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Kenyan Politician: If Obama Brings ‘Gay Agenda, We Will Tell Him to Shut Up and Go Home’

URL of the original posting site: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/kenyan-politicians-obama-ahead-visit-dont-talk-about-homosexuality

Obama’s trip to Kenya, his first as president, is scheduled to take place four weeks after the White House was bathed in rainbow colors to mark the U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring that same-sex marriage is a right.

At a small pro-family demonstration at the parliament in Nairobi Monday, organized by the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, participants called on the American president not to raise the subject during his visit.

“It is important for us as Kenyans to know that the U.S. is not God,” local media quoted evangelical Bishop Mark Kariuki as saying, adding that Obama should not use the visit to “talk about the gay issue.”

Irungu Kangata, a lawmaker in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) party, was blunter: “We are telling Mr. Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home.”

According to The Standard of Nairobi, Kangata said Kenyans would demonstrate against Obama over the issue during his visit. Kenya’s The Daily Nation quoted several other lawmakers’ views on the matter. “Anybody who tries to come and preach to this country that they should allow homosexuality, I think he’s totally lost,” said TNA lawmaker Jamleck Kamau. “And I would also like to add, our son from the U.S., Barack Obama, when he comes here, to simply avoid that topic completely,” added Kamau, “because Kenyans will not be happy with him if he comes to bring the issue of homosexuality in this country.”

“Liberal thoughts are being entertained in some countries under the guise of human rights,” the speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi, told an Anglican Church congregation. “We must be vigilant and guard against it. We must lead an upright society and not allow obnoxious behavior as we have a responsibility to protect our children.”

Rose Mitaru, one of 47 female lawmakers representing counties across the country, said that allowing same-sex marriage in Kenya would open “floodgates of evil synonymous with the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah.”

TNA lawmaker Cecily Mbarire urged the government to reject any foreign aid tied to efforts to legalize same-sex marriage.

On Sunday, Deputy President William Ruto delivered a church sermon in Nairobi in which he said homosexuality was “against the plan of God.” “God did not create man and woman so that men would marry men and women marry women,” The Daily Nation quoted him as saying. “Those who want to engage in those businesses, they can do it in their countries, and they can do it wherever it is they want. In Kenya, we will stand firm.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest indicated Monday that Obama would not avoid the topic during his visit. “We have been clear that when the president travels around the world, he does not hesitate to raise concerns about human rights,” he told a press briefing, in response to a question on the Kenyan criticism.

“I’m confident the president will not hesitate to make clear that the protection of basic universal human rights in Kenya is also a priority and consistent with the values that we hold dear here in the United States of America,” Earnest said.

‘Everybody has to be treated equally’

Obama is scheduled to visit Kenya later this month to open the sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit, an Obama initiative aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, particularly in Muslim societies. He will then visit Ethiopia for bilateral and African Union meetings. It will be his fourth trip to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency.

Homosexuality is frowned on in many African countries, both Christian and Muslim. The Obama administration’s State Department has made promotion of LGBT issues a foreign policy priority.

Obama’s last visit to the continent coincided with the June 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, and the LGBT question came up during a joint press appearance with Senegalese President Macky Sall. Asked about the issue of homosexuality in Africa, Obama said he believed that “every country, every group of people, every religion have different customs, different traditions.” “But when it comes to how the state treats people, how the law treats people, I believe that everybody has to be treated equally,” he said. “I don’t believe in discrimination of any sort. That’s my personal view.”

In his response, Sall said Senegal was not ready to change to decriminalize homosexuality, and that countries should respect each other’s choices. He also said Senegal “does not discriminate in terms of inalienable rights of the human being.”

According to data compiled by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), same-sex sexual acts are illegal in 76 countries around the world, 36 of them in Africa.

In May 2014, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, which reports to the African Union, passed a resolution calling on African countries to “end all acts of violence and abuse … including those targeting persons on the basis of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identities, ensuring proper investigation and diligent prosecution of perpetrators, and establishing judicial procedures responsive to the needs of victims.”

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Greece: Perfect Example of the Failure of Socialism

Posted by Michael Becker — July 6, 2015

URL of the original posting site: http://joeforamerica.com/2015/07/greece-perfect-example-of-the-failure-of-socialism

The Greeks voted a resounding NO to more austerity measure yesterday in return for more money from the EuroZone and the IMF. Things are not going to go well for the Greece. And they’re just a snapshot of what’s coming. Greece is the poster child for socialism. You can retire at full pension in your 50s, like a firefighter or cop in many cities in the US. They have an extensive social service network to take care of their people, think “safety net.”

The problem, as an author discovered when he moved to Greece to find out what the country was like, is that people will do what you pay them for.

It was the rumours of an ‘island of the blind’ which first bought Angelos, a journalist, to Greece in 2011. He had heard that on Zakynthos, something like two per cent of the population were registered blind. All was not quite how it seemed, however, and it transpired that 61 of the 680 ‘blind’ residents were quite happily driving around the island. In fact, an astonishing 498 of those 680 were not blind at all – or even partially sighted.

You may be scratching your head, but remember the “safety net.” But being ‘blind’ had its advantages – in particular, the €724 paid in benefits once every two months, and a reduction in utility bills. It was a scam which could be traced back to one ophthalmologist and one official, which was estimated to have cost the country €9 million.

That wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. The whole story is worth reading, but here’s another sample.

When the government chose to take a closer look at who they were paying pensions to, they found a slightly suspicious 8,500 pensioners had surpassed the milestone age of 100. An even closer look revealed, 40,000 pension claims were fraudulent. It seems people were forgetting to register their loved ones’ deaths.

Virtually everything in Greece that will get someone a nickle from the government is drenched in fraud. (And for an example here, Google “Medicare fraud.”)

That noise heard by the Greeks this morning was a rooster crowing. As Margaret Thatcher noted about socialism, pretty soon you run out of other peoples’ money and the Greeks ran out yesterday. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to eat the chickens coming home to roost, those chickens may be eating them.

Banks have been closed for a week and they’ll likely be closed all this week at a minimum. Forget withdrawing your deposits. No wire transfers. Here’s what a Greek bank looks like today. We expect to see the government laying claim to all bank deposits by the end of the month.

Greece will likely leave the EuroZone and start printing Drachmas. They should start with one-billion Drachma notes and peg those to the Peso. There is a very high price to pay for running out of other peoples’ money, and the Greeks are about to demonstrate the price.

A bigger problem for the EuroZone is that if Greece walks away from their debts and pulls out of the Euro, the only question is, “who’s next?” Italy, Portugal, and Spain all have teetering socialist economies and France isn’t far behind.

Boom.

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US Preparing Coup to Prevent Greece from Falling Under Russian Influence

Posted By Kurt Nimmo | Infowars.com On July 6, 2015

Article reblogged from Infowars: http://www.infowars.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.infowars.com/us-preparing-coup-to-prevent-greece-from-falling-under-russian-influence

: The United States and Germany are prepared to engineer a coup in Greece to keep the country operating as a strategic asset on NATO’s vulnerable southeast European flank. Image Credits: Voice of America.

“A putsch in Athens to save allied Greece from enemy Russia is in preparation by the US and Germany, with backing from the non-taxpayers of Greece – the Greek oligarchs, Anglo-Greek ship owners, and the Greek Church,” writes John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia not connected to the corporate media. The primary tip-off; something is brewing can be detected by the presence of Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in Athens in March.

Nuland, The Guardian reported on March 17, “flew into the capital amid mounting US concerns that the great euro debt crisis has begun to pose a geopolitical threat. Allowed to veer out of control, Greece could end up in the ambit of Russia, financially bereft and without the EU links that keep it bounded to the west. Nato’s south-eastern flank would be immeasurably weakened at a time of mounting global security worries over Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East.”

Nuland and the United States may be working closely with Greek military to foment a coup following the historic “No” vote in a referendum of the demands of the bankers. She is notorious for her role in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine and it now appears she has been assigned for a repeat in Greece. Helmer writes that when Nuland visited Athens to issue an ultimatum against breaking the anti-Russian sanctions regime, and the Anglo-American think-tanks followed with warnings the Russian Navy is about to sail into Piraeus, the object of the game [became] clear. The line for Operation Nemesis has been that Greece must be saved, not from itself or from its creditors, but from the enemy in Moscow.

Russia to Rescue Greece from Bankers

Russia is reportedly prepared to help Greece as it battles the bankers on Wall Street and Brussels. It is believed a Greek exit from the eurozone will move the country closer to Russia and deepen divisions within NATO. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of the socialist Syriza party said in mid-June an alignment with Russia is possible and hinted Greece was “ready to go to new seas to reach new safe ports.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Russia would consider providing loans to Greece if requested.

Greek Military Sends Strong Message

On Friday a number of Greek military officers publicly called for a “yes” vote.

“Retired General Fragkoulis Fragkos, a former defense minister and one-time head of the Greek army general staff, called for a ‘loud yes on Sunday.’ In 2011, Fragkos was cashiered by then-Prime Minister George Papandreou amid rumors of a coup,” writes Alex Lantier. Clearly referring to Tsipras, Fragkos said that “the moral values and principles that have always defined us Greeks are not under negotiation with any clueless and historically ignorant politician who is advancing his own party interest.”

A group of 65 retired high-ranking officers issued a statement citing their “oath to the Fatherland and the Flag” and warning, “By choosing isolation, we place the Fatherland and its future in danger.”

Tsipras and Syriza prepared for a possible coup in January by shuffling military staff. “The leadership (of the military and intelligence services) was changed,” sources told Heller, “but not radically. The defense minister (Panos Kammenos) is rightist so there are no ‘radicals’ in command.”

Greek Military is an Operation Gladio Asset

US intervention in Greece is nothing new. Between 1987 and 1989 the US made a concerted effort to overthrow the elected Greek government of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. Prior to this in 1967 the Greek military installed the Regime of the Colonels following a coup d’état . The Greek military was under the control of the CIA following Greece’s entrance into NATO in 1952. Elements of the Greek military were part of the CIA’s “stay behind” network under Operation Gladio and these elements (specifically LOK, or Lochoi Oreinōn Katadromōn, i.e. “Mountain Raiding Companies”) were directly involved in the 1967 coup.

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Greek banks down to €500m in cash reserves as economy crashes

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, in Athens; 02 Jul 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11714655/Greek-banks-down-to-500m-in-cash-reserves-as-economy-crashes.html

The daily allowance of cash from many ATM machines has already dropped from €60 to €50, purportedly because €20 notes are running out

: The vote was originally intended to secure a stronger negotiating mandate for a showdown with Europe, but it is rapidly turning into an ‘in-or-out’ decision on euro membership Photo: AFP

Greece is sliding into a full-blown national crisis as the final cash reserves of the banking system evaporate by the hour and swathes of industry start to shut down, precipitating the near disintegration of the ruling coalition. Business leaders have been locked in talks with the Bank of Greece, pleading for the immediate release of emergency liquidity funds (ELA) to cover food imports and pharmaceutical goods before the tourist sector hits a brick wall. Officials say the central bank will release the funds as soon as Friday, but this is a stop-gap measure at best. “We are on a war footing in this country,” said Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister. • Greece needs another €50bn and massive debt relief, admits IMF

The daily allowance of cash from many ATMs has already dropped from €60 to €50, purportedly because €20 notes are running out. Large numbers are empty. The financial contagion is spreading fast as petrol stations and small businesses stop accepting credit cards.

Constantine Michalos, head of the Hellenic Chambers of Commerce, said lenders are simply running out of money. “We are reliably informed that the cash reserves of the banks are down to €500m. Anybody who thinks they are going to open again on Tuesday is day-dreaming. The cash would not last an hour,” he said. “We are in an extremely dangerous situation. Greek companies have been excluded from the electronic transfers of Europe’s Target2 system. The entire Greek business community is unable to import anything, and without raw materials they can’t produce anything,” he said.

: A banner reading ‘no to austerity and fear’ atop Lycabettus hill in Athens

Pavlos Deas, owner of an olive processing factory in Chalkidiki, told The Telegraph that he may have to shut down a plant employing 250 people within days. “We can’t send any money abroad to our suppliers. Three of our containers have been stopped at customs control because the banks can’t give a bill of lading. One is full of Spanish almonds, the others full of Chinese garlic,” he said. “We don’t know how we are going to execute and export an order of 60 containers for the US. We don’t even have enough gas. We asked for 10,000 litres but they are only letting us have 2,000. It’s being rationed by the day. Factories are closing around us in a domino effect and we’re all going to lose everything if this goes on,” he said.

The fast-moving events come amid signs of deep dissension within the coalition over the wisdom of the country’s referendum this Sunday. The vote was originally intended to secure a stronger negotiating mandate for a showdown with Europe’s creditor powers, but it is rapidly turning into an “in-or-out” decision on euro membership and the survival of the Syriza government. Four members of the nationalist Independent Greeks party (Anel) – the junior partners – said they would break ranks and vote “Yes” to creditor demands – though no offer is now on the table – admitting that they were aghast by the closure of the banking system and the drastic events of recent days.

The party’s hardline chief and defence minister, Panos Kammenos, dismissed them contemptuously. “We are at war and there will be no backing down. Whoever does not have the stomach for war, be gone,” he said.

: Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s finance minister, said he would resign is the Greek people voted “yes” on Sunday

Mr Varoufakis vowed to resign if the Greek people voted yes. “I prefer to cut off my own arm rather than sign an agreement without debt restructuring,” he told Bloomberg TV. He said there is not a “smidgeon of an iota of possibility” that the terms on offer can lift the Greek economy out of a deflationary tailspin, insisting that the talks broke down because the creditors refused to face up to the fact that Greece’s debt is unpayable.

The International Monetary Fund has tacitly endorsed his claims, admitting that the country needs large-scale debt relief and €50bn of fresh funds over the next three years to give the economy time to recover. Mr Varoufakis said acceptance of the creditors’s proposals would merely mean another bruising fight in a few months’ time and a permanent cycle of hostility.

The mood within the Syriza movement is increasingly bitter and polarized. One MP appeared to have lost confidence in the party leadership. “We have had months of childish tactics. They thought they could blackmail Europe into making concessions instead of going to the root of the problem facing this country and accepting that we have to break free altogether. They don’t know what they are doing,” he told The Telegraph.

Private citizens have requested an injunction from Greece’s top court to halt the referendum, claiming it is unconstitutional. Yiorgos Kaminis, the mayor of Athens, said the vote on a creditor package that no longer even exists – and with a question that nobody understands – reduces the country to ridicule.

“We are facing a national catastrophe, it is so self-evident. If Greece votes ‘no’ we will be obliged to go back to the drachma immediately, and sooner of later we may be forced to leave the EU as well. I don’t want my children to be part of North Africa,” he said. The mayor said the whole structure of the Greek state was falling apart as the political crisis grinds on into its sixth month. “Nobody is paying any taxes any longer. The state has no money. We’re facing a disaster,” he said.

Mr Kaminis, a law professor and an independent politician, is widely-deemed more credible than politicians from the establishment parties and has emerged as the preferred figurehead of the “yes” movement. Yet he admitted having “no contact” so far with the other groups in favour of a deal, a power structure known as the “inner Troika” in the demonology of the Greek Left. It is a sign of how fractured the “yes” camp still is with just two days left to put out their message, and polls showing the vote too close to call. “We have to explain in a very determined way what is at stake. People seem to think that it was the EU that closed our banks,” he said.

Mr Michalos, from the Hellenic Chambers, said a five-man committee at the Greek treasury is rationing foreign funds for companies on a top priority basis but it is entirely overwhelmed. “They can’t possibly deal with thousands of requests,” he said. The net effect is total paralysis. His own two companies are still hanging on but the danger is mounting. One produces latex for kitchen gloves and the teats on baby bottles. “If I can’t import gum from Malaysia I am going to have a serious problem. I have four weeks’ inventory,” he said. His other company imports meat for supermarkets and restaurants. That is in dire straits already. “I can’t import anything. Restaurants are starting to close down because they can’t obtain food and we are going straight into the peak tourist season. It is going to be utterly horrendous if this goes on,” he said

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In Under 2 Minutes, Here’s What You Need to Know About Greece’s Financial Crisis

Authored by Alex Anderson / Melissa Quinn / July 01, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/01/in-under-2-minutes-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-greeces-financial-crisis

The world has its eyes on Greece right now, as the country’s financial crisis has hit a peak after more than five years of instability.

Greece is on the brink of defaulting on a $1.8 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund, which was due at midnight on Wednesday. On Sunday, July 5, Greek voters will vote on a referendum to determine whether the country will continue with austerity measures or move to reissue its old currency. Should Greek voters vote in favor of the latter, it would effectively separate Greece from the Eurozone.

Greece’s banks closed Monday for six business days, and the country limited the amount of money citizens could withdraw from ATMs.

For those watching the events unfold in Greece, here’s what you need to know, explained in under two minutes.

SEE VIDEO:

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Iran’s Parliament Bans Nuclear Inspectors from Military Sites: ‘Death to America’

(AP Photo)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — With some lawmakers chanting “Death to the America,” Iran’s parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a future deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

The bill, if ratified, could complicate the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the six-nation group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — as they face a self-imposed June 30 deadline. The talks are focused on reaching a final accord that curbs Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Of 213 lawmakers present on Sunday, 199 voted in favor of the bill, which also demands the complete lifting of all sanctions against Iran as part of any final nuclear accord. The bill must be ratified by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, to become a law.

The terms stipulated in the bill allow for international inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, but forbid any inspections of military facilities. The bill states in part: “The International Atomic Energy Agency, within the framework of the safeguard agreement, is allowed to carry out conventional inspections of nuclear sites.” However, it concludes that “access to military, security and sensitive non-nuclear sites, as well as documents and scientists, is forbidden.” It also would require Iran’s foreign minister to report to parliament every six months on the process of implementing the accord.

Iran’s nuclear negotiators say they already have agreed to grant United Nations inspectors “managed access” to military sites under strict control and specific circumstances. That right includes allowing inspectors to take environmental samples around military sites. But Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khameni, have strongly rejected the idea of Iranian scientists being interviewed. In a statement Sunday, the U.S. State Department said inspections remain a key part of any final deal.

All parties “are well aware of what is necessary for a final deal, including the access and transparency that will meet our bottom lines,” the statement said. “We won’t agree to a deal without that.”

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If Liberals Have Their Way, This Story Will Become Reality in America

Italian Families Protest Forced Cross-Dressing of Schoolchildren

by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.17 Jun 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/06/17/italian-families-protest-forced-cross-dressing-of-schoolchildren

AP Photo

Parents from the north of Italy have organized a massive demonstration, called “Defend Our Children,” against gender ideology in schools, which will be held this Saturday in the Saint John Lateran Square in Rome. The demonstrators will be protesting Italian educational programs that are meant to blur the sexual identity of children.

In the northern Italian city of Trieste, parents are in uproar over a taxpayer-funded elementary school program that includes dressing little boys as girls and girls as boys to overcome so-called “gender stereotypes.” Schools are calling the exercise “the game of respect,” which purportedly adopts many guidelines from the European standards on sex education, attributed to the World Health Organization.

The so-called “game of respect” consists in a box containing several cards, presenting the figures of different working roles: male and female housewives and husbands, male and female plumbers and firefighters, with the figures represented in exactly the same way to show that males and females are completely interchangeable. There is also a card with a game called “If he were she and she were he,” where boys and girls are expected to exchange the clothes they are wearing: the boy dresses as a girl and the girl as a boy, and they discuss how they feel in that new “role.”

Parents are especially up in arms over the school district’s attempt to conceal the program and its contents from them. The father of one of the children, Amedeo Rossetti, said that in early February, he attended a PTA meeting where the program for the second semester was presented. When Rossetti posed specific questions on issues of gender, school administrators categorically denied the presence of gender-based activities at the school.

One of the goals of the protesters is the enforcement of regarding “informed consent,” whereby parents can ask the school to be informed before their children are introduced to courses with themes like those regarding gender theory.

Parents are also protesting a sex education program for kindergarten students intended to highlight the similarities and differences between boys’ and girls’ bodies. The program involves one child lying down and the others placing their hand first on the child’s heart to feel how it beats, then on the diaphragm to feel it rise and fall. The text reads that “obviously in the genital area children can see that they are made differently from one another.” Though the text does not specifically state that the children are to touch each other in the genital area, parents are complaining that it is “understood.”

Rossetti says that the upcoming demonstration in the Italian capital is “absolutely essential,” since it is “up to us as parents” to defend our right to oversee the education of our children. The primary responsibility for our children’s upbringing and education “depends on us and we cannot delegate it,” he said.

The spokesman for the protest, Prof. Massimo Gandolfini, said that Saturday’s demonstration was organized “to protect our children from the propaganda of gender theories that are appearing surreptitiously and in an ever more worrying way in schools. The event will defend the institution of marriage as composed of a man and a woman, the child’s right to have a mother figure and a father, without having to suffer as kindergarteners the propaganda of gender ideology that Pope Francis has defined as “an error of the human mind.”

Just this past Sunday, Pope Francis spoke out yet again against gender ideology and the right and duty of parents to guide their children’s education, telling them that they are the ones “primarily responsible” for their children’s formation. The Pope said that children today “are beginning to hear strange ideas, a sort of ideological colonization that poisons the soul and the family: we must act against this.”

Francis cited a recent case where a good Christian couple with children in the first and second grade had to “re-catechize” their children in the evenings, to counteract what they were receiving “from some teachers of the school or from the textbooks that they were using.”

“This ideological colonization,” he said, “does great harm and can even destroy a society, a country or a family.”

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome.

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Bilderberg 2015: Journalists Capture Video Footage Inside Conference Room During Lockdown

Reported by Tim Brown

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/06/bilderberg-2015-journalists-capture-video-footage-inside-conference-room-during-lockdown/#vBABzOMZhL5rbl3E.99

While many have labeled people who follow and see connections with Bilderbergers and global politics as conspiracy theorists, the reality is that they are joined at the hip. In years past, global leaders, including American politicians have been found to attend Bilderberg meetings. Often, many attendees’ names don’t even appear on the guest list. This year, to investigative journalists got inside the Bilderberg hotel and provided video footage before being kicked out.

Intellihub reports:

Breaking through the lockdown around the hotel, Luke Rudkowski and Dan Dicks were able to film footage both inside and outside the hotel throughout the 2 days that they were there.

Rudkowski and Dicks were apparently able to infiltrate the hotel due to the fact that they had press credentials from the G7 and that members of the White House Press Corps were staying at the hotel before Bilderberg to cover the nearby G7 meetings.

During their stay in the hotel they were able to speak with some of the White House reporters who apparently admitted, off the record, that they worked in journalism for the money rather than actually exposing the truth.

“It vindicated everything I thought about the mainstream media,” Rudkowski said in the video.

Rudkowski, of We Are Change, and Dicks, of Press for Truth, provided the video and also took time to explain just how they infiltrated the hotel. It’s sort of reminiscent of how Alex Jones did the same thing concerning Bohemian Grove.

Here’s the video they provided:

Keep in mind that many of those who are members of the Council on Foreign Relations are also part of Bilderberg.

Bilderberg Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, Bilderberg meetings or Bilderberg Club is an annual private conference of about 120–150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media, established in 1954.[2][3] About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.[2][4]

Origin[edit]

The first conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, from 29 to 31 May 1954. It was initiated by several people, including Polish politician-in-exile Józef Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting Atlanticism—better understanding between the cultures of the United States and Western Europe to foster co-operation on political, economic and defense issues.[5]

Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands who agreed to promote the idea, together with former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the then head of Unilever, Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser Charles Douglas Jackson to deal with the suggestion.[6] The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent conservative and liberal points of view.[5] Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference, along with 11 Americans.[7]

The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent steering committee was established with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity.[8] Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957 the first US conference was held on St. Simons Island, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation also supplied funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences.[6]

Activities and goals[edit]

The group´s original goal of promoting Atlanticism has grown; In 2001, Denis Healey, a Bilderberg group founder and, a steering committee member for 30 years, said: “To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn’t go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.”[9]

According to former chairman Étienne Davignon in 2011, a major attraction of Bilderberg group meetings is that they provide an opportunity for participants to speak and debate candidly and to find out what major figures really think, without the risk of off-the-cuff comments becoming fodder for controversy in the media.[10] A 2008 press release from the “American Friends of Bilderberg” stated that “Bilderberg’s only activity is its annual Conference and that at the meetings, no resolutions were proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued”. [11] However in November 2009 the group hosted a dinner meeting at the Château of Val-Duchesse in Brussels ouside its annual conference to promote the candidacy of Herman Van Rompuy for President of the European Council.[12]

Organizational structure[edit]

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1942

Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of approximately 18 nations.[13] Official post include a chairmanan and a Honorary Secretary General.[14] the group’s rules do not contain a membership category but former participants receive the annual conference reports.[15] The only category that exists is “member of the Steering Committee”.[16] Besides the committee, there is a separate advisory group with overlapping membership.[17]

Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel became permanent secretary in 1960, upon Retinger’s death. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting’s chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. The position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held successively by Joseph E. Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment, William Bundy of Princeton, Theodore L. Eliot, Jr., former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Casimir A. Yost of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.[18]

According to James A. Bill the “steering committee usually met twice a year to plan programs and to discuss the participant list”.[19]

Chairmen of the Steering Committee[edit]

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1954–1975)[20]

Alec Douglas-Home (1977–1980)[20]

Walter Scheel (1981-1985)[21][22]

Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsden (1986–1989)[23]

Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (1990–1998)[7][24]

Étienne Davignon (1999–2011)[13][25][26]

Henri de Castries (since 2012)[27]

Participants: List of Bilderberg participants

A 2008 press release from the “American Friends of Bilderberg” stated that the names of attendees were available to the press.[11] Historically, attendee lists have been weighted towards bankers, politicians, and directors of large businesses.[28]

Heads of state, including King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, have attended meetings.[14][29] Prominent politicians from North America and Europe are past attendees. In past years, board members from many large publicly traded corporations have attended, including IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia and Daimler.[14]

The 2009 meeting participants in Greece included Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis, Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen,[30] Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, World Bank president Robert Zoellick, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Queen Sofia of Spain, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.[31]

In 2013, a source involved in the planning for the group’s meeting that year in Watford, UK, was reported to have said that people whose names are not publicly issued may sometimes turn up “just for the day”.[32]

Official Bilderberg 2014 Membership List Released

Posted By Infowars.com On May 27, 2014

Article printed from Infowars: http://www.infowars.com

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/official-bilderberg-2014-membership-list-released

Current list of Participants – Status 26 May 2014

Chairman
FRA Castries, Henri de Chairman and CEO, AXA Group

DEU Achleitner, Paul M. Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG
DEU Ackermann, Josef Former CEO, Deutsche Bank AG
GBR Agius, Marcus Non-Executive Chairman, PA Consulting Group
FIN Alahuhta, Matti Member of the Board, KONE; Chairman, Aalto University Foundation
GBR Alexander, Helen Chairman, UBM plc
USA Alexander, Keith B. Former Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Former Director, National Security Agency
USA Altman, Roger C. Executive Chairman, Evercore
FIN Apunen, Matti Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
DEU Asmussen, Jörg State Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs
HUN Bajnai, Gordon Former Prime Minister; Party Leader, Together 2014
GBR Balls, Edward M. Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto Chairman, Impresa SGPS
FRA Baroin, François Member of Parliament (UMP); Mayor of Troyes
FRA Baverez, Nicolas Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
USA Berggruen, Nicolas Chairman, Berggruen Institute on Governance
ITA Bernabè, Franco Chairman, FB Group SRL
DNK Besenbacher, Flemming Chairman, The Carlsberg Group
NLD Beurden, Ben van CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
SWE Bildt, Carl Minister for Foreign Affairs
NOR Brandtzæg, Svein Richard President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA
INT Breedlove, Philip M. Supreme Allied Commander Europe
AUT Bronner, Oscar Publisher, Der STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H.
SWE Buskhe, Håkan President and CEO, Saab AB
TUR Çandar, Cengiz Senior Columnist, Al Monitor and Radikal
ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISA
FRA Chalendar, Pierre-André de Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain
CAN Clark, W. Edmund Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group
INT Coeuré, Benoît Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
IRL Coveney, Simon Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
GBR Cowper-Coles, Sherard Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group CEO, HSBC Holdings plc
BEL Davignon, Etienne Minister of State
USA Donilon, Thomas E. Senior Partner, O’Melveny and Myers; Former U.S. National Security Advisor
DEU Döpfner, Mathias CEO, Axel Springer SE
GBR Dudley, Robert Group Chief Executive, BP plc
FIN Ehrnrooth, Henrik Chairman, Caverion Corporation, Otava and Pöyry PLC
ITA Elkann, John Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
DEU Enders, Thomas CEO, Airbus Group
DNK Federspiel, Ulrik Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S
USA Feldstein, Martin S. Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBER
CAN Ferguson, Brian President and CEO, Cenovus Energy Inc.
GBR Flint, Douglas J. Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc
ESP García-Margallo, José Manuel Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
USA Gfoeller, Michael Independent Consultant
TUR Göle, Nilüfer Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
USA Greenberg, Evan G. Chairman and CEO, ACE Group
GBR Greening, Justine Secretary of State for International Development
NLD Halberstadt, Victor Professor of Economics, Leiden University
USA Hockfield, Susan President Emerita, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NOR Høegh, Leif O. Chairman, Höegh Autoliners AS
NOR Høegh, Westye Senior Advisor, Höegh Autoliners AS
USA Hoffman, Reid Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
CHN Huang, Yiping Professor of Economics, National School of Development, Peking University
USA Jackson, Shirley Ann President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
USA Jacobs, Kenneth M. Chairman and CEO, Lazard
USA Johnson, James A. Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners
USA Karp, Alex CEO, Palantir Technologies
USA Katz, Bruce J. Vice President and Co-Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution
CAN Kenney, Jason T. Minister of Employment and Social Development
GBR Kerr, John Deputy Chairman, Scottish Power
USA Kissinger, Henry A. Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
USA Kleinfeld, Klaus Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
TUR Koç, Mustafa Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.
DNK Kragh, Steffen President and CEO, Egmont
USA Kravis, Henry R. Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
USA Kravis, Marie-Josée Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson Institute
CHE Kudelski, André Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group
INT Lagarde, Christine Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
BEL Leysen, Thomas Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group
USA Li, Cheng Director, John L.Thornton China Center,The Brookings Institution
SWE Lifvendahl, Tove Political Editor in Chief, Svenska Dagbladet
CHN Liu, He Minister, Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs
PRT Macedo, Paulo Minister of Health
FRA Macron, Emmanuel Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency
ITA Maggioni, Monica Editor-in-Chief, Rainews24, RAI TV
GBR Mandelson, Peter Chairman, Global Counsel LLP
USA McAfee, Andrew Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PRT Medeiros, Inês de Member of Parliament, Socialist Party
GBR Micklethwait, John Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
GRC Mitsotaki, Alexandra Chair, ActionAid Hellas
ITA Monti, Mario Senator-for-life; President, Bocconi University
USA Mundie, Craig J. Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation
CAN Munroe-Blum, Heather Professor of Medicine and Principal (President) Emerita, McGill University
USA Murray, Charles A. W.H. Brady Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
NLD Netherlands, H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of the
ESP Nin Génova, Juan María Deputy Chairman and CEO, CaixaBank
FRA Nougayrède, Natalie Director and Executive Editor, Le Monde
DNK Olesen, Søren-Peter Professor; Member of the Board of Directors, The Carlsberg Foundation
FIN Ollila, Jorma Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc; Chairman, Outokumpu Plc
TUR Oran, Umut Deputy Chairman, Republican People’s Party (CHP)
GBR Osborne, George Chancellor of the Exchequer
FRA Pellerin, Fleur State Secretary for Foreign Trade
USA Perle, Richard N. Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
USA Petraeus, David H. Chairman, KKR Global Institute
CAN Poloz, Stephen S. Governor, Bank of Canada
INT Rasmussen, Anders Fogh Secretary General, NATO
DNK Rasmussen, Jørgen Huno Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Lundbeck Foundation
INT Reding, Viviane Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission
USA Reed, Kasim Mayor of Atlanta
CAN Reisman, Heather M. Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
NOR Reiten, Eivind Chairman, Klaveness Marine Holding AS
DEU Röttgen, Norbert Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag
USA Rubin, Robert E. Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
USA Rumer, Eugene Senior Associate and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
NOR Rynning-Tønnesen, Christian President and CEO, Statkraft AS
NLD Samsom, Diederik M. Parliamentary Leader PvdA (Labour Party)
GBR Sawers, John Chief, Secret Intelligence Service
NLD Scheffer, Paul J. Author; Professor of European Studies, Tilburg University
NLD Schippers, Edith Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport
USA Schmidt, Eric E. Executive Chairman, Google Inc.
AUT Scholten, Rudolf CEO, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
USA Shih, Clara CEO and Founder, Hearsay Social
FIN Siilasmaa, Risto K. Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim CEO, Nokia Corporation
ESP Spain, H.M. the Queen of
USA Spence, A. Michael Professor of Economics, New York University
FIN Stadigh, Kari President and CEO, Sampo plc
USA Summers, Lawrence H. Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University
IRL Sutherland, Peter D. Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; UN Special Representative for Migration
SWE Svanberg, Carl-Henric Chairman, Volvo AB and BP plc
TUR Taftalı, A. Ümit Member of the Board, Suna and Inan Kiraç Foundation
USA Thiel, Peter A. President, Thiel Capital
DNK Topsøe, Henrik Chairman, Haldor Topsøe A/S
GRC Tsoukalis, Loukas President, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
NOR Ulltveit-Moe, Jens Founder and CEO, Umoe AS
INT Üzümcü, Ahmet Director-General, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
CHE Vasella, Daniel L. Honorary Chairman, Novartis International
FIN Wahlroos, Björn Chairman, Sampo plc
SWE Wallenberg, Jacob Chairman, Investor AB
SWE Wallenberg, Marcus Chairman of the Board of Directors, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB
USA Warsh, Kevin M. Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Lecturer, Stanford University
GBR Wolf, Martin H. Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times
USA Wolfensohn, James D. Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company
NLD Zalm, Gerrit Chairman of the Managing Board, ABN-AMRO Bank N.V.
GRC Zanias, George Chairman of the Board, National Bank of Greece
USA Zoellick, Robert B. Chairman, Board of International Advisors, The Goldman Sachs Group

AUT Austria
BEL Belgium
CAN Canada
CHE Switzerland
CHN China
DEU Germany
DNK Denmark
ESP Spain
FIN Finland
FRA France
GBR Great Britain
GRC Greece
HUN Hungary
INT International
IRL Ireland
ITA Italy
NLD Netherlands
NOR Norway
PRT Portugal
SWE Sweden
TUR Turkey
USA United States of America

***

Infowars analysis note: The official list ends above. What’s important to understand is that there are always members who will be attending, but who don’t want to be included in the list, due to laws such as 18 U.S. Code § 953, otherwise known as the Logan Act, which makes it a felony offense – punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years – for any member of federal or state government to meet with members of a foreign government without the express authority and authorization of the president or congress.

Yesterday, Bilderberg put out a press release detailing the official talking points to be addressed at this year’s meeting. From our research, this is not their primary agenda, but usually one put out to appease the media:

Copenhagen, 26 May 2014 – The 62nd Bilderberg meeting is set to take place from 29 May until 1 June 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. A total of around 140 participants from 22 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited. The list of participants is available on http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org

The key topics for discussion this year include:

• Is the economic recovery sustainable?
• Who will pay for the demographics?
• Does privacy exist?
• How special is the relationship in intelligence sharing?
• Big shifts in technology and jobs
• The future of democracy and the middle class trap
• China’s political and economic outlook
• The new architecture of the Middle East
• Ukraine
• What next for Europe?
• Current events

Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120-150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.

The conference is a forum for informal discussions about major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any other participant may be revealed.

Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights.

There is no desired outcome, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.

***

Below see Paul Joseph Watson’s latest article revealing this year’s agenda from inside sources.

***

Bilderberg Agenda Revealed: Elite Desperate to Rescue Unipolar World

Paul Joseph Watson

The 2014 Bilderberg meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark is taking place amidst a climate of panic for many of the 120 globalists set to attend the secretive confab, with Russia’s intransigence on the crisis in Ukraine and the anti-EU revolution sweeping Europe posing a serious threat to the unipolar world order Bilderberg spent over 60 years helping to build.

Inside sources confirm to Infowars that the elite conference, which will take place from Thursday onwards at the five star Marriott Hotel, will center around how to derail a global political awakening that threatens to hinder Bilderberg’s long standing agenda to centralize power into a one world political federation, a goal set to be advanced with the passage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which will undoubtedly be a central topic of discussion at this year’s meeting.

The TTIP represents an integral component of Bilderberg’s attempt to rescue the unipolar world by creating a “world company,” initially a free trade area, which would connect the United States with Europe. Just as the European Union started as a mere free trade area and was eventually transformed into a political federation which controls upwards of 50 per cent of its member states’ laws and regulations with total contempt for national sovereignty and democracy, TTIP is designed to accomplish the same goal, only on a bigger scale.

The deal is being spearheaded by Obama’s U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, a Wall Street insider and a CFR member, Bilderberg’s sister organization. Froman is simultaneously helping to build another block of this global government, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is a similar project involving Asian countries.

Given that Bilderberg schemed to create the Euro single currency as far back as 1955 (Bilderberg chairman Étienne Davignon bragged about how the Euro single currency was a brainchild of the Bilderberg in 2009 interview), the results of the European elections are sure to have stirred outright alarm amongst Bilderberg globalists who are aghast that their planned EU superstate is being eroded as a result of a populist resistance mainly centered around animosity towards uncontrolled immigration policies.

In Denmark itself, the buzz is centered around Morten Messerschmidt and the Danish People’s party, which won 27% of the vote in the Euro elections and doubled its number of MEPs. Although some are wary of Messerschmidt’s far right inclinations, his success reflects a general resentment not only in Denmark but across Europe towards immigration and the welfare state, concerns that the EU has only exasperated.

Meanwhile in France, Marine Le Pen is carving out a role as the face of a conservative movement that threatens “to break up one united Europe,” with her European election win being described as an “earthquake” that has rattled the political heart of Europe.

Voters in the United Kingdom also delivered a thumping rejection of the EU and in turn Bilderberg with the success of Nigel Farage and UKIP, a Euroskeptic triumph some are labeling the “most extraordinary” election result for 100 years.

As well as TTIP and the fallout from the European election disaster, Bilderberg will be tackling a number of other key issues, most of which will revolve around the continued effort to centralize economic power under several different guises, including a carbon tax paid directly to the United Nations, with the financial hit being taken by individuals as big companies are granted special “waivers” that will allow them to continue to pollute.

The rumbling crisis in Ukraine and the relationship between Russia and NATO will also be a focal point of Bilderberg 2014. Globalists now consider Vladimir Putin to have ostracized Russia from the new world order because he dared to “challenge the international system,” as John Kerry put it.

Bilderberg will discuss fears that Putin is intent on constructing an alternative world order based around the BRICS countries, a “multi-polar” system that would devastate the dollar as the world reserve currency and also heavily dilute the current US-EU-NATO power axis.

***

Note: Infowars reporters will be on the ground all this week to cover the 2014 Bilderberg Group conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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You Need to Know What Really Happened in Ireland

Posted by Dr. Michael Brown, on 27 May, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://barbwire.com/2015/05/27/you-need-to-know-what-really-happened-in-ireland/

I almost never do this, but I felt it was very important to share a letter with you so that the whole world could understand what really happened in Ireland as this predominantly Catholic nation voted decisively to redefine marriage.

After the vote, I posted this on Facebook:

What can we learn from the vote to redefine marriage in Ireland, a traditionally Catholic country?

1) Traditional “Christian” religion cannot stop the juggernaut of gay activism. Only a living, vibrant faith will have the energy and commitment and depth to stand firm.

2) Sex-scandals in the Catholic Church in the 1990’s robbed the Church of its moral authority. How can the Church speak to the society about sexual morality when it has largely disqualified itself? Scandals like this take a long time to get over, and here in America, we have been plagued by Evangelical scandals as well, involving some of our well-known leaders. To the extent we are deemed hypocritical, to that extent we lack moral authority.

3) Ireland was not ready for the massive influx of gay activist funding from America. Sadly, from President Obama down, America has been an aggressive force for normalizing homosexuality, and without American funding and vision, it is doubtful that Ireland would have voted so strongly for such radical change.

What happened in Ireland should be a wake-up call for the Church worldwide.

In response to my post, a woman who supports our ministry and lives in Ireland wrote to me, concerned that I was implying that believers in Ireland “hadn’t done enough to get the Gospel out.” (Actually, the reverse was true: I wanted people to understand the opposition they faced.)

She continued: “Let me tell you more about what really happened here…”

What she wrote is so important, giving detailed support to what I had read elsewhere, that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear. There was extraordinary pressure brought against those who stood for marriage in Ireland, and the vote hardly reflects an unbiased enlightenment.

She wrote:

I am an Irish citizen who voted and campaigned for a NO vote. For anyone who thinks we were negligent concerning the Gospel or in any other way, let me tell you some of what we were up against…

This news is devastating to the nearly 37.9% of us who voted NO, many of us born again Christians.

We tried so hard to prevent it, but were up against every political party and up against millions of US dollars that were being poured into the yes campaign.

American billionaire, Chuck Feeney alone contributed over $24 million. Every ‘civil rights’ group on the block was behind the yes vote.

When NO vote campaign signs were posted in Dublin and other places, they were vandalized. Public media is supposed to allow 50:50 coverage for each side of a constitutional issue. This was blatantly ignored.

The public police force was drafted in to support the YES vote and to register college students to vote, and they passed out YES badges to each student as they did so.

And these things are only part of the story. The pressure was incessant and unbelievable. Even the ballot paper was biased. We argued that the term ‘marriage equality’ was biased, but yet that term made it on to the ballot paper.

Meanwhile, Christians fasted and prayed. We passed out flyers. We used social media to communicate our concerns. But all this was on a very grass roots level.

Only the Iona Institute stood up for the No vote. Only three representatives in our entire Dail (our parliament) stood up for a No vote.

Is there any small nation on earth that would survive such an onslaught? I’m actually amazed that the NO vote was as high as 37.9% after what I have seen.

As for the Gospel, can any of us really do ‘enough’? No matter how much we do, will we not always wish we could do more? We have God on our side though. I believe He has allowed this to happen for His reasons. But we will have the ultimate victory.

Sadly, the tried and true tactics of bullying, intimidation, media bombardment, aggressive activism, and massive US funding won another victory for the gay revolution.

But this Irish Christian woman is absolutely right: We will have the ultimate victory (not over gays but in the Lord), which is one of the main points I make in my newest book, due out in September, Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide.

Right now, though, the believers in Ireland need our prayers, our encouragement, and our solidarity. This is part of an all-out war on the gospel.

✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢✢

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

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International Politics

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US-China war ‘inevitable’ unless Washington drops demands over South China Sea

Warning from state-run China newspaper as Beijing reveals plans for development of disputed South China Sea islands

By Julian Ryall, Tokyo, 26 May 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/11630185/US-China-war-inevitable-unless-Washington-drops-demands-over-South-China-Sea.html

: China’s frigate ‘Yulin’ in action in the South China Sea Photo: GETTY

China’s armed forces are to extend their operations and its air force will become an offensive as well as defensive force for the first time, in a major shift in policy that will strengthen fears of accidental conflict. A policy document by the state council, or cabinet, said China faced a “grave and complex array of security threats”, justifying the change. The People’s Liberation Army, including its navy and air force, will be allowed to “project power” further beyond its borders at sea and more assertively in the air in order to safeguard its maritime possessions, the white paper stated.

: Chinese dredging vessels in the waters around Mischief Reef

The navy will add “open seas protection” to a traditional remit of “offshore waters defence”, it said.

The posture risks escalating the tension over disputed islands in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the Pacific, where the United States is determined to protect the interests of allies like Taiwan and the Philippines.

Only last week, a US aircraft ignored repeated warnings from the Chinese military to fly a reconnaissance mission over the islands.

: The on-going reclamation by China at Subi reef seen from Pagasa island

Global Times, a tabloid newspaper run by the Communist Party, said that China might have to “accept” there would be conflict with the United States. “If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea”, said the paper, which is often seen as a mouth-piece of hardline nationalists in the government in Beijing.

State media reported on Tuesday that Beijing had begun building two lighthouses on reefs in the Spratly Islands, a smattering of outcrops that are claimed by an array of countries including not only China but also Vietnam and the Philippines.
Last month, satellite imagery revealed the Chinese had almost completed an air strip on another reef – Fiery Cross – while they are turning another rock, Mischief Reef, into a full island through land reclamation.
The Global Times article described the construction of runways, harbour facilities and buildings on the disputed Spratly Islands as the nation’s “most important bottom line”.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Yang Yujun, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry, dismissed international criticism of China’s policies in the South China Sea, claiming the work was the same as building roads and homes on mainland China and that it would benefit “the whole of international society”. “From the perspective of sovereignty, there is absolutely no difference”, he said, adding that “some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs”.

Analysts say neither Washington nor Beijing appear to be in the mood to back down and that there is a serious risk of a minor incident in airspace around the islands escalating rapidly. “I think the concern has to be that China misjudges the situation”, said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at the Japan campus of Temple University.

“Neither party wants a war if it can be avoided, but there are red lines for both sides”, he said. “I worry whether Beijing considers the US to be a declining power and assumes that Washington will back down if it shoots down a US observation aircraft”.

Washington chose to “de-escalate” a major crisis that blew up after a Chinese fighter collided with a US Navy intelligence-gathering aircraft off Hainan Island in April 2001. However, Prof. Dujarric said there would be a different response if a similar incident were to occur in what Washington insists is international air space over the South China Sea.

Recent developments have provoked new concerns in the region, with Ma Ying-jeou, the president of Taiwan, calling for the different nations laying claim to the South China Sea to put their differences aside and carry out joint development of natural resources.

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Iran: Yeah, We’re Not Going to Allow Any Inspections at Military Sites

Posted by Guy Benson | Apr 21, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2015/04/21/iran-yeah-were-not-going-to-allow-any-inspections-at-military-sites-n1987848

: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

With disastrous nuclear negotiations with Iran set to resume in the coming days, please consider the following stories. First:

International nuclear inspectors will be barred from all Iranian military sites under any deal with world powers, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard said Sunday, setting up a possible standoff as negotiators try to reach a final deal. Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard’s deputy leader, told Iranian state television that allowing foreign inspection of military sites is tantamount to “selling out,” raising the stakes as talks between Iran and the six-nation group are to resume April 22 in Vienna. “We will respond with hot lead (bullets) to those who speak of it,” Salami said. “Iran will not become a paradise for spies. We will not roll out the red carpet for the enemy.” … A fact sheet on the framework accord issued by the U.S. State Department said Iran would be required to grant the U.N. nuclear agency access to any “suspicious sites.” Iran has questioned that and other language in the fact sheet.

Second, we’re now confronting our “peace partners” in another theater. Their export of terrorism continues unabated, and is not addressed in the nuclear framework:

Third, more belligerence from Ayatollah “Death to America” Khamenei:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders on Sunday the United States had created the “myth” of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week. Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, has supported the nuclear talks but continues to express deep mistrust of the United States. “They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself, with its unrestrained, destabilizing interventions,” Khamenei said in a televised address to a hall of several hundred military commanders.

Fourth, another brutal, authoritarian finger in America’s eye:

Iranian authorities are charging The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, with espionage and three other serious crimes, including “collaborating with hostile governments” and “propaganda against the establishment,” according to his lawyer in Tehran. Providing the first description of the precise charges against Rezaian since his arrest nine months ago, the lawyer said that an indictment alleges Rezaian gathered information “about internal and foreign policy” and provided it to “individuals with hostile intent.” The statement, issued from Tehran by Rezaian’s attorney, Leila Ahsan, was provided to The Post by the family of the imprisoned reporter.

Fifth, capitulation:

President Barack Obama on Friday left open the door to “creative negotiations” in response to Iran’s demand that punishing sanctions be immediately lifted as part of a nuclear deal, even though the initial agreement calls for the penalties to be removed over time. Asked at a White House news conference whether he would definitively rule out lifting sanctions at once as part of a final deal aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Obama said he didn’t want to get ahead of negotiators in how to work through the potential sticking point. He said his main concern is making sure that if Iran violates an agreement, sanctions can quickly be reinstated — the so-called “snap back” provision.

Recall the logistical hurdles to “snap back” sanctions, which would likely require the blessing of countries like China (currently building an oil pipeline with Iran) and/or Russia (selling Iran an advanced weapons system). Also recall Obama’s assertion that the sanctions haven’t worked, making their potential reintroduction a rather toothless consequence for Iranian malfeasance. The Wall Street Journal’s editors are justifiably concerned that Obama is willing to cut virtually any deal with Tehran at this stage:

Give Ayatollah Ali Khamenei credit for knowing his opposition. Two weeks ago the Supreme Leader declared that Western sanctions had to be lifted immediately as a condition of a nuclear deal. And sure enough, on Friday President Obama said Iran would get significant sanctions relief immediately upon signing a deal. The Ayatollah knows that Mr. Obama wants an agreement with Iran so much that there’s almost no concession the President won’t make. So why not keep asking for more? Keep in mind that the talks began with the U.S. and its European partners demanding that Iran dismantle its nuclear program. But to persuade the Ayatollah to accept the recent “framework” accord, Mr. Obama has already conceded that Iran can keep enriching uranium, that it can maintain 5,060 centrifuges to do the enriching, that its enriched-uranium stockpiles can stay inside Iran, that the once-concealed facilities at Fordow and Arak can stay open (albeit in altered form), and that Iran can continue doing research on advanced centrifuges. All of these concessions are contrary to previous U.S. positions, and we’re no doubt missing a few. But none of that was enough for the Ayatollah, who quickly asserted two new deal-breaking objections: immediate sanctions relief, and no inspections under any circumstances of Iran’s military sites…These latest events reinforce a conclusion that the Iranian talks are heading toward a deal that confers Western blessing on Iran as a nuclear-threshold state. Tehran will retain the facilities and means to develop a bomb at the moment of its choosing. The main question now is how many more concessions the Ayatollah will squeeze from a U.S. President he believes is desperate for a deal.

Setting aside those two deal-breaker demands from Iran and the enormous concessions already made, President Obama has all but admitted that the regime could follow the deal’s terms to the letter, and still emerge as a nuclear threshold state as soon as Western-imposed restrictions begin to expire in 13 years. In what possible sense is any of this acceptable? Flashback:

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Iranian ship convoy moves toward Yemen, alarming US officials

By Kristina Wong – 04/17/15

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/239295-us-officials-concerned-about-iranian-convoy-headed-towards-yemen

U.S. military officials are concerned that Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in Yemen could spark a confrontation with Saudi Arabia and plunge the region into sectarian war. Iran is sending an armada of seven to nine ships — some with weapons — toward Yemen in a potential attempt to resupply the Shia Houthi rebels, according to two U.S. defense officials. Officials fear the move could lead to a showdown with the U.S. or other members of a Saudi-led coalition, which is enforcing a naval blockade of Yemen and is conducting its fourth week of airstrikes against the Houthis.

Iran sent a destroyer and another vessel to waters near Yemen last week but said it was part of a routine counter-piracy mission.

What’s unusual about the new deployment, which set out this week, is that the Iranians are not trying to conceal it, officials said. Instead, they appear to be trying to “communicate it” to the U.S. and its allies in the Gulf. It is not clear what will happen as the convoy comes closer to Yemen. Saudi Arabia has deployed ships around Yemen to enforce the blockade, as has Egypt. An official said the ship convoy could try to land at a port in Aden, which the Houthis have taken over.

Although the U.S. is assisting with the Saudi-led air campaign, it is not participating in the naval blockade of Yemen, said U.S. Central Command spokesman Col. Pat Ryder. However, the U.S. Navy is in the region and has already “consensually boarded” one Panamanian-flagged ship in the Red Sea on April 1 on the suspicion it was illegally carrying arms for the Houthis. None were found, but the move raised alarm bells in Washington over an increasingly active U.S. military role in the conflict. The Pentagon indicated this week that more boardings could occur.

“We will continue to vigilantly defend freedom of navigation and to conduct consensual searches in an effort to ensure that drugs, human trafficking, weapons trafficking and other contraband are limited,” Army Col. Steve Warren said on Monday.

Officials fear a naval confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia could escalate what has become a proxy war between the two countries.

The U.S. has been supporting the airstrikes with intelligence and logistical support, and last week began refueling Saudi fighter jets. Administration officials say it is important to support Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week, a senior State Department official said the U.S. would try to ensure that a United Nations Security Council arms embargo against Houthi leadership is enforced. “We will be taking very careful look and examining very closely efforts to violate the embargo,” senior State Department official Gerald Feierstein told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The deepening of the conflict comes as the U.S. hopes to reach a deal with Iran to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Officials say U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition has not affected the negotiations with Iran. The conflict also threatens to complicate U.S.’s relations with Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, an Iran ally, criticized Saudi Arabia for its airstrike campaign during a visit to Washington this week.

U.S. officials say they are unsure why Iran is making the brazen move. One theory they have floated is that the Saudi-led coalition has effectively blockaded any air routes into Yemen and there are no other ways to resupply the Houthis. Another theory is that Iran is trying to distract the coalition from another ship it has tried hard to conceal that is currently docked at Oman — a potential land route for smuggling arms into Yemen. Yet another theory is that Iran wants to force a confrontation with Saudi Arabia that it believes it will win, because Iran views the Saudi military as weak and suspects the U.S. lacks the willpower to support its Gulf ally.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week on Twitter taunted Saudi Arabia, calling its military puny and smaller than Israel’s. He also said the air campaign was tantamount to genocide of innocent Yemeni civilians and that the U.S. would also fail in Yemen.

U.S. officials say they hope the airstrikes will force Houthis to the negotiating table in order to restore stability in Yemen, where America faces a terrorist threat from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). “We’re assisting the Saudis to protect their own territory and to conduct operations that are designed to lead ultimately to a political settlement to Yemen,” said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Thursday. “That’s good for the people of Yemen, first and foremost. It’s good for Saudi Arabia that doesn’t need this on its southern border. And … it’s good for us, among other reasons, because of AQAP’s presence in Yemen. But for that to occur, it’ll require more than military action,” he added.

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White House: Obama Removing Cuba from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism

Posted by Tim Brown

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/04/white-house-obama-removing-cuba-from-list-of-state-sponsors-of-terrorism/#Ewp1Cw2PVS1xpjRj.99

On Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press tweeted out that the White House confirms that Barack Hussein Obama is going to be removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

According to the AP:

Obama made the final decision following a State Department review of Cuba’s presence on the list. The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba’s pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.

In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba “has not provided any support for international terrorism” over the last six months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”

Tuesday’s announcement comes days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Panama. The talks marked the first formal meeting between the leaders of their countries in a half-century.

Now, two countries that have been historically enemies of America, Cuba and Iran, are being treated as long-lost brothers. How convenient as we continue down the road of normalizing relations with countries that have our destruction in mind.

Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terror was made in 1982 because of efforts “to promote armed revolution by organizations that used terrorism.” They were also part of the instigators during the time of John F. Kennedy when the world moved the closest it had ever been to a world scale nuclear war as the US confronted the Soviet Union over deploying ballistic missiles to Cuba.

White House Press Secretary said, “Our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.”

Of course, this administration has been whitewashing all sorts of terror organizations. The largest designated terror group in the united States is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They are a Muslim Brotherhood front group that was designated last year by the United Arab Emirates as a terror organization.

Just last month, the Obama administration omitted Iran and Hezbollah from the US’ terror list in its annual report of the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Communities.

Only three countries remain on the US list of nations who are accused of repeatedly supporting global terror. Those are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

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removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon

Trust But “No” Verify

Posted on April 8, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://conservativebyte.com/2015/04/trust-but-no-verify/

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Nuclear ‘deal’ critics worried about ‘dueling’ fact sheets from US, Iran

Published April 07, 2015, FoxNews.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/07/nuclear-deal-critics-worried-about-dueling-fact-sheets-from-us-iran/

Congressional critics of the Iran nuclear “deal” are worried Washington and Tehran can’t even agree on what was in the accord struck last week, pointing to “dueling” fact sheets put out by each government. “The bottom line is Iran has not agreed to a political framework that addresses all parameters of a comprehensive agreement, but rather has put out a dueling framework that contradicts the one put out by the United States,” Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said in a written statement.

Kirk and other lawmakers are citing the stark differences between what Iranian and U.S. officials each say is in the deal, in questioning the Obama administration’s sales pitch — and demanding a say on any final agreement. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told “Fox News Sunday” that Iran is touting “sort of the mirror image opposite of what’s being reported here.”

Harvard University’s Belfer Center put out a translated version of Iran’s fact sheet, which Kirk cited. Key differences include:

Sanctions

U.S.: The U.S. fact sheet says Iran will “receive sanctions relief, if it verifiably abides by its commitments” — asserting sanctions relief would kick in only once conditions are met.

OBAMALAND ~~FARSE~~ Fact Sheet says: “U.S. and E.U. nuclear-related sanctions will be suspended after the IAEA has verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear-related steps. If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place.”

Further, it says: “All past UN Security Council resolutions on the Iran nuclear issue will be lifted simultaneous with the completion, by Iran, of nuclear-related actions addressing all key concerns.”

Iran: The Iran fact sheet, by contrast, says “all of the sanctions will be immediately removed after reaching a comprehensive agreement.”

The translated fact sheet says: “According to the reached solutions, after the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action, all of the UN resolutions will be revoked and all of the multilateral economic and financial sanctions by the EU and the unilateral ones by the US will be annulled.”

Centrifuges

OBAMALAND ~~FARSE~~ Fact Sheet says: The U.S. statement says Iran won’t use its advanced centrifuges for 10 years and can do “limited” research before that. It says: “Iran will not use its IR-2, IR-4, IR-5, IR-6, or IR-8 models to produce enriched uranium for at least ten years. Iran will engage in limited research and development with its advanced centrifuges, according to a schedule and parameters which have been agreed to by the P5+1.”

Iran: The Iran statement does not describe this research and development as “limited,” but instead says: “Iran will continue its research and development on advanced machines and will continue the initiation and completion phases of the research and development process of IR-4, IR-5, IR-6, and IR-8 centrifuges during the 10 year period of the Comprehensive Plan for Joint Action.”

Uranium stockpile

OBAMALAND ~~FARSE~~ Fact Sheet says: The U.S. statement says “Iran has agreed to not enrich uranium over 3.67 percent for at least 15 years,” and to “reduce its current stockpile of about 10,000 kg of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to 300 kg of 3.67 percent LEU for 15 years.” It also says Iran will only enrich uranium, using first-generation centrifuges, at its Natanz facility for 10 years.

Iran: Iran’s statement does not appear to make the distinction between 10 and 15 years, saying: “The timeframe of the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action regarding Iran’s enrichment program will be 10 years.” It then refers to the enrichment at Natanz occurring during this period.

Heavy water reactor

OBAMALAND ~~FARSE~~ Fact Sheet says: The U.S. statement says the Arak heavy water reactor will be redesigned and rebuilt, and will not produce weapons grade plutonium. The statement says, “The original core of the reactor, which would have enabled the production of significant quantities of weapons-grade plutonium, will be destroyed or removed from the country.”

Iran: The Iran statement says the Arak reactor “will remain” and will be enhanced and updated, including so it produces less plutonium. It does not mention the core being destroyed.

Corker, in questioning the discrepancies on Sunday, underscored the need for legislation he has co-sponsored that would demand congressional review of any nuclear deal.

President Obama opposes the bill, but in a troubling sign for the administration, even some in his own party support it. Most recently, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — who is Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s choice to succeed him after his retirement — told Politico he supports the Corker bill.

Administration officials, meanwhile, have downplayed the discrepancies between how the U.S. and Iranian governments are portraying the framework — which would be the basis for a final deal all sides are trying to reach by June 30. An administration official said on a conference call last week that Iran’s foreign minister will have to sell the deal just like the U.S. will.

Asked Monday about the discrepancy over the timing of sanctions relief, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged that the issue “still needs to be negotiated.” … “There are still details about the phase-out, if you will, of the sanctions that have not yet been agreed to. And it is the strong view of the administration that it would not be wise, and it would not be in the interest of the international community, to simply take away sanctions … on day one,” Earnest said.

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Iran: U.S. Lying About Nuclear Deal, ‘Fact Sheets’ on Negotiations Are ‘Spin’

by Jordan Schachtel, 2 Apr 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/02/iran-u-s-lying-about-nuclear-deal-fact-sheets-on-negotiations-are-spin/

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Mere minutes after the U.S. released a fact sheet that purportedly lays out what the basic framework agreed upon by the Iranian regime and P5+1 world powers entailed, Iranian officials accused the United States of misleading the public about its agreement. “The solutions are good for all, as they stand. There is no need to spin using ‘fact sheets’ so early on,” tweeted Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif.

In two following Tweets, Zarif insisted that the U.S. and EU will remove all economic and financial sanctions on Iran immediately, contrary to what the U.S.-produced fact sheet states.

Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that the agreement allowed for Iran to continue enriching uranium, and none of its facilities would be shut down. “In the framework of the agreement, none of Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as the previous activities will be stopped, shut down or suspended and Iran’s nuclear activities in all its nuclear facilities including Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Arak will continue,” said the Iranian media report.

Iranian media also reported that all of the UN Security Council, United States, and European Union sanctions against the regime will be lifted immediately, once the Joint Plan of Action has been implemented.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not commented on the agreement that required his authorization for Iran’s negotiating team to sign off on the accord. As dictator of Iran, Khamenei doesn’t answer to anybody, and has no checks on his power, so it remains unclear whether he will weigh in on the nuclear framework.

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon

The Real Deal

Posted on April 4, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://conservativebyte.com/2015/04/the-real-deal/

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Intelligence Chief Calls Obama “Ignorant”: Watch Who Agrees

Posted by Michael Becker — April 1, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://joeforamerica.com/2015/04/intelligence-chief-calls-obama-ignorant/

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Obama, calls out his former boss for creating “incredible … confusion” in Washington and the Middle East over US policy in the region.

Nobody knows which side we’re on. We’re not even sure if Obama knows which side we’re on.

Flynn notes that the “old order” in the Middle East is gone and the countries in the region are clearly struggling to redefine the region. They’re doing that with Iran “on the march.” Iran is advancing in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Yemen, in virtually every swing country in the region.

He notes that radical elements have taken over both major sects of the Muslim religion. Here, we disagree with the General, it’s our view that the so-called “radical elements” are, in fact, central to and the mainstream of the Muslim faith. They’ve been ruling the roost for 1,400 years.

The key point Flynn makes is this.

“One of the things that we have to keep in mind on Iran is, Iran is also a country with ballistic missiles, cyber capabilities. They are also still a state-sponsor of terrorism. And here we are dealing with them as though we’re going to give them a carte blanche,” he said.

[…]

“And I — so, I don’t trust Iran. And I have seen a lot — what I know, Chris, about what I’ve seen over certainly the last 10 years, if not the last 30, they are not a nation to be trusted.”

General, you may not trust Iran, but the President certainly does. He needs them to sign the equivalent of Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” agreement with Hitler so he can cement his legacy. John Kerry, who, as a Naval Reserve Officer, sat on the North Vietnamese side of the table in Paris in 1973, is working overtime to make that happen.

Obama said he wanted to remake America. He’s not just doing that, he’s remaking the world. And not in a good way.

SEE THE INTERVIEW FOR YOURSELF BELOW:

About the Author; Michael Becker

Michael Becker is a long time activist and a businessman. He’s been involved in the pro-life movement since 1976 and has been counseling addicts and ministering to prison inmates since 1980. Becker is a Curmudgeon. He has decades of experience as an operations executive in turnaround situations and in mortgage banking. He blogs regularly at The Right Curmudgeon, The Minority Report, Wizbang, Unified Patriots and Joe for America. He lives in Phoenix and is almost always armed.

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BREAKING: Top Iranian Official DEFECTS, Drops Bombshell About Barack Obama

Posted by Conservative Tribune

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://conservativetribune.com/iranian-official-defects-obama/

As the deadline for an agreement draws near, it is looking more and more like the proposed nuclear deal with Iran is a really bad deal.

Not that we didn’t already know this, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned about a bad deal, as has a majority of Congress.

But now comes confirmation of just how one-sided the negotiations have been, straight from a top Iranian official in Switzerland for the nuclear talks who has defected to the West.

“The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal,” said Amir Hossein Motaghi, exposing U.S. President Barack Obama’s seeming obsession with reaching any sort of deal with Iran.

Motaghi was a close media aide for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and was the head of his public relations team and social media efforts during his 2013 election campaign. But now, according to The U.K. Telegraph, Motaghi has sought asylum in Switzerland, denouncing both the government of his home country and the ongoing nuclear talks. Motaghi said that he quit his job with the Iran Students Correspondents Association, having become disillusioned with his job as a reporter due to the fact that he was only allowed to write about what he was told to write about.

“My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner any more,” said Motaghi, as he went on to reveal that a number of so-called “journalists” at the nuclear talks are only there to ensure that all news makes it back to Iran through the proper channels.

This man took a courageous step to expose the ongoing nuclear talks and can likely never return to Tehran, as he would probably be arrested and forgotten in prison. Hopefully, as more information surrounding the one-sided horribleness of the impending nuclear deal leaks out, it will prove too much.

It seems that the best possible outcome now would be for the talks to fall apart, dashing Obama’s hopes for his legacy moment — proclaiming peace in our time while Iran celebrates nukes in no time.

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Imperial President Obama Strikes Again – This Time it’s Dangerous to an Entire Nation

US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel’s Nuclear Program

Obama revenge for Netanyahu’s Congress talk? 1987 report on Israel’s top secret nuclear program released in unprecedented move.

By Ari Yashar, Matt Wanderman, First Publish: 3/25/2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193175#.VRXQ_Zt0xdf

: Dimona nuclear reactor circa 1960s National Security Archive/Flash 90

In a development that has largely been missed by mainstream media, the Pentagon early last month quietly declassified a Department of Defense top-secret document detailing Israel’s nuclear program, a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced to avoid a regional nuclear arms race, and which the US until now has respected by remaining silent. But by publishing the declassified document from 1987, the US reportedly breached the silent agreement to keep quiet on Israel’s nuclear powers for the first time ever, detailing the nuclear program in great depth.

The timing of the revelation is highly suspect, given that it came as tensions spiraled out of control between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama ahead of Netanyahu’s March 3 address in Congress, in which he warned against the dangers of Iran’s nuclear program and how the deal being formed on that program leaves the Islamic regime with nuclear breakout capabilities.

Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel’s sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document.

The 386-page report entitled “Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations” gives a detailed description of how Israel advanced its military technology and developed its nuclear infrastructure and research in the 1970s and 1980s.

Israel is “developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs. That is, codes which detail fission and fusion processes on a microscopic and macroscopic level,” reveals the report, stating that in the 1980s Israelis were reaching the ability to create bombs considered a thousand times more powerful than atom bombs.

The revelation marks a first in which the US published in a document a description of how Israel attained hydrogen bombs.

The report also notes research laboratories in Israel “are equivalent to our Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories,” the key labs in developing America’s nuclear arsenal.

Israel’s nuclear infrastructure is “an almost exact parallel of the capability currently existing at our National Laboratories,” it adds.

“As far as nuclear technology is concerned the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. was in the fission weapon field in about 1955 to 1960,” the report reveals, noting a time frame just after America tested its first hydrogen bomb. Institute for Defense Analysis, a federally funded agency operating under the Pentagon, penned the report back in 1987.

Aside from nuclear capabilities, the report revealed Israel at the time had “a totally integrated effort in systems development throughout the nation,” with electronic combat all in one “integrated system, not separated systems for the Army, Navy and Air Force.” It even acknowledged that in some cases, Israeli military technology “is more advanced than in the U.S.”

Declassifying the report comes at a sensitive timing as noted above, and given that the process to have it published was started three years ago, that timing is seen as having been the choice of the American government. US journalist Grant Smith petitioned to have the report published based on the Freedom of Information Act. Initially the Pentagon took its time answering, leading Smith to sue, and a District Court judge to order the Pentagon to respond to the request. Smith, who heads the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, reportedly said he thinks this is the first time the US government has officially confirmed that Israel is a nuclear power, a status that Israel has long been widely known to have despite being undeclared.

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U.S. Caves to Key Iranian Demands as Nuke Deal Comes Together

BY: Adam Kredo March 26, 2015 2:00 pm

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-caves-to-key-iranian-demands-as-nuke-deal-comes-together/

“Limited options for Congress as Obama seeks to bypass lawmakers”

LAUSSANE, Switzerland—The Obama administration is giving in to Iranian demands about the scope of its nuclear program as negotiators work to finalize a framework agreement in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the administration’s position in the negotiations. U.S. negotiators are said to have given up ground on demands that Iran be forced to disclose the full range of its nuclear activities at the outset of a nuclear deal, a concession experts say would gut the verification the Obama administration has vowed would stand as the crux of a deal with Iran.

Until recently, the Obama administration had maintained that it would guarantee oversight on Tehran’s program well into the future, and that it would take the necessary steps to ensure that oversight would be effective. The issue has now emerged as a key sticking point in the talks. Concern from sources familiar with U.S. concessions in the talks comes amid reports that Iran could be permitted to continue running nuclear centrifuges at an underground site once suspected of housing illicit activities. This type of concession would allow Iran to continue work related to its nuclear weapons program, even under the eye of international inspectors. If Iran removes inspectors—as it has in the past—it would be left with a nuclear infrastructure immune from a strike by Western forces.

“Once again, in the face of Iran’s intransigence, the U.S. is leading an effort to cave even more toward Iran—this time by whitewashing Tehran’s decades of lying about nuclear weapons work and current lack of cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy Agency],” said one Western source briefed on the talks but who was not permitted to speak on record.

With the White House pressing to finalize a deal, U.S. diplomats have moved further away from their demands that Iran be subjected to oversight over its nuclear infrastructure.

“Instead of ensuring that Iran answers all the outstanding questions about the past and current military dimensions of their nuclear work in order to obtain sanctions relief, the U.S. is now revising down what they need to do,” said the source. “That is a terrible mistake—if we don’t have a baseline to judge their past work, we can’t tell if they are cheating in the future, and if they won’t answer now, before getting rewarded, why would they come clean in the future?”

The United States is now willing to let Iran keep many of its most controversial military sites closed to inspectors until international sanctions pressure has been lifted, according to sources.

This scenario has been criticized by nuclear experts, including David Albright, founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security. Albright told Congress in November that “a prerequisite for any comprehensive agreement is for the IAEA to know when Iran sought nuclear weapons, how far it got, what types it sought to develop, and how and where it did this work.” … “The IAEA needs a good baseline of Iran’s military nuclear activities, including the manufacturing of equipment for the program and any weaponization related studies, equipment, and locations,” Albright said.

One policy expert familiar with the concessions told the Washington Free Beacon that it would be difficult for the administration to justify greater concessions given the centrality of this issue in the broader debate.

“The Obama administration has gone all-in on the importance of verification,” said the source, who asked for anonymity because the administration has been known to retaliate against critics in the policy community. “But without knowing what the Iranians have it’s impossible for the IAEA to verify that they’ve given it up.”

A lesser emphasis is also being placed on Iran coming clean about its past efforts to build nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic continues to stall United Nations efforts to determine the extent of its past weapons work, according to the Wall Street Journal.

By placing disclosure of Iran’s past military efforts on the back burner, the administration could harm the ability of outside inspectors to take full inventory of Iran’s nuclear know-how, according to sources familiar with the situation. It also could jeopardize efforts to keep Iran at least one year away from building a bomb, sources said.

On the diplomatic front, greater concessions are fueling fears among U.S. allies that Iran will emerge from the negations as a stronger regional power.

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Obama Accused of Obstructing Battle against Boko Haram to Promote Axelrod’s Nigerian Muslim Client

By James Simpson — March 24, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obama-accused-of-obstructing-battle-against-boko-haram-to-promote-axelrods-nigerian-muslim-client/

Exclusive to Accuracy in Media

When the notorious Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped 278 school girls from the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria last year, Michelle Obama began a Twitter hashtag campaign, #BringBackOurGirls. But behind the scenes, the Obama administration was undermining Nigeria’s efforts to take the battle to the terrorists. Obama refused to sell Nigeria arms and supplies critical to the fight, and stepped in to block other Western allies from doing so. The administration also denied Nigeria intelligence on Boko Haram from drones operating in the area. While Boko Haram was kidnapping school girls, the U.S. cut petroleum purchases from Nigeria to zero, plunging the nation’s economy into turmoil and raising concerns about its ability to fund its battle against the terrorists. Nigeria responded by cancelling a military training agreement between the two countries.

The Nigerian presidential election is coming up Saturday, March 28, 2015. AKPD, the political consulting group founded by Obama confidante David Axelrod, is assisting Retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim presidential candidate from Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram was spawned and wields the most influence. Buhari is well-known throughout the country, having led as “Head-of-State” following a military coup in 1983. He was dislodged following another coup in 1985.

Democracy is a recent phenomenon in Nigeria. With the exception of two short periods from its independence in 1960 to 1966, and the second republic from 1979 to 1983, the country was ruled by a string of military dictatorships between 1966 and 1999. Under the All Progressives Congress (APC) banner, Buhari is putting up a stiff challenge to the sitting president, Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan who hails from Nigeria’s Christian south. Buhari was also the North’s presidential candidate in the last election held in 2011.

Axelrod is credited as the force behind President Obama’s election victories in 2008 and 2012. He served as Obama’s Senior Advisor until 2011. A well-placed Nigerian interviewed for this report who asked to remain unidentified says that influential Nigerians within and outside the government believe Obama deliberately undermined the war effort and sabotaged the Nigerian economy to make President Jonathan appear weak and ineffectual, and thus bolster the electoral prospects for AKPD’s client, Buhari.

The prominent daily Nigerian Tribune cites an activist group, Move on Nigeria, complaining that the U.S. is fueling tension in Nigeria and has “continued to publicly magnify every challenge of the Nigerian government.”

An anti-Buhari Nigerian blogger writing in the Western Post went further:

In the last year, Nigeria sought aid from the White House for many initiatives, including the fight against Boko Haram. The Obama administration refused to do anything but play [sic] lip service to Nigeria’s requests. However, it used public and private channels to internationally magnify every failure Nigeria’s government experienced.

In the last year, since the involvement of Axelrod’s firm, relations between the two nations have significantly deteriorated, with the US refusing to sell arms to Nigeria, a significant reduction in the purchase of Nigeria’s oil, and the cancellation of a military training agreement between Nigeria and the USA. In turn, the Buhari-led Nigerian opposition used the U.S. government’s position as validation for their claim that the Nigerian government was a failure.

Nigerian officials seeking to purchase weapons, especially Cobra attack helicopters, were outraged at Obama’s refusal to allow these transactions. Nigeria’s ambassador to the U.S., Professor Adebowale Adefuye, stated publicly that:

The U.S. government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested.

We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly.

Another official quoted in the Nigerian newspaper ThisDay, stated:

The U.S. government has frustrated Nigeria all the way in our war against terrorism despite its public statements in support of Nigeria, as it fights the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east… They want us to fight Boko Haram with our arms tied to our backs.

They have blocked us from procuring the helicopters and would not provide us with intelligence despite the fact that they have several drones and sophisticated aircraft overflying the North-east of Nigeria from bases in Niger and Chad where the Boko Haram fighters and movements are clearly in their sights.

Retired Col. Abubakar Umar, a former military governor, concluded that the Americans “have decided to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Nigeria.” Former Head-of-State, Retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon publicly stated last November that America is no friend of Nigeria.

After exhausting all avenues, the Nigerian government finally turned to Russia, China and the black market to obtain needed arms, and as a result has gone aggressively on the offensive against Boko Haram, retaking some 40 towns occupied by the group and killing at least 500 terrorists. According to recent accounts, Boko Haram has gone to ground in the northeastern border regions. But whereas the border states of Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon formerly took a hands-off approach, they have now joined in the effort to destroy the group, pledging a total of 8,700 troops. Most recently, Boko Haram has been cleared of its northeastern strongholds in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

U.S. Excuses

The Obama administration has said it is barred from supplying weapons by the so-called Leahy Amendment which forbids foreign states that have committed “gross human rights violations” from receiving military aid. However this did not stop the U.S. from sending Special Forces to Uganda—another country accused of such violations—to assist in capturing Lord Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony. Nor did it prevent Obama from supporting al Qaeda-linked rebel groups in Libya, who later went on to attack the Benghazi mission, and have now joined ISIS. The Syrian “moderates” the administration claimed to back are also allegedly joining with ISIS. In fact, Obama supported the Islamic radicals who destabilized states throughout the Middle East, including Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and did little to prevent Iranian-backed Shiites from overthrowing Yemen—a key ally in the War on Terror. And despite claims that the U.S. “does not negotiate with terrorists,” the administration did so in secret with the Taliban for years, most notoriously over the release of Bowe Bergdahl.

The U.S. State Department is currently negotiating a deal that will enable Iran to obtain the bomb, and it just declared that Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, are not terrorists. The administration even claims Iran has been an ally in the War on Terror! Finally, Axelrod’s client, Buhari, has been accused of human rights abuses during his time as chief-of-state.

To top it off, Secretary of State John Kerry made a mockery of the administration’s pretext by hinting in January meetings with both Jonathan and Buhari that the Obama administration might allow weapon sales after the election. If the U.S. was so concerned about human rights violations, how could a mere election change that? Given the perception that Buhari has Obama’s implicit support, this sends an unmistakable message.

The administration also rationalized its decision to cut purchases of Nigerian oil by claiming that output from domestic oil fracking has reduced America’s dependence on foreign oil. But that begs the question: why have U.S. oil imports from other nations increased at the same time? Nigeria was formerly among America’s top five oil supplying countries, and America its largest customer. Nigeria relies on oil revenues for 70 percent of its budget. America’s decision to look elsewhere has been catastrophic for Nigeria’s economy.

A Deutsche Bank analyst noted that the decline in Nigeria’s oil sales to America “proceeded much faster than for the U.S.’ other major suppliers,” and concluded that singling Nigeria out this way had to be driven by politics.

Nigeria is not the only country where Obama is using oil as a foreign policy weapon. The U.S. has not renewed its 35-year-old agreement with Israel to provide emergency supplies of oil, despite booming U.S. oil production. The agreement expired in November 2014. At the time, the State Department claimed to be working on renewing the agreement, but has yet to do so.

U.S. Media AWOL

There is not a single article mentioning Axelrod’s assistance to Buhari in any U.S. “mainstream” media outlet. Only the Washington Free Beacon ran a story. A Google search of “New York Times, Nigeria, Axelrod,” found only one Times article titled Nigerian Soldiers Noticeably Absent in Town Taken from Boko Haram. There was no mention of Axelrod or his relationship to Nigeria’s Muslim candidate, Buhari. Rather, it criticized Nigeria’s participation in the recent multi-country effort to remove Boko Haram from its northeastern Nigerian holdouts, quoting Chadian foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who said, “The Nigerian Army has not succeeded in facing up to Boko Haram.”

There are however, many flattering articles about Axelrod, like the Times review of his book, Believer.

NBC News reported on the oil issue, quoting Peter Pham, the Atlantic Council’s director of its Africa Program, who characterized it as “a sea change in [Nigeria’s] relations with the United States, a sea change in its geopolitical position in the world.”

NBC also noted Nigerian ambassador Adefuye’s complaint about U.S. refusal to provide weapons to Nigeria, and how both issues impacted Nigeria’s ability to fight Boko Haram—but there was no mention of Axelrod’s assistance to Buhari.

Buhari Connected to Boko Haram?

Boko Haram is a virulently anti-Western Islamist movement. Its name, roughly translated, means “fake education is forbidden,” but in practice the term “fake” refers to Western education. It was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf, a Salafist preacher who created a school to provide an Islamic alternative to Westernized schools. Over time it became a recruiting tool for Boko Haram fighters. The group envisions creating an Islamic caliphate throughout Africa. Yusuf was killed by police in a 2009 uprising, and was replaced by Abubakar Shekau, who recently pledged the group’s alliance with ISIS. Let’s review just what kind of monsters these Boko Haram terrorists are:

Causing at least 9,000 and as many as 17,000 deaths since launching their insurgency in 2009. Another 1.5 million have been displaced;
Burning entire villages to the ground;
Beheading, torture and other forms of barbarity reminiscent of ISIS;
Massacring 2,000 civilian men, women and children in a single raid;
Deliberately targeting children for massacre;
Using young girls as suicide bombers. A January bombing wounded 18 and killed 20, including the 10-year-old female bomber, who was probably unaware she carried the device;
Kidnapping over 500 girls in the past 5 years, including 276 in the notorious Chibok private school raid. About 90 percent of the Chibok girls were Christians;
Separating captured Christian girls from others, where they are raped, sold into slavery, murdered, or forced to convert; and
Training young children to be soldiers.

Certain Buhari supporters such as Ango Abdullahi of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), have been accused of tacitly supporting Boko Haram, and Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has linked Buhari himself with the terrorists. The alleged connection however, is an open question. In 2013, Buhari protested a government crackdown on the group. In 2012, Boko Haram nominated Buhari as one of six mediators in negotiations with the government over a proposed ceasefire. In 2001, Buhari expressed his desire to see Nigeria ruled by Sharia law, saying:

I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria… God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country.

However, Boko Haram attempted to assassinate Buhari last year in a suicide bomb attack that killed 82. More recently, the group called both him and Jonathan “Infidels.” For his part, Buhari called the group “bigots masquerading as Muslims.” Buhari also ruthlessly suppressed a similar group, the Maitatsine, during his time as military head-of-state. Buhari’s vice-presidential running mate is a Pentecostal pastor from the south. Similarly, Jonathan picked a Muslim from the north as his number two.

But much violence has surrounded Buhari’s past efforts. Nigeria has a practice of alternating northern and southern rule called zoning. In the 2011 election, Jonathan was president, having ascended from the vice presidency in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adau, a northerner. Some Northern politicians believed that Buhari should have assumed the presidency in 2011.

Abdullahi and others, at that time, threatened violence if Buhari wasn’t elected. Buhari himself refused to condemn violence. This was universally interpreted as encouragement from Buhari. Within hours of Jonathan’s election—what was believed to be one of Nigeria’s historically fairest—Buhari’s Muslim supporters took to the streets, attacking Jonathan supporters with machetes and knives. Following Jonathan’s inauguration, Boko Haram launched a wave of bombings, killing and wounding dozens. An estimated 800 people died in the post-election violence in the Muslim north.

A prominent Nigerian deputy governor, Tele Ikuru, who recently abandoned the APC to join Jonathan’s PDP, called the APC “a party of rebels, insurgents and anarchists, clothed in the robes of pretence and deceit.”

Embarrassed by the kidnapping and the perceived association between Buhari’s supporters and Boko Haram, AKPD claimed that they discontinued work for Buhari in early 2014. However, The Washington Free Beacon has unearthed emails showing that they continued to quietly aid APC into at least January of this year.

Their campaign appears to have been successful. While Nigerian election polls are conflicting, the most recent one projects Buhari the winner by a wide margin. Not surprisingly, the reasons cited for Jonathan’s unpopularity include the perception that he is weak and ineffectual against Boko Haram, and that the economy is in a sorry state. Nigerians have taken to calling the president “Bad Luck” Jonathan.

Nigeria’s Critical Role and U.S. Policy Failures

Most Americans are unaware of the critical role Nigeria plays in African politics. In addition to being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria is also the continent’s most populous nation, with an estimated 162 million people, and is home to approximately 12.5 percent of the world’s total black population. Additionally, Nigerian Americans are very productive and well represented in the fields of medicine, sports, engineering, and academics. Annual remittances are $21 billion, with America providing the largest proportion. It is ironic at best that America’s so-called “first black president” is alienating such a nation, especially given its powerful influence throughout Africa.

Because of Obama, America is losing allies the world over. Despite his so-called outreach to “the Muslim world,” the few Muslim allies America has are calling him out. For example, observe the unprecedented spectacle of Arabs cheering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the U.S. Congress. Columnist Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj of the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Jazirah, called Obama “the worst president in American history.” The only Muslims Obama seems to like are those who hate America, and he is going out of his way to court them, come what may

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Anti-Marxist Counter-Revolution in Brazil

Posted by Cliff Kincaid, on 21 March, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://barbwire.com/2015/03/21/0650-anti-marxist-counter-revolution-in-brazil/

With the Middle East in turmoil and Russia’s Vladimir Putin threatening nuclear war, most of our media have missed a big story south of the border. President Barack Obama’s fellow Marxist, Dilma Rousseff, is coming under tremendous pressure to resign her presidency in Brazil. As many as three million Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to demand the impeachment of Rousseff, a former Marxist terrorist, and the end of the rule of the Brazilian Workers’ Party. Such a development would be a major blow to the anti-American left in Latin America, which has been operating since 1990 under the rubric of the São Paulo Forum, a pro-communist movement started by Rousseff’s predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, and Fidel Castro.

In a growing scandal, the treasurer of the ruling Workers’ Party has been charged with corruption and money laundering linked to the state-run oil company, Petrobras, a firm which has benefitted from U.S. taxpayer loans provided through the Export-Import Bank under Obama.

While Obama has attempted to stifle oil development and production in the United States, his administration officially launched an “ energy partnership” with Brazil in August of 2011. “We want to work with you. We want to help with technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers,” Obama told a group of Brazilian business leaders.

Some stories appearing in the Western press did note that as many as one million Brazilians turned out on Sunday to protest massive corruption linked to the Rousseff administration. One photo from the march showed a Brazilian waving a sign that said, “We won’t be another Venezuela,” a reference to another Marxist basket case of economic failure and corruption.

But sources contacted by Accuracy in Media say the turnout was far larger, with as many as three million Brazilians in the streets.

Alessandro Cota, a Brazilian who is currently a philosophy and political science researcher at the Inter-American Institute for Philosophy, Government, and Social Thought, told AIM, “This March 15 is certainly a new beginning for Brazil and probably the end of the dreams of all those who wanted to turn the largest country of Latin America into a socialist republic. After 12 years under the rule of the Brazilian Workers’ Party—8 years under President Lula (2003-2011), and 4 years under President Rousseff (who was re-elected last October for another four-year turn)—the Brazilian people, tired of waiting for opposition politicians to take action against the government, took the lead and decided to make history by themselves.”

Brazilian philosopher Olavo de Carvalho, President of the Inter-American Institute for Philosophy, Government, and Social Thought, said, “Never and nowhere has a government been so completely rejected by its own population. But it is more than that. It is not only the rejection of a government, or a President. It is the rejection of the whole system of power that has been created by the Workers’ Party, which includes intellectuals and opinion-makers in the big media. People are no longer afraid of going against the Workers’ Party. Brazilians realized that all the power that President Lula, President Rousseff, and their minions had was based on a bluff, and now they are calling it.”

In Brazil, Cota said, the actual turnout was three million people who made it clear that “they want President Rousseff and the Workers’ Party out.” The figure of one million people who took to the streets was from the city of Sao Paulo alone. He added, “It was the largest nationwide anti-government demonstration in the history of Brazil, and it happened just two days after the Workers Party’s allies organized their own ‘popular’ demonstration in support of President Rousseff.” He said the March 15 wave of protests was genuinely popular, a massive embodiment of the seven percent approval rating that Rousseff received only a few days ago. He said the March 15 demonstrations took place in 26 of the 27 Brazilian states and at least 160 cities, not to mention the anti-government protests that happened abroad.

By contrast, Cota said a pro-government demonstration was attended by a mix of card-carrying union members and people who got paid the equivalent of $10.

It appears that the Brazilian mainstream media have decided to deliberately play down the anti-regime sentiment. Cota said, “According to Datafolha, a local polling company linked to the leftist newspaper Folha de São Paulo, there were only 210 thousand people gathered on Avenida Paulista, the main thoroughfare of the city of São Paulo, a number that not only contradicted the official estimate of the State Police of São Paulo, but also the eyes of those who use them to see.”

The protests in Brazil are giving hope to those who see an opportunity to defeat Marxism in the Western hemisphere.

The pro-communist association called the São Paulo Forum was created in 1990, after the collapse of the Soviet Union led many to believe communism itself was on the wane. However, that was when Fidel Castro reached out to Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva of the Workers’ Party of Brazil, who would later become President of Brazil. An event was hosted in São Paulo, Brazil, bringing together what came to be known as the São Paulo Forum. The international movement included many different leftist groups, such as the communist narco-terrorists known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and communist and leftist parties in the region.

Incredibly, a report appeared which seemed to demonstrate a possible link between the Obama presidency and this leftist group.

On March 1, 2008, before U.S. presidential elections, Operation Phoenix was launched by Colombian special security forces just inside the Ecuadorian border. Raúl Reyes, second in command of the FARC, was killed. Documents found in Reyes’ computer after his death disclosed that “gringos” representing Obama wanted to meet with the FARC and that they were opposed to U.S. military aid for the Colombian government. Obama had been publicly critical of the Colombia government’s human rights record.

The Bush administration, using the services of the NSA, helped the Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe in its war with the Cuban-backed FARC by locating and killing terrorist leaders and decimating the organization. But Uribe’s successor, President Juan Manuel Santos, the former defense minister, suddenly opened up negotiations with the FARC in Havana and has recently suspended the bombing of FARC camps and bases. As a result, the Santos-led negotiations could enable the FARC to escape criminal charges and emerge in the political process in Colombia as a respectable opposition movement.

Supporters of Uribe accuse Santos of allowing “Castro-Chavism” in the country, a reference to the long-time Cuban dictator and former Marxist ruler of Venezuela. Although the members of the São Paulo Forum do not believe in democracy, the FARC seems to have learned the lesson that they have to disguise themselves as democratic forces in order to further their goals, as their armed struggle has not been successful.

Like Obama in the U.S., these Marxists work through the system and slowly dismantle democratic institutions and checks on their power.

On Saturday, March 21, at 1:00 p.m., the Washington Conclave for Democracy will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss freedom, democracy and free elections in Latin America. “The conference is aimed to expose fraud and deception in electoral processes in Latin America,” says organizer Dalmo Accorsini. The event is open to the press and the public and will feature several speakers with knowledge of the communist advance in the Western hemisphere, including in the U.S.

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Obama, Media Lied About Netanyahu and the Palestinian State

by Ben Shapiro, 20 Mar 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/20/obama-media-lied-about-netanyahu-and-the-palestinian-state/

AP Photo/Olivier Fitoussi

For the last several days, the entire Western media has run with a false story: the story that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer would, under any circumstances, endorse the possibility of a Palestinian state. Ha’aretz, a left-wing Israeli newspaper opposing Netanyahu, reported (LIED – JB) Netanyahu’s supposed comment with this headline: “Netanyahu: If I’m Elected, There Will Be No Palestinian State.” The rest of the media quickly followed. Days later, when Netanyahu said that he had never disavowed his prior support for the possibility of a Palestinian state – support he expressed in a speech at Bar Ilan University in 2009 – the media accused Netanyahu of flip-flopping. There is only one problem: Netanyahu never said that a Palestinian state was out of the question.

The interview in which Netanyahu expressed the much-misinterpreted remark took place with the conservative Israeli publication NRG. It also took place in Hebrew, a language virtually none of the members of the Western press read or speak; most simply took the Ha’aretz report and ran with it. Netanyahu was asked directly about whether his Bar-Ilan speech was “irrelevant.” Here is what Netanyahu actually said:

NETANYAHU: I think anyone who is going to build a Palestinian state today will be freeing up space to give an attack area to radical Islam against Israel. This is the reality created here in recent years. Anyone who ignores this sticks his head in the sand. The left does this, burying its head in the sand again and again. We are realistic and understand…

NRG: If you are elected head of state, no Palestinian state will come to fruition?

NETANYAHU: Indeed.

NRG: Construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank will renew?

NETANYAHU: We are continuing all the time, but that’s not a question about additional building. There is a real threat that the government of the left will join the international community and do their bidding….

Netanyahu continued by arguing that the left would buy into the “international initiatives to return to the 1967 borders and divide Jerusalem.” In other words, Netanyahu did not discount the possibility of a Palestinian state forever. He said that anyone who tries to build a Palestinian state “hayom” – “today” – would be giving territory to radical Islam. He even added that this was a reality created in recent years.

To read that as a wholesale rejection of a Palestinian state is to lie. Which is what Ha’aretz did. And the entire lazy and ridiculous world media followed. Netanyahu never flip-flopped, because Netanyahu never flipped.

And Netanyahu’s policy is the exact same as the policy of the man who created the Oslo Accords, Yitzchak Rabin, who said just one month before his assassination in 1995, “We view a permanent solution [involving] a Palestinian entity which is less than a state… We will not return to the June 4, 1967 lines… We committed ourselves before the Knesset not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth… And first and foremost in our concerns is a united Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty.”

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.

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Netanyahu Responds to Obama’s Criticism of His Speech to Congress

Posted by Sharona Schwartz, Mar. 4, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/04/netanyahu-responds-to-obamas-criticism-of-his-speech-to-congress/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he offered a “practical alternative” to the deal being negotiated over Iran’s nuclear program, after President Barack Obama criticized his address to Congress as containing “nothing new.” Obama said Netanyahu didn’t offer any “viable alternative” and that “as far as I can tell, there was nothing new” in the Tuesday speech.

“In my speech before the Congress, I presented a practical alternative,” Netanyahu said upon landing at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport. He said his alternative would impose tougher restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and delay how quickly the Islamic Republic could assemble a nuclear weapon.

: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. In a speech that stirred political intrigue in two countries, Netanyahu told Congress that negotiations underway between Iran and the U.S. would “all but guarantee” that Tehran will get nuclear weapons, a step that the world must avoid at all costs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The prime minister said that he had received positive responses from both sides of the aisle. “The response I received from both Democrats and Republicans was very supportive,” Netanyahu said. “I got the impression that they better understand that the current proposal would lead to a bad deal and that the alternative is a better deal.”

Netanyahu reiterated that he had pushed the six powers currently negotiating with Iran — Britain, China, France, Russia, Germany and the United States — to link easing sanctions to Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, not just to the nuclear issue. “I also called on the P5+1 to insist on a deal that would link the lifting of those restrictions to Iran’s ceasing its sponsorship of terrorism around the world, its aggression against its neighbors and its calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister’s office issued a string of tweets quoting Netanyahu, concluding with the greeting, “Happy Purim,” the holiday based on the experiences recounted in the Book of Esther where the Jewish people were saved from a genocidal Persian official. Netanyahu in his Tuesday address compared the biblical narrative to the existential threat Iran poses to Israel today.

After Netanyahu’s speech, Obama told reporters that “on the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives.”

Netanyahu told Congress Tuesday, “Now we’re being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That’s just not true. The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal,” the prime minister said.

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Netanyahu warns pending nuclear deal ‘paves Iran’s path to the bomb’

Published March 03, 2015, FoxNews.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/03/netanyahu-makes-case-against-iran-deal-in-address-to-congress/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a controversial speech before the U.S. Congress to appeal to President Obama to pull back on nuclear talks with Iran, warning the “bad deal” in the works “paves Iran’s path to the bomb” and could lead to a “potential nuclear nightmare.” The Israeli leader made his impassioned case Tuesday in a highly anticipated address in Washington. He claimed the potential deal would make two major concessions which would threaten the security of Israel and the region by retaining Iran’s ability to start up a nuclear weapons program.

“This is a bad deal. It’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader spoke as part of a high-profile push to make his case against the pending deal. He said the agreement in the works makes two major concessions. First, it would leave in place a “vast nuclear infrastructure,” since it wouldn’t require nuclear facilities to be destroyed — some centrifuges would be allowed to keep running, while others would merely be disconnected, he said.

Second, Netanyahu said the restrictions would “automatically expire” in about a decade. “It’s the blink of an eye in the life of a nation,” Netanyahu said. The deal, he said, “doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb. It paves Iran’s path to the bomb.” He reminded the audience of Iran’s deep history of funding terror and threatening Israel.

Countering the argument that the alternative to this deal is war, Netanyahu argued that the alternative is actually a “much better deal” — and suggested the U.S. has the leverage to achieve that.

The address was the centerpiece of a controversial visit that has fueled diplomatic tensions between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations — and political tensions on Capitol Hill. House Speaker John Boehner had invited the Israeli leader without involving Obama, which is considered a breach in protocol. Republican leaders defended the move, saying it’s important for Netanyahu to explain the threats posed by Iran and his concerns with the current nuclear talks. But dozens of Democrats sat out the Israeli leader’s speech. And Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice went so far in recent days as to call Netanyahu’s speech “destructive” to U.S.-Israeli ties — though administration officials have since toned down their characterization of his visit.

In his opening remarks, Netanyahu said he regrets some have perceived his visit as political. “That was never my intention,” he said. Despite the controversy, he received a standing ovation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and was interrupted roughly 40 times by applause.

Meanwhile, he urged the U.S. not to “be fooled” by Iran’s recent efforts to oppose the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a group the U.S. also is fighting. Netanyahu said those groups are “competing for the crown of militant Islam.” “When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy — is your enemy,” he said.

He also blasted the terms of the potential nuclear deal. He said Iran is notorious for playing a game of “hide and cheat” with inspectors. Both the Obama and Netanyahu administrations, as a matter of policy, agree that Iran must not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon. But the Israeli leader has concerns that the framework of the current diplomatic talks could lead to an ineffective deal.

Obama, speaking in an interview Monday night with Reuters on the eve of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, acknowledged the shared goal, then added Netanyahu “thinks that the best way to do that is either through doubling down on more sanctions or through military action, ensuring that Iran has absolutely no enrichment capabilities whatsoever.” He added, “there’s no good reason for us not to let the negotiations play themselves out.”

Obama has no plans to meet with the prime minister — though the White House insists this is out of a desire not to appear to be influencing upcoming Israeli elections. Netanyahu considers unacceptable any deal that does not entirely end Iran’s nuclear program. But Obama is willing to leave some nuclear activity intact, backed by safeguards that Iran is not trying to develop a weapon. Iran insists its program is solely for peaceful energy and medical research.

The address comes as Congress also weighs legislation that would trigger more sanctions against Iran if a diplomatic deal fails. Obama opposes that bill.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SEE FOX NEWS BROADCAST OF THE SPEECHBELOW:

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon

Suspicious Ties

Posted on March 3, 2015

URL of the original Posting Site: http://conservativebyte.com/2015/03/suspicious-ties/

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U.N. Official Admits Goal of Global Warming Scare is to Destroy Capitalism

Rodney Lee Conover — February 15, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://joeforamerica.com/2015/02/u-n-official-admits-goal-global-warming-scare-destroy-capitalism/

The global warming chicken little’s keep crowing their concern about the world heating up and how it’s all about man’s stewardship of the environment. But we know that’s all bull and finally, a United Nations official has now confirmed this.Also known as “the bottom line” for environmental activists, who are malcontents, perpetuating a lie ofHitlerian proportions. They want to control other people. They’re mentally unstable to want to limit freedom. The scam is beginning to fold:

U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres speaks during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2014.

Investor’s Business Daily reports on a news conference last week in Brussels, where Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said. Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”

Hmm.. “fundamental transformation“..? Sound familiar?

al-gore-polar-bears Got bad news for you Maoist wannabes – the only economic model that works well is Capitalism. Countries who have embraced free-market capitalism over the past 150 years have enjoyed a system in which output has increased 70-fold, work dayshave been halved and lifespans doubled.

But pesky facts don’t matter to facist control freaks. They want to tell you what to do, where to do it and when to wipe.

About the Author: Rodney Lee Conover

Rodney Lee Conover is a writer, producer and Senior Editor at JoeForAmerica.com

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ISIS poised to attack Christian towns

Posted By F. Michael Maloof On 02/12/2015

Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/isis-poised-to-attack-christian-towns/

WASHINGTON – Some 3,000 Sunni jihadist fighters have gathered in the Syrian Qalamoun mountains bordering eastern Lebanon, poised to attack a series of Christian towns in northern and central Lebanon. They appear to be preparing to undertake a pincer attack on the north around Tripoli and in the south from the Syrian Golan Heights, according to informed Middle East sources. As they appear to be surviving the harsh winter in the mountains for a possible series of attacks in the spring.

The sources say the fighters, comprised of ISIS and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, survived the harsh winter in the mountains to position themselves for a possible series of attacks in the spring. To keep open supply lines, the jihadists are conducting sporadic guerrilla attacks against the Lebanese army. Nusra and ISIS fighters generally have been fighting with one another, but in Lebanon there appears to be increasing coordination of their fighters, although their objectives are different, sources add.

According to Middle East analyst Mario Abou Zeid, elements of the Free Syrian Army, which has U.S. backing, also have begun to team up with Nusra fighters. “Free Syrian Army fighters had begun to lose hope of receiving any significant aid from foreign stakeholders,” Zeid said. “The well-supplied Nusra Front won the trust and loyalty of these fighters, which translated into cooperation in Qalamoun. There is a “new death triangle for ISIS,” Lebanese Interior Minister Mouhad al-Machnouq said recently, “stretching from the barren Lebanese lands of Arsal to the Palestinian Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp and Roumieh prison (in east Beirut), reaching Iraq and Raqqa,” the ISIS caliphate capital in Syria.

Arsal is where ISIS and Nusra began their foray last August inside northern Lebanon, taking hostages in the process, including numerous members of the Lebanese army. After the town of 35,000 residents exchanged hands a few times, Arsal has become a center of strict Islamic law imposed on its occupants.

The “death triangle” to which Machuouq referred, said Middle East economist Sami Nader, “suggests that Lebanon not only represents a strategic depth for Hezbollah and (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad’s regime, but also that ISIS is taking refuge within its borders to escape the international alliance’s airstrikes against it on the eastern front.”

For now, the Lebanese army has been thwarting numerous attacks in the surrounding towns in the north around Ras Baalbek, which is only about 25 miles from the historic Roman city of Baalbek, which has been a major tourist magnet. There have been periodic attacks around Baalbek and near Britel in areas controlled by the Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah but, to date, the Sunni jihadist attacks have been unsuccessful. Deep in Shia-controlled territory, Baalbek, where settlements are believed to go back 9,000 years, has withstood centuries of attacks from barbarians, the Greeks and the Romans. The city once was given as a gift by the Roman general Marcus Antonius – Marc Antony – to his lover, Egyptian queen Cleopatra, as a birthday gift.

ISIS ‘stepping stones’

Ras Baalbek, in the northern part of the Bekaa Valley, is in a Christian region of the country. Nusra and ISIS seek to target it as a stepping stone to such other ancient Christian towns in central Bekaa as Zahle, Firzel, Ablah and Drous (see map). lebanon-christians

“(Jihadist fighters) are under pressure in the ongoing battle in Syria; in retaliation they may attack the Bekaa, but I assure you they will not be able to do more than hit and run operations,” one Lebanese source told WND. “The army is ready alongside the resistance (Hezbollah),” he said. “We will prevail, the takfiris (foreign fighters) will not prevail. God does not allow the takfiri to prevail.”

In the predominantly Christian region, Islamist fighters have threatened to attack churches and the Christians themselves. In response, the residents are taking up arms. “If Hezbollah did not exist, it would have been necessary to create it,” said Albert Mansour, a former government minister who is a resident of Ras Baalbek. “The party’s existence makes the people – including Sunnis, Shiites and Christians of the region – feel safe in the face of this strange formation,” referring to the presence of the Sunni jihadist fighters. According to Esperance Ghanem, however, such attacks would give the militants “both field and moral gains. The field aspect is related to how close these villages are to the international road connecting Beirut to Damascus,” Ghanem said.

Called the Al-Sham, or Damascus road, Ghanem said it is of strategic importance to supply lines to Syria and is a “vital crossing connecting the northern Bekaa to central and western Bekaa, where some Christian villages are located.”

Threatening supply route

Middle East expert Jean Aziz said the Damascus-to-Beirut road would cut the supply route between Hezbollah and the Syrian army and also represent a serious threat to the Syrian capital of Damascus itself. “The accomplishment of this would be highly dangerous for Hezbollah and thus cannot be taken lightly,” Aziz said.

Ghanem said it also connects the southern Bekaa region around Arkoub near the Syrian town of Beit Jinn, which remains under the control of the militants and an entry point from which the militants could try to get through to Arkoub. “This goal cannot be achieved unless the militants invest in the moral gains they are aiming to accomplish in the even that their plan in Ras Baalbek had worked and they had succeeded in displacing its residents as well as the residents of other regions by spreading fear across the Christian villages of the central and western Bekaa, guaranteeing there would be no resistance,” Ghanem said. To date, the Lebanese army has thwarted the plan by blunting their push into Tallet al-Hamra, even though the militants are expected to continue their probing attacks.

Nevertheless, Aziz said the Israeli-Syrian border area constitutes a natural geographical extension to the southwest of the Lebanese-Israeli border area. “Any gains by Sunni militant groups opposed to Hezbollah in this area would become a new front for Hezbollah in south Lebanon,” Aziz said. “It would also constitute something of a siege, as Hezbollah would be stuck between Israeli forces on the southern border of Lebanon and armed groups to the east along the border with Syria,” he said. “For Hezbollah, such a scenario would be unacceptable and impossible to endure” since, as Aziz said, “reports alleging cooperation between Israel and Jabhat al-Nusra makes this especially troubling for the organization.”

Aziz was referring to a third area where Lebanon becomes vulnerable, namely in the south opposite the Syrian Golan Heights. He said that area in the three-border area of Lebanon, Syria and Israel is symbolic for Hezbollah and Iran, where Israel on Jan. 18 fired on and killed a group of Hezbollah and Iranian personnel in the Syrian Golan, which has become an area of concern to Hezbollah and Iran. The Hezbollah member leading the group was Jihad Imad Mughniyah, the 25-year-old son of Imad Mughniyah, who was the senior Hezbollah military commander assassinated by Israel and, as reports now reveal, the Central Intelligence Agency on Feb. 12, 2008.

In addition to Jihad Mughniyah, there were five other Hezbollah personnel and Iranian Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, whom sources say was the depty for Syrian operations to Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israel claims they were planning an attack on the northern part of the country. However, other sources tell WND that the Israelis knew the Hezbollah/Iranian group was planning an attack on Nusra fighters who occupy the area. In turn, this led to the charge that Israel is working with Nusra. “Some Israeli media outlets have further revealed direct cooperation between the militants and the Israeli army,” Aziz said, “and other media outlets have reported about the lack of animosity between the Israeli state and Jabhat al-Nusra, which represents al-Qaida in Syria, as well as Israeli reports about direct contacts with the Syrian opposition and mutual reassurances.”

Nusra’s positioning in the Syrian Golan is not only seen as threatening Hezbollah’s presence at that strategic location to ward off any southern invasion of Lebanon from the jihadists. But it is a strategic location for the Iranian-proxy group against Israel to its north.

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Iranian forces advance toward Israel

Posted By Aaron Klein On 02/11/2015

Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/iranian-forces-advance-toward-israel/

TEL AVIV – Iranian officers working with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization are fighting their way closer to Israel’s northern border with Syria and could soon be in control of the Syrian side of the armistice line. A government source from Syria’s Ministry of Information confirmed to WND a report Tuesday from a U.K.-based human rights organization which stated Hezbollah and Iranian forces were leading a counterinsurgency targeting rebel strongholds in Quneitra, just on the other side of Israel’s border with Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Hezbollah-Iran axis is also leading battles against Islamist insurgents in Daraa, at the Jordan-Israel border and along the southwest of Damascus province.

WND last month was first to report that according to Mideast defense officials, Hezbollah and Iran were planning an imminent counterinsurgency against rebel-held positions inside and near the Syrian sections of the Golan Heights aimed at taking the strategic border territory. Now the source from Syria’s Information Ministry has confirmed to WND that “dozens” of Iranian officers are leading the battle with both strategy and field tactics. The source said Iranian forces are giving instructions to both the Syrian army and Hezbollah, who are carrying out the attacks.

“The operation started two days ago and is very big,” Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said Tuesday. “Regime troops and their Hezbollah-led allies are advancing in the area linking Daraa, Quneitra and Damascus provinces,” the group stated.

On Wednesday, Syrian television for the first time reportedly recognized the contribution of Iranian forces to the counterinsurgency. “The operation launched by the Syrian army is being fought in cooperation with … Hezbollah and Iran,” a Syrian army officer told state television, Agence France-Presse reported.

Israel has been on alert and anticipating retaliation after an Israeli official took the unusual step of recognizing his country was responsible for a strike last month a Hezbollah convoy near the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. The attack killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammed Allahdadi as well as a Hezbollah commander and the son of the group’s late military leader, Imad Muughniyeh. Hezbollah said six of its members died in the strike.

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Jordan Moves ‘Thousands’ of Troops to Iraq Border: Jordanian Sources

Researched and Posted By Moufaq Khatib

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/jordan-moves-thousands-troops-iraq-border-jordanian-sources-n303441

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has deployed “thousands” of troops at its border with Iraq as it ramps up a campaign against ISIS militants who set a pilot ablaze, two Jordanian government officials told NBC News on Tuesday. The troops were sent to prevent the infiltration of ISIS fighters into Jordan and as a show of force, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan’s King Abdullah last week threatened to make ISIS pay for the death of Muath al-Kasasbeh’s after video of the military pilot’s murder emerged. He vowed to wage a “harsh” war against ISIS “because this terrorist organization is not only fighting us, but also fighting Islam and its pure values.” Abdullah also pledged to hit ISIS militants “hard in the very center of their strongholds.”

While there are pockets of ISIS support across the Iraqi border, Jordan’s deployment appeared to be “an intensification of ongoing efforts to secure the border to stop movement of men and weapons” and not the precursor to an incursion, according to Matthew Henman, an analyst at Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in London. “It underlines a robust response on the part of government and the king in response to the killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh,” he added. The kingdom has unleashed up to 20 missions per day by Jordanian jets targeting the militant group’s positions in Syria.

“We are determined to wipe them [ISIS] from the face of the Earth,” Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Jobour told NBC News on Sunday, citing the need for “revenge” after al-Kasabeh’s killing.

COMPARE JORDAN’S RESPONSE TO ISLAMIC STATE TO

Jordan is part of a U.S.-led military alliance that has been bombing ISIS targets in Syria for nearly five months. The Sunni militants have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria since last summer.

About the Author: Moufaq Khatib

Moufaq Khatib is a producer based in Amman, Jordan.

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It was an ISLAMIC terror attack, dammit: Three things we must do now.

Written by Allen West on January 8, 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://allenbwest.com/2015/01/islamic-terror-attack-dammit-three-things-must-now/

Yesterday morning I awoke to a nightmare: a brutal savage Islamic terrorist attack in Paris, France. We have now come to the point where tolerance has become a one-way street leading to cultural suicide.

It was the French who came to the aid of a young America and it was the French who gave us the gift of Lady Liberty. Sadly, it was the French who found themselves on the 21st century battlefield as liberty was assaulted — our venerable freedom of speech and the press, as well as expression. We have allowed the enemy into our home and refuse to acknowledge it. Our own president, Barack Hussein Obama has said “the future shall not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam” and “let me be clear, ISIS is not Islamic.”

So once again, we are forced to acquiesce to a vile theocratic-political totalitarian ideology that does not conform to the concept of “coexistence.” In the case of this latest attack — the assailants were born in France. Somehow, they never embraced the ideal of liberty and freedom. Somehow, they decided to be parasitic invaders who fed off the host until a time when they deemed it was time to attack. And over time we have allowed the invading parasite to fester in its own communities all to our detriment — under the guise of “multiculturalism.”

The real question is, what shall we do in response?

First of all we need to acknowledge this Islamist enemy — our own White House referred to this attack as “violence.” Only after French President Hollande stated it was a terrorist attack, did the White House refer to it as the same. However, President Obama just cannot bring himself to say Islamist, jihadist, Islamic terrorism — nothing. It is still this Obama administration which classifies the Islamic jihadist attack at Ft. Hood Texas, and the barbaric beheading of an American woman in Moore Oklahoma, both as “workplace violence.” If we cannot even admit who this enemy is — especially given that they freely admit the fact — then the Islamo-fascists and terrorists are indeed winning. They are censoring us and instilling fear. Why did it take President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to even say the word?
And we have cultural jihadist apologists who buy into this perverted and warped sense of political correctness and condemn those who call Islamists out. I refuse to, and will not call this “radical” Islam. It is what it is, and that is islam — pure and simple, and without any type of reformation bringing this belief system into the 21st century we will continue to confront the problem. The system of “nakeesh” (abrogation) means the latter and more violent verses of the Koran supersede the previous — meaning these jihadist actions are justified within their doctrine — their playbook.

I applaud the hashtag campaign saying “We are all Charlie” – oh, just like the hashtag campaign to free the girls taken by Boko Haram, remember that one? I’m glad there are signs in Paris stating, “Not Afraid” — but I have had friends already telling me news editors are telling them to not do anything to upset Muslims. Yes, they win.
We cannot continue to make our culture and values subservient in some ill-advised “can’t we all just get along”
moment. We welcome those from other countries, but Western civilization values have promoted individual freedoms and liberties. Instead we have those who tell us that we must accommodate them — while there is no reciprocation. I just have to ask, why is it that Mecca is “off limits” to “kafirs?” How is it that in the 21st century we have an entire city that is ruled verboten to those not belonging to a certain belief? Who can embrace a belief system and ideology that shoots a young girl in the head just because she wants an education — and where are all those feminist voices – but that is a topic for another day.

How can it be that we are allowing Sharia law practices into our culture, which is something totally antithetical to our fundamental core beliefs? Again, we bow down before the false god of multiculturalism, which has now become a cancerous premise and has enabled values which conflict with the basics of freedom to be made superior. We are accepting subjugation and subservience.

Yes, Western civilization is superior, and there’s nothing for which we should be ashamed. We must begin to win the information and propaganda war and stop redefining evil just to make ourselves feel better — actually wishing away the problem because we prefer to dismiss its existence.
We must begin to reconsider who is allowed into our countries. We don’t have to roll out the welcome mat to everyone — especially those from areas which are breeding grounds for Islamic terrorist activity. We must begin to cordon off Islamo-fascism. We also must take a stand against those within our countries who embrace and support this jihadism and not provide an umbrella of protection. Proselytization that advances concepts contrary to that of a Constitutional Republic is not free speech, it is sedition.
I was criticized by stating that imams, clerics, and mullahs residing in this country who are found to be preaching jihad should be removed from this country. Why did I say that? Because they are fomenting the type of action that occurred in Paris. Even Egyptian President al-Sisi called out the imams — but then again, the cultural jihadist apologists would rather attack me or others instead of those who would slay them, as happened in Paris.

The Muslim community must come to realize it has a responsibility and the collective patience of Western civilization grows thinner with each of these incidents — at least from those who love freedom and liberty and refuse to surrender. We must accept the reality of this enemy and make a decision sooner rather than later to vanquish it. And yes, that means developing a strategy for victory.

I’m just waiting for those who will say, “this is what can happen and perhaps it was deserved.” Do the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Copts deserve what they are getting? Are we now accepting crucifixions of Christians and the massacre of children at a school in Pakistan?

It is time we shrink the global footprint of Islamic jihadism.

It is time we unite and make the stand to say no more. It is time we say we reserve the right to criticize and editorialize against those we wish. We cannot cower in fear because of a cartoon caricature of a 7th century figure. We cannot allow anyone to define the limits and constraints on our freedoms and liberties. If so, then we pass onto our subsequent generations something that shines a lot less bright than the gift which we were given.

Islamic blasphemy laws? Give me a break.

There is a moment in time relating to this Paris Islamic terror attack which we must seize upon — before the news cycle moves on to something else. We are going to have to decide whether our liberties are worth the fight.

And in closing — a study of Islamic history of conquest will show this is no perversion of the faith, just a following.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Doctors Euthanize 650 Babies Under Assisted Suicide Law in the Netherlands

by Sarah Zagorski | Amsterdam, Netherlands | LifeNews.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.lifenews.com/2015/01/02/doctors-euthanize-650-babies-under-assisted-suicide-law-in-the-netherlands/

In 2013, 650 babies died under Holland’s assisted suicide law because their parents or doctors deemed their suffering too difficult to bear.

Thankfully, according to Breitbart News, these statistics have caused some supporters of the legislation to question their reasoning. Dutch Ethicist, Theo Boer, used to believe that “slippery slope” arguments were invalid and argued in support of assisted suicide legislation; but now he has a very different view.

He said, “I used to be a supporter of legislation. But now, with twelve years of experience, I take a different view. At the very least, wait for an honest and intellectually satisfying analysis of the reasons behind the explosive increase in the numbers. Is it because the law should have had better safeguards? Or is it because the mere existence of such a law is an invitation to see assisted suicide and euthanasia as a normality instead of a last resort? Before those questions are answered, don’t go there. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is not likely to ever go back in again.”

Meanwhile, a recent article in the Daily Mail highlights the problem with our society’s growing acceptance of assisted suicide.

In the article, the author starts by sharing the story of Andre Verhoeven, a man who chose to end his own life through lethal injection in the Netherlands. Andre was a schoolteacher and had plans to retire and travel the world with his wife, Dora. However, at the age of 65, he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia, a cancer of the blood. Currently, there is no cure for this horrific disease and because of the complications, Andre became paralyzed from the neck down.

His daughter, Bregje, said, “His end was so peaceful. Once my father had decided on euthanasia, he was relieved. He was looking forward to the date he would die. In the last few days he was able to say goodbye to his family, his friends, to talk about old times.” This story is definitely heart wrenching but stories like this are fairly commonplace in discussions concerning assisted suicide. When we think of someone who chooses to commit suicide, we think of terminal patients like Andre who simply don’t want to suffer anymore. But what many people are unaware of is that assisted suicide advocates promote the euthanasia and suicide of non-terminal patients.

For example, the author of the Daily Mail article, Sue Reid, also shares the story of a woman whose assisted suicide choice paints a fuller picture of what’s going on in some parts of Europe.

She writes “In Holland I also spoke to the family of a 47-year-old woman with tinnitus, a persistent ringing in the ears, who ended her life last March with the help of an ‘Life End’ clinic. Gaby Olthuis, a divorcee, was a brilliant clarinet player, but said she suffered ‘24-hour noise’ in her head, ‘like a train screeching or someone scratching their nails on a chalk board’. She explained: ‘I look healthy from the outside, but inside I am being tortured.’

To end her suffering, she was given a lethal potion to drink by one of the clinic’s doctors at her home. Shockingly, she left behind two teenagers, a boy of 13 and girl of 15. Her mother Joan explained: ‘Gaby told the children that she was planning to die, she was in pain and there was no cure for her. The euthanasia was agreed by doctors and she said her goodbyes and had time to organize her memorial service. She died a month later. Of course the children miss her badly, but they understand her decision.” So in other words, Gaby legally killed herself because of persistent ringing in her ears. Now, we shouldn’t make light of her suffering, but most people would agree that this is absolutely outrageous.

In Holland, mentally ill patients are dying as well. In 2013, 42 psychiatric patients died through euthanasia, which is three times as many that died in 2012. Some of these patients chose to end their own lives but for others, their family members made the choice.

In the National Review, Wesley J. Smith, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism said we should “stop pretending assisted suicide is about terminal illness and admit it is much more about disability–which is why the disability rights movement remains so opposed as they are the primary targets. It is about allowing killing as an acceptable answer to many causes of suffering, whether terminal or chronic disease, disability, mental illness, or existential despair.”

Here’s the unavoidable problem with assisted suicide legislation: today, we’re legally killing the terminally ill and the sick but assisted suicide laws won’t stop there, instead they will open Pandora’s box to all sorts of “justifiable” killing.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Al-Shabaab Intel Head Killed in Drone Strike

Posted by Amy Miller, Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at 5:45pm

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/12/al-shabaab-intel-head-killed-in-drone-strike/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29

al shabaab

Al-Shabaab intelligence head Abdishakur Tahliil was killed during a targeted December 29 airstrike conducted by U.S. forces just outside of the Somali city of Saakow. The mission was conducted by unmanned aircraft and used Hellfire missiles to “microtarget” Tahliil’s vehicle.

Bloomberg reports:

The U.S. Defense Department in a statement today confirmed that Abdishakur Tahliil was killed Dec. 29 near Somalia’s southern town of Saakow by unmanned aircraft that fired several Hellfire missiles at a vehicle carrying him. Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, which reported the killing yesterday, said two other senior officials of the group also died in the attack.

Tahliil “was responsible for al-Shabaab’s external operations,” according to the Pentagon statement. “His death will significantly impact al-Shabaab’s ability to conduct attacks against the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Somali people, and U.S. allies and interests in the region.”

One of the most difficult aspects of battling groups like ISIS or al-Shabaab is that they’re hard to root out once they’ve gone to ground; this makes Tahliil’s death even more significant—and strategically beneficial.

Tahliil, as mentioned above, handled all of al-Shabaab’s “external operations.” According to a report by the BBC, Tahliil had just replaced the group’s former intel officer after that man was arrested earlier this week. This strategy—causing chaos within the upper ranks—has been used before. Military and African Union officials knew that when a U.S. drone strike took out former al-Shabaab figurehead and spiritual leader Ahmed Godane back in September, that his death would be the catalyst of yet another internal power struggle.

Reuters adds:

Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency said on Tuesday that Abdishakur was head of al Shabaab’s Amniyat unit, which was believed to be responsible for several suicide attacks in Mogadishu.

Officials have said Abdishakur and another al Shabaab militant were killed in the attack. They have said there were no civilian casualties in the air strike.

…

A U.S. security official described Abdishakur as a “key operational figure” and a “senior leader” whose death would be a significant blow to the group. But the official said it was difficult to estimate what the long-term impact would be.

Another U.S. official noted that despite several deaths among al Shabaab’s leadership, the group has remained “resilient.”

The same theory rings true here, and if history is any indication, it will work just as well. The unnamed security official in the above quote is correct: Al-Shabaab defines the world “resiliant”—but it has faced setbacks, and the arrest of their former intel head is not insignificant. The group has now lost their second intel head in less than a week, which means that, unless they’re operating under a highly organized and rigid hierarchy, their ground game is going to suffer (or at least pause) until a new leader is chosen.

The African Union’s coalition ground forces aren’t perfect, but they did chase the insurgents out of Mogadishu, putting al-Shabaab on the run. If they can harness control of this brief reprieve, then perhaps they can encourage the devolution of al-Shabaab and at the same time at least hit pause on Somalia’s decades-long death spiral.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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THE CRUSADES: A Direct Response To Islam’s Bloodlust

Written by Audrey Russo on November 9, 2014

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://clashdaily.com/2014/11/crusades-direct-response-islams-bloodlust/

: Image: http://joshuanidercrusade.wikispaces.com/What+were+the+Causes+of+the +Crusades%3F

Most of us infidels in the West have been lied to. Trusting the education system, foolishly, we believed all the bunk bundled into our textbooks concerning the period in history (1096 AD -1272 AD) when the Crusades took place…they left out an itty bitty piece of info…This will be great for all your “enlightened” friends…

The real reason WHY the Crusades took place…and here’s the shocker: It was a response to Islam’s aggression!

That’s right…it all began with Muhammad’s implicit threat more than 450 years before the Crusaders entered Jerusalem. He said: “embrace Islam and you will be safe.” (Muhammad’s extortion letter to the Khaibar Jews)

Some facts for your ill-informed friends/family/colleagues:

The Crusades were a delayed response for CENTURIES of Muslim aggression, that grew ever fiercer in the 11th Century. The Muslims focused on Christians and Jews…forcing conversions, plundering and mortally wounding apostates.
The Crusades were a DEFENSIVE action, first called for by Pope Urban II in 1095 at the Council of Clermont.
The Crusades were a response against Jihad, which is obligatory against non-Muslims entering “Muslim lands’”. (Muslim lands are any lands invaded and conquered by Islam.)
The motives of the Crusaders were pure. They were jihad-provoked and not imperialistic actions against a “peaceful”, native Muslim population. The Crusades were NOT for profit, but rather to recover the Holy Land brutally invaded and conquered by Muslims…who conquered for profit and as a notch on their superiority belt.
The lands conquered by the Crusaders were NOT colonized under the Byzantine Empire. The Empire withdrew its support so the Crusaders renounced their agreement.

The Islamic world ripped through the Christian world on a bloody Jihad crusade to propagate Islam. Muslim imperialistic conquest wars were launched for more than 1,500 years against hundreds of nations and over millions of square miles (larger than the British Empire at its peak). The Jihad crusade went from southern France to the Philippines, from Austria to Nigeria, and from central Asia to New Guinea.

The dictionary defines imperialism as “the policy and practice of seeking to dominate the economic and political affairs of weaker countries.” This historical Islamic Jihad WAS imperialistic…and its goals remain the same.

Islam’s greed and lust for bloody domination of non-Muslims and their property CAUSED the Crusades…it doesn’t get simpler than that!

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Researchers Question Obama’s Claim That North Korea Hacked Sony

by Edwin Mora 27 Dec 2014

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/12/27/researchers-question-obamas-claim-that-north-korea-hacked-sony/

The-Interview-Movie-Poster

Evidence released by the Obama administration pointing to North Korea as the culprit behind the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment is hardly conclusive, a number of private security researchers told The New York Times.

Last week, both President Obama and the FBI accused North Korea of hacking Sony’s computer systems.

Obama said he would take action, pledging a “proportional response” a few hours before North Korea’s Internet went offline.

North Korea denies any involvement in the Sony hack, called Obama “a monkey” and accused the U.S. of shutting down its Internet.

Breitbart News reports that “computational linguists at Taia Global, a group of cyber security consultants, performed a linguistic analysis of online messages from the Guardians of Peace, and concluded that, based on translation errors and phrasing, the group is more likely Russian than Korean.”

The Obama administration alleges that the cyberattack against Sony was in retaliation for “The Interview,” a comedy film depicting a satirical plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korea’s leader.

“Security researchers remain skeptical, with some even likening the government’s claims to those of the Bush administration in the build-up to the Iraq war,” reports The New York Times.

The article adds:

“Fueling their suspicions is the fact that the government based its findings, in large part, on evidence that it will not release, citing the ‘need to protect sensitive sources and methods.’ The government has never publicly acknowledged doing so, but the National Security Agency has begun a major effort to penetrate North Korean computer networks.”

Security researchers suggest more proof is necessary to make a conclusive determination on who was behind the cyberattack.

“Essentially, we are being left in a position where we are expected to just take agency promises at face value,” Marc Rogers, a security researcher at CloudFlare, a top mobile security company, wrote in a Dec. 24 post for The Daily Beast. “In the current climate, that is a big ask.”

“Mr. Rogers, who doubles as the director of security operations for DefCon, an annual hacker convention, and others like Bruce Schneier, a prominent cryptographer and blogger, have been mining the meager evidence that has been publicly circulated, and argue that it is hardly conclusive,” notes the Times.

The article points out that some private security researchers do support the government’s claims.

“CrowdStrike, a California security firm that has been tracking the same group that attacked Sony since 2006, believes they are located in North Korea and have been hacking targets in South Korea for years,” reports the Times.

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Is Russian Economy Rushing to Disaster?

Posted by Casey Breznick Friday, December 26, 2014

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/12/is-russian-economy-rushing-to-disaster/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29

Plummeting oil prices and Western sanctions have severely wounded the Russian Bear

[Featured Image: CBS Video]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 1998.

Back in 1998, there was a resurgent US economy while Europe, Japan, and emerging markets floundered. The dollar strengthened and oil prices plummeted. We also had an embattled second-term Democratic president with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress.

But most reminiscent of all is what is going on with Russia. In August of 1998, Russia defaulted on its government debts after a crushing devaluation of the ruble. The 1998 Russian Financial Crisis was caused by both external shocks—the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and plummeting oil prices—and domestic woes.

Quite similarly, the ruble has halved in value this year (the worst performing currency of the year), due to the plummet in oil prices. Oil and gas account for half of the Russian state’s budget and 70% of the country’s exports.

Now, with oil nowhere in sight of returning to $100+ highs, the country’s ability to repay foreign debts is coming under serious doubt. Standard & Poor’s recently said there is a 50% chance it would downgrade Russian bonds to “junk” status. Even Peru and Botswana have higher credit ratings than that.

Last week the Russian Central Bank hiked its baseline rate to a whopping 17% in order to restore confidence in the Russian economy. However, the drastic move has been to no avail, as ruble sellers continue to outnumber buyers. But as history has shown, the Russian Bear, especially under the auspices of strong leaders, doesn’t go down without a fight. The Russian government has already plowed through $96 billion of its foreign exchange and gold reserves in (failed) efforts to prop up the ruble, according to Business Insider. This leaves about $414 left, but The Economist doubts how much is liquid and readily available—apparently, $170 billion is wrapped up in two big wealth funds, making them “inaccessible” in the short-term.

Instead of wasting its reserves in the trench warfare of the forex markets, the Russian government might just turn to bailing out its domestic banks and energy companies that need US dollars to pay back debts. Indeed, the whole bind on Russia right now, as was the case in 1998, is that significant portions of their debts are denominated in US dollars, meaning they must be paid back in US dollars. That is why the Russian Central Bank can’t “print its way out” of this mess, because only the Federal Reserve can print US dollars.

Business Insider reports that Russia has $100 billion worth of foreign debt due next year, and $600 billion in total. Only $38 billion of Russian government debt is denominated in US dollars, and only $6 billion is of that is due in 2015. So, it seems the Russian government can stave off default in 2015. As for Russian companies, that’s another story.

According to a CNBC report, which cites a Wells Fargo report, Russian companies have $160 billion in debt due to overseas subsidiaries and parent companies, and Russian banks have $200 billion in external debt. “Other sectors” have $300 billion. The report is unclear whether these figures are dollar-denominated debts, but some other reports suggest they are.

Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company and the largest publicly traded oil producer, recently paid $7 billion in US dollar debt, and stated it has enough dollars to meet future debt payments. With $20 billion in cash, and $19.5 billion debt payments coming due, Rosneft can survive if it remains very financially prudent. However, Rosneft’s ability to meet the recent debt payments was courtesy of the Russian Central Bank, which basically printed $10.8 billion worth of rubles to specifically inject into the company. That is not exactly confidence-inspiring.

What would a Russian default n 2015 or 2016 mean for everyone outside of Russia? Pundits and analysts are divided: some predict doom, others are not so worried.

The 1998 default took down Long-Term Capital Management, a rock-star hedge fund that had two Nobel Prize-winning economists on its board, because of its exposure to Russian bonds. It also took a beating to US equity markets. But aside from that, there was no widespread, systemic catastrophe.

Today, it generally seems no Western banks or hedge funds are highly exposed to Russian debt, but reverberations of a likely Russian recession (to occur next year regardless of a default) could spell trouble for US companies that do a lot of business in that country. With falling oil prices and revenues and growing debts and deficits, it looks like Russia will be seeing a lot of red once again.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Journalist Embedded with ISIS: They’re ‘More Dangerous than People Realize’

Posted 7:21 am, December 22, 2014, by CNN

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://whotv.com/2014/12/22/journalist-embedded-with-isis-theyre-more-dangerous-than-people-realize/

Juergen Todenhoefer’s journey was a tough one: dangerous, but also eye-opening. The author traveled deep into ISIS territory — the area they now call their “caliphate” — visiting Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria, as well as Mosul in Iraq.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was taken by ISIS in a Blitzkrieg-like sweep in June.

Todenhoefer managed to visit the Mosque there where the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, gave his only ever public address.

And he saw the realities of daily life under ISIS, with all shops having to close for prayers in the middle of the day.

“There is an awful sense of normalcy in Mosul,” Todenhoefer said in an exclusive interview with CNN.

“130,000 Christians have been evicted from the city, the Shia have fled, many people have been murdered and yet the city is functioning and people actually like the stability that the Islamic State has brought them.”

Nonetheless, he also says there is an air of fear among residents: “Of course many of the them are quite scared, because the punishment for breaking the Islamic State’s strict rules is very severe.”

According to ISIS’s leadership, the group’s fighters managed to take Mosul with only about 300 men, even though more than 20,000 Iraqi army soldiers were stationed there when the attack was launched.

Todenhoefer spoke with several ISIS fighters who took part in the operation.

“It took us about four days to take Mosul,” a young fighter told him.

“So you were only about 300 men and you defeated 20 000 troops in four days?” Todenhoefer asked.

“Well, we didn’t attack them all at once, we hit their front lines hard, also using suicide attacks. Then the others fled very quickly,” the fighter explained. “We fight for Allah, they fight for money and other things that they do not really believe in.”

Glow in their eyes

Todenhoefer told CNN the enthusiasm the ISIS militants showed was one thing that stood out.

“When we stayed at their recruitment house, there were 50 new fighters who came every day,” Todenhoefer said. “And I just could not believe the glow in their eyes. They felt like they were coming to a promised land, like they were fighting for the right thing.’

“These are not stupid people. One of the people we met had just finished his law degree, he had great job offers, but he turned them down to go and fight … We met fighters from Europe and the United States. One of them was from New Jersey. Can you imagine a man from New Jersey traveling to fight for the Islamic State?”

He went on to say that one of ISIS’s main points of strength is their fighters’ willingness — even their will — to die on the battlefield.

Todenhoefer met one somewhat overweight recruit in a “safe house” who said he wears a suicide belt to every battle because he is too chubby to run away if he is cornered and would choose to blow himself up, rather than be captured.

ISIS also has a track record of abusing, torturing and executing prisoners of war. Todenhoefer was briefly able to speak to a Kurdish captive while in Mosul. The captive claimed he had not been tortured, but Todenhoefer said he found that hard to believe.

“This was a broken man,” Todenhoefer said. “It was very sad to see a person in this state. He was just very weak and very afraid of his captors.”

Todenhoefer conducted the interview with the prisoner while several ISIS fighters stood guard. He asked the man whether he knew what would happen to him.

“I do not know,” the captive told him. “My family does not even know I am still alive. I hope that maybe there will be some sort of prisoner exchange.”

Child ISIS fighters

Todenhoefer was also taken to see child soldiers outfitted with Islamic State gear and brandishing AK-47s. One of the boys seemed very young but claimed he had already gone to battle for ISIS.

“How old are you?” Todenhoefer asked.

“I am 13 years old,” the boy replied — though he looked even younger than that.

One of the most remarkable episodes of Todenhoefer’s trip to the ISIS-controlled region came when he was able to conduct an interview with a German fighter who spoke on behalf of ISIS’s leadership.

The man — clearly unapologetic about the group’s transgressions — vowed there was more to come; he also issued a warning to Europe and the United States.

“So you also want to come to Europe?” Todenhoefer asked him.

“No, we will conquer Europe one day,” the man said. “It is not a question of if we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen. But it is certain … For us, there is no such thing as borders. There are only front lines.’

“Our expansion will be perpetual … And the Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons. And those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed.”

Todenhoefer asked the fighter about their treatment of other religions, especially Shia Muslims.

“What about the 150 million Shia, what if they refuse to convert?” Todenhoefer asked.

“150 million, 200 million or 500 million, it does not matter to us,” the fighter answered. “We will kill them all.”

Beheadings

The interview became testy when they reached the topic of beheadings and enslavement, especially of female captives.

“So do you seriously think that beheadings and enslavement actually signal progress for humanity?” Todenhoefer asked.

“Slavery absolutely signals progress,” the man said. “Only ignorant people believe that there is no slavery among the Christians and the Jews. Of course there are woman who are forced into prostitution under the worst circumstances.’

“I would say that slavery is a great help to us and we will continue to have slavery and beheadings, it is part of our religion … many slaves have converted to Islam and have then been freed.”

The ISIS spokesman blamed the beheading of captured Western journalists and aid workers on the policies of the United States.

“People should really think about the case of James Foley,” he said. “He did not get killed because we started the battle. He got killed because of the ignorance of his government that did not give him any help.”

Even with recent gains by Kurdish forces against ISIS in Northern Iraq, Todenhoefer sees the extremist group as entrenched, building state institutions, and that it shows no sign of losing its grip in the main areas it controls in Iraq and Syria.

“I think the Islamic State is a lot more dangerous than Western leaders realize,” he said. “They believe in what they are fighting for and are preparing the largest religious cleansing campaign the world has ever seen.”

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IAF strikes Gaza in response to rocket fire

Yoav Zitun, Elior Levy Published: 12.20.14,

Israel News

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4605646,00.html

Air force jets attack Hamas training facility in Khan Yunis in retaliation for rocket fired at Israel earlier Friday; attack marks first IAF strike in Gaza since military op.

The Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas training facility in the area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday night in retaliation for a rocket fired at southern Israel earlier in the day. The attack marks the first time Israel carried out an air strike in the Gaza Strip since Operation Protective Edge ended in August. No injuries were reported.

The IDF spokesperson issued a statement confirming that the IAF hit “terrorist infrastructure” belonging to Hamas’s military wing in the southern Gaza Strip.

: The rocket that was launched into Israel on Friday. (Photo: Roee Idan)

A direct hit was detected, the statement said, adding that the “attack constituted a response to the steep trajectory rocket fire towards Israeli territory at the noon time hours.”

Earlier Friday, a Code Red siren was heard shortly before noon in the Eshkol Regional Council, an Israeli community close to the Israel Gaza border, and was soon followed by blasts, residents reported – indicating that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel.

IDF forces canvassing the area found the rocket in an open area, and no injuries or damage were reported. This is the third time a Gaza rocket has landed on the Israeli side of the border since the end of Israel and Hamas’ 50-day summer war.

The head of the Eshkol Regional Council Haim Yellin warned residents that a diplomatic approach must be taken to restore quiet in southern Israel in a remark after the code red alert this morning, “Whoever thinks that a strong IDF response is the solution for quiet in the Gaza border communities does not understand that wars are decided by politicians, who with courage can bring peace and security. After Operation Protective Edge, the country had an opportunity to establish a long-term arrangement. Instead of this, we found ourselves with a ticking clock until the next escalation and war.”

Ilan Yosef, from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz located in the Eshkol Regional Council, said the alarm was sounded on the first day of a visit by Jewish-American parents visiting their children who had volunteered to serve in the IDF and were residing in the kibbutz.

: Rocket launched into Israel from Gaza found in Eshkol Regional Council. (Photo: Roee Idan)

“It caused us to jump on our feet, we ran to the shelter. We have American guests who came to visit their children who live with us as part of the Garin Tzabar program. They just arrived today to spend time with their children and we already found ourselves running to the shelter. It was very frightening and not pleasant but we did not hear an explosion and we did not receive any updates regarding a landing,” said Yosef.

Other residents of the Gaza border communities described the ongoing tension that has persisted after the deadly summer war with Hamas: “We knew it and we were waiting for this,” said Roni. “We are returning to the path. We knew it was only temporarily quiet.”

Anat Hefetz, a resident of Eshkol and member of the Future of the Western Negev organization, said, “Ever since the war ended, we have been waiting for the next war. It was known ahead of time. For four months already nothing has been done to prevent this.”

: IDF soldiers locate site where rocket fell in Eshkol Regional Council. (Photo: Roee Idan)

According to Hefetz, “The war ended – as if – but nothing was done to change the reality. No initiative was taken. We left the area on the other side to be controlled by Hamas. We also feel this as residents. There are always infiltrations, attempts to shoot rockets and false alarms. It does not surprise us.”

In early November another Code Red siren, indicating an incomng rocket from Gaza, was sounded duing morning hours in Israel’s Gaza-border communities. The rocket fell a few meters into Israeli territory inside the Eshkol Regional Council. A few days later, shots were fired towards the Erez border crossing, according to an initial report.

Earlier Friday, Ynet learned that Hamas has begun to renew tunnel construction within Gaza and shifted its military strategy.

According to Palestinian sources in the Strip who spoke to Ynet, after Israel allowed the flow of limited goods and materials into Gaza, a black market for mortar emerged – allowing Hamas to renew construction of concrete slabs used to line the inside of the tunnels.

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Reports: ISIS cashes in on human organ trafficking

Posted By Bob Unruh On 12/18/2014

Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com

URL to the Original Posting Site: http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/reports-isis-cashes-in-on-human-organ-trafficking/

While the terror army ISIS is making millions of dollars a day through its oil sales, it also is profiting from trafficking in human organs, according to a number of reports that have raised the issue in recent months.

Even while the reports concede firm figures are practically impossible to corroborate, the Iranian news source Al-Alam said the chief of forensic pathology at Damascus University told the Syrian al-Watan that there have been more than 18,000 organ trafficking cases in the northern part of Syrian in recent years.

The report from Hossain Noufel said many of the victims are children.

“Syrian people … are now dealing with organ traffickers who are slicing off their own share from the unfortunate Syrian families,” the report said.

And according to BioEdge, which monitors bioethics developments around the world, a physician from Mosul told the publication Al-Monitor that large-scale organ-harvesting is taking place in local hospitals and that ISIS “was reaping significant profits from the scheme.”

The BioEdge report said the doctor, Siruwan Al-Mosuli, reported physicians were being hired to perform rapid organ removal operations from “recently deceased jihadis or captives.”

They are then “swiftly” moved to local or foreign buyers, the report said.

The BioEdge report said the doctor reported ISIS even has a specialized force that deals with organ trafficking.

The report said allegations of human organ trafficking are not uncommon in “bitter conflicts” such as the ISIS aggression in Syria and Iraq, and a number of other sources corroborate the claims.

It cited the Al-Alam report and another at Vocativ.com.

Al-Monitor reported ISIS funding includes revenue from “oil and human trafficking mafias.”

“According to sources in Mosul, the money supplied internally is allocated to local and foreign fighters, to encourage them to join up and continue fighting. IS took control of Mosul in June and then expanded in August to control large swaths of the country,” the report said.

“Residents of Mosul say that the sale of oil extracted from wells controlled by the organization in both Iraq and Syria has provided a sustained source of funding. The organization also opened trade canals through Kurdish [territories in] Iraq and Turkey, with the help of Kurdish, Turkish and Iranian traders.”

It said other income is from “protection fees” as well as even more nefarious schemes, such as organ trafficking.

Said the report: “The third funding source was exposed by otolaryngologist Siruwan al-Mosuli. He said that lately he noticed unusual movement within medical facilities in Mosul. Arab and foreign surgeons were hired, but prohibited from mixing with local doctors. Information then leaked about organ selling. Surgeries take place within a hospital and organs are quickly transported through networks specialized in trafficking human organs. Mosuli said that the organs come from fallen fighters who were quickly transported to the hospital, injured people who were abandoned or individuals who were kidnapped.”

Al-Monitor continued: “He said that organ sales yield large profits. A specialized mafia is engaged in these operations, in addition to medical institutions working in other countries. Without coordination among these parties, such a trade cannot be sustained, he said. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the organization sells bodies and organs of injured people they arrest.”

At Al-Alam, Noufel said traffickers find easy pickings because refugee camps are not supervised by the United Nations.

He said the cases extended not just to human organ trafficking but also human trafficking, with tens of thousands of cases reported over the last 36 months and “schools and hospitals have been a common target for the militant groups.”

Vocativ.com said the organ “donations” sometimes even are voluntary.

The reported cited the case of “Mohammed,” a 21-year-old living in Lebanon who sold a kidney for $5,000 cash on the black market.

“I was in need of money,” he told the agency.

According to the report: “‘When I first arrived in Lebanon I sold vegetables on the street, but the money was not enough to survive,’ Mohammed says, short of breath and wincing with nearly every word. ‘If I was lucky, I would make $70 a week. Then my cousin told me that he sold his kidney for $5,000, so I asked him to introduce me to these people.’”

The report said it was “Abu Jamil” who contacted the young man. Jamil, the report said, “sells cocaine, hashish and, more recently, human kidneys.”

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International Politics, Islamic Alert

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Does this explain Obama’s deal with Cuba?

Posted By Aaron Klein On 12/17/2014

Article republished from WND: http://www.wnd.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/does-this-explain-obamas-deal-with-cuba/

TEL AVIV – While outspoken critics view President Obama’s announcement of renewed diplomatic ties with Havana as rewarding a dictatorship, the White House move may have more to do with checking Russia’s growing influence in Cuba, located just 90 miles from the U.S. coast.

On Wednesday, Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba, including the goal of reopening a U.S. Embassy in Havana that had been closed for 50 years. The U.S. will ease travel restrictions on Cuba and will make it easier for Americans doing business in the country. The State Department has been ordered to review Cuba’s status as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Russia responded to the U.S. move with public praise. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called Obama’s decision a “step in the right direction.” However, the Russians must be concerned Obama is responding to Moscow’s recent muscle-flexing in Cuba.

In July, the London Guardian reported Russia had quietly struck a deal with Cuba to reopen the Lourdes military base, a Soviet-era spy base and military facility that was the USSR’s largest foreign base during the Cold War. The Soviets reportedly used the base to intercept American radio and telephone communications. Some have seen the base’s reopening as largely symbolic, since spy methods now rely more on satellites and technology that can be deployed from anywhere. The Guardian quoted Moscow-based defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer downplaying the reopening of the base as a “PR move” to show Washington the “middle finger.” Still, he allowed the base could be utilized for corporate espionage, explaining “because when individuals chatter they’re not always so attentive of secure lines.”

Robert Jervis, professor of international politics at Columbia University, warned Russia could use the base to provide information to communist allies such as Venezuela and Bolivia.

There is no mistaking the base reopening combined with other recent Russian moves toward Cuba pose a challenge to the U.S. It may in part help explain why, as part of the new rapprochement, Obama is eager to open a U.S. embassy on Cuban soil. The facility will clearly help establish a U.S. presence to check Russia in the country.

In August, Putin paid a visit to Cuba, where the Russian strongman reportedly forgave 90 percent of Cuba’s unpaid Soviet-era debts, which totaled $32 billion. He also reportedly signed industry, energy and trade deals with Cuba that includes a search for oil in Cuban waters. Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at Princeton University, saw Putin’s trip to Cuba as “a reply to Obama’s notion that Russia could be isolated, by saying, ‘Hey, here we are back 90 miles off your shore with a big greeting, and we’re going back into economic business here.’” According to media reports, Putin utilized a Latin American tour in August to sign numerous military agreements to place Russian global positioning stations in not only Cuba but also Argentina and Brazil.

In February 2013, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev reportedly signed a deal with Cuba to lease eight Russian jets.

In a move undoubtedly watched closely by the Pentagon, in April 2013 Russian Military Chief of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov reportedly toured key Cuban military and intelligence site. Four months later, a spokesman for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet told reporters the fleet’s flagship, the Russian guided-missile warship Moskva, would tour the coast of Cuba and Central and South American ports. In February, it was reported another Russian warship, the Viktor Leonov CCB-175, had docked in Cuba.

With additional research by Joshua Klein.

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Life Lessons

Many of life’s lessons are the hardest to comprehend. The human experience is to ignore them, or try to minimize them. It never works.

The following documentary is one of those tough life lesson. Though it is very hard to look at, and harder still to think about, it is imperative that we accept the lesson so we can have a part in fighting the good fight to see that this life lesson is not repeated.

Jerry Broussard of WhatDidYouSay.org

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lBFyNC2xitU

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBFyNC2xitU

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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10 Signs That Russia Is Preparing To Fight (And Win) A Nuclear War With The United States

by Michael Snyder | End Of The American Dream | November 25, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://www.infowars.com/10-signs-that-russia-is-preparing-to-fight-and-win-a-nuclear-war-with-the-united-states/

“If the United States and Russia fought a nuclear war, who would win? You might be surprised by the answer”

If the United States and Russia fought a nuclear war, who would win? You might be surprised by the answer. Under the Obama administration, the rapidly aging U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal has been shrinking. Meanwhile, the Russians have been developing an entirely new generation of bombers, submarines and missiles that have the capability of delivering an absolutely crippling first strike. At this point, most Americans consider a full-scale nuclear war to be inconceivable. But in Russia attitudes are completely different. To the Russians, the United States is enemy number one these days and the Russians are feverishly preparing for a potential military showdown. Of course the Russians don’t actually want to have to resort to nuclear war. Such an event would be an unspeakable horror for the entire globe. But if one does happen, the Russians want to make sure that they are the ones that come out on top.

A lot of Americans are still operating under the faulty assumption that the doctrine of “mutually assured destruction” still applies. The thinking was that both sides had so many nuclear missiles that a launch by one side would guarantee the destruction of both parties.

But since that time, so much has changed.

For one, the U.S. nuclear arsenal is far, far smaller than it was back then. Back in 1967, the U.S. military possessed more than 31,000 strategic nuclear warheads. Now, we only have 1,642 deployed, and that number is scheduled to be further reduced to about 1,500.

Sadly, reducing the size of our nuclear arsenal by close to 95 percent is not enough for anti-nuke crusader Barack Obama. He has spoken of unilaterally reducing the size of our strategic nuclear arsenal down to just 300 warheads.

During this same time period, the Russians have been developing some very impressive stealth delivery systems which have the capability of hitting targets inside the United States within just minutes of an order being issued. This is particularly true of their submarine-launched missiles. The newest Russian subs have the ability to approach our coastlines without us even knowing that they are there. If the Russians came to the conclusion that war with the United States was unavoidable, an overwhelming first strike using submarine-based missiles could potentially take out nearly our entire arsenal before we even knew what hit us. And if the Russians have an anti-ballistic missile system that can intercept the limited number of rockets that we can launch in return, they may be able to escape relatively unscathed.

In order for “mutually assured destruction” to work, we have to see the Russian missiles coming and have enough time to order a launch of our own. Thank to emerging technologies, the balance of power has fundamentally shifted. The old way of thinking simply does not apply anymore and the Russians understand this.

The following are 10 signs that Russia is preparing to fight (and win) a nuclear war with the United States…

#1 Russia is spending an enormous amount of money to develop the PAK DA Strategic Bomber. Not a lot is known about this stealth bomber at this time. The following summary of what we do know comes from an Australian news source…

Russia’s answer to the B-2 “Spirit”, this next-generation strategic bomber is intended to be almost invisible to radar and capable of carrying a huge array of conventional and nuclear missiles. Little else is known other than its expected service date: 2025.

#2 Russian nuclear bombers have been regularly buzzing areas in northern Europe and along the coast of Alaska. The Russians appear to be brazenly testing NATO defenses. Here is just one recent example…

Russian strategic nuclear bombers carried out air defense zone incursions near Alaska and across Northern Europe this week in the latest nuclear saber rattling by Moscow.

Six Russian aircraft, including two Bear H nuclear bombers, two MiG-31 fighter jets and two IL-78 refueling tankers were intercepted by F-22 fighters on Wednesday west and north of Alaska in air defense identification zones, said Navy Capt. Jeff A. Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. Two other Bears were intercepted by Canadian jets on Thursday.

#3 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says that Russian nuclear bombers will now conduct regular patrols “in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico“.

#4 Russia is constructing an anti-ballistic missile system which will supposedly be superior to anything that the U.S. currently has…

Currently under development, the S-500 missile is intended to be capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles when combined with radar input from the likes of the new A-100 AWACS aircraft. It is supposed to be able to track and shoot at up to 10 supersonic targets at any one time at heights of up to 40km.

#5 Russia recently successfully test launched a new submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missile…

A Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarine on Wednesday fired a test intercontinental missile from the Barents Sea to the country’s far eastern Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

“Within the frameworks of testing the reliability of marine strategic nuclear forces, the Tula [nuclear submarine] launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea to the Kura Range [in Kamchatka],” the statement says.

The RSM-54 intercontinental ballistic missile Sineva (NATO code name SS-N-23 Skiff) is part of the D-9RM launch system.

The D-9RM launch system equipped with RSM-54 missiles was put into service in 1986. The production of the RSM-54 was halted in 1996 but after three years, the Russian government resumed the production of a modernized version of the missile.

#6 Russia already possesses super silent nuclear attack submarines that are virtually undetectable when submerged. In a previous article, I discussed how the U.S. Navy refers to these virtually undetectable subs as “black holes“…

Did you know that Russia is building submarines that are so quiet that the U.S. military cannot detect them? These “black hole” submarines can freely approach the coastlines of the United States without fear of being detected whenever they want. In fact, a “nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles” sailed around in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks without being detected back in 2012. And now Russia is launching a new class of subs that have “advanced stealth technology”. The U.S. Navy openly acknowledges that they cannot track these subs when they are submerged. That means that the Russians are able to sail right up to our coastlines and launch nukes whenever they want.

#7 Russian media outlets are reporting that 60 percent of all Russian nuclear missiles will have radar-evading capability by 2016…

Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to complete the rearmament of Strategic Missile Forces within six years. “By 2016, the share of new missile systems will reach nearly 60%, and by 2021 their share will increase to 98%. At the same time the troop and weapon command systems, combat equipment will be qualitatively improved, first of all — their capabilities for the suppression of antimissile defense will be built up,” Defense Ministry’s RVSN spokesman Colonel Igor Yegorov told ITAR-TASS on Friday.

#8 For the first time ever, Russia has more strategic nuclear warheads deployed than the United States does…

For the first time, Russia, which is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear modernization, has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States, according to the latest numbers released by the State Department.

Russia now has 1,643 warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. The United States has 1,642, said the fact sheet released Wednesday.

The warhead count for the Russians, based the Sept. 1 report required under the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), shows an increase of 131 warheads since the last declaration on March 1. The U.S. reported a warhead increase of 57 during the same period. It is not clear why the warhead numbers increased.

#9 Russia has a massive advantage over the United States and NATO when it comes to tactical nuclear weapons…

As for tactical nuclear weapons, the superiority of modern-day Russia over NATO is even stronger.

The Americans are well aware of this. They were convinced before that Russia would never rise again. Now it’s too late.

To date, NATO countries have only 260 tactical nuclear weapons in the ETO. The United States has 200 bombs with a total capacity of 18 megatons. They are located on six air bases in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey. France has 60 more atomic bombs. That is pretty much it. Russia, according to conservative estimates, has 5,000 pieces of different classes of TNW – from Iskander warheads to torpedo, aerial and artillery warheads! The US has 300 tactical B-61 bombs on its own territory, but this does not change the situation against the backdrop of such imbalance.

#10 Russian President Vladimir Putin has initiated a huge “weapons modernization program” that is projected to cost the equivalent of 540 billion dollars…

Putin said Russia’s weapons modernization program for 2016-2025 should focus on building a new array of offensive weapons to provide a “guaranteed nuclear deterrent;” re-arming strategic and long-range aviation; creating an aerospace defense system and developing high-precision conventional weapons.

He would not elaborate on prospective weapons, but he and other officials have repeatedly boasted about new Russian nuclear missiles’ capability to penetrate any prospective missile shield.

The Kremlin has bolstered defense spending in the past few years under an ambitious weapons modernization program that runs through 2020 and costs the equivalent of $540 billion.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have been investing heavily in this kind of technology as well.

In fact, just the other day the Chinese successfully tested a new submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile…

China’s JL-2 second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, which has the ability to reach the continental USA, is already believed to be deployable by the People’s Liberation Army, reports Huanqiu, the Chinese-language website of the nationalistic Global Times tabloid.

The Julang-2 — literally “Giant Wave 2″ — has reached a preliminary level of proficiency, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in its report to US Congress on Nov. 20.

Most Americans do not believe that any of this is a concern whatsoever.

Most Americans just assume that a full-scale nuclear war is virtually impossible.

But the truth is that a successful first strike against the United States is more possible today than it ever has been before. Hopefully the American people will wake up to this reality before it is too late.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Exclusive: Cornered but unbound by nuclear pact, Israel reconsiders military action against Iran

By MICHAEL WILNER \ 11/22/2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://www.jpost.com/International/Exclusive-Cornered-but-unbound-by-nuclear-pact-Israel-reconsiders-military-action-against-Iran-382541

“Israeli official cites “sunset clause” in proposed comprehensive deal, which guarantees Iran a path into the nuclear club and may corner Israel into war”.

: Israel Air Force planes fly over Tel Aviv. . (photo credit:IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

WASHINGTON – Historic negotiations with Iran will reach an inflection point on Monday, as world powers seek to clinch a comprehensive deal that will, to their satisfaction, end concerns over the nature of its vast, decade-old nuclear program.

But reflecting on the deal under discussion with The Jerusalem Post on the eve of the deadline, Israel has issued a stark, public warning to its allies with a clear argument: Current proposals guarantee the perpetuation of a crisis, backing Israel into a corner from which military force against Iran provides the only logical exit.

The deal on the table

World powers have presented Iran with an accord that would restrict its nuclear program for roughly ten years and cap its ability to produce fissile material for a weapon during that time to a minimum nine-month additional period, from the current three months.

Should Tehran agree, the deal may rely on Russia to convert Iran’s current uranium stockpile into fuel rods for peaceful use. The proposal would also include an inspection regime that would attempt to follow the program’s entire supply chain, from the mining of raw material to the syphoning of that material to various nuclear facilities across Iran.

Israel’s leaders believe the best of a worst-case scenario, should that deal be reached, is for inspections to go perfectly and for Iran to choose to abide by the deal for the entire decade-long period.

But “our intelligence agencies are not perfect,” an Israeli official said. “We did not know for years about Natanz and Qom. And inspection regimes are certainly not perfect. They weren’t in the case in North Korea, and it isn’t the case now – Iran’s been giving the IAEA the run around for years about its past activities.”

“What’s going to happen with that?” the official continued. “Are they going to sweep that under the rug if there’s a deal?”

On Saturday afternoon, reports from Vienna suggested the P5+1 – the US, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany – are willing to stop short of demanding full disclosure of any secret weapon work by Tehran.

Speaking to the Post, a senior US official rejected concern over limited surveillance capabilities, during or after a deal.

“If we can conclude a comprehensive agreement, we will have significantly more ability to detect covert facilities – even after its duration is over – than we do today,” the senior US official said. “After the duration of the agreement, the most intrusive inspections will continue: the Additional Protocol – which encompasses very intrusive transparency, and which Iran has already said it will implement – will continue.”

But compounding Israel’s fears, the proposal Jerusalem has seen shows that mass dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure – including the destruction, and not the mere warehousing, of its parts – is no longer on the table in Vienna.

“Iran’s not being asked to dismantle the nuclear infrastructure,” the Israeli official said, having seen the proposal before the weekend. “Right now what they’re talking about is something very different. They’re talking about Ayatollah Khamenei allowing the P5+1 to save face.”

Officials in the Netanyahu government are satisfied that their ideas and concerns have been given a fair hearing by their American counterparts. They praise the US for granting Israel unprecedented visibility into the process.

But while those discussions may have affected the talks at the margins, large gaps – on whether to grant Iran the right to enrich uranium, or allow it to keep much of its infrastructure – have remained largely unaddressed.

“It’s like the chemical weapons deal in Syria,” the official said. “They didn’t just say: Here, let’s get rid of the stockpile and the weapons, but we will leave all the plants and assembly lines.”

‘Sunset clause’

Yet, more than any single enforcement standard or cap included in the deal, Israel believes the Achilles’ heel of the proposed agreement is its definitive end date – the sunset clause.

“You’ve not dismantled the infrastructure, you’ve basically tried to put limits that you think are going to be monitored by inspectors and intelligence,” said the official, “and then after this period of time, Iran is basically free to do whatever it wants.”

The Obama administration also rejects this claim. By e-mail, the senior US administration official said that, “‘following successful implementation of the final step of the comprehensive solution for its duration, the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT – with an emphasis on non-nuclear weapon.”

“That has in no way changed,” the American official continued, quoting the interim Joint Plan of Action reached last year.

But the treatment of Iran as any other signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty –189 countries are members, including Iran – would allow Tehran to ultimately acquire “an industrial-sized capability,” the Israelis say. “The breakout times [to a nuclear weapon] will be effectively zero.”

Israel and world powers seek to maximize the amount of time they would have to identify non-compliance from a nuclear deal, should Iran choose to defy its tenets and build a bomb.

But in the deal under discussion in Vienna, Iran would be able to comply with international standards for a decade and, from Israel’s perspective, then walk, not sneak, into the nuclear club.

“You’ve not only created a deal that leaves Iran as a threshold nuclear power today, because they have the capability to break out quickly if they wanted to,” the Israeli official contended. “But you’ve also legitimized Iran as a military nuclear power in the future.”

From the moment this deal is clinched, Israel fears it will guarantee Iran as a military nuclear power. There will be no off ramp, because Iran’s reentry into the international community will be fixed, a fait accompli, by the very powers trying to contain it.

“The statement that says we’ve prevented them from having a nuclear weapon is not a true statement,” the Israeli official continued. “What you’ve said is, you’re going to put restrictions on Iran for a given number of years, after which there will be no restrictions and no sanctions. That’s the deal that’s on the table.”

Revisiting the use of force

Without an exit ramp, Israel insists its hands will not be tied by an agreement reached this week, this month or next, should it contain a clause that ultimately normalizes Iran’s home-grown enrichment program.

On the surface, its leadership dismisses fears that Israel will be punished or delegitimized if it disrupts an historic, international deal on the nuclear program with unilateral military action against its infrastructure.

By framing the deal as fundamentally flawed, regardless of its enforcement, Israel is telling the world that it will not wait to see whether inspectors do their jobs as ordered.

“Ten, fifteen years in the life of a politician is a long time,” the Israeli said, in a vague swipe against the political directors now scrambling in Vienna. “In the life of a nation, it’s nothing.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened the use of force against Iran several times since 2009, even seeking authorization from his cabinet in 2011. Iran’s program has since grown in size and scope.

According to his aides, the prime minister’s preference is not war, but the continuation of a tight sanctions regime on Iran’s economy coupled with a credible threat of military force. Netanyahu believes more time under duress would have led to an acceptable deal. But that opportunity, in his mind, may now be lost.

Whether Israel still has the ability to strike Iran, without American assistance, is an open question. Quoted last month in the Atlantic magazine, US officials suggested that window for Netanyahu closed over two years ago.

But responding to claims by that same official, quoted by Jeffrey Goldberg, over Netanyahu’s courage and will, the Israeli official responded sternly: “The prime minister is a very serious man who knows the serious responsibility that rests on his shoulders. He wouldn’t say the statements that he made if he didn’t mean them.”

“People have underestimated Israel many, many times in the past,” he continued, “and they underestimate it now.”

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Palestinians celebrate ‘lone-wolf’ attack on Jerusalem synagogue

FoxNews.com / Published November 18, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/11/18/jerusalem-synagogue-attacks/

The brutal killings of four worshippers – including three Americans – in a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday by two Palestinians wielding meat cleavers and a gun appears to be a lone-wolf attack, Israel’s national police commissioner says.

The violence was met with celebration from Palestinians, as revelers in the Gazan city of Rafah handed out candy and brandished axes and posters of the suspects in praise of the deadly attack, according to the Jerusalem Post. Hamas-affiliated social media also circulated violent and anti-Semitic cartoons hailing the killings.

National Police Commissioner Yochanan Danino told the newspaper that a preliminary investigation of the attack indicates a grassroots, independent effort.

Hamas said the attack was motivated by revenge after a Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his vehicle earlier in the week, and called for more violence.

But Israeli police believe Youssef al-Ramouni, 32, who was found dead at the start of his bus route on Sunday, committed suicide, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The American citizens killed Tuesday — identified by the State Department as Mosheh Twersky, Aryeh Kupinsky and Cary William Levine — were killed along with a Briton when the assailants, identified as cousins, stormed the building during morning prayers and began attacking people. Police said those killed were all immigrants to Israel and held dual citizenship.

Twersky, the grandson of a renowned rabbi from Boston, Joseph Soloveichik, was the head of Yeshivas Toras Moshe, a religious seminary for English-speaking students.

The Briton was identified as 68-year-old rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, from London, The Telegraph reports.

Eight others were injured — one critically — before the attackers were killed in a shootout with police. The Times of Israel cited witnesses who said the attackers stormed the synagogue, in the ultra-Orthodox Har Nof neighborhood in the western part of Jerusalem, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is Great,” and creating a horrific scene of bloody carnage.

“I tried to escape. The man with the knife approached me. There was a chair and table between us … my prayer shawl got caught. I left it there and escaped,” a man who identified himself as Yossi, who was praying at the synagogue at the time of the attack, told Israeli Channel 2 TV. He declined to give his last name.

The attack was the deadliest in Israel’s capital since 2008, when a Palestinian gunman shot eight people in a religious seminary school.

Netanyahu vowed that Israel will “respond harshly” to the attack, which he denounced as a “cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he spoke to Netanyahu after the assault and denounced it as an “act of pure terror and senseless brutality and violence.”

Kerry blamed the attack on Palestinian calls for “days of rage,” and said Palestinian leaders must take serious steps to refrain from such incitement. He also urged Palestinian leaders to condemn the attack “in the most powerful terms.”

Hours after Kerry spoke, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, the first time he has done so since a recent spike in deadly violence against Israelis began. He also called for an end to Israeli “provocations” surrounding the sacred site.

In a statement, Abbas’ office said he “condemns the killing of the worshippers in a synagogue in west Jerusalem.” The statement called for an end to the “invasion” of the mosque at a contested holy site in the city and a halt to “incitement” by Israeli ministers. But Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, praised the attack as retaliation for what it claimed was the murder of a Palestinian bus driver who was found hanged in his vehicle late Sunday. Israeli police, citing autopsy results, have classified the man’s death as a suicide, but that has not been accepted by the man’s family.

President Barack Obama said there “can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians.”

“The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence,” Obama added in a statement Tuesday.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant group, said the cousins were members. A PFLP statement did not specify whether the group instructed the cousins to carry out the attack.

Soon after the attack, clashes broke out outside the Abu Jamals’ home, where dozens of police had converged. Residents hurled stones at police who responded using riot dispersal weapons.

Residents in the neighborhood, speaking on condition of anonymity for fears for their own safety, said 14 members of the Abu Jamal family were arrested.

Mohammed Zahaikeh, a social activist in Jabal Mukaber, said one of the relatives of the cousins, Jamal Abu Jamal, was released in a 2011 prisoner swap and re-arrested recently by Israeli police. He did not say why.

Netanyahu has ordered authorities to destroy the homes of the attackers and Palestinians involved in other recent deadly attacks.

Netanyahu announced the directive Tuesday after a meeting with top security officials. He did not say when the demolitions would take place.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two police officers were among the eight wounded, four of whom were reported in serious condition. He said police were searching the area for other suspects.

Associated Press footage from the scene showed the synagogue surrounded by police and rescue workers following the attack. Wounded worshippers were being assisted by paramedics and a bloodied meat cleaver lay near the scene of the attack. Initially, police had described the weapons used as knives and axes.

Another witness, identified only as Zohar described panic at the scene.

“I heard shooting and one of the worshipers came out covered in blood and shouted ‘There’s a massacre,'” he told The Times of Israel.

A photo in Israeli media from inside the synagogue showed what appeared to be a body on the floor draped in a prayer shawl, with blood spattered nearby.

Yosef Posternak, who was at the synagogue at the time of the attack, told Israel Radio that about 25 worshippers were inside when the attackers entered.

“I saw people lying on the floor, blood everywhere. People were trying to fight with [the attackers] but they didn’t have much of a chance,” he said.

Jerusalem has seen a spate of attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, most of which have involved cars being driven into pedestrians. At least six people had been killed in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Tel Aviv prior to Tuesday.

Jerusalem residents have already been fearful of what appeared to be lone-wolf attacks, but Tuesday’s early morning attack on a synagogue harks to the gruesome attacks during the Palestinian uprising of the last decade.

Israel’s police chief said Tuesday’s attack was likely not organized by militant groups, similar to other recent incidents, making it more difficult for security forces to prevent the violence.

“These are individuals that decide to do horrible acts. It’s very hard to know ahead of time about every such incident,” Yohanan Danino told reporters at the scene.

Tensions appeared to have been somewhat defused last week following a meeting between Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Jordan. The meeting was an attempt to restore calm after months of violent confrontations, with Israel and the Palestinians saying they would take steps to reduce tensions that might lead to an escalation.

The Jerusalem holy site is referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount because of the Jewish temples that stood there in biblical times. It is the most sacred place in Judaism; Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is their third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

The site is so holy that Jews have traditionally refrained from going there, instead praying at the adjacent Western Wall. Israel’s chief rabbis have urged people not to ascend to the area, but in recent years, a small but growing number of Jews, including ultranationalist lawmakers, have begun regularly visiting the site.

SEE NEWS REPORT FROM FOX NEWS CHANNEL BELOW:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Religion of peace strikes again: Pakistani Christian man and pregnant wife burned alive

Written by Allen West on November 12, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://allenbwest.com/2014/11/religion-peace-strikes-pakistani-christian-man-pregnant-wife-burned-alive/

Shahzad_Masih_Shama_Bibi-255x315 Yesterday we shared the words spoken by President Obama’s special envoy on ISIS, retired Marine General Allen, who told a gathering on Monday in Kuwait, “we must also tell a positive story, one that highlights our respect – our profound respect for Islam’s proud traditions, its rich history, and celebration of scholarship and family and community.”

Sadly today I was emailed a copy of a letter sent by Catholic League President Bill Donahue to President Barack Hussein Obama on a most heinous and sickening incident in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan — relating to its archaic and barbaric blasphemy laws.

As reported by the Catholic News Agency, “The reported killing of a Christian couple in Pakistan by a mob on Tuesday has sparked calls for the nation’s government to protect its people, and especially its minorities. “The burning alive of a Christian couple is a test case for our government. Our government must provide protection to all citizens and especially to the poor and downtrodden Christians,” Fr. James Channan, O.P., director of the Peace Center Lahore, told CNA Nov. 4 in an email interview.”

“That morning, Shahzad Masih and his wife Shama, a Christian couple, were allegedly killed and their bodies burned by a mob after they were accused of desecrating the Quran. The couple lived in Kot Radha Kishan, a city located nearly 40 miles southwest of Lahore. The wife Shama was pregnant, and the couple had three additional children.”

I challenged the politicized words of General Allen as bad policy and reiterate that position. A year ago in the summer I had the honor to meet a young Pakistani Christian woman named Julie Aftab who, because of her refusal to convert to Islam was attacked and had acid thrown on her and down her throat.

And even when taken to the hospital for treatment, she was shot because the rumor was spread that she had offended Islam — the Muslim doctors refused to treat her. Blessings of God that Julie was rescued from that horrific situation and brought to America. She now lives in Houston and I understand she’s about to be married and has finished her undergrad studies there.

What manner of barbarism is this? And what manner of cowardice refuses to denounce it, preferring games of political correctness? Another bad policy.

This recent story from Pakistan where the Christian community lives in constant fear is chilling. Here is a short synopsis, “Legal Evangelical Association Development, a Pakistani minority rights group, was told by Muhammad Rafique, one of the Masihs’ coworkers, that following the recent death of Shahzad’s father, Shama collected some of his things, burning them and throwing the ashes in the garbage. According to Rafique, their employer noticed this, and charged that some of the burnt pages were from the Quran; he then detained them. They owed him money, and he refused to release them without being paid. It was then announced from local mosques that the couple had desecrated the Quran, and a mob forced their way into the room where the Masihs were held, beat them, and then burnt them alive in the kiln’s furnace.”

Here is the entire letter sent to President Obama by Catholic League President Donahue yesterday.

I suppose even presenting this story will once again earn me the label of “islamophobe” — feel free. I will not relent in reporting this savage barbarism that we believe can be conquered by appeasement, dismissal or calling a different name. Is this a Pakistani version of “workplace violence?” I encourage you all to copy this letter and send it to the White House, attention President Obama, State Department attention John Kerry, office of Senator Mitch McConnell, and office of House Speaker John Boehner, and demand cutting off all foreign aid to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan until they revoke their insidious blasphemy laws and also release the Pakistani doctor who identified Obama bin Laden — Dr. Shakil Afridi.

We must stand for human rights and I am waiting to hear from the women’s rights groups appalled at the heinous torture and murder of Shama and her unborn child.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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Obama Admits ISIS Strategy About Deposing Assad –

by Kurt Nimmo | Infowars.com | November 13, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://www.infowars.com/obama-admits-isis-strategy-about-deposing-assad/

Administration blames al-Assad for rise of Islamic State. The Obama administration has officially conceded the military effort in Syria is not about attacking the Islamic State. It is about removing Bashar al-Assad from power. The new strategy formed by Obama’s national security team ignores the fact al-Assad and the Syrian military represent the only tenable opposition to the Islamic State and other Islamist groups funded and trained by the United States and its partners, most notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Employing convoluted logic, the administration argues the “long-running Syria problem is now compounded by the reality that to genuinely defeat ISIL, we need not only a defeat in Iraq but a defeat in Syria.”

ISIL, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is the acronym the government uses for Da’esh (al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham), or the Islamic State.

The initial plan, described as “Iraq first,” concentrated on attacking the Islamic State in northern Iraq where it defeated the U.S. trained and armed Iraqi army and captured a large amount of territory. The administration is reportedly jettisoning this strategy in favor of directly targeting the Syrian government.

In addition to creating a no-fly zone along the border with Turkey, the administration is looking at vetting “moderate rebels.” As noted by Infowars and others, radical Sunni Islamists dominate the proxy war against the Shia government in Damascus and the argument that moderate forces are involved to any significant degree is largely a public relations effort designed to mask the real character of the so-called opposition.

The United States is also targeting Syria’s oil infrastructure. In September, it attacked grain silos in Manbij that killed civilians, not IS fighters. Attacks in Aleppo, Deir al-Zor, Hasaka, Raqqa and Idlib have killed civilians, including children. According to Reuters, the United States takes reports of civilian casualties seriously and says it has a process to investigate each allegation.

The new strategy will in fact strengthen the Islamic State, not weaken it as Obama claims. The war “is even less tenable than it was before, as between attacks on ISIS, Nusra, and Islamic Front fighters, and now the Assad government, the US is fighting materially all of the combat forces inside Syria at the same time, even the ones that are aligned with their publicly-stated goals,” notes Jason Ditz.

Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the administration has “had regular meetings that the President has joined with his national security team on this issue and Syria has been an important subject at those meetings. And I think the President wants to make sure that we’re asking hard questions about what we’re targeting in Syria, how we’re able to degrade ISIL but also how we’re supporting opposition and building them up as a counterweight to ISIL but also ultimately of course to the Assad regime.”

“Assad has been the biggest magnet for extremism in Syria, and the President has made clear that Assad has lost all legitimacy to govern. Alongside our efforts to isolate and sanction the Assad regime, we are working with our allies to strengthen the moderate opposition,” added Alistair Baskey, spokesman for the National Security Council.

Left out of the discussion is the fact the United States and its partners created and exacerbated the situation in Syria and are responsible for the death of over 140,000 Syrians, the displacement of millions of others and the wholesale destruction of the Syrian economy. Syria’s GDP has fallen more than 35 percent, while the local currency has lost 80 percent of its value.

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Russia’s bombers to conduct regular patrols, ranging from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico

By Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Wed, 12 Nov, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/russias-bombers-conduct-regular-patrols-ranging-arctic-gulf-140627703.html

The announcement by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came as NATO’s chief accused Russia of sending fresh troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine.

“Over the last few days, we have seen multiple reports of large convoys moving into Eastern Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “We assess that this significant military buildup includes Russian artillery, tanks, air defence systems and troops. His statement called the situation a “severe threat to the cease-fire.”

Moscow denied the allegation as unfounded, but Shoigu also said the dispute with the West over Ukraine would require Russia to beef up its forces in the Crimea, the Black Sea Peninsula that Russia annexed in March.

Shoigu said Russian long-range bombers will conduct flights along Russian borders and over the Arctic Ocean. He said, “In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.”

Shoigu would not say how frequent the patrol missions would be or offer any other specifics, but he noted that the increasing pace and duration of flights would require stronger maintenance efforts and that relevant directives have been issued to industries.

He said the Russian air force’s long-range planes also will conduct “reconnaissance missions to monitor foreign powers’ military activities and maritime communications.”

A senior U.S. military official said Russia has not previously flown actual bomber patrols over the Gulf of Mexico, including during the Cold War.

Long-range bombers have been in the area before, but only to participate in various visits to the region when the aircraft stopped over night at locations in South or Central America. During the Cold War, other types of Russian aircraft flew patrols there, including surveillance flights and anti-submarine aircraft.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the flights publicly, also said that the pace of Russian flights around North America, including the Arctic, have largely remained steady, with about five incidents per year.

Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to call this a Russian provocation. He said the Russians have a right, like any other nation, to operate in international airspace and in international waters. The important thing, Warren said, is for such exercises to be carried out safely and in accordance with international standards.

Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers were making regular patrols across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans during Cold War times, reaching areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States. But that stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.

The bomber patrol flights have resumed under President Vladimir Putin’s tenure, and they have become even more frequent in recent weeks, with NATO reporting a spike in Russian military flights over the Black, Baltic and North seas as well as the Atlantic Ocean.

Earlier this year, Shoigu said that Russia plans to expand its worldwide military presence by seeking permission for navy ships to use ports in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere for replenishing supplies and doing maintenance. He said the military was conducting talks with Algeria, Cyprus, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore.

Shoigu said Russia also is talking to some of those countries about allowing long-range bombers to use their air bases for refuelling .

Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network, a London-based think-tank , said the bomber patrols are part of Kremlin’s efforts to make the Russian military “more visible and more assertive in its actions.”

The new bomber flights “aren’t necessarily presaging a threat,” Kearns said. “They are just part of a general ramping-up of activities.”

But, he added, “The more instances you have of NATO and Russian forces coming close together, the more chance there is of having something bad happening, even if it’s not intentional.”

On Monday, the European Leadership Network issued a report that found a sharp rise in Russian-NATO military encounters since the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea, including violations of national airspace, narrowly avoided midair collisions, close encounters at sea, harassment of reconnaissance planes, close overflights over warships, and Russian mock bombing raid missions.

Three of the nearly 40 incidents, the think-tank said, carried a “high probability” of causing casualties or triggering a direct military confrontation: a narrowly avoided collision between a civilian airliner and a Russian surveillance plane, the abduction of an Estonian intelligence officer, and a large-scale Swedish hunt for a suspected Russian submarine that yielded no result.

In September, the report said, Russian strategic bombers in the Labrador Sea off Canada practiced cruise missile strikes on the U.S. Earlier this year, in May, the report said, Russian military aircraft approached within 50 miles (80 kilometres) of the California coast, the closest such Russian military flight reported since the end of the Cold War.

Russia-West ties have dipped to their lowest point since Cold War times over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russia insurgents in Ukraine. The West and Ukraine have continuously accused Moscow of fueling the rebellion in eastern Ukraine with troops and weapons — claims Russia has rejected.

Fighting has continued in the east, despite a cease-fire agreement signed between Ukraine and the rebels signed in Minsk, Belarus, in September.

Stoltenberg, the NATO chief, urged Russia to “pull back its forces and equipment from Ukraine, and to fully respect the Minsk agreements. “

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said Wednesday that in the last two days “we have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine.”

Breedlove, who spoke in Sofia, Bulgaria, wouldn’t say how many new troops and weapons have moved into Ukraine or specify how the alliance obtained the information.

The Russian Defence Ministry quickly rejected Breedlove’s statement as groundless.

Breedlove said the Russia-Ukraine border is “completely wide open,” and “forces, money, support, supplies, weapons are flowing back and forth.”

___

John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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MUSLIM MASSES: Violating Freedom Wherever They Go

Written by Audrey Russo on November 12, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://clashdaily.com/2014/11/muslim-masses-violating-freedom-wherever-go/

: Image: http://alimentation.al-manakh.com/halal/certificateur/hfce-halal-food-council-of-europe–brussels/4513

No matter what Western country Muslims emigrate to or settle in…of this one thing you can be sure: They will violate freedom.

Simply look at the places in Europe they have occupied. Muslims move into a country, refuse to assimilate and then demand…under the guise of minority status…that those in the Host country bow and accommodate their beliefs/ideology.

But don’t take my word for it, here’s a past guest on my show, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff of Austria:

Under the direction of the EU bureaucrats in Brussels — whom we did not elect and cannot remove — we Europeans are required to admit more and more third-world immigrants, most of them Muslims. Our public institutions must change to accommodate them. Our schools become centers of Islamic propaganda and serve halal food to all their students, Muslim or otherwise. More and more mega-mosques are being built in our cities. Multicultural “tolerance” requires that we permit fully-veiled women as employees in all occupations, public or private. And, most ominously, any criticism of Islam — or even factual accounts of Islamic history and practices — are punished by lawsuits or state prosecution.

And this is from Enza Ferreri of the Liberty GB Party in the UK:

Muslims, aided by the Left and coward governments, are still acting like masters, thinking that everything is due to them and trying to impose their ideology on everybody else.

I came to live in London from Italy in 1984, and the changes I witnessed since then are earth-shattering.

When I first arrived here, the word “halal” was unknown to everybody except the people involved in animal welfare… Now you only have to take a 30-minute drive around London (any part) and you’ll see dozens of Halal signs in shops and restaurants.

…myriad examples of Muslim intolerance and lack of integration, stealth jihad and creeping Sharia in the United Kingdom.

A few years ago a Muslim policeman refused to wear his uniform due to the presence of a cross on it.

The typical phenomenon of Muslim men grooming (raping) young white girls, for years denounced only by right-wing groups who as a result were accused of racism and Islamophobia, turned out to be real and now the mainstream media have started covering it.

There have been instances of Muslim girls rejecting their school uniform and demanding to wear Muslim clothing, sometimes even suing the school using the European Convention on Human Rights and winning the case.

Muslim bus and taxi drivers have not allowed blind people in their vehicles with their “unclean” guide dogs, and Muslim passengers have objected to them.

And the US is following suit with the Left (utilizing the the politics of personal destruction) pressuring Americans with their jackboot of political correctness, forcing citizens to clam up on any criticism of Islam. This is influenced by the push of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) on Blasphemy Laws…which really only benefit Islam…HELLO, Sharia Law!

The ideology of Islam does not support assimilation of Muslims into the West, nor does it tolerate individual freedom (which we treasure). NOR does it allow for the freedom of speech, enshrined in our First Amendment. And as long as the West continues to allow this ideology (with a superiority complex) to exercise our freedoms in order to SUPPRESS our freedoms…we will watch, in real-time, the fall of human independence.

Shalom through strength…

By WhatDidYouSay.org

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International Politics

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China Flight Tests New Stealth Jet During Obama Visit

BY: Bill Gertz; November 11, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/china-flight-tests-new-stealth-jet-during-obama-visit/

“White House calls on China to halt cyber espionage”

China’s military upstaged the Asian economic summit in Beijing this week by conducting flights tests of a new stealth jet prototype, as the White House called on Beijing to halt its cyber attacks. Demonstration flights by the new J-31 fighter jet—China’s second new radar-evading warplane—were a key feature at a major arms show in Zhuhai, located near Macau, on Monday. The J-31 flights coincided with President Obama’s visit to Beijing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting. In a speech and meetings with Chinese leaders, Obama called on China to curtail cyber theft of trade secrets. China obtained secrets from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter through cyber attacks against a subcontractor for Lockheed Martin. The technology has shown up in China’s first stealth jet, the J-20, and in the J-31. Both of the jets’ design features and equipment are similar to those of the F-35. The Chinese warplanes are part of a major buildup of air power by China that includes the two new stealth fighters, development of a new strategic bomber, purchase of Russian Su-35 jets, and development of advanced air defense missile systems. China also is building up its conventional and nuclear missile forces.

Meanwhile, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Beijing Tuesday that the president would press China’s leader Xi Jinping to curb Chinese cyber espionage.

“Cybersecurity, of course, will be an important focus for the president, given some of our concerns related to cybersecurity and the theft of intellectual property,” Rhodes said in advance of Obama’s meeting Tuesday with Xi.

Rhodes defended the Justice Department’s May 1 indictment of five Chinese military hackers that prompted Beijing to cut off talks on cyber issues. “When we see things on cyber security where we have Chinese actions that disadvantage U.S. businesses or steal intellectual property, we’re going to be very candid about that,” he said.

Obama also was to discuss military exchanges with China that have been put in jeopardy by recent incidents involving threatening Chinese aerial and naval intercepts of U.S. surveillance aircraft and ships in the South China Sea.

“It’s incredibly important that we avoid inadvertent escalation and that we don’t find ourselves having an accidental circumstance lead into something that could precipitate conflict,” Rhodes said.

In a speech Monday in Beijing, Obama said he wants China to become a state that “rejects cybertheft of trade secrets for commercial gain.”

The J-31 flight testing during the summit highlights the Chinese military’s use of high-level U.S. visits to showcase new weaponry.

Military and defense analysts said China’s development of new warplanes poses a threat to regional stability.

“China is moving along at a very rapid pace in its fighter aircraft development and we should be concerned,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney, who said the timing during the president’s visit was similar to the 2011 flight test of the J-20 during a visit by then Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

McInerney said Gates halted production of the most advanced U.S. jet fighter, the F-22, at 187 aircraft that “started us on the unilateral disarmament path that President Obama has America on.”

“Neither the J-20 or the J-31 will match the F-22 or F-35 in stealth performance but their successors will and we should be concerned as China is a looming economic and military power,” McInerney said. “They enjoy flaunting their power in front of American leaders who have exhibited weakness.”

In January 2011, China rolled out the J-20 for the first time during the visit to Beijing by Gates, who wrote in his recent memoir, Duty, that one of his aides called China’s timing for the J-20 disclosure “about as big a ‘f–k you’ as you can get.”

Rick Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the J-31 prototype flight at Zhuhai shows a high degree of confidence on the part of the manufacturer, the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

“But Shenyang has also displayed a large model of an advanced development of the J-31, that it calls the FC-31,” he said. “The FC-31 shows key design refinements intended to increase platform stealth, or to increase radar reflectivity. These include new horizontal stabilizers, reshaped wings, and a revised rear fuselage area.”

The new advanced version of the jet also will include an electro-optical targeting device under its nose that is very similar to the F-35 targeting unit.

Fisher said the Chinese appear to intend the J-31 for foreign exports and to compete with foreign sales of the F-35 by offering it at a much lower price.

“The FC-31 gains points for a cleaner low observable configuration than the F-35. What we do not know at this point is how their electronic systems compare. While we might give the edge to the F-35 we also have to consider that China is rapidly developing similarly capable radar, targeting systems, and cockpit systems.’

“The J-31 also is expected to be launched on future Chinese aircraft carriers that will be equipped with catapult launch.’

“Fisher said the main challenge for the new jet is its engines, which are Russian-made turbofans. “China is now testing an indigenous turbofan for this fighter, but it is not known when it will be ready,” he said.

“But these are small obstacles, especially if Russia will continue to sell Shenyang the engines it requires,” Fisher said. “The FC-31 could become a military and a commercial threat to the F-35. Its well past time to be investing in a much better F-35 as well as a successor to the F-22.”

Li Yuhai, a general manager with the Aviation Industry of China, parent company of Shenyang Aviation, told the state-run Global Times that the J-31 is comparable to the F-35 and will change the status quo by taking a lead role in the aircraft export market.

“Our fourth generation fighter can now compete with foreign fighters,” Li said.

The J-31 was first flight tested in 2012 and has completed at least six aerial tests.

In addition to the J-31, China also showcased a new Y-20 transport aircraft that is a key element of China’s new effort to develop long-range warfighting capabilities. Another aircraft that debuted at Zhuhai was the KJ-2000, a new airborne early warning and control aircraft with technology critical for advanced warfighting.

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International Politics

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Archive for the ‘International Politics’ Category

By Patrick Goodenough | July 7, 2015

“It is important for us as Kenyans to know that the U.S. is not God,” local media quoted evangelical Bishop Mark Kariuki as saying, adding that Obama should not use the visit to “talk about the gay issue.”

Irungu Kangata, a lawmaker in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) party, was blunter: “We are telling Mr. Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home.”

‘Everybody has to be treated equally’

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Posted by Michael Becker — July 6, 2015

Boom.

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Posted By Kurt Nimmo | Infowars.com On July 6, 2015

Russia to Rescue Greece from Bankers

Greek Military Sends Strong Message

Greek Military is an Operation Gladio Asset

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By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, in Athens; 02 Jul 2015

The daily allowance of cash from many ATM machines has already dropped from €60 to €50, purportedly because €20 notes are running out

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Authored by Alex Anderson / Melissa Quinn / July 01, 2015

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By the Associated Press | June 21, 2015

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — With some lawmakers chanting “Death to the America,” Iran’s parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a future deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

Of 213 lawmakers present on Sunday, 199 voted in favor of the bill, which also demands the complete lifting of all sanctions against Iran as part of any final nuclear accord. The bill must be ratified by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, to become a law.

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Italian Families Protest Forced Cross-Dressing of Schoolchildren

by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.17 Jun 2015

“This ideological colonization,” he said, “does great harm and can even destroy a society, a country or a family.”

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Reported by Tim Brown

Intellihub reports:

Here’s the video they provided:

Bilderberg Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Official Bilderberg 2014 Membership List Released

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Posted by Dr. Michael Brown, on 27 May, 2015

I am an Irish citizen who voted and campaigned for a NO vote. For anyone who thinks we were negligent concerning the Gospel or in any other way, let me tell you some of what we were up against…

This news is devastating to the nearly 37.9% of us who voted NO, many of us born again Christians.

We tried so hard to prevent it, but were up against every political party and up against millions of US dollars that were being poured into the yes campaign.

American billionaire, Chuck Feeney alone contributed over $24 million. Every ‘civil rights’ group on the block was behind the yes vote.

When NO vote campaign signs were posted in Dublin and other places, they were vandalized. Public media is supposed to allow 50:50 coverage for each side of a constitutional issue. This was blatantly ignored.

The public police force was drafted in to support the YES vote and to register college students to vote, and they passed out YES badges to each student as they did so.

And these things are only part of the story. The pressure was incessant and unbelievable. Even the ballot paper was biased. We argued that the term ‘marriage equality’ was biased, but yet that term made it on to the ballot paper.

Meanwhile, Christians fasted and prayed. We passed out flyers. We used social media to communicate our concerns. But all this was on a very grass roots level.

Only the Iona Institute stood up for the No vote. Only three representatives in our entire Dail (our parliament) stood up for a No vote.

Is there any small nation on earth that would survive such an onslaught? I’m actually amazed that the NO vote was as high as 37.9% after what I have seen.

As for the Gospel, can any of us really do ‘enough’? No matter how much we do, will we not always wish we could do more? We have God on our side though. I believe He has allowed this to happen for His reasons. But we will have the ultimate victory.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

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Warning from state-run China newspaper as Beijing reveals plans for development of disputed South China Sea islands

By Julian Ryall, Tokyo, 26 May 2015

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Posted by Guy Benson | Apr 21, 2015

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By Kristina Wong – 04/17/15

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Posted by Tim Brown

On Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press tweeted out that the White House confirms that Barack Hussein Obama is going to be removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Obama made the final decision following a State Department review of Cuba’s presence on the list. The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba’s pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.

In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba “has not provided any support for international terrorism” over the last six months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”

Tuesday’s announcement comes days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Panama. The talks marked the first formal meeting between the leaders of their countries in a half-century.

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Trust But “No” Verify

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Published April 07, 2015, FoxNews.com

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/07/nuclear-deal-critics-worried-about-dueling-fact-sheets-from-us-iran/

Sanctions

Iran: The Iran fact sheet, by contrast, says “all of the sanctions will be immediately removed after reaching a comprehensive agreement.”

Centrifuges

Uranium stockpile

Iran: Iran’s statement does not appear to make the distinction between 10 and 15 years, saying: “The timeframe of the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action regarding Iran’s enrichment program will be 10 years.” It then refers to the enrichment at Natanz occurring during this period.

Heavy water reactor

Iran: The Iran statement says the Arak reactor “will remain” and will be enhanced and updated, including so it produces less plutonium. It does not mention the core being destroyed.

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by Jordan Schachtel, 2 Apr 2015

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/02/iran-u-s-lying-about-nuclear-deal-fact-sheets-on-negotiations-are-spin/

In two following Tweets, Zarif insisted that the U.S. and EU will remove all economic and financial sanctions on Iran immediately, contrary to what the U.S.-produced fact sheet states.

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The Real Deal

URL of the Original Posting Site: http://conservativebyte.com/2015/04/the-real-deal/