the US is getting restless and launching a smear campaign against Xinjiang and using the Bill and related issues to sow discord among ethnic groups and curb China’s development,” said Mr Shohrat, the region’s governor.

    “Any attempt to destabilise Xinjiang is doomed to fail.”

    He also dismissed reports that up to two million people are interned in detention camps, calling them “groundless fabrication”.

    While he did not answer questions about how many people are at these training centres, Mr Shohrat said the number was dynamic “as people come and go”.

    China has come under pressure over Xinjiang after hundreds of pages of supposedly classified official documents were leaked to foreign media in late November, detailing surveillance and operations of detention camps of the region’s Uighur population.

    On Monday, Urumqi party boss Xu Hairong called the media reports “malicious attempts to smear Xinjiang” and said the region’s successful counter-terrorism efforts should be recognised by the international community.”

  49. US: Dozens of senators urge Trump to sack ‘Muslim ban’ advocate Stephen Miller
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-dozens-senators-urge-trump-sack-muslim-ban-advocate-stephen-miller

    “Senior Democratic senators are calling for Donald Trump to fire White House adviser and “Muslim ban” advocate Stephen Miller, who they say has used his position inside the Trump administration “to advance white supremacist, anti-immigrant ideologies”…”

  50. Rights group: Egypt executes 3 detainees on terror-related charges
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191209-rights-group-egypt-executes-3-detainees-on-terror-related-charges/

    “The Egyptian authorities on Thursday executed three people who were convicted of terror- related charges, the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) said yesterday.

    According to the rights group, the three men are Ibrahim Ismail, who was sentenced to death in four cases including a terror attack on a Coptic Church in the Helwan neighbourhood, Muhammad Jamal Hindawi, who was sentenced to death for attacking the Embassy of Niger, and Abdel Rahman Abdel Rahim Odeh who was found guilty of joining a banned terrorist group.

    ECRF said the Egyptian authorities have informed the families of the three men about their death and asked them to collect their bodies for burial.

    The families said the executions were a shock to them as they had not been told they would be taking place.”