Reader’s Links, December 11, 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

95 Replies to “Reader’s Links, December 11, 2019”

  1. Suicide Bomber Detonates Explosives Near US-Run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan – Reports (sputniknews, Dec 11, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912111077538301-suicide-bomber-detonates-explosives-near-nato-convoy-in-afghanistan—reports-/

    “Bagram Air Base serves as the main US military base in Afghanistan. Reports in the immediate aftermath of the attack suggested that a US military convoy was the target, but the US military said the powerful explosion targeted a medical facility near the base.

    A suicide bomber detonated explosives near the United States’ Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the US military has said.

    The bombing targeted a medical facility outside the base, located north of the capital Kabul in Parwan Province. Gen. Mahfooz Walizada, police commander of the province, confirmed the attack in a separate statement and said it had destroyed several homes.

    Reports immediately after the explosion suggested that it targeted a US convoy, but the US military reported that the explosion targeted a gate of the Bagram base.

    There were no coalition or US casualties, Resolute Support, the NATO-led non-combat mission in Afghanistan, has confirmed. The mission said, however, that the medical facility, which is being constructed for locals near the base, was badly damaged.

    Reuters has quoted a spokeswoman for the Parwan governor as saying that five people, all of them Afghans, were wounded in the attack. She said the attackers tried to enter the base but were “contained and repelled”. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far…”

  2. Why am I not surprised? muslim and leftist medical practitioners are both suspect but we all know the ones that are most dangerous. Do check to see who is the main one looking after each of the nursing homes in your locality and ask yourself: would you trust him (or rarely, her) to took after your elderly/invalid relatives? Most western GPs are too overworked (almost NO muslim doctors in rural areas where such are most needed) to take over such but the muslims are always happy to do so(each patient they glance at is a paid “visit”) and add to their heavenly brownie scores as well as their bank accounts. Opinion? Work it out.
    https://www.scotsman.com/health/gp-used-jade-goody-s-cancer-to-carry-out-intimate-exams-on-patients-as-young-as-17-1-5060363

  3. https://youtu.be/wrjL5AGQhuE

    Excellent discussion. Little gems: ‘Genderlessness, negates the existence of Feminism’. ‘Primary-schooled Christianity’

    This fatherlessness of the Church and Society; when the story of John the Baptist, then Jesus and then his Disciples, was to ‘repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near’ – it never changes – to get out of the feminised right-brain hemishere and back into the maculinised ‘I Am Who I Am’ left-brain hemishere.

    The sense of self, of the soul, where this Father is already in each one of us. To be born again. To become objective and able to see ourselves. Two brains. A conversation of our minds. To be able to snap out of the hypnosis of fear, by meeting and greeting our traumatizers with the clarity of the painful realization of our resentful reaction as a our consentual-slave to them, and forgiveness. To hand back our pride.

    To be in the world but not of the world. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the truth – that it is what it is – will remain forever the way to unlock our attachment to emotion (for love-hate) and our intellectual circular reasoning (of good-bad).

    Freed from our one hemisperical echo-chamber. This Right-Brain Haunted World. That silences “mansplaining,” that is just as autistic as any Left-Brained Haunted World that silences the feminine into dom-sub relationships.

    Sex, the escape of the seed from the dying, is all that remains in their anxiety for a sense of life. Fills their heads.

    Sociopathic to psychopathic paranoia calmed by the Religions of the fear of cats or the fear of dogs: to kill who will not be herded or those who will not be dhimmi’d. Logical to the half-core.

    The untapped potential of the fatherless child in:
    islam, (the father a willing-slave, ruling the home with supressed anger)
    Socialism (a Boris-cuck moving from female to female)
    LGBTQ+ (glazed eyes behind the make up of someone else).

    http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/thomas/gospelthomas22.html

  4. The vote for Brexit.

    The Communists running Europe don’t intend to let the UK go.

    Politicians rule without consequence. They are the elite, the royalty, the decadence, that no Public Servant would ever have tolerated.

    islam, Socialism and LGBTQ+ create the slaves to dhim, whim and sin. To self-harm into a new sense of life. Superior. This power over the innocent is intoxicating. Backed up by their belonging to a greater force – proven to be more violent, sick and cruel – than themselves.

    So, is it to be scalded to death, or just slow-boiled?

    Tactical voting.

    The Party that continually lies about what it is, The Party that will have you vote continually until you vote correctly, or the one that reject you entirely?

    What will bring back Cromwell, and what will bring back the four horsemen? A nation that survives, or a nation that ends.

    Interesting times.

    • Three and a half years. Each time they ran to the end of the clock for a No Deal solution, they extended the dead-line.

      Defeat snached from the jaws of victory.

  5. VIDEO: Hungarian made short documentary on international people smuggling operation in Bosnia.
    Gives some insight into the situation in the Balkans.
    P.S. Canada’s PM mentioned in interview as well as George Soros.
    H/T The Mullah

    • Seems to me the migrant invasion has been a bonanza for corruption and criminality throughout Europe.

      • Every where the left rules there is corruption and criminal cooperation between the corrut government officials and the criminals. The more power the left has the worse the corruption.

  7. Breaking Down How Hong Kong Elections Work & Why Carrie Lam Should Be Impeached—Lawmaker Alvin Yeung

  8. Mastermind of Mumbai Terror Attack Hafiz Saeed Charged with Terror-Funding by Pakistani Court (sputniknews, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912111077540169-mastermind-of-mumbai-terror-attack-hafiz-saeed-charged-with-terror-funding-by-pakistani-court/

    “The court had delayed the indictment on Saturday, due to the unavailability of one of the suspects in the case registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on charges of terror financing, Pakistan news daily the Dawn reported.

    An anti-terrorism court in the city of Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province has indicted Hafiz Saeed, founder of the terror group Jammat-ud-Dawah and Lashkar-e-Taiba, who was detained in July for offences pertaining to terror financing.

    The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s Punjab province has registered 23 cases against Saeed and his accomplices under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, on alleged charges of terror financing in different cities of the region.

    The Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief has been in prison since 17 July 2019. Saeed is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 160 people had died following a four-day siege by the terrorists.

    The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan registered cases in five cities of Punjab, alleging that the terror group was being financed with funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin Jabal Trust, etc.

    These non-profit organisations were banned in April when the CTD, during detailed investigations, found that they had links with the terror group and its top leadership.

    The Pakistani government is under pressure from the international community to investigate the activities of both the LeT and the JuD, besides the latter’s charity wing – the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).

    The US Treasury Department has classified Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Washington has offered a $10 million reward for anyone providing information that helps bring the JuD chief to justice.

    In 2008, the Indian business capital Mumbai was shaken by multiple terrorist attacks that occurred on 26 November and were perpetrated by ten gunmen allegedly connected to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. The attack continued for four days, leaving 164 people killed and over 300 injured, including security personnel and foreigners.”

  10. Iran Repels Major Cyberattack, Minister Unveils (sputniknews, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912111077543386-iran-repels-major-cyberattack-minister-unveils/

    “Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said on Wednesday that the country had repelled a major cyberattack on national infrastructure.

    “I cannot tell you about details, but we have faced an organized cyberattack on the infrastructure of the country, which was carried out with the state support. The attack was quite extensive,” the minister said, according to a video available on the government’s information portal, and added that the attack was repelled.

    The minister did not name the date of the attack nor the responsible parties.

    Iran has implemented mechanisms to help cut itself off from the global Internet but remains internally cohesive in case there is a cyberattack from abroad. The system was built after a 2010 malware attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

  11. India Shifts Troops from Kashmir to North-East Region as Violence Erupts over Citizenship Issue (sputniknews, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912111077542312-india-shifts-troops-from-kashmir-to-north-east-region-as-violence-erupts-over-citizenship-issue/

    “As India’s parliament was discussing a controversial bill to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, violence erupted in the north-eastern part of the country against the proposed legislation.

    According to India’s federal Home Ministry officials, the government has withdrawn around 5,000 troops from the restive Jammu and Kashmir region and sent them the violence-hit northeastern region to control the situation.

    Protests have intensified in several areas of Assam over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring countries.

    Protests turned violent on Wednesday as clashes erupted between police and students at several places. Police opened fire in the air and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse an agitated crowd as they tried to block the busy streets of Guwahati, capital of the northeastern state of Assam.

    A temporary stage and billboard of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe’s summit was also burnt down by protesters in Guwahati.

    In another video, hundreds can be seen breaking through the barricades and subsequently being charged baton-wielding police.

    Meanwhile, reports of large scale protests have also trickled down from other parts of the north-eastern region amid fears that the proposed legislation would destroy indigenous people’s identity in the region and increase the unemployment level further, as the limited economic opportunities might be cornered by refugees.”

    • indigenous people’s identity in the region
      It targets illegal aliens who are Moslem. They’ve got to go back to the ummah.

  12. The repo market. Promised buy-back of yesterday’s government security from commercial bank today. No-fail overnight profit for the commercials. Greases the machinery to healthy effect except when it starts sputtering from lack of confidence. Inter-bank lending seizes, causing systemic seizure. Background:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/the-repo-market

  20. Egypt urges decisive action against states backing ‘terror’ (abcnews, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-urges-decisive-action-states-backing-terror-67651812

    “Egypt’s president Wednesday called for “decisive” and “collective” action against countries supporting “terrorism” in an apparent reference to Turkey and Qatar, who back the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is outlawed in Egypt.

    The three countries also support opposing factions in the war-torn Libya.

    Addressing a two-day forum on peace in Africa in the southern city of Aswan, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also said achieving sustainable development in Africa is needed, along with efforts to fight militant groups in Egypt and sub-Saharan countries.

    “There should be a decisive response to countries supporting terrorism and a collective response against terrorism, because the terrorist groups will only have the ability to fight if they are provided with financial, military and moral support,” he said.

    Egypt has for years been battling an Islamic State-led insurgency that intensified after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Muslim Brotherhood President Muhammad Morsi in 2013 amid mass protests against his brief rule.

    Militant-related violence in Egypt has been centered on the Sinai Peninsula, as well as in the country’s vast Western Desert, which has witnessed deadly attacks blamed on militants infiltrating from neighboring Libya.

    Since Morsi’s ouster, tensions have grown between Egypt and Turkey and Egypt and Qatar. The political party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Cairo designated as at terrorist group in 2013.

    El-Sissi also said a “comprehensive, political solution would be achieved in the coming months” for the conflict in Libya, which descended into chaos after the 2011 civil war that ousted and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. He did not elaborate.

    El-Sissi apparently was referring to an international summit in Berlin that aims to reach agreement on an outline of actions needed to end the conflict. The conference had been scheduled for October but it has apparently been postponed.

    After the 2011 civil war that ousted and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya descended into chaos and split in two, with a weak U.N.-supported administration in Tripoli overseeing the country’s west and a rival government in the east aligned with the Libyan National Army led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter.

    Hifter is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia, while the Tripoli-based government receives aid from Turkey, Qatar and Italy.”

  24. “Full Interview: Barr Criticizes Inspector General Report On The Russia Investigation | NBC News”
    NBC News – December 10, 2019

  28. African Archbishop Calls on Journalists to Raise Awareness of Jihadist Threat (breitbart, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2019/12/11/african-archbishop-calls-on-journalists-to-raise-awareness-of-jihadist-threat/

    “Senegalese Archbishop Benjamin Ndiaye?has summoned journalists to help wake people up to the gravity of the jihad threat posed by Islamists.

    “In the face of current jihadist threats, journalists must play their role of watchfulness and alert,” said the archbishop of Dakar during a conference for Catholic journalists and communicators held this past weekend in the Senegalese capital.

    “The jihadist attacks that threaten our security, peace, and the lives of men and women in the Sahel region call on us to serve as an alert to awaken consciences in the name of God’s gift of life,” Ndiaye said.

    In his address, the archbishop urged Catholic communicators to ask themselves “who and what are besieging us and threatening us today as earlier the security of Jerusalem was besieged and threatened.”

    Ndiaye told the Catholic journalists they have a mission to decipher the signs of the times in order to help society improve, telling them to draw inspiration from the way Jesus communicated by travelling through “cities and villages, with a mobility that allowed him to be close to people.” Like Jesus, “moved with compassion” for the vulnerable crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd, Catholic communicators must find the words to lift up their fellow men, he said.

    In past months, Senegal has stepped up security in the wake of jihadist violence in neighboring Mali.

    In the Senegalese border town of Moudery, the “Committee of Vigilance,” a citizen patrol group created six years ago to protect residents from robberies, now focuses on identifying potential jihadists entering the country.

    It was members of the U.N.’s migration organization (IOM) who identified the program as a model for border towns to secure their communities “against the threat of jihadist violence,” reaching out to local authorities and assisting in the transformation of the Committee.

    At least since 2016, the United Nations has expressed concern for Senegal’s vulnerability to jihadist attacks, toting that “Senegal is a pro-Western partner, especially of France and the United States, and Dakar has provided troops to the French-backed African Union military intervention in Mali.”

    “There is ample evidence of Senegalese recruitment to various jihadist causes,” the U.N. reported, noting that Senegalese figured among Islamic State forces in Libya and that others were believed to have fought alongside Islamist militants in northern Mali.”

  30. New Jersey killers ‘targeted’ Jewish supermarket (BBC, Dec 11, 2019)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50747374

    “Police in New Jersey say a Jewish supermarket was the target of a gun attack which left six people dead on Tuesday, including the two suspects.

    No motive has yet been given, but the mayor of Jersey City tweeted on Wednesday morning that “hate and anti-Semitism” had no place in the city.

    The gun battle began when the suspects killed a detective across town, then drove a rental van to the market.

    Security video shows them firing on the market before going inside.

    Investigators believe that the three people found dead inside the kosher market were killed by the attackers, who were also found dead inside the building following a four-hour standoff with police.

    On Wednesday morning the mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, told reporters that street cameras showed the suspects “slowly” drive towards the market, then “calmly open the door with two long rifles and begin firing from the street” into the shop.

    Public Safety Director James Shea added that video shows they parked their van “and immediately began firing on the location”. Asked how police are certain the shop was targeted, he said that they “bypassed” many other people walking on the street to attack the store.

    The attackers have not yet been publicly identified. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that one of the suspects had made anti-Semitic and anti-police social media posts online, but that has not yet been confirmed…”

  31. Myanmar Rohingya: Suu Kyi rejects genocide claims at UN court (BBC, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50741094

    “Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi has defended her country against allegations of genocide at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ).

    The Nobel Peace Prize laureate responded to widespread claims that Myanmar (formerly Burma) committed atrocities against Muslim Rohingya.

    In her opening remarks, she called the case against Myanmar “incomplete and incorrect”.

    She said troubles in Rakhine, where many Rohingya lived, go back centuries.

    Thousands of Rohingya were killed and more than 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during an army crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017.

    Myanmar has always insisted it was tackling an extremist threat in Rakhine state, and Ms Suu Kyi maintained that stance, describing the violence as an “internal armed conflict” triggered by Rohingya militant attacks on government security posts…”

  32. YouTube bans ‘malicious insults and veiled threats’ (BBC, Dec 12, 2019)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50733180

    “YouTube will no longer allow videos that “maliciously insult someone” based on “protected attributes” such as race, gender identity or sexuality.

    The video-sharing platform will also ban “implied threats of violence” as part of its new harassment policy.

    A row erupted in June after a prominent video-maker said he had been the target of abuse by another YouTube star.

    At the time, YouTube said its rules had not been broken. But it has now deleted many of the videos in question.

    “Even if a single video doesn’t cross the line, with our new harassment policy we can take a pattern of behaviour into account for enforcement,” Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube, told the BBC.

    As a result of the policy change, the Google-owned business also considered taking down clips of President Trump calling Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” to taunt her over her claim that she has distant Native-American heritage.

    But it decided that the president’s intention was to curry favour with voters rather than attack his opponent on race and so the videos could remain online.

    What was the row about?
    At the centre of the dispute was journalist Carlos Maza, who presented videos for the Vox channel.

    Mr Maza said he had been the subject of persistent abuse from rival video-maker Steven Crowder, who presents a talk show on YouTube.

    Mr Crowder had about four million subscribers at the time, while Vox had about six million followers.

    Mr Maza created a video compilation of all the times Mr Crowder had made fun of his sexual orientation and ethnicity.

    In the clips, Mr Crowder imitated Mr Maza’s accent and called him, among other things, a “lispy queer”, a “gay Vox sprite” and a “gay Mexican”.

    Mr Crowder said the language he had used to mock Maza was “friendly ribbing”.

    But the videos led many of Mr Crowder’s viewers to harass Mr Maza on social media.

    YouTube said it had conducted an “in-depth review” and found “the videos as posted don’t violate our policies”.

    However, it later restricted Mr Crowder’s ability to earn advertising revenue due to “continued egregious actions”.

    And on Wednesday, it intends to delete several of Mr Crowder’s videos that fall foul of the updated harassment policy.

    What does the updated policy say?
    Prior to the change, YouTube had already banned videos that:

    contained explicit threats of violence
    bullied somebody about their appearance
    revealed somebody’s personal information
    encouraged viewers to harass an individual
    But the new policy also bans:

    “veiled” or implied threats of violence, such as saying “you better watch out”
    simulated violence towards an individual

    malicious insults based on protected attributes such as race, gender expression or sexual orientation

    YouTube said the new policy would apply to “everyone” including politicians and popular YouTube stars as well as the general public.

    Video-makers who consistently break the rules will have their ability to earn advertising revenue restricted, and may have videos deleted or their channel closed.

    The company said there would be some exemptions from the new policy, including insults used in “scripted satire, stand-up comedy, or music”.

    Mr Mohan told the BBC that individual complaints would have to be judged on a case-by-case basis, with the context of each video being taken into account.

    However, the new guidelines do say: “This is not a free pass to harass someone and claim, ‘I was joking.'”

    Mr Mohan said YouTube had consulted with think tanks, video-makers, Google employees and other third parties to help inform its policy.

    He told the BBC he did not think the new rules would restrict YouTubers’ freedom of expression.

    “We don’t want YouTube to be a place where public discourse is getting stifled as a result of people having the fear of being harassed on our platform,” he told the BBC.

    “My view is that, on balance, having a strong framework around which we are protecting individuals from being harassed is important to ensure that our platform remains one where there can be robust debate.””

  33. Before Crossfire Hurricane: Devin Nunes asks the essential question after release of DOJ IG report
    By J.E. Dyer December 11, 2019

    Analytical revelations from the Justice Department Inspector General’s report on the conduct of the “Russia-Trump” investigation won’t end any time soon.

    The highlights have come out quickly, such as the startling count of 51 procedural violations by the FBI just in forwarding the FISA applications on Carter Page, and the fact that nine of those 51 involved making false statements to the FISA court. In light of these and other findings, the IG report’s conclusion that all this troubling conduct didn’t amount to “bias” on the part of the FBI seems rather … beside the point. Pick another measuring stick, folks. That one is about as useful to our public purpose as Gloria Steinem’s famous bicycle was to a fish.

    Whatever we label it – and “bias” is an unimpressive scare word to begin with – a federal law enforcement undertaking so full of violations and false statements is a problem of the highest priority. So call it Petunia, for all I care. Just don’t have the crust to call it something that frames it to be written off. Real, live Americans have to live every day with what we suffer the FBI to do in the name of law and order.

    And if the senior officials at headquarters are allowed to misbehave themselves so badly, it doesn’t much matter how honorable the rank and file are.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/11/before-crossfire-hurricane-devin-nunes-asks-the-essential-question-after-release-of-doj-ig-report/

  34. Turkey doesn’t rule out force to halt drilling off Cyprus

    ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey could use its military forces to halt any exploratory gas drilling in waters off Cyprus that it claims as its own, Turkey’s foreign minister warned Wednesday.

    Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the pro-government A Haber news channel that Turkey “has the right to prevent” any unauthorized drilling in waters that it says fall within its own continental shelf.

    Asked specifically if Turkey could use military means to stop such drilling, Cavusoglu said “of course.”

    Part of the area that Turkey claims are waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights and where companies including France’s Total and Italy’s Eni are licensed by the east Mediterranean island nation to jointly carry out drilling.

    A consortium made up of the two companies is licensed to conduct exploratory drilling in seven of Cyprus‘ 13 ‘blocks’ that make up Cyprus exclusive economic zone. The consortium has announced that it would proceed with a new round of exploratory drilling in the new year.

    Other licensed companies looking for hydrocarbons inside Cyprus‘ zone include ExxonMobil with partner Qatar Petroleum as well as a consortium made up of Texas-based Noble energy, Dutch Shell and Israeli Delek.

    Turkey says its claim to a large swath of the Mediterranean is bolstered by an agreement it signed with Libya’s U.N.-recognized government that delineates the two countries’ maritime borders.

    Greece, Egypt and Cyprus, which lie between the two geographically, have denounced the deal as being contrary to international law, and Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the issue.

    Cyprus says it’s launching legal action at the International Court of Justice at the Hague against Turkey’s violations of its sovereign rights. In July, Turkey dispatched warship-escorted drill ships to carry out exploratory drilling inside the Cypriot economic zone, including an area where the Eni-Total consortium has drilling rights.

    Turkey doesn’t recognize ethnically split Cyprus as a state and claims 44% of its economic zone as its own. It says it’s acting to protect its interests and those of Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus‘ breakaway north.

    Last year, Turkish warships physically blocked a drill ship leased by Eni to drill an exploratory well in another area where the Italian company is licensed to carry out a gas search southeast of Cyprus.

    Meanwhile, Cyprus‘ Defense Ministry announced that it will conduct joint naval maneuvers with France and Italy on Thursday off the island nation’s southern coast.

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/11/turkey-doesnt-rule-out-force-to-halt-drilling-off-/

    • Concerned EU weighs response to Turkey-Libya border deal

      The European Union’s top diplomat said Monday that some EU countries are concerned over Turkey’s controversial maritime border agreement with Libya but that the bloc will continue studying the deal before deciding whether to take action.

      The maritime deal, endorsed by the Turkish parliament last week, has fueled tensions in Turkey’s long-running dispute with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil and gas drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

      The deal could give Turkey access to a contested economic zone across the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Greece has already expelled the Libyan ambassador over it.

      “It’s clear that it is problematic. It poses major concerns to certain member states, in particular Greece and Cyprus,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after chairing a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

      Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt, which lie between Turkey and Libya geographically, have blasted the accord as being contrary to international law.

      Borrell declined to say that the agreement breaks the law, but he said that “we are going to be studying this question very closely, being clear that any agreement must respect international law.”

      Some of Greece and Cyprus’s partners were unequivocal.

      “The Netherlands is always a staunch supporter of the rule of international law, and we side with Greece,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok. “International law should be upheld.”

      Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said “it’s a little bit astounding how they split up the Mediterranean among themselves. We’ll have to see how we deal with it.”

      Although they are NATO allies, neighbors Greece and Turkey are divided by a series of decades-old rows, including territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea, and have come to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, including once over drilling rights in the Aegean.

      In Cairo, parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al warned that “Egypt will not stand idle by while a foreign country is threatening its interests,” according to the official MENA news agency.

      “Anyone who approaches the maritime, air, and land borders of Egypt should review himself. We will not accept or allow any mess at or close to our borders,” he was quoted as saying, in reference to Turkey.

      https://apnews.com/25489c055f7d898de5b206002b2ca5e5

    • Erdogan: Turkey Ready to Send Troops to Libya If Asked

      ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is ready to deploy soldiers to Libya following the announcement of a security agreement with the Libyan government. Ankara has been actively seeking to project its influence across the Mediterranean as a scramble intensifies for the region’s energy resources.

      “If Libya were to make a request, we would send a sufficient number of troops,” Erdogan said Tuesday in an address to university students in Ankara. “After the signing of the security agreement, there is no hurdle.”

      In what many analysts see as a surprise move, Ankara earlier this month reached two agreements with Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

      “It’s only natural if the Libya government invited Turkey to provide assistance to deploy Turkish forces in accordance with this agreement. It’s entirely normal,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “Because there are so many countries that already are part of the game. This General Haftar is heavily supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, and I also understand, the Russian Federation.”

      Khalifa Haftar, the de facto leader of eastern Libya, is currently battling GNA forces for control of Libya. Ankara’s commitment to the Libya Tripoli-based government could put it on a collision course with Moscow. Erdogan suggested Tuesday that any Libya request for military support could be in response to the presence of “Russian Wagner mercenaries.”

      The Wagner Group is a private security force run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman reported to have close ties to the Kremlin.

      “I wish that the matter of Haftar would not create a new Syria in our relations with Russia,” Erdogan said Monday in a television interview. Ankara and Moscow back rival sides in the Syrian civil war. The Turkish president said he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Libya by phone next week.

      Despite backing rival sides in the Syrian conflict, Putin and Erdogan have built up a good working relationship. Bilateral ties are deepening in the fields of energy and trade, which even extends to Ankara purchasing Russian military hardware — to the alarm of Turkey’s traditional western allies.

      Alarm in Greece

      Moscow is not the only country, however, that likely is concerned by Ankara’s deepening relationship with Libya. Athens is voicing alarm over Ankara’s Libya agreement to declare an exclusive maritime zone between the two countries.

      Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos slammed the agreement Tuesday, claiming it compromised Greece’s territorial waters. “Turkey’s thoughts are on how it imagines it’s imperialist fantasies,” said Pavlopoulos.

      Athens and Ankara have engaged in increasingly bitter maritime territorial disputes across the Mediterranean, fueled by recent discoveries of vast natural gas reserves. “The strategy is that Turkey should protect its legitimate rights in the Mediterranean,” said Rende, who is now an energy expert.

      “We [Greece and Turkey] have overlapping claims, overlapping declarations of maritime zones, and Turkey is left alone in the Mediterranean. Other countries — Greece, Israel Egypt — have formed gas partnerships forums and so on and Turkey was isolated. So it’s only natural that Turkey concludes agreements to protect its rights in the Mediterranean.”

      Adding to Athens’ unease is that Mediterranean waters claimed by Ankara under its Libyan agreement is the only viable route for a planned gas pipeline to distribute recently discovered Israeli and Cypriot gas through Greece to Europe.

      “Greek Cypriots, Egypt, Greece, and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey’s consent,” Erdogan said Monday.

      Ankara’s Libya deal is seen as part of a more assertive regional policy. “It’s part and parcel of a new doctrine,” said former senior Turkish diplomat and now regional analyst Aydin Selcen.

      “The first move was challenging the Greek Cypriot over energy searches, in the disputed exclusives economic zones of Cyprus. Then this move with Libya is the second one. It’s extremely important and significant,” said Selcen.

      EU sanctions

      Ankara is currently deploying research ships searching for hydrocarbons in the disputed waters of the Greek Cypriot government.

      “Greece will defend its borders, it’s territory,” said Pavlopoulos, “which are also the European Union’s border … with the help of the international community and the EU.”

      The EU is already considering sanctions against Ankara for violating Greek Cypriot territorial waters. “They [the EU] should remain neutral,” said Rende. “If they don’t, Turkey is prepared to face the consequences because what is at stake are Turkey’s national interests, and we don’t give up our national interests.”

      Rende insists Ankara is ready to negotiate with Athens. Turkey argues that an agreement with Athens and the Greek Cypriots would pave the way for Turkish territory to provide a route for distributing recently discovered gas reserves.

      “The most natural market for this prospective gas is Turkey,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. “It not just to sell through Turkey. But Turkey is the most reasonable and feasible market to absorb this gas.”

      Analysts suggest Ankara’s robust regional foreign policy is part of a broader strategy to remake Turkey as a regional energy hub. Procuring recently discovered Mediterranean gas ultimately could provide Ankara significant leverage with Moscow and Tehran. In the next two years, major Iranian and Russian gas supply agreements to Turkey are due for renewal.

      “Turkey’s main strategy is to diversify its energy resource imports and their routes, to enable flexibility of supply,” said Rende.

      https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/erdogan-turkey-ready-send-troops-libya-if-asked

    • Daily Sabah After Turkey-Libya deal, Greece and Israel can no longer exclude other coastal states

      Turkey and the internationally-recognized, U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Nov. 27, shaking the Eastern Mediterranean region.

      Then on Dec. 5, the Turkish Parliament ratified the MoU with Libya, showing that it is a government policy, not just one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own views. All the parties in Turkey welcomed the agreement as it is a state matter which has been on the table for decades even before President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) won the elections for the first time in 2002. However, Erdogan is the one who has achieved it.

      The maritime deal in question, signed by Erdogan and GNA head Fayez Al Sarraj in Istanbul, aims to secure Libya and Turkey’s rights in the Mediterranean and prevent any fait accompli attempts by regional states, some which have already made maneuvers to do so with their drilling activities and energy deals. With this agreement, Turkey and Libya, which are maritime neighbors, have established 18.6 nautical miles of a continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary line between the two countries.

      Greece, the EU, Egypt, Israel and the Greek Cypriot Administration were the first to condemn the MoU. Of course, Libya’s warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who is responsible for the ongoing chaos in Libya by invading east Libya and controlling the port city of Benghazi, has also gone mad after the deal. Many people might not be aware that Haftar, a puppet of the proxy war in Libya, has ties with Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and is working for the benefit of those countries.

      The Haftar hostility

      Meanwhile, Haftar’s hostility toward Turkey is growing. This summer, he ordered an attack on Turkish ships in Libyan territorial waters, closed air space for Turkish planes and detained Turkish citizens in the territory which he controlled. Since all of his attempts to take Tripoli, backed by Turkey, have failed, he is losing his mind. That is why he arrested six Turkish citizens but had to release them quickly as he did not dare see what Turkey would do to bring its citizens back. Turkey has taken all measures against future possible hostile moves or threats and is ready to confront attacks unless Haftar sits still.

      Egypt was one of the countries that condemned the Turkey-Libya maritime deal; but it lowered its voice recently because the deal is, in fact, beneficial to Egypt as well. The boundary line between Turkey and Libya increases Egypt’s EEZ too.

      Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration are the countries most furious over the deal. However, they are two of the leading parties who isolated the interests of other regional countries for years. As Greece is not strong enough to confront Turkey, Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador to show its anger. But this is just a move that shows Athens cannot contain itself on the deal. We know that Athens will go to the EU and Western countries crying and saying that Turkey has expansionist projects in the East Mediterranean, they are deceived by Libya, and Erdogan has to be stopped. We can expect more threats and typical warmongering newspaper headlines in Greek media as well.

      Regional tension

      That said, Turkey keeps saying that the diplomatic channels for maritime boundary delimitation with all coastal states including every country that has rights concerning the East Mediterranean are open, contrary to the selfish policies of Israel, Greece, the Greek Cypriot Administration and Egypt. The deal with Libya is not to raise tensions in the region but a move to protect Turkey and Libya’s interests and a start to bring all other coastal states to the table for talks on their rights. But that doesn’t mean Turkey will stop at this point. As President Erdogan said, both countries can carry out joint exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

      Since 2003, the Greek Cypriot Administration has been seeking an adventurous policy in the region by concluding maritime delimitation agreements, conducting oil and gas exploration, and issuing unilateral permits for such activities around the island. Its provocative policies ignore the Turkish Cypriots’ existing and inherent equal rights over the natural resources and the sea around the island. By allying with Egypt and Israel, the Greeks and Greek Cypriots have disrespected other coastal states. The Eastern Mediterranean drilling activities of Turkey, the country that has the longest continental coastline, to defend its own rights and the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) people has been condemned by those countries and their backers too. The maliciousness toward Turkey that aims to limit the Turkish EEZ to the Gulf of Antalya cannot be tolerated, of course. Turkey’s position is very clear: The dispute has to be solved with comprehensive negotiations which will benefit all coastal states as well as Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

      Gas discovery

      On the other hand, a huge natural gas field was discovered off the shores of Haifa port of Israel nine years ago. Namely, the Leviathan field’s recoverable volume is estimated to be more than 600 billion cubic meters of gas by Noble Energy, the U.S. company that discovered the field in 2010. Israel’s gas reserves are not large compared to global volumes, however, the numbers associated with Leviathan were depicted as a game-changer for Israel. But today, only one very small gas field, Tamar, supplies the Israeli energy sector. The Tamar field contains only around 80 billion cubic meters of gas, and yet it provides around 60% of Israel’s electricity and looks like it will do so for years. So, if Leviathan starts to work, it might make Israel a net gas exporter. Meanwhile, other fields have been said to be found in the same basin such as the Aphrodite field near Cyprus.

      Energy experts believe that there is more gas waiting to be discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean along the coasts of Gaza, Lebanon and Egypt’s Sinai in the south, and Greek Cyprus, the TRNC and Syria in the north. However, apart from Tamar, the gas in question is in waiting and further exploration has been frozen as there isn’t an export route for an enormous amount of gas, of which the volume far exceeds the domestic needs of the countries involved.

      Even if Israel succeeds in exporting natural gas from Leviathan, it has to work with other regional countries to deliver it to Europe. Today it looks like it has no option other than Greek Cyprus and Egypt. According to last year’s reports, Israel, Greek Cyprus, Greece and Italy have reached an agreement to lay a pipeline connecting Israel’s gas reserves to the three countries, in a major project, namely East Med, that will supply gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe. Europe, too, has an interest in seeing the development of the East Med proceed, which would enable it to diversify its energy suppliers and reduce its dependence on Russian gas.

      The LNG facility

      However, the construction cost of East Med, according to initial estimates, is $7 billion. Nicosia is also pushing to link the pipeline through the Aphrodite field to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Egypt, which will also cost around $1 billion. And we have to note that such a major project is expected to be financed by the EU.

      Even though it is supported by the Greek and Italian governments, which are both known to be very critical of Brussels, the cost is quite high. Constructing an LNG processing plant and shipping the resources not only to Europe but also to the growing markets of Asia in order to compensate the capital cost is an option. But even if it is done, it would be quite uncompetitive in a world where there is no shortage of gas supply.

      It has already been very annoying that the Turkish EEZ is the obvious and most cost-effective transit point for this gas as it is geographically very close to the fields in question and already has a domestic pipeline network that could carry the gas to Europe. Through an offshore pipeline to Turkey and by collecting resources from all the fields along the way, the East Med can be carried out. However, this option has already been ruled out because of the current disputes. Israel’s savage policies aiming to wipe off the Palestinians and the ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are the other political obstacles against such a solution.

      With the agreement between Turkey and Libya, the East Med Project’s pipeline has to go through Turkey’s EEZ. It has strengthened Turkey’s hand in the region, and it will provide a direct role in the energy geopolitics game, on a legal basis. For that reason, all the plans that have isolated other regional countries have been turned upside down for now. For Greece, the Greek Cypriot Administration and Israel, the party is over, and they are not dancing anymore.

      https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/merve-sebnem-oruc/2019/12/11/after-turkey-libya-deal-greece-and-israel-can-no-longer-exclude-other-coastal-states

    • Haftar ordered to sink any Turkish research vessel – Libya’s navy chief

      The Chief of Staff of the Libyan Navy has said he has received orders from the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) to sink any Turkish research vessel that would approach the region.

      Farag el Mahdawi told Greece’s ALPHA TV on Monday evening about the orders by LNA General Khalifa Haftar, the Greek reporter said.

      The report coincides with an announcement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday that Turkish soldiers may be deployed in Libya upon the request of the country’s UN-recognised government.

      Libya is split between the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli headed by Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, and the Tobruk government, led by General Haftar, the de facto ruler of eastern Libya and head of the LNA. Haftar in April launched a military assault to seize the Libyan capital and has since neared Tripoli with support from Russian forces.

      Turkey has been providing military assistance to the U.N.-backed Libyan government of Serraj and last month signed a deal with the GNA redefining Turkey’s maritime borders in the Mediterranean.

      Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, which seek to build a pipeline carrying gas to Europe across those waters, have all objected to the deal.

      ”I have an order… as soon as the Turkish research vessels arrive, I will have a solution. I will sink them myself. I have this order from Haftar,” the Libyan navy official said.

      Haftar’s LNA mainly wields power in capital Tripoli.

      https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-libya/haftar-ordered-sink-any-turkish-research-vessel-libyas-navy-chief

    • Turkey hints it could bar US from using key air bases

      Turkey’s foreign minister has suggested that his country could bar American troops from using two strategically-placed Turkish air bases in retaliation to possible sanctions by Washington against his country

      ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s foreign minister suggested Wednesday that the United States could be barred from using two strategic air bases in retaliation to possible U.S. sanctions against his country, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

      Mevlut Cavusoglu comments came amid reports that U.S. lawmakers had agreed on a defense bill that also includes calls to sanction Turkey over its decision to proceed with the purchase and deployment of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.

      “In the event of a decision to sanction Turkey, the Incirlik and Kurecik airbases can be brought to the agenda,” Anadolu quoted Cavusoglu as saying.

      He said: “Congress members must understand that it is not possible to get anywhere with sanctions.”

      Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey has been a main base for U.S. operations in the Middle East and more recently in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, while Kurecik, in eastern Turkey, is a key NATO base.

      Turkey’s decision to proceed with the purchase of the Russian system has added to growing tensions between the two NATO allies. Washington says the Russian system poses a threat to NATO and has removed Turkey from the U.S.-led F-35 stealth fighter jet program.

      Tensions were raised further after Turkey launched an incursion into northeastern Syria to drive away Syrian Kurdish forces that had partnered with the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State group. Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters as terrorists because of their links to outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.

      https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-hints-bar-us-key-air-bases-67647768

      ================================================
      Turkey warns sanctions could jeopardize US access to Incirlik Air Base

      Turkey could kick the U.S. out of Incirlik Air Base if Washington moves forward with sanctions linked to Ankara’s incursion into Syria and the purchase of Russian weaponry, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

      A separate base that hosts a key U.S. Army radar used for NATO missile defense in Europe also could be made off-limits to the Americans, Cavusoglu said in an interview with Turkey’s A Haber news station.

      “If the U.S. imposes sanctions against Turkey, then the issue of the Incirlik and Kurecik bases may be on the agenda,” said Cavusoglu, who issued a similar warning in July.

      Turkey’s latest threat came just ahead of talks Wednesday in the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee to debate legislation that would sanction Turkey for its invasion of northern Syria and its acquisition of a sophisticated Russian air defense system. The U.S. and its NATO allies have warned that the Russian S-400 system is incompatible with alliance networks.

      U.S. lawmakers are considering a bill that would penalize Turkey’s energy industry and financial system for the push into northern Syria. The bill also calls for the enforcement of the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which could freeze Turkish assets because of its purchase of the Russian air defense system.

      Turkey has already been removed from the Pentagon’s F-35 program amid concerns that its operation of Russian air defenses could compromise the fifth generation aircraft’s stealth technology. Turkey had planned to buy more than 100 F-35s.

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to give up the S-400s.

      Ankara’s warning that it could kick the U.S. out of Incirlik and limit access to Kurecik is nothing new. Over the years, Turkey has threatened to restrict access to bases and limit missions when political disputes erupt. In the 1970s, when the U.S. Congress cut off military aid to Turkey after it annexed northern Cyprus, Ankara responded by cutting off American access to bases in Turkey.

      Tensions were also high in 2003 when Turkey refused to allow U.S. forces to use the country as a staging ground for American forces moving into Iraq.

      Turkey also refused to allow aircraft to launch from Incirlik Air Base in 2014, when the U.S. began a military campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but eventually granted authorization in 2015.

      Incirlik has been a key strategic base for the U.S. since the Cold War, but concerns about an increasingly unpredictable Turkey have prompted some former American military leaders to say the U.S. should begin looking for alternative bases in nearby countries like Greece and Jordan.

      There also are concerns about roughly 50 U.S. nuclear weapons that are stored at Incirlik. When asked about the bombs in October, President Donald Trump, said he believes they are safe.

      “We’re confident. And we have a great air base there, a very powerful air base,” Trump said.

      Incirlik is not, however, a U.S. base like Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Built in the early 1950s, the Air Force initially planned to use the base, which is close to many of the world’s trouble spots, as an emergency staging and recovery site for medium and heavy bombers. But Turkey and the U.S. signed an agreement in late 1954, making Incirlik a joint-use US-Turkish base.

      https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/turkey-warns-sanctions-could-jeopardize-us-access-to-incirlik-air-base-1.610663

      =====================================================
      Turkey hints at pulling access to Incirlik and Kurecik if US acts over Russian weapons purchase</b<

      STUTTGART, Germany — If Washington slaps sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of a Russian air defense system, U.S. use of two strategically vital bases could be at risk, the country’s foreign minister suggested.

      “We are currently running the process, whether it’s Incirlik, Kurecik or other issues,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. “If America has very negative steps toward us, if there are sanctions or further steps, we will have answers to America.”

      Cavusoglu, who was speaking to Turkish TV news channel TGRT Haber, didn’t elaborate on what that process entailed. He dismissed concerns that the dispute with the U.S. could eventually result in Turkey being forced out of NATO, but said that if sanctions are imposed they will respond.

      “If America has a hostile attitude towards us — as we have told them, we have no secrets — we take the countersteps,” Cavusoglu said. “It’s not a threat. It’s not a bluff.”

      ncirlik has been a hub for operations in the Middle East dating back to the early days of the Cold War. The base, where nuclear watchdogs say roughly 50 U.S. nuclear bombs are stored, has played a key role in operations against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

      U.S. operations at Incirlik are continuing normally and the military-to-military relationship with Turkey hasn’t been affected amid the diplomatic tension, Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said Friday.

      The U.S. also operates a radar on a mountaintop in Kurecik, which plays a key role in NATO’s ballistic missile defense network.

      Operating in Turkey has always been complicated. During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Turkey prohibited the U.S. from staging forces in the country.

      Other allies also have grown frustrated with various Turkish demands over the years. In 2017, Germany pulled its troops out of Incirlik because of diplomatic disputes with Turkey and moved them in Jordan.

      The U.S. also has ramped up its presence in Jordan, spending about $150 million in the past couple of years on improvements at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. Some security analysts have said the U.S. could shift operations to Jordan or even Greece if forced out of Incirlik.

      Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, which arrived at a Turkish base last week and is expected to be operational by early 2020, has elevated tensions with Washington. In response, the U.S. has expelled Turkey from the F-35 program, ending the country’s plan to acquire more than 100 of the stealth fighters.

      Washington also has warned that it could impose economic sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. So far, President Donald Trump hasn’t made clear what he will do, but Turkish leaders have said they believe Trump won’t retaliate with economic penalties.

      https://www.stripes.com/news/turkey-hints-at-pulling-access-to-incirlik-and-kurecik-if-us-acts-over-russian-weapons-purchase-1.591490

  35. europravda – EU to become ‘world’s first climate-neutral continent’, says European Commission chief Von der Leyen

    Among the flagship measures she will outline during a special plenary of the EU parliament in Brussels is a €100bn transition fund to boost green investment

  36. Arrests in Denmark over suspected Islamist terror plot

    There has not been an attack in Denmark since 2015, when a lone gunman killed two people in Copenhagen.

    Police in Denmark say they have arrested more than a dozen people during raids over a suspected Islamist terror plot.

    Investigators are said to have carried out “comprehensive and coordinated” action at several addresses across the country to foil preparations for what they believe were “terrorist attacks with a militant, Islamist motive”.

    Several raids were carried out on Wednesday and “some 20 people” were arrested, police said.

    Copenhagen Police Chief Inspector Joergen Bergen Skov said a number of the suspects would be charged under the country’s terror laws.

    “Some have procured things to make explosives and have tried to acquire weapons,” he added.

    There has not been a terror-related attack in Denmark since 2015, when a lone gunman shot and killed a man outside a culture centre that was hosting a debate on freedom of speech.

    The attacker later killed a man outside a Jewish synagogue in the centre of Copenhagen, before being gunned down by armed police during a shootout in the capital.
    https://news.sky.com/story/arrests-in-denmark-over-suspected-islamist-terror-plot-11883946

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

    Denmark: Several arrested in raids on suspicions of terrorist attack plot – police

    Police said several people were arrested in raids across Denmark on Wednesday on suspicions they were involved in preparations for a terrorist attack.

    Copenhagen Police posted on Twitter: “searches and arrests are being made in several parts of the country.” Footage shows one of such raids in the capital.

    Suspects were reportedly arrested for trying to get explosives and firearms.

  38. Associated Press – FBI errors but no bias in Russia probe

    The Justice Department’s internal watchdog tells Congress he’s concerned the FBI made so many “fundamental errors” as it investigated ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he said the FBI’s actions were not politically motivated.

  39. Dianne Feinstein: ‘There is no Deep State’

    Feinstein says Horowitz report conclusively refutes Trump’s claims that Russia investigation was a hoax.

    • BREITBART – Daniel Goldman, Lead Impeachment Investigator, Claimed Steele Dossier Was True

      Daniel Goldman, the lead impeachment investigator for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on the House Intelligence Committee, claimed in 2018 that the Steele dossier was true and defended the FBI for using it to investigate then-candidate Donald Trump.

      But the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) report into FBI abuses confirmed Wednesday in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Steele dossier was a fraud.

      The IG also found that the FBI had misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court by failing to tell it that the Steele dossier was false, once it knew that for certain in early 2017.

      Goldman claimed the Steele dossier was true in a tweet in August 2018 attacking President Donald Trump as an “out and out liar.” Goldman tweeted: “Nothing in the dossier has proved to be false (including your pee tape).”

      However, by then it was already clear that several details in the dossier — published before Trump’s inauguration by Buzzfeed, and then by CNN and others — were false, and nothing substantive had been proven true.

      The IG report makes clear that the entire Steele dossier was untrue, and had been constructed from material provided to Steele by a “sub-source” who later disavowed the information he had provided to Steele — including the so-called “pee tape” — as mere jokes, speculations, and barroom banter.

      Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) confronted Goldman with his anti-Trump tweet at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday, after Goldman had declared, under oath: “I am not a partisan.”

      Goldman did not limit his endorsement of the Steele dossier to Twitter. In a July 2018 article he co-authored for the Daily Beast, Goldman argued that the FBI had a duty to use the information in the Steele dossier to pursue its investigation of possible Russian infiltration of the Trump campaign.

      In the article, co-authored with fellow former fellow prosecutors Mimi Rocah and Barbara McQuade, Goldman argued for the importance of hearsay evidence in investigations — just as he has defended hearsay evidence in the case against Trump. (A sub-headline even declared: “Hearsay is OK.”)

      He wrote: “Even if the specific details in the Steele dossier are not directly confirmed, the fact that other evidence unrelated to the dossier corroborates the dossier’s main allegations is sufficient to support a finding of probable cause.”

      But that “corroborating” evidence was also misleading.

      Despite his incorrect and highly partisan endorsement of the Steele dossier, Goldman was presented to the Judiciary Committee as a credible former prosecutor, acting as Schiff’s representative as the Intelligence Committee offered its 300-page fact-finding report for consideration in the drafting of articles of impeachment against Trump.

      Arguably, Goldman had no business investigating Trump after having been so wrong about the Steele dossier. Nor did Schiff, who had defended the FBI in February 2018 when Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) released a memorandum alleging possible abuses by the FBI in its FISA warrant application process.

      Everything Nunes claimed has been vindicated by the IG; most of what Schiff claimed was refuted.

      Goldman and Schiff, wrong about the Steele dossier, wrong about Russia collusion, and wrong about the FBI’s abuse in the FISA produce, now prevail upon the American people to accept their “evidence” in support of impeachment — even though that evidence is almost entirely hearsay, and Schiff has refused to make the primary accuser, the so-called “whistleblower,” available for testimony, as he had once promised he would do.

      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/11/daniel-goldman-lead-impeachment-investigator-claimed-steele-dossier-was-true/

      ====================================================
      Moon of Alabama – The FBI – Pushed By John Brennan – Lied To The Court Seven Times To Spy On The Trump Campaign

      […]Horowitz finds that the FBI was within the law when it opened the investigation but that the FBI’s applications to the FISA court, which decides if the FBI can spy on someone’s communications, were based on lies and utterly flawed.

      […]The FBI agents and lawyers intentionally lied to the court. Their violations were not mistakes. All 51 of them were in favor of further spying on members of the Trump campaign and on everyone they communicated with.

      The FBI has used the Steele dossier to gain further FISA application even after it had talked with Steele’s ‘primary source (…)and after it had learned that the allegations in the dossier were no more than unconfirmed rumors.

      That the dossier was mere dreck was quite obvious to any sober person who read it when it was first published.

      […]One still open question is how deep then President Barack Obama was involved in the affair.

      https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/12/the-fbi-pushed-by-john-brennan-lied-to-the-court-seven-times-to-spy-on-the-trump-campaign.html#comments

  43. Ep. 1132 The Media Missed this Hidden Bombshell in the IG Report. The Dan Bongino Show 12/11/2019

  45. (Richard: Click through and read the entire article.)

    Antifa Home Invasions: ‘Can It Happen Here?’

    The hazard of progressive propaganda.
    December 11, 2019
    Mary Grabar

    Recently, in Germany, a gang of Antifa punks broke into the home of a 34-year-old female real estate agent and beat her up for the simple reason that she was a real estate agent, i.e., selling property. In her case it was luxury property. Antifa does not approve of private property, especially expensive private property. So they beat her up.

    Here in the good ole’ USA, Mike Adams wrote a column titled “Three Essential Firearms for Civil Unrest,” the ‘civil unrest’ likely being a “mob of Antifa ‘anti-fascists’” coming into your neighborhood and crossing your property line, Molotov cocktails in hand.

    This may seem farfetched, but I’ve seen things progress at an alarming rate since 2011, when I observed and wrote about the Occupy Wall Street movement from which our present-day Antifa movement has evolved.

    I was living in the Atlanta area so I went to the “occupation” of Woodruff Park downtown. In my article I noted the “hippie art festival” atmosphere among the tents, but also wondered, as my title indicated, whether the “occupations” were “anarchy waiting for crisis.” Occupiers protested the sale of a building used as a homeless shelter to Emory University for a medical facility. Back then I saw George Soros-supported “Cop Watch” punks in orange t-shirts putting their video cameras in the faces of police simply trying to stop protestors from blocking a hospital emergency entrance or an ambulance going down a downtown street. Today we have masked protestors with weapons calling for the death of police and attacking reporters and attendees of public events, like campus speeches and political rallies.

    \Richard: Not only can it happen here it is almost a certainty that it will happen here. This is a popular tactic of the left in asymmetric civil wars.

  46. White House veterans
    helped Gulf monarchy
    build secret
    surveillance unit

    . 10, 2019 • WASHINGTON

    In the years after 9/11, former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke warned Congress that the country needed more expansive spying powers to prevent another catastrophe. Five years after leaving government, he shopped the same idea to an enthusiastic partner: an Arab monarchy with deep pockets.

    In 2008, Clarke went to work as a consultant guiding the United Arab Emirates as it created a cyber surveillance capability that would utilize top American intelligence contractors to help monitor threats against the tiny nation.

    The secret unit Clarke helped create had an ominous acronym: DREAD, short for Development Research Exploitation and Analysis Department. In the years that followed, the UAE unit expanded its hunt far beyond suspected extremists to include a Saudi women’s rights activist, diplomats at the United Nations and personnel at FIFA, the world soccer body. By 2012, the program would be known among its American operatives by a codename: Project Raven.

    Reuters reports this year revealed how a group of former National Security Agency operatives and other elite American intelligence veterans helped the UAE spy on a wide range of targets through the previously undisclosed program — from terrorists to human rights activists, journalists and dissidents.

    https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-raven-whitehouse/?utm_source=RC+Investigations+Today&utm_campaign=b62bdf2391-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d042379c8d-b62bdf2391-85695671&mc_cid=b62bdf2391&mc_eid=c4a952ab77

  47. Blood on Open Borders Boston’s Hands
    by: Michelle Malkin
    December 11, 2019
    1 likes
    0 Comments
    779 seen

    Here is a chilling case of sanctuary chickens coming home to roost.

    Upon being convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping, home invasion and the brutal murders of two doctors on Tuesday, African criminal Bampumim Teixeira taunted the Massachusetts prosecutor who won the case and vowed to rape his wife. “You better hope I don’t get out of jail,” Teixeira threatened as he was dragged away in handcuffs by a quartet of court security officers. The killer appeared to greatly enjoy the media spectacle while striking fear into the hearts of innocents. He will be sentenced on Friday.

    I am outraged on behalf of the victims’ families and pray for the prosecutor’s loved ones. But let’s be clear: This homicidal beast is a beneficiary of liberal Bay State policies that coddle foreign evildoers and give them cover to wreak havoc in our homeland. The architects of open borders Boston have blood on their hands.

    Teixeira was a repeat offender well-known to law enforcement and government officials before he snuck into the South Boston condo of Richard Field and Lina Bolano in 2017, bound and gagged them, slit their throats and stabbed them to death. A homeless vagrant from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Teixeira had been convicted of two bank robberies and was released from prison just weeks before the massacre at Field and Bolano’s condo. This thieving bum’s lawyer secured a deal with the Suffolk County district attorney’s office to sentence him to 364 days for the second heist and downgraded the second felony crime to larceny.

    http://www.theconservativeinsider.com/blood-on-open-borders-bostons-hands/?roi=echo3-58448235818-53744677-3aa659c423eed9662d5ea29e08785399

  48. Virginia Dems Cave on Confiscation as 2A Sanctuaries Expand
    Gun-rights groups unsatisfied with concession, vow to fight on

    Virginia Democratic leaders abandoned their gun confiscation proposal Monday following a grassroots outpouring of opposition to gun control across the state.

    Governor Ralph Northam (D.) and incoming Senate majority leader Dick Saslaw (D.) said they will no longer pursue their marquee plan to ban the possession of “assault weapons.” Instead, they will include a provision to allow Virginians to keep the firearms they already own. The reversal comes before the newly elected Democratic majority has even been sworn in, after a majority of the state’s counties declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.”

    “In this case, the governor’s assault weapons ban will include a grandfather clause for individuals who already own assault weapons, with the requirement they register their weapons before the end of a designated grace period,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky told the Virginia Mercury.

    The Democrats’ backtracking may indicate a trend in the gun debate in Virginia. Gun-control advocates poured millions of dollars into successfully flipping the state legislature, but the outpouring of opposition to their agenda, even in deep blue areas, may cause some new members of the state legislature to be cautious about backing gun control. The concession is unlikely to end the fight brewing across the state, however, as Democrats still plan to pursue a ban on many new sales.

    https://freebeacon.com/issues/virginia-dems-cave-on-confiscation-as-2a-sanctuaries-expand/

  49. US Attorney Durham objects to IG findings on Russia probe origins in stunning statement
    Alex Pappas
    By Alex Pappas | Fox News

    The U.S. attorney who is conducting a wide-ranging investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe released a rare statement Monday saying he disagrees with conclusions of the so-called FISA report — after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found in that review that the probe’s launch largely complied with DOJ and FBI policies.

    “Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened,” U.S. Attorney John Durham said in a statement.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/barr-blasts-fbi-over-intrusive-probe-of-trump-campaign-in-wake-of-fisa-report

  50. 12/11/2019 Man with 50,000 euros caught at Schiphol because the suitcase burst open
    https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2019-12-11—man-with-50-000-euros-caught-at-schiphol-because-the-suitcase-burst-open-.ByENELYCpB.html
    A thirty-year-old Albanian was arrested on Sunday December 8 at Schiphol for money laundering. His suitcase burst open on the baggage claim and there appeared to be 50,000 euros in cash in his baggage, reports the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Wednesday.

    A thirty-year-old Albanian was arrested on Sunday December 8 at Schiphol for money laundering. His suitcase burst open on the baggage claim and there appeared to be 50,000 euros in cash in his baggage, reports the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Wednesday.

    Due to the strong wind, an unknown amount of money was blowing out of the suitcase. Employees of Schiphol called in the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, which found even more money in the baggage.

    Because the Albanian could not properly explain where the money came from, the man was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

    The suspect was brought before the examining magistrate on Wednesday. He has decided that the man must be detained for the time being.

    The Public Prosecution Service of North Holland is leading the investigation into the case.