This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Terror War

  • Nine terrorists arrested near DC

    The Washington Times reports that nine residents of Northern Virginia have been arrested by law enforcement since 2014;

    The Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center issued profiles of the nine in a Dec. 21 report labeled “law enforcement sensitive.”

    Such reports are designed to help state and federal agents recognize trends in the types of individuals who are influenced by the Islamic State’s message and how they communicate across terrorist networks.

    A defense attorney in one of the cases accused police of anti-Muslim bias; his client later pleaded guilty.

    […]

    Of the nine Northern Virginians who were arrested, all but one were in their teens and early 20s. They included a police officer, a Starbucks barista, Army soldiers, bankers and a cabdriver. Four of the nine graduated from Northern Virginia high schools, one with honors. Two attended Northern Virginia Community College.

    In other words, all of them appeared to have opportunities via public education to become successful Americans but instead were charged with what amounted to a devotion to violent jihad.

  • 7 sought in Australian terror plot

    The UK’s Telegraph reports that seven folks (six men and one woman) who swore their allegiance to ISIS plotted to attack several locations in downtown Melbourne during Christmas reveling. Five (four Australian-born men – some of whom had a Lebanese background – and an Egyptian-born Australian man) are currently in custody;

    The foiled plot comes with security on heightened alert in Australia after a truck drove into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

    Police said the suspects were “self-radicalised” but inspired by Isil. The seven people were taken into custody and five locations were searched across Melbourne following a two-week operation involving state and federal police and ASIO, the domestic intelligence agency. A 26-year-old man and 20-year-old woman have since been released.

    “We believe [the plot] was going to involve an explosive event,” said commissioner Graham Ashton, chief of police in the state of Victoria.

    So, while we may not be in a war against Islam, radical Islamists seem to have declared war on Christianity.

  • Russia’ s ambassador to Turkey murdered

    Russia’ s ambassador to Turkey murdered

    Andrey Karlov

    Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was murdered by a gunman at a photo exhibit today. According to ABC News, he had a message for us;

    “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria. Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria,” the gunman yelled in Arabic during the attack. “Until these places are safe you will not taste any safety either.”

    Here’s a disturbing video of the shooting;

    The UK’s Telegraph says that the shooter was a Turkish police officer.

    Turkey and Russia have been trying to evacuate civilians from Aleppo, Syria but the last two days, convoys were attacked by ISIS seriously hindering those evacuations. The New York Times reports that the UN has voted to send monitors to Aleppo to report back to the UN on the progress there.

    I’m guessing that the Russians won’t be excusing the gunman’s behavior with tales of a video, nor will they be asking “what difference does it make”?

  • Justin Nojan Sullivan pleads guilty

    Justin Nojan Sullivan pleads guilty

    Justin Nojan Sullivan

    According to the Morganton News Herald, Justin Nojan Sullivan pleaded guilty in Asheville to one count of attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Sullivan has also been indicted for the murder of his neighbor, John Bailey Clark, but a plea deal for the previously mentioned charge of committing an act of terrorism will have him locked up for life. The prosecutor claims that he’ll be seeking the death penalty for the murder charge.

    Federal documents previously have said Sullivan told an undercover FBI agent that he was a Muslim convert, wanted to kill as many as 1,000 people using cyanide-laced bullets and a vehicle filled with bombs. A criminal complaint at the time of his arrest alleged that the FBI became aware of Sullivan’s plans to obtain a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle at the Hickory Gun Show, which he planned to use to kill a large number of U.S. citizens on behalf of ISIL. He was arrested before getting the chance to attend the gun show in Hickory, according to federal documents.

    Federal documents alleged Sullivan told an undercover agent, “Our attacks needs to be as big as possible…we can do minor assassinations before the big attack for training.” He talked about using a moving van filled with explosives and detonating it, the documents said.

    It was former Marine Rich Sullivan, the terrorist’s father who alerted the authorities to his son’s behavior.

    The retired U.S. Marine captain later said it was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, but added, “You’re an American first and then a parent.”

  • Ohio spree; anti-gun narrative too good to ignore

    Yesterday we talked a bit about the Somalian refugee fellow, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who decided to run down students at Ohio State University with his car and then stabbing some more before a good guy with a gun, police officer Alan Horujko, put a stop to his rampage. Apparently, the fact that he didn’t use a gun doesn’t figure into the reportage. This was tweeted from Shannon Watts, the founder of anti-gun group, Moms Demand Action;

    Yahooo News took the opportunity to discuss Ohio’s gun laws for some reason.

    Yahoo News OSU

    Tim Kaine, the man who was almost Vice president;

    From Iowa Hawk;

    There were a number of sheepdogs on duty at OSU yesterday and many weren’t wearing blue;

    Meanwhile, authorities are confused about the reasons that motivated the youngster to perpetrate a terrorist attack on an American campus, according to NBC News;

    Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, wrote on what appears to be his Facebook page that he had reached a “boiling point,” made a reference to “lone wolf attacks” and cited radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

    “America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah [community]. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that,” the post said.

    Two hours before that, a cryptic post on the page said: “Forgive and forget. Love.”

    Officials cautioned that they have not determined a motive for the ambush, which sent 11 people to the hospital Monday morning. A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that investigators are trying to determine whether Artan had personal problems or something else that might have pushed him over the edge.

    Beats me. Why would a Muslim refugee want to quote Anwar al-Awlaki, like the Fort Hood murderer just before trying to kill American students in the heartland? Too hard for me to think about. But I’m sure banning guns would help.

  • Iranians point weapon at US troops

    Iranians point weapon at US troops

    Iran navy

    AW1Ed sends us a link to MSN which reports that a small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard boat pointed one of it’s armaments at a US helicopter that was in international waters;

    The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident took place when a Navy MH-60 helicopter flew within half a mile (0.8 km) of two Iranian vessels in international waters. One of the vessels pointed a weapon at the helicopter, the U.S. officials said.

    “The behavior by our standards is provocative and could be seen as an escalation,” the officials said. At no point did the crew of the helicopter feel threatened, they added.

    It was not immediately clear what type of weapon was pointed at the U.S. aircraft.

    From Reuters;

    There was no immediate Iranian comment on the incident. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    This is just the latest in a series of incidents exasperated by the Iranians’ inhospitable behavior in the region. For his part, President-elect Trump has claimed that any Iranian vessel that harassed the U.S. Navy in the Gulf would be “shot out of the water,” during a Trump presidency.

  • Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton

    Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton

    Scott C. Dayton

    The service member who was killed in northern Syria on Thanksgiving Day has been identified as Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Two, which is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

    From WUSA9;

    The improvised explosive attack occurred near Ayn Issa, according to the U.S. military. The town is about 35 miles north of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital. Coalition forces have focused their attention there in recent weeks, saying intelligence assessments have suggested militants in the city are actively plotting terror attacks against the U.S. and its allies.

    From Military Times;

    He joined the Navy in 1993 and his awards include: the Bronze Star, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, seven Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy “E” Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, two Iraq Campaign Medals, and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

    Thanks to Bobo for the tip.

  • December 1 terror attack foiled in Paris

    According to AFP, French authorities prevented an attack in Paris that was being planned for December 1st by a cell of terrorists taking instructions from ISIS in Syria;

    The source said investigators found the suspects had made internet searches on sites including the Christmas market on the prestigious Champs-Elysees avenue, the Disneyland Paris theme park, cafe terraces in the northeast of the capital, the Paris criminal police headquarters and a metro station.

    […]

    Two handguns, an automatic pistol, a submachine gun and jihadist propaganda were all found during the raids in which they were arrested.

    France is under a state of emergency that gives security forces enhanced powers of surveillance and arrest, a year after the Paris attacks.

    So, I guess gun control is working real well in the EU.