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

Category: Terror War

  • Obama to reduce troop strength in Afghanistan

    Military.com reports that after hemming and hawing for the better part of a year, Obama has finally arrived at the politically-expedient solution for troops strength in Afghanistan. Despite warnings from his military commanders, the President has decided to reduce the number from 9800 to 8400. Initially, his plan was to leave only 5500, but ISIS cahnged his mind;

    The announcement by Obama at the White House, with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford flanking him, left decisions on future U.S. commitments to Afghanistan to the next president and essentially scuttled Obama’s dream of leaving office after ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    “The decision I’m making today ensures that my successor has a solid foundation for progress in Afghanistan, as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it evolves,” Obama said. “I firmly believe the decision I’m announcing is the right thing to do.”

    The Taliban has been making gains in Afghanistan since early 2014, when 38,000 troops were withdrawn from the fight. But then withdrawal and saving the President’s legacy has been this President’s sole strategy since he took office, so why stop now?

    Thanks to AW1Ed for the link.

  • Former Virginia National Guardsman arrested for ISIS support

    Chief Tango sends us a link to the Washington Post which tells the tale of Mohamad Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guardsman who was influenced by the teachings of Anwar al-Awlaki and the example of the Fort Hood murderer, Nidal Hasan;

    While under FBI surveillance on July 1, Jalloh visited Blue Ridge Arsenal, a gun store and indoor target range in Chantilly, Va. He attempted to purchase a Bushmaster AR-15 but did not have the required three forms of identification, court papers said. He told staffers he would return the next day.

    He was being watched by the FBI who told the gun dealer to sell him a disabled rifle;

    The store’s owner said Jalloh returned that evening and bought a different assault rifle for about $1,200. He test-fired the weapon at the range, after which an employee took the gun in the back and disabled it before returning it to Jalloh.

    Jalloh also paid $500 to an FBI informant who Jalloh thought was working for ISIS for “material support” of the terrorist organization. From WTVR;

    Jalloh began his service with the Virginia National Guard in April 30, 2009. He held the rank of specialist in the 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command as a combat engineer. He separated from the National Guard in April 2015 with an honorable discharge.

    The Post says that according to National Guard sources, he didn’t deploy with the unit.

    The Charlotte Observer reports that he made several unsuccessful attempts to buy guns in North Carolina before he went to try in Virginia. So, it looks like existing gun laws impeded another one.

  • “Refugees of Genocide?” Hardly.

    Well, we have a bit more info about the demographics of those Syrian “refugees” admitted to the US (with “thorough screening”, of course) over the last several months.  And the numbers are . . . interesting.

    In March, the US government “determined . . . that abuses carried out by ISIS (sic) against Christians and other minorities in areas under its control constitute genocide.”  That, presumably, was one reason for the        inane decision by that group of naive fools in charge      Administration’s recent decision to        “open the floodgates, security be damned”       relax policy concerning Syrian “refugee” admissions.

    So, that means the majority of refugees being admitted are Christians or other minorities, right?  I mean, those are the groups being persecuted by Daesh – so wouldn’t they get priority in admission?

    Short answer:  in your dreams, perhaps.  But not in reality.

    In June, 2,381 Syrian “refugees” were admitted to the US.  Of that total, a whopping eight – or less than 0.336% – were Christians fleeing persecution.  The grand total of 9 others were “other minorities”:  eight who were non-Sunni Muslim, and one other individual who did not disclose their religious affiliation (if any).

    The other 2,364?  Sunni Muslim, just like Daesh.

    May was much the same.  During May, 1,069 Syrian “refugees” were admitted to the US.  Of those, 2 – that’s slightly more than 0.187% – were Christian; seven (nearly 0.655%) were of minority Muslim sects.  The remainder (1060, or just over 99.158%) admitted to the US in May were Sunni.

    Finally, the article has monthly demographic totals since last October.  Over the past 9 months, the US has admitted 5,186 such “refugees” – presumably fleeing religious persecution by Daesh.  Of that total, a whopping 20 were Christian; 67 were other religious minorities.  The rest were Sunni.

    Percentage-wise, that’s less than 0.4% Christian and less than 1.3% “other” religious minority that have been admitted by the US from Syria over the last nine months.  That means that over 99.3% of those admitted were Sunni Muslim – just like Daesh.

    “Refugees of religious-based genocide”?  Hardly.  When over 99% of those admitted aren’t even members of the groups supposedly being targeted for religious genocide, any claim that the US is admitting more refugees because they’re somehow “victims of genocide” is very obviously bullsh!t.

    CNSNews has a good article concerning the recent Syrian “refugees” admitted to the US.  It confirms what many of us have long suspected:  the current Administration is simply letting anyone who claims they’re a refugee come through the front door, NQA.  Any “screening” being done is merely for show – not for “go/no go” decisions on who’s to be admitted.

    Yeah, our legs keep getting wetter.  And it’s not raining.

  • Gitmo grad missing

    Gitmo grad missing

    Abu Wa’el Dhiab

    Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a Syrian who had been held at Guantanamo detention camp and university, was released to the Uruguayan government in 2014. According to his biography, he was a friend of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi and an expert forger for al Qaida in Iraq. According to Fox News, Avianca Airlines has alerted their employees to be on the look out for him;

    The alert about Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab adds to a growing mystery about his whereabouts. The Uruguayan authorities have insisted for weeks that he’s visiting neighboring Brazil and that as a refugee he is entitled to leave Uruguay. However, Brazilian authorities have said there is no record of Dhiab entering the country.

    The Argentine web news portal Infobae published the alert, which warns employees that Dhiab may be using a fake passport. The image of the alert posted by Infobae said the information came from Brazil’s anti-terrorism police.

    It was so much easier when we knew where all of these guys were all of the time. We only had to go to their cell and see them sitting there on their bunks.

  • Cornered, ISIS turns on civilians

    This week marks the end of Ramadan, so it seems that ISIS has stepped up its war against the unarmed innocent. Three suicide bombers detonated themselves in the airport in Istanbul after a hail of gunfire. 20 hostages were gunned down in Bangladesh, the other night (Three were American students) after the victims were quizzed on their knowledge of the Koran (even though this isn’t a war between religions, we’re told).

    CNN reports that 125 people were killed in an attack in Baghdad. An explosive-laden truck slammed into a coffee shop. Apparently, this is a war against coffee-drinkers.

    ISIS promised an uptick in terror attacks during Ramadan. The Baghdad assault came just days after massacres at a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, and security targets in Yemen. There have also been recent suicide attacks in Jordan at a border crossing near Syria, and suicide attacks in a Christian area of northern Lebanon.

    Last month, a gunman shot up a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people before he was killed, and an attacker killed a police commander and his partner in France.
    ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bangladesh and Yemen and there are news reports that ISIS claimed responsibility for the Jordanian attack. Experts believe the group might have conducted the attacks in Turkey and Lebanon.

    USAToday blames ISIS’ loses on the battlefield for the latest round of terrorist attacks;

    The massacres demonstrate that the Islamic State has established cells around the world — and is still capable of heinous attacks despite its recent setbacks on the battlefield.

    “The Islamic State is losing territory in Iraq and Syria, but it is still a formidable opponent and very dangerous,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and an analyst with the Brookings Institution, said Sunday.

    The militant group claimed responsibility for the assaults in Baghdad and Dhaka, and is strongly suspected of being responsible for the Istanbul bombing.

    The war against terror has shifted from the battlefield to the streets.

  • Navy blames sailors for capture by Iran

    Navy blames sailors for capture by Iran

    iran pows

    The Associated Press reports that the Navy is blaming the ten sailors for their capture by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf;

    They also showed a remarkable lack of curiosity about potential dangers in one of the world’s more dangerous waterways, according to an in-depth Navy investigation.

    In deviating from their planned Persian Gulf route from Kuwait to Bahrain — without asking approval or notifying superiors — they passed an island to their east and wondered whether it might be Saudi territory, rocks or oil platforms. The crews of both boats consulted their navigation systems, which depicted the mass as a small purple dot.

    Despite being unsure of their surroundings, the sailors did not adjust their on-board navigation displays to enlarge the purple dot; if they had, they would have seen that it was labeled Farsi Island, a well-known base for the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

    CNN reported that the sailors on the scene weren’t the only culpable parties in the debacle;

    “This incident was the result of failed leadership at multiple levels from the tactical to the operational,” investigators wrote in the detailed, partially redacted, report.

    The report found the crews were poorly prepared, their boats not properly maintained, communication almost entirely lacking, and their conduct after being captured by the Iranians wasn’t up to military standards.

    According to Reuters, at least one of the sailors violated his Code of Conduct when he gave information to his captors that he wasn’t authorized to divulge;

    [The report] said some of the 10 crew members gave away capabilities of their vessels, one of them disclosing his vessel’s potential speed and suggesting it was on a “presence” mission to demonstrate U.S. military power in the Gulf.

    […]

    “It is clear that some, if not all, crew members provided at least some information to interrogators beyond name, rank, service number and date of birth,” the report said.

    Yeah, it is a failure of leadership – since most of the country doesn’t realize that we’re still at war and most don’t understand that Iran declared war against us and that’s been going on for 37 years.

    Thanks to MustangCryppie for the links.

  • ISIS attacks Istanbul airport

    ISIS attacks Istanbul airport

    Ankara bombing

    It looks like ISIS sent three suicide bombers to Istanbul, Turkey and they successfully murdered more than 30 people, according to the government last night, they expect even more to die from their injuries and the toll could be as high as 50. Hundreds were injured in the blast. From Fox News;

    “According to the information I was given, a terrorist at the international terminal entrance first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew himself up,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told Turkey’s state-run news agency earlier in the evening.

    NTV reported that one of the explosions occurred at the international terminal while another took place at the domestic terminal. However, that report was not immediately confirmed by Turkish authorities.

    A Turkish official told The Washington Post that the bombers blew themselves up after police shot at them. Another official told Reuters that the bombers detonated their explosives prior to passing through a X-ray security checkpoint.

    The attack comes after the Iraqi government declared that Falujah was liberated from ISIS and the Iraqis are turning their attention to Mosul. It’s also the second anniversary of the announcement of the birth of the Caliphate.

    Reuters seems to think that the Caliphate is crumbling;

    On a front south of Mosul, a group of women displaced by the offensive said Islamic State fighters’ grip had begun to loosen as Iraqi forces advanced, to the point that they no longer punished people for not wearing the full face veil.

    The number of foreign fighters has fallen significantly, and renewed efforts by the group to recruit locals have proven largely unsuccessful, except amongst the young and destitute, according to people who recently fled, including three repentant Islamic State members.

    Unfortunately, they’re terrorists and they’ll probably get worse and bloodier in their death throes.

  • Same Old Song and Dance

    Well, for the     gang of fools in DC     current Administration, this is . . . inconvenient.

    Remember the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting?  You know, the incident where an adherent of Islam became radicalized, was investigated twice by the FBI for potential ties to terrorism, pledged his allegiance to Daesh, and shot up an Orlando nightclub frequented by the LGBT crowd – killing 49 and injuring 53?

    You know, that obvious terrorist attack that the Administration has insisted on investigating as a possible “hate crime”?  Because a number of people claimed the shooter had frequented gay clubs and inquired about gay dating apps?

    Well, it seems that those pesky things called facts are looking a bit “inconvenient” regarding the Administration’s      blatant propaganda and “spin”      thesis that this may have been a hate crime vice terrorism.  Per officials familiar with the investigation, the FBI has found no hard evidence supporting that thesis.  Specifically, they can’t seem to corroborate the accounts concerning the shooter that might lead one to believe he may have been gay or bi.

    Still, the investigation into the shooter’s possible sexual orientation continues.  And last week, in an interview the US Attorney General declined to rule out the possibility that the shooter was secretly gay – but that investigators are still trying to determine why the shooter picked a gay nightclub.

    Hmm.  Daesh has been targeting gays for death for the past 2 years.  The shooter chose a gay night club during a special event (when it would be more crowded than usual) as his target.  Daesh is a radical Islamic terrorist organization.  The shooter pledged his allegiance to Daesh, and was a radicalized Muslim.  And he committed a suicide attack.

    I’m not LE.  But I think maybe I’m seeing a pattern here that rather clearly supports one conclusion regarding the shooter’s motive.

    Or, to phrase it differently:  looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, smells like a duck.  Damn, ya think maybe it might be a duck and not a squirrel?

    Fox News has an article this morning giving more details.  It’s worth a read.

    Yeah, it looks like our legs are wet yet again.  And it’s not raining.