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

Category: Terror War

  • Belgian Police raid Islamic State cell; at least two meet Allah

    The UK’s Daily Mail reports that Belgian police raided an ISIS terrorist cell sent back from Syria to wage jihad in Europe.

    Hooded commandos were seen in Verviers, near Liege, shortly before 6pm, and according to Belgian prosecutors they were trying to arrest Islamic extremists newly returned from fighting in Syria.

    ‘An operation is under way,’ a source in the mayor’s office told AFP without giving further details. Another official separately told the agency the incident was ‘jihadist-related’.

    Beyond the dead – who number two or three – a ‘number of people were also arrested,’ said the local judicial source. Belgium, which has long been home to a large Muslim population, is believed to have the highest proportion of citizens who have left to fight in the Middle East, after Britain.

    You might remember that a holocaust museum in Brussels was targeted by a jihadist with an AK (in spite of Belgium’s strict gun laws) early last year. The Belgian government say that they’ve been watching this bunch since they returned from Syria just last week. The article claims that the weapons used in the attacks in Paris last week were purchased in Belgium according to investigators.

  • Pope advocates for limits to free speech

    Pope Francis finally weighed in on the Charlie Hebdo murders and he compared the terrorist attack to a punch in the nose says Associated Press;

    “If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch,” Francis said half-jokingly, throwing a mock punch his way. “It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

    Yeah, well, in my opinion, I think that your freedom of speech ends at the point where you insult bloggers, specifically me.

    The Pope makes it sound like the murders of several Frenchmen were justified, some of the people murdered had nothing to do with Charlie Hebdo, even though he said that the murders weren’t justified;

    His pretend punch aside, Francis by no means said the violent attack on Charlie Hebdo was justified. Quite the opposite: He said such horrific violence in God’s name couldn’t be justified and was an “aberration.” But he said a reaction of some sort was to be expected.

    Nice dodge, Your Eminence. A reaction was justified, but not murder, no matter how much you explain it away. The liberals love this Pope, I’m sure the jihadists will, too. So, how many Catholics are going to show up at the TAH fortress to punch me in the nose or to burn down the building? I’m guessing none.

  • Christopher Lee Cornell; Ohio terrorist

    Christopher Lee Cornell; Ohio terrorist

    Christopher Lee Cornell

    Ex-PH2 sends us a link to the story of Christopher Lee Cornell who recently converted to Islam, changed his name to Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah and then promptly decided to blow up the US Capitol with the help of his pal, an FBI informant;

    The complaint against Cornell charges him with attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States.

    Cornell was arrested Wednesday after buying two semi-automatic rifles and about 600 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.

    The public was never in danger, said John Barrios, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati division.

    His father says that Chris is “one of the most peace-loving people I know”. Dad ought to check out of his circle of friends, in that case. Young “momma’s boy” planned to use explosives and firearms to kill as many employees at the Capitol as he could. And he wanted to do all of that in solidarity with the Islamic State.

    I’m guessing that if you run into a fellow who wants to sell you guns and explosives for your dastardly plot to kill Americans, that fellow is probably an FBI informant. But, that’s just a guess, on my part, given recent history.

  • Afghans: ISIS is recruiting in Afghanistan

    According to the Associated Press, some Afghan generals are admitting that “Mullah Abdul Rauf” is recruiting and organizing for the Islamic State in the south of Afghanistan.

    Gen. Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the army’s 215 Corps, said that within the past week residents of a number of districts in the southern Helmand province have said Rauf’s representatives are fanning out across the province to recruit people.

    “A number of tribal leaders, jihadi commanders and some ulema (religious council members) and other people have contacted me to tell me that Mullah Rauf had contacted them and invited them to join him,” Khan said.

    But he said the Taliban, which is active across Helmand and controls some districts, have warned people not to contact Rauf.

    Now, if they’re the same person, there was an Abdul Rauf Khadim who was prisoner number 108 in Guantanamo, according to Thomas Joscelyn in a 2010 article at The Long War Journal;

    The career of Abdul Rauf Khadim (whose internment serial number at Gitmo was 108) is intertwined with that of another former Guantanamo detainee, Mullah Abdullah Zakir (internment serial number 8). Both men were detained at Gitmo for several years and then transferred together, along with 11 other Gitmo detainees, to Afghanistan on Dec. 12, 2007.

    Khadim escaped Afghan custody last year, according to Newsweek. He then quickly rejoined the Taliban’s ranks. Zakir had already rejoined the Taliban, and he became its surge commander in southern Afghanistan.

    I’m not sure if they’re the same person, though, but it certainly stands to reason. The Associated Press article reports that the Rauf that is recruiting was indeed in Guantanamo, according to one of his relatives who hadn’t seen him for twenty years.

    The AP article also reports that ISIS is battling with the Taliban in Afghanistan;

    “People are saying that he has raised black flags and even has tried to bring down white Taliban flags in some areas,” said Saifullah Sanginwal, a tribal leader in Sangin district. “There are reports that 19 or 20 people have been killed” in fighting between the Taliban and the IS group, he added.

    A smart commander would probably exploit that, but we seem to be fresh out of those.

  • CENTCOM’s Twitter/YouTube accounts hacked

    CENTCOM’s Twitter/YouTube accounts hacked

    The President today announced that he was focusing on cyber security, so in response, it looks like someone hacked into Central Command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts. If you go to CENTCOM’s Twitter account, you get this message;

    Centcom Twitter

    So, CNN says;

    The first tweet was published at about 12:30 p.m. ET and read: “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.”

    The account’s profile photo became a black-and-white image of a person wearing a Keffiyeh, or scarf, around their head.

    “CyberCaliphate” and “i love you isis” were sprawled out in white letters against a black screen at the top of the Twitter page.

    By about 1:10 p.m. ET, the account was suspended.

    Central Command’s YouTube page was also apparently hacked and contained ISIS propaganda videos depicting militant fighters.

    The group also claimed to have obtained and released classified documents, though Defense officials who spoke to CNN said it does not yet appear that any documents that have been released were labeled classified.

    I would worry much, I just think it’s ironic that the hack attack was happening while the President was telling us how he was going to make the interwebz safer for consumers. Our own cyber terrorists have been telling us how they stole our documents and that they “cometh” for years, none of that happened, though. They’re all about terror, and if they can terrorize from a safe distance, they will.

    Thanks to Andy11M for the heads up.

  • France mobilizes 10,000 troops

    France mobilizes 10,000 troops

    The Associated Press reports that France “deployed” ten thousand troops to the streets of France to search for other terrorist cells around the country to protect sensitive sites.

    Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the search is urgent because “the threat is still present” after the attacks that began Wednesday with a massacre on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and ended when the three attackers were killed Friday in nearly simultaneous raids by security forces.

    Meanwhile, France’s defense minister said Monday the country is mobilizing 10,000 troops to protect the population. Jean-Yves Le Drian said the deployment will be fully in place by Tuesday, and will focus on the most sensitive locations.

    Of course, they have 10,000 troops to spare because France was the first country to bail from the NATO mission in Afghanistan. I guess it’s easier to defend at home than to fight terrorists where they live.

    France did send nine jets to the United Arab Emirates to launch attacks against ISIS in Iraq, and they promised to send some troops to help the Kurds, but, to my knowledge, those troops haven’t materialized, although some of their arms shipments to the Kurds have arrived.

  • Amedy Coulibaly, Hyper Cacher gunman, was ISIS

    Amedy Coulibaly, Hyper Cacher gunman, was ISIS

    The media told us that the folks involved with the attacks on civilization in Paris were al Qaeda, but Vocativ found a video from Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman in the Hyper Cacher seige in which he calls himself a “soldat du Caliphate” which means he was associated with the Islamic State not al Qaeda. He also admits in the video that he had coordinated with the Kouachi brothers who had attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices;

    “We did a few things together and a few things separately to maximize the impact. I helped them by giving them a few thousand euros to buy what they needed.”

    Coulibaly identifies himself in the video using his jihadi nom de guerre, Abou-Bassir AbdAllah Al-Ifriqi, a common custom among western Jihadists, and added: “You can’t attack us and expect us to sit still. You keep bombarding our civilians and soldiers just Because we obey the Sharia law.” He opens the video by stumbling over a script written in Arabic.

    At the end of the video, Coulibaly asks of other Muslims: “What do you do my brothers when the prophet keeps being insulted? I have been to a lot of mosques in France, particularly around Paris. They are full of young, fit men. How come so few stand up to defend our people?”

    In related news, it’s reported that Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly’s girlfriend who was suspected to be at the Hyper Cacher with him, is now reported to have gone back to Syria on January 2d, according to Turkish officials;

    The official’s remarks confirm that Boumeddiene was already outside France when the killing spree began, contrary to earlier speculation she had been involved in the Paris killings.

    French police had initially suspected the 26-year-old may have had a role in her partner Amedy Coulibaly’s acts of violence when he shot dead a policewoman on Thursday and took people hostage in a Paris siege on Friday.

    But French police sources said earlier Saturday she was likely already in Turkey at the time of the attacks.

    AFP reports that the Hamburger Morgenpost, Germany, which also ran the anti-Mohammed cartoons from the Charlie Hebdo was firebombed early this morning;

    Police said the attack had occurred at about 0120 GMT and that two young men seen acting suspiciously near the scene were detained. State security has opened an investigation, a spokesman added.

    Whether there was a connection between the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and the attack was the “key question”, the spokesman said, adding that it was “too soon” to know for certain.

    No one was injured.

  • Zinke: Obama’s foreign policy fueled the Paris terrorist attack

    Breitbart reports that Freshman Congressman, former SEAL Ryan Zinke accused the Obama administration’s failed foreign policy for the attacks on the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo;

    “When America doesn’t lead–and this administration is not leading–then it fuels and it gives hope to Islamic fundamentalists,” Former Navy Commander Rep. Zinke told Breitbart News.

    “Yes, it is appropriate to say Islamic fundamentalist, Islamic radicals because that’s what they are,” he continued, adding that by denying to characterize Islamic terrorists for what they are, Obama is further fueling the jihadist movement.

    The Montana congressman accused Obama of leading from behind, saying that America needs to assume command and help France, the oldest U.S. ally.

    I probably wouldn’t go that far to directly blame the Obama White House – the terrorists have to share the blame with the French government and all of the governments of the West that have allowed themselves and their citizens to be unprotected in this phase of the war against terror. The French, if you recall, wouldn’t support the war in Iraq in 2003 which the radical elements of Islam understood to be cowardice and weakness. The French, under the current president, were the first to unass Afghanistan, where a war continues to be fought against radical Islam.

    The West has largely tried to avoid calling terrorism terrorism. While I wouldn’t link the Obama Administration directly to the attack in Paris, I will say that he’s inviting an attack on US interests in this country or, more likely, OCONUS. The White House declares peace in wars that continue and they like to treat terrorism like a law enforcement issue, rather than take preemptive action. Releasing dozens of inmates at Guantanamo doesn’t project the image of strength either. They also think that radical Islam can be dealt with like rational actors. Negotiations with Iran to stop their nuclear program highlight this fallacy.

    We should probably remember that the Obama/Clinton cabal ran interference for the jihadists when those jihadists murdered an ambassador and three veterans in Benghazi and the White House blamed the attack on a video in order to provide political cover for themselves in the next election.

    The piecemeal approach to the drone program in Yemen and the application of force to the war against ISIS only reinforce their view of the West’s weakness. While I wouldn’t agree with Zinke that Obama is directly responsible for the Paris attack, I would lay the next action against the US at the Obama White House’s door step.