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Terrorism Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 12, 2016 13 Comments
Thursday night, Mohammad Barry injured four at an Israeli-owned restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. According to witnesses, Barry began stabbing patrons with a machete, going booth by booth. Barry fled the scene but police were able to locate him. When Barry lunged at police wielding a knife and machete, police opened fire, killing him. The FBI is now investigating, but they're not saying why. No reports indicate whether or not the counterterrorism unit is involved.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 10, 2016 6 Comments
The U.S. move to boost NATO forces in Eastern Europe is another black mark on President Obama and Hillary Clinton's foreign policy.  The decision to strengthen NATO's bulwark against further Russian adventurism is sound in itself, but it further exposes the 2009 Russia Reset as a naive, amateurish blunder.  The cost for the mistake - a mistake many recognized and warned against at the time - is still being reckoned on battlefields in Eastern Ukraine. President Obama entered office determined to distance himself from U.S. foreign policy that made no sense to his ideological view.  Among the anachronisms he identified was the tense U.S.-Russia relationship.  Relations with Russia degraded through President Bush's second term, and than cratered when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and President Bush responded by deploying U.S. warships to the Black Sea and airlifting Georgian troops home from Afghanistan. Two months after taking office, Obama dispatched his newly-appointed Secretary of State - Hillary Clinton - to reset relations with Russia.  In March, 2009, Clinton met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva, Switzerland, and gave him a big, red, plastic button with the Russian word "peregruzka" on it.  Clinton thought it meant "reset;" it actually meant "overcharge."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 07, 2016 20 Comments
Obama's first year in office was a busy one as he worked tirelessly to hinder the government's ability to identify, locate, track, or make common sense connections between Islamists and terrorism. In April of 2009, the DHS released a now-infamous report entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" and in which conservatives were labeled potential terrorists not because they are radical militants but because they are pro-life, support the Tenth Amendment, or are veterans. Michelle Malkin wrote at that time:
It is no coincidence that this report echoes Tea Party-bashing left-wing blogs (check this one out comparing the Tea Party movement to the Weather Underground!) and demonizes the very Americans who will be protesting in the thousands on Wednesday for the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party. From the report, p.2: Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 04, 2016 11 Comments
The disastrous JCPOA and President Obama's political compulsion to hide Iranian wrong-doing have infected the entire Democratic Party.  Instead of responding to Iran's support for terrorism and violations of its international commitments by imposing penalties, President Obama - and now his Democratic allies in Congress - are running cover. David Gerstmen wrote last month that "Obama’s Passivity in Face of Aggression Puts Iran in Driver’s Seat" and
in October, Iran tested a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that was later determined by the United Nations to have been in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929.  The administration, in response to Congressional pressure, was set to impose new sanctions on Iran at the end of 2015, but retreated when threatened by Iran.
Rather than leave Obama exposed to more embarrassment if he has to veto or block an Iran sanctions bill, Senate Democrats are trying to do the work for him.  According to The Hill:

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 02, 2016 4 Comments
As negotiations to negotiate an end to the Syrian civil war plod along, the UN has admitted, internally, that it is powerless to enforce any Syria peace deal. According to Foreign Policy, the UN knows it cannot enforce or even monitor any peace deal it brokers:
In a confidential strategy paper exclusively obtained by Foreign Policy, the office of the United Nations’ top envoy to Syria warns that the U.N. would be unable to monitor or enforce any peace deal that might emerge from landmark political talks underway in Geneva. The paper raised concerns the world might harbor unrealistic expectations about the U.N.’s ability to oversee and verify a cease-fire in a civil war beset by a dizzying array of armed factions and terrorist groups. “The current international and national political context and the current operational environment strongly suggest that a U.N. peacekeeping response relying on international troops or military observers would be an unsuitable modality for ceasefire monitoring,” according to the “Draft Ceasefire Modalities Concept Paper” by U.N. envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura’s team. In plain English, that means Syria will be far too dangerous for some time for traditional U.N. peacekeepers to handle.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on January 28, 2016 8 Comments
With the recent wave of terrorism unleashed on Israeli civilians, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government is investing in technology to pre-empt “lone wolf” attacks. Since September 2015, more than 100 stabbings attacks have taken place and 29 Israelis have died, including an American teenager. The terror attacks in Israel are not limited to knife attacks alone, about 40 shootings and 20 car ramming incidents have also taken place during the same period. Hamas and PLO-affiliated terrorist group are increasingly using Facebook and other social media platforms to recruit and direct attacks against unsuspecting Israeli civilians. And Israel is doing what Israel does best -- using cutting-edge technology to fight back terrorism. Speaking at a Cyber Technology conference in Tel Aviv, Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that the country is studying the modus operandi of these “lone wolf” terrorists, and devising tools to monitor social media and pre-empt such attacks. Jerusalem Post reports:
Israel will invest more in technology enabling it to gather intelligence on social media about potential “lone wolf” terrorists, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said on Wednesday.  (…)

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 27, 2016 7 Comments
Early in December, the first news I had of the San Bernardino terror attack was Facebook inquiries as to whether I was alright. Today, Facebook friends were asking me about another attack that seemed to be occurring a mere mile from where I often work. Fortunately, it was a false alarm:
Reports of an active shooter at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) Tuesday morning led to a lengthy lockdown of the military facility, but U.S. Navy officials confirmed no gunman was found and no injuries were reported. NMCSD was placed on lockdown just after 8 a.m. and people inside were ordered to shelter in place after an unidentifed Department of Defense employee reported hearing three shots fired in the basement of Building 26, which houses a gym and barracks, according to the Navy.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on January 26, 2016 9 Comments
German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reports that Germany's capital Berlin is rapidly turning into an “Islamist stronghold” in the heart of Europe. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency BfV is monitoring some 680 Islamists in the city. The agency classified 360 of these Islamic radicals as capable of carrying out violent attacks. These figure where released by the City of Berlin, as local authorities launched several ‘social programs’ to ‘stop the radicalization of youth.’ The newspaper also confirmed that 50 Islamists have returned back to Berlin after serving in the ranks of the Islamic State. The Berliner Morgenpost doesn't say, but these ISIS-returnees are most likely back on the dole and receiving tax-payer funded counselling from their social workers and psychologists, to help them cope with the trauma of having brutalized underage sex-slaves, beheaded infidels, and desecrated places of worship sacred to Christians or other faiths. These revelations from Berlin coincide with the terror warning by EU’s law enforcement agency Europol. According to Europol, Islamic State may now have "hundreds of militants in countries across [Europe]" that are "ready to bring murder and mayhem to the streets." London-based Daily Mail reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 25, 2016 7 Comments
Terror attacks in and against Israeli Jews now are daily occurrences. Most don't make their way into the U.S. media. Two recent examples are twin 18-year old sisters arrested for bomb making, and at stabbing attack which left two Israeli women injured but could have been much worse. The Times of Israel reports:
Iraeli security forces arrested 18-year-old bomb-making twin sisters from Shwaika, outside the Palestinian city of Tulkarem in the West Bank last month, the Shin Bet security service announced Monday. Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Shin Bet officers discovered pipe bombs and other explosive materials in the home of Diana and Nadia Hawila in late December 2015, officials said.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 25, 2016 2 Comments
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says ISIS's fake document industry is booming. After obtaining blank passports, ISIS has successfully printed virtually undetectable counterfeits. It's unclear whether any of these fake passports have been used to enter the United States.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 25, 2016 5 Comments
ISIS has reportedly released a video that confirms that the Paris terrorists trained in Syria; the video shows the men carrying out executions and reinforces the knowledge that they were not merely "inspired" by ISIS. The New York Times reports:

The Islamic State released a video on Sunday apparently showing footage of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris while they were in Syria and Iraq, where they are pictured carrying out executions, including beheadings.

If the identities of all of the men in the video are confirmed, it would be the first evidence that the group that killed 130 people in coordinated attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 had been sent from the Islamic State’s base in Syria.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 24, 2016 6 Comments
As the world's governments work to stop terrorist attacks before they happen, one group in the UK is accused of colluding with Islamist groups to undermine these efforts. The Telegraph reports:
Leaders and activists of Britain’s biggest teachers’ union are colluding with Islamic extremists to undermine policies aimed at preventing terror attacks. Private emails leaked to the Telegraph show that Rob Ferguson, a senior National Union of Teachers (NUT) activist in heavily-Muslim Newham, east London, is working with Mend, an extremist front group, and Cage, the notorious organisation which backed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) killer known as “Jihadi John”.
Apparently this union is working to ensure that the government's efforts to identify potential radicalization in young people is thwarted.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 22, 2016 11 Comments
If you had any concerns about Obama's Iran Deal rest assured, the news only gets worse. Speaking to a CNBC panel yesterday, John Kerry admitted that some of the money the U.S. is giving to Iran is likely to end up in the hands of terror groups. CNN reports:
John Kerry: Some sanctions relief money for Iran will go to terrorism Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged to CNBC Thursday that some of the money Iran received in sanctions relief would go to groups considered terrorists. When asked about whether some the $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran would go to terrorist groups, Kerry reiterated that, after settling debts, Iran would receive closer to $55 billion. He conceded some of that could go to groups considered terrorists, saying there was nothing the U.S. could do to prevent that.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 19, 2016 3 Comments
We reported recently on the murder of Israeli fertility nurse and mother of six Dafna Meir by a Palestinian. Dafna Meir Israeli Mother Stabbed to death Meir fought back but was stabbed to death in front of her children, as one child tried to help her:
A tear-choked Renana Meir, 17, apologized over her mother’s body on Monday for not preventing the Palestinian terrorist from stabbing her to death. “I am sorry that in your most difficult moments I was not able to help you,” Renana said, as she looked out at the hundreds of mourners.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 17, 2016 1 Comment
This has eerie resemblance to the stabbing to death of the Fogel family in 2011, including 6 month old Hadas as she slept in her crib. Reports indicated that a Palestinian man entered a home in a settlement near Hebron, and stabbed to death a mother in front of her three children. One of the children, 15 years old, gave a description of the man to the police, and he was caught on security cameras leaving the the settlement heading towards an Arab village. The Times of Israel reports:
Police officers and IDF soldiers set up roadblocks in the area surrounding the West Bank settlement of Otniel Sunday night as they searched for a Palestinian man who stabbed an Israeli woman to death in her home and then fled. Just after 5:00 p.m., the terrorist broke into Dafna Meir’s home and after a struggle in the doorway, killed the 38-year-old mother while three of her four children were reportedly in the home. The three children helped their mother fight off the attacker, Channel 2 news reported. One of the three, a 15-year-old girl, gave security authorities a description of the terrorist.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 15, 2016 27 Comments
For some reason, I thought "folk singers" went out with lava lamps, tie-dye, and patchouli, and though I know folk music has a long and proud tradition, I just can't shake the image of doped-out '60s hippies singing about peace at SDS and Weather Underground rallies . . . where domestic terrorism was often on the list of things to do. As it turns out, though, folk singing is alive and well; indeed, an Oregon folk singer is heading to Syria with the hopes of serenading ISIS into peaceful submission. It sounds like an Onion story, but Fox News reports:
James Twyman, of Portland, Ore., told FoxNews.com he feels a "calling" and believes he can soften the hearts of the Islamist army known for beheading Westerners, throwing gays off of buildings and summarily executing innocent women and children.

Posted by Taryn O'Neill on January 15, 2016 13 Comments

Newly released documents from the State Department indicate the U.S. government has known Islamic extremists have been entering the country via Mexico for over ten years.

A cable obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act shows the U.S. was aware of "smuggling networks" that specialize in the trafficking of suspected Islamic extremists across the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2004 cable was sent to the State Department by the American Consulate in Juarez, Mexico.

Perhaps most alarming was the mention of a top Al Qaeda operative by the name of Adnan el Shukrijumah. The 2004 cable indicates the U.S. had human intelligence leading to his "exact whereabouts." It was not until December of 2014 - ten years later - that Shukrijumah would be captured (or in this case, killed in Pakistan).

Shukrijumah was described by FBI as "a grave danger to the security of the United States" and had ties to 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed as well as to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Among other acts domestic and abroad, he helped plot the 2009 foiled bombing of Oprah Winfrey's Chicago studios and the Sears Tower.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on January 15, 2016 1 Comment
On Wednesday the Iranian Central Bank argued before the United States Supreme Court that Iranian-owned assets in U.S.-based accounts cannot be used to satisfy judgments against Iran.  The narrow legal question in Bank Markazi v. Peterson is whether and to what extent Congress can dictate the outcome of a pending suit by statute, but the practical question is whether victims of Iranian terror can obtain payment for their and their loved ones' suffering and deaths.

Background

Plaintiff Deborah Peterson sued the government of Iran for the wrongful death of her brother, Lance Corporal James C. Knipple, who was killed along with 240 other Americans in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.  Numerous other Plaintiffs sued Iran either for their own or for loved ones' injuries and deaths in other Iranian terror attacks including the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. Airmen. Iran did not appear in court to defend these suits, and the various courts entered default judgments against it in 19 different cases in an aggregate amount of several billion dollars.
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