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November 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 20, 2015 10 Comments
Brandeis University becomes the latest school to receive a set of demands from a student protest group... or else. The group, calling itself Concerned Students 2015, made the following demands, according to an all-campus email from Brandeis Interim President Lisa Lynch forwarding an email she had received:
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ford Hall <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Nov 19, 2015 at 1:33 PM Subject: Fwd: URGENT: Demands from Concerned Students 2015 To: [email protected] Dear President Lynch,
“The university that carries the name of the justice who stood for the rights of individuals must be distinguished by academic excellence, by truth pursued wherever it may lead and by awareness of the power and responsibilities that come with knowledge.” - Last paragraph of Brandeis University’s Mission
We, the concerned students of Brandeis University, take pride in being Brandeis students. We care deeply about the future and progress of this university and want this university to continue to attract and produce the world’s greatest and most critical minds. This is why we are dedicated to the needs of our fellow students and believe we must hold this beloved university to its mission.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 20, 2015 11 Comments
Wednesday, I argued that debate over the Syrian refugee crisis detracts from the heart of the issue -- President Obama’s incompetency combatting radical Muslim terrorist cells. Had this administration some semblance of strategy or will to win, the contentious and overly politicized refugee debate would be nonexistent. There would be no need for for the masses to flee heinously violent Islamist terrorists.
The better discussion here is not refugees that will take at least 18 months to vet, but how an absence of overall strategy has resulted in an emboldened ISIS. Speaking from Turkey earlier this week, President Obama renewed his commitment to stay the course with the current strategy to fight ISIS (whatever that is) and admitted he has no interest in, “pursuing some notion of American leadership or America winning,” an attitude that become more obvious by the day.
Prior to Thursday's House vote to halt President Obama's Syrian refugee proposal, Rep. Trey Gowdy also argued that, "the people in charge of our foreign policy seem more interested in treating the symptoms," rather than addressing why thousands are fleeing their homeland.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 20, 2015 3 Comments
The organized smear campaign against UT-Austin Israel Studies professor Ami Pedahzur continues unabated. For those of you who are new to the story, the UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee invaded an Israel Studies event hosted by Prof. Pedahzur (possibly in violation of the campus code), refused either to participate in the event or leave, and instead disrupted the event, ending in shouts of "Free, Free Palestine" and "Long Live the Intifada." The disruption was led by UT-Austin law student Mohammed Nabulsi. According to what he wrote afterwards, when Prof. Pedahzur learned after the event that two of the leaders of the disruption used online aliases of known terrorist names, he became concerned that the aggressive behavior posed a risk of escalation that worried him, particularly in light of the Paris terrorist attacks. Nabulsi has written of the need for the anti-Israel boycott movement to support Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other "resistance" groups.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 20, 2015 9 Comments
NOTE: This post has one correction and one clarification, as noted below. One of Florida's more interesting laws is the so-called "10-20-Life" statute, properly cited as §775.087 Possession or use of weapon; aggravated battery; felony reclassification; minimum sentence.  In a nutshell, §775.087 provides, among other things, for mandatory minimum sentences for the possession or use of a firearm while committing one of several enumerated violent crimes.  It appears likely now that some substantial changes will be made to §775.087, particularly in the context of self-defense, on the basis of a bill moving through the Florida Senate.  (The PDF of the proposed revised bill, currently named SB 228, is embedded at the bottom of this post.) §775.087 has, of course, long been a target for groups who oppose mandatory minimum sentencing as a matter of policy.  More interestingly, it has also become a target for the self-defense advocacy community, who believe the statute has been used inappropriately against people who were merely acting in self-defense. In effect, the statute lists 18 various crimes, and then establishes mandatory minimum sentences if a person convicted of one of those crimes was either in possession of or discharged a firearm while committing the underlying crime:

§775.087(2)(a)(1): Possession of firearm = 10 year mandatory minimum.

§775.087(2)(a)(2): Discharge of firearm = 20 year mandatory minimum.

§775.087(2)(a)(3): Discharge causing death or great bodily harm = 25 to life mandatory minimum.

Note that each of those mandatory minimum sentences is to run consecutively with (on top of) sentencing for the underlying crime.  Thus it's actually possible to receive a longer sentence for the "10-20-Life" portion of the offense than for the underlying offense itself. CORRECTION: I am advised by Florida public defender (appellate division) Steven Gosney that the §778.087 mandatory minimum "bumps up" the sentence for the underlying criminal charge, it is not in addition to that underlying sentence. So an aggravated assault sentence of 5 years, in which a firearm was discharged, would under §778.087 be increased to a total of 20 years; it would not end up as a combination of 5 years for the underlying charge and an additional 20 years for §778.087.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 20, 2015 7 Comments
When asked about combating ISIS at the Democratic Party debate last Saturday, Hillary Clinton said "It cannot be an American fight." She took some heat for saying that, even from the left. After what must have been a furious few days of focus groups and word testing, she presented a plan to defeat ISIS in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday. CNN reports:
Hillary Clinton calls for U.S. to 'intensify and broaden' efforts to fight ISIS Hillary Clinton is calling for more allied planes, more airstrikes and a "broader target set" -- though no large-scale mobilization of U.S. ground troops -- to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. She urged Congress to approve a new authorization of the use of military force against ISIS, saying that doing so would signal "that the U.S. is committed to this fight. The time for delay is over. We should get this done."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 19, 2015 21 Comments
It was only two short months ago that Pope Francis was touring this country and promoting his climate change encyclical, having made this issue a key one in his papacy. In the wake of the Paris attacks, his priorities seem to have been shifted. Unfortunately, he blames the weapon sellers instead of the weapons users for the start of a "world war" in his most recent homily.
Pope Francis has denounced arms traffickers who are fueling what he calls the piecemeal “world war” raging around the globe, saying they are “damned” delinquents interested only in making money. Francis delivered one of the most pained homilies of his pontificate Thursday during morning Mass in the Vatican hotel chapel. He didn’t mention the Paris attacks by name, but referred to little wars being fought around the globe. ...He continued: “Those who make war are damned, they’re delinquents. War can be ‘justified’ for many reasons. But when the whole world is at war, as it is today … there is no justification. And God weeps.”

Posted by New Neo on November 19, 2015 0 Comments
Obama's taunt that Republicans "are scared of widows and orphans" takes on an ironic twist in light of the fact that one of the dead in Wednesday morning's Paris raid was a female suicide bomber, Hasna Aitboulahcen [Featured Image]. We also know that, in some of the earliest conflicts in which a significant number of female suicide bombers and other terrorists were involved (Chechnya), many of these women terrorists were in fact widows. That status inspired the group's Russian name, which means "Black Widows":
Shahidka,...sometimes called "Black Widow" or Chyornaya Vdova in Russian, is a term for Islamist Chechen female suicide bombers, willing to be a manifestation of violent jihad. They became known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002...

Posted by Demetrius Minor on November 19, 2015 17 Comments
In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, Americans are looking toward their elected leadership for a way forward in the plan to defeat ISIS. One of the plans put forward by the GOP-led Congress is to enhance security measures and to temporarily halt settlements for the incoming Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and to also require the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to perform individual background checks. The White House has reported that President Obama has made it clear that he will veto the House-led legislation if it arrives at his desk. From Fox News:
"Given the lives at stake and the critical importance to our partners in the Middle East and Europe of American leadership in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis ... [Obama] would veto the bill."
But even some Democrats are showing defiance towards the president's strategy and are aligning themselves with the GOP on this particular issue. The Blue Dog Democrats, who are more conservative-leaning, will back the legislation.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 19, 2015 2 Comments
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind last week's terror attacks in Paris that killed 129 people (so far---some victims are still in critical condition) and wounded hundreds more, was confirmed dead following a dramatic police raid on an apartment complex in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis on Wednesday. According to multiple reports, French officials fired over 5000 rounds into the flat where intelligence revealed the terrorist and several other people were hiding. According to Fox News, Abaaoud was identified via skin samples found following the raid. His cousin also died---she blew herself up in a suicide attack on the scene. More from Fox News:
Two counterterrorism sources tell Fox News his death marks a major advance for the investigation, but add they are operating on the premise that more senior suspects connected to the plot are still out there. They describe Abaaoud as the “Mohammed Atta” of the Paris attacks, the “tactical guy” who identified and pulled together the operatives, in the same way the lead hijacker kept the 9/11 teams on course.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 19, 2015 3 Comments
Today, American Yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz was murdered in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank in Jerusalem. He was one of three killed when a Palestinian terrorist open fired into a traffic jam. The Jerusalem Post reports:
Seven others were lightly wounded in the attack, two Israeli women and five American yeshiva students. They were all evacuated to the Sha’are Tzedek Medical Center. The Americans are due to be released. while the two Israeli women will be hospitalized overnight. ... Initial reports suggest that the terrorist fired at the cars as he drove by them and was even able to reload this gun. He then sped in the direction of the Alon Shvut settlement, but slammed into a car.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 19, 2015 11 Comments
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel doubles down on her open-border policy just days after the deadly Paris terror attacks by reiterating her government’s willingness to absorb more migrants, the political landscape in changing rapidly before her eyes. The anti-immigration party AfD that was just above 3 percent in opinion polls as recently as August, is now polling above 10 percent. Established in 2013 as a grassroots reaction to the EU’s monetary policy, the party has skyrocketed to the country's third largest political force. AfD (Alternative for Germany) has aligned itself with the anti-Islamisation movement ‘Pegida’, drawing impressive crowds to its rallies, especially in the eastern part of the country.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 19, 2015 56 Comments
As the world reacts to the terror attacks in Paris and French authorities continue to address new developments, some progressives are pushing the left's pet issue of gun control. In order to understand their point, you have to completely ignore the fact that France has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and that the victims of the Paris attacks were completely unarmed. Jenn Jacques reports at Bearing Arms:
Liberals Push Gun Control, Ignorant Rhetoric Following Attacks in Paris I cannot imagine the horror the survivors of last night’s attack in Paris witnessed and I pray peace and comfort will embrace the family and friends of the victims. I watched the reports of the attacks unfold on HD, and like many Americans, sat in disbelief feeling helpless and dumbfounded...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 19, 2015 7 Comments
The students who disrupted a UT-Austin Israel Studies event hosted by Professor Ami Pedahzur have gone on the offensive, filing a "civil rights" complaint with the University. The disruption was carried out by the UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), led by law student Mohammed Nabulsi, who also is a leader of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on campus. Despite my requests both to the University and the students' lawyer Brian McGiverin, I have not received a copy of the complaint. But the nature of the charges has been explained in press statements issued by the students and McGiverin. http://www.twcnews.com/tx/austin/news/2015/11/18/pro-palestine-ut-students-claim-civil-rights-were-violated.html The Austin Chronicle reports:
After the event, Pedahzur released a statement about the incident on an official UT website – that was later removed – and on his website and Facebook page. In it, Pedahzur compared the incident with the latest Paris terrorist attacks, saying, "Less than 48 hours after the horrific attacks in Paris, I feel that it is my responsibility to ask you to join me in an attempt to confront the radicalization process on campuses and to protect students, staff, and faculty members from intimidation and violence."

Posted by New Neo on November 19, 2015 17 Comments
The best approach to addressing the ISIS threat would have been one of prevention---an ounce of it worth far more than a pound of cure. An obvious move would have been to keep a small residual force in Iraq, back when even Obama was crowing about the successful transition there. Another good move would have been to not do anything in Syria without knowing exactly who and what was going to replace Assad. I wrote a piece on that very topic in June of 2013, and although I don't pretend to be a strategic genius on the subject, it wasn't hard to predict the problems:
My strong suspicion is that there are few good guys here. It was the same question I asked about Egypt and Libya. In both places there were some “good guy” elements mixed among the Islamicist fanatics, although I suspected the latter would be the ones to end up with the power, just as they had long ago in Iran. And that seems to be the way it’s trending, although news from both countries has died down for the moment.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 18, 2015 7 Comments
Earlier this year, I dove in to the world of ISIS propaganda with a piece explaining that ISIS is using digital media to both recruit new members, and make it more difficult for international intelligence officials to track terror threats. ISIS is really good at propaganda. Their use of social media to recruit and promote themselves is unlike anything we’ve seen from an extremist group; their social media accounts reach into computers and homes all across the globe, and their Al-Bayan radio network is reportedly on par with NPR. Since last week's attack on Paris, ISIS operatives have released multiple videos articulating an intent to attack high-profile sites on U.S. soil. For a JV operation, their propaganda is pretty damn polished.
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