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Terrorism Tag

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 10, 2015 19 Comments
President Obama's willful blindness toward Iran's continued development of illicit weaponry is putting Americans and our allies in ever greater danger.  Obama's superficial detente with Iran ignores its deceits, dissimulations, and resolve to obtain a nuclear capability. In the latest instance, Obama is downplaying Iran's November ballistic missile test.  U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 provides, "Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology."  The November launch tested the long-range, nuclear-capable Ghadr-110 missile and was a clear violation of Resolution 1929. Nevertheless, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power merely called for “conducting a serious review of the reported incident.” This is only the latest instance of Obama withholding, distorting or ignoring information that might threaten his Iran policy.  Previously, Obama abandoned his promise that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") would have "anytime, anywhere" inspections, agreeing instead to a drawn-out and inadequate system of notices and appeals. Caving on inspections exacerbated Obama's earlier failure to require Iran to completely disclose its preexisting nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA").

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 09, 2015 49 Comments
Kemberlee noted on Monday that some "American Muslims band together to call out extremists," and in addition to these efforts, another Muslim group is working to raise money for the families of the victims of radical Islamic terrorism. The Los Angeles Times reports:
Faisal Qazi had no idea the shooters who massacred 14 people in San Bernardino last week were Muslims, like himself. The Pomona-based neurologist only knew that the victims and their families were his Inland Empire neighbors, and his faith obligated him to help. Qazi started small, hoping to raise $20,000 through his health nonprofit. But Islamic scholars and leaders urged him to broaden the effort – especially after it was revealed that the assailants were Muslims -- and the campaign quickly became the most successful crowd-funding venture Muslim Americans have ever launched for the broader community.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 09, 2015 21 Comments
Emerging reports indicate Syed Farook made a series of questionable banking transactions in the weeks before he and his wife killed fourteen people in their terrorist attack in San Bernardino. These transactions raise yet again the question of whether financial institutions could play a larger part in interdicting terrorists.  The transactions may have been subject to reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), but the reports would have come too late. Under the BSA and supporting regulations financial institutions must file Suspicious Activity Reports ("SAR") within 30 days of a variety of large, unusual or structured transactions.  A structured transaction or series of transactions is designed to evade reporting requirements or additional scrutiny.  The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Counsel's ("FFIEC") Examination Manual notes that "[s]uspicious activity reporting forms the cornerstone of the BSA reporting system." According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), the BSA:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2015 2 Comments
This would be funny, if it didn't represent a sad reality. We have focused repeatedly not just on incitement to violence in Palestinian society by the Palestinian Authority leadership, but particularly on the indoctrination of children. Here is another example, involving both the PA and children. Israeli customs just seized 4000 dolls being imported to areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The dolls idealized rock throwing and had a rock in hand, as reported in The Times of Israel:
Some 4,000 plush toys of rock-throwing men dressed in Palestinian garb were intercepted Tuesday at the Haifa port by Israeli authorities, who said the dolls were headed for the Palestinian Authority and were part of an incitement campaign. Each toy has its face hidden by a keffiyah, with one arm raised and clutching a tiny toy rock. They hold banners in Palestinian colors proclaiming “Jerusalem is ours” and “Jerusalem we are coming.” Customs officials found the dolls in a container that arrived from the United Arab Emirates and destined for the Palestinian Authority. According to the accompanying paperwork, the shipment was supposed to be clothing, rugs, and plastic products.
Rock throwing is deadly in itself.

Posted by David Gerstman on December 08, 2015 12 Comments
In the early days of blogging there was a blog called Oh, that liberal media, which regularly exposed instances of liberal media bias. In fact in the early days of blogging that was one of the top achievements of the blogosphere, to point out the easy political bias most supposedly objective news sources engaged in. I used to think that the blogosphere would serve as a necessary corrective to the media, but that hasn't happened. In recent years, I don't think that the criticism has had the same effect, even if in some ways the media cocoon has worsened. I think that conservative media critics have convinced all those who can be convinced of the bias and now either people accept the bias because they agree with it or look to alternative news sources because they don't trust the MSM. And the MSM started paying less attention to the criticism. Most of those who were persuadable have been persuaded. (As far as those who deny that such bias exist ... it's hard to deny when prominent journalists have boasted of the bias.) But I still believe that it's possible for the media to jump the shark. At some point the media will show that they are so hopelessly out of touch with most voters, that even non-ideological types would cease to believe them.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 08, 2015 84 Comments
Monday, Presidential hopeful Donald Trump called for, "complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." Republican leadership spoke out against Trump's remarks Tuesday. "I do not comment on what's going on in the presidential election; I will take an exception today," said Speaker Paul Ryan. "This is not conservatism. What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for and more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 08, 2015 19 Comments
Another day, more chilling information about the San Bernardino terrorists.  The terror duo reportedly left bombs behind that were intended to detonate when first-responders arrived at the scene. Fox News reports:
Bombs left at a Southern California social services facility by the gun-wielding radical Muslim couple who killed 14 and wounded 21 were set to go off when first responders arrived, Fox News learned on Monday, in a vicious strategy often seen in the Middle East. None of the pipe bombs left at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik in Wednesday's attack detonated, but the technique has investigators very concerned, sources told Fox News. "This was meant to kill more, but also scare other future responders to attacks," a source with inside knowledge of the investigation said. "This was meant to get into the minds of medics and officers who are arriving first on scene."
Watch the report:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 07, 2015 13 Comments
"This neighborhood should not be part of war zone. This neighborhood should not be a battle ground, so why is it?" asked Sen. Ben Sasse standing outside of the site where the San Bernardino terrorist attacks took place. "Because we're an open society. We're a free society and our enemies hate freedom." Sen. Sasse explained.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 07, 2015 55 Comments
Following the San Bernardino terrorist attack that resulted in the murder of fourteen, Lynch made clear her concern was not for the victims nor the rise in violent terrorism attacks. Her concern? Hate speech.
When we talk about the First amendment we [must] make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not American. They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted.
Rightly, those Constitutionally concerned flipped a lid. Monday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch expanded on comments she made last week.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 07, 2015 28 Comments
"The time for press releases, the time for simple condemnations of the acts of violence is over," said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser speaking on Fox News. At a two-day summit held in DC, the Muslim Reform Movement released a declaration of principles that condemn what Dr. Jasser referred to as "operationalism." The Washington Examiner reported:
The Muslim Reform Movement grew out of a summit this week of leaders of groups that were already fighting extremism. Organizers said deadly terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., added new urgency to the effort. "Let's get rid of political correctness and grab this problem by the root," said Naser Khader, a conservative member of Denmark's parliament, in a panel discussion Thursday at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "It is important to draw a line between the Islamic religion and Islamism." Khader and other members of the group on Friday released a declaration of principles calling on Muslims to reject violent jihad and endorse religious freedom for all and secular government, and saying they will call out those who reject it.
Groups that do not sign the Muslim Reform Movement's declaration of principles are, "part of the first three or four steps of radicalization and American's need to realize that," Jasser continued.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 07, 2015 5 Comments
As San Bernardino families mourned the loss of their loved ones during a terror attack, funeral services were being conducted for an American student killed during the recent Paris massacre:
Funeral services [were] held Friday for Nohemi Gonzalez, the 23-year-old Cal State Long Beach student who was killed in terrorist attacks that killed 129 people in Paris Nov. 13. Gonzalez, of El Monte, died while eating with friends at a popular bistro in Paris called La Belle Equipe. A senior majoring in industrial design, she was one of 17 CSULB students attending Strate College of Design in Paris as part of a semester abroad program. She died in the coordinated attacks that erupted at the cafe, a soccer stadium and, most notably, at the Bataclan theater where a Palm Desert-based band was performing.
The loss of such a young woman, filled with talent and life, is horrific. So, too, is the loss of the 14 Californians at the hands of a couple they had befriended.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 07, 2015 16 Comments
A few more details are emerging concerning the San Bernardino terrorists. The Times of Israel reports that Syed Rizwan Farook, the male terrorist killed trying to run away from the carnage he and his wife created, was "obsessed" with Israel and unwilling to wait the two years his father estimated it would take for Israel to cease to exist. https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/673501593510219776
In Sunday’s La Stampa ... report, Farook said, “My son said that he shared [IS leader Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi’s ideology and supported the creation of the Islamic State. He was also obsessed with Israel.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 06, 2015 78 Comments
Update: It's over. My take: https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/673672232707690496 There wasn't much to the speech. No proposals. No change of course. Barely a mention of gun control. Really nothing Grand or Large. So why the speech from the Oval Office? Judge for yourselves: https://youtu.be/zJ_tWsei3pE?t=2m48s Oh, and this, so this >>

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 06, 2015 21 Comments
On Friday, many Americans were taken aback when Obama elected not to address the nation in the wake of the San Bernardino terror attack.  However, on Friday, he was busy meeting with Gabby Giffords about gun control, so while he addressed the issue in his weekly address, he'll be delivering a speech tonight (at 8 p.m. EST). Going by reports of tonight's speech so far, anyone hoping for what Megyn Kelly calls the "Comforter in Chief" or for him to declare the San Bernardino terror attack an act of war will be disappointed. Apparently, Obama's plan is to lecture us on what terrorism is and how it came about (his version of it, anyway), bemoan the Second Amendment protections afforded the American people, and harangue Congress into passing stricter gun laws. This sounds ripe for another Obama speech drinking game.

Posted by New Neo on December 06, 2015 45 Comments
President Obama used his regular weekly radio address on Saturday to discuss the San Bernardino shootings, which now have been categorized---although not by Obama---as the worst terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11. He will give a televised speech from the Oval Office Sunday night. In the radio address, Obama offered very tepid stuff in terms of the terrorist connection, as one might expect from Obama. The speech began with praise for the police and rescuers and sympathy for the victims and families (and prayers; notify the Daily News that the president has gone off the reservation). But when Obama starts discussing the causes of the attack, he defers to the investigators---although those very investigators have now said they are investigating it as a terrorist attack. All he has to say about that is the following:

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 05, 2015 80 Comments
In a front page editorial, something that hasn't been done in 95 years, the New York Times is calling for the confiscation of certain kinds of guns and ammunition. The piece makes no distinction for the motives behind recent shootings. It also ignores the fact that gun violence is declining. Many Americans are beginning to realize that our country is under attack and that we're at war whether we like it or not. The fact that the New York Times is calling for disarming citizens makes them look as out of touch as the president they helped elect. Here are some excerpts:
End the Gun Epidemic in America All decent people feel sorrow and righteous fury about the latest slaughter of innocents, in California. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are searching for motivations, including the vital question of how the murderers might have been connected to international terrorism. That is right and proper.

Posted by New Neo on December 05, 2015 31 Comments
Violent actions against Muslims in the US are Loretta Lynch's biggest fear as a prosecutor:
With terrorist attacks in Paris and a shooting spree in California prompting alarm on the part of many Americans, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Thursday that her "greatest fear" is that expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment will lead to attacks on Muslims in the U.S. "The fear that you have just mentioned is in fact my greatest fear as a prosecutor, as someone who is sworn to the protection of all of the American people, which is that the rhetoric will be accompanied by acts of violence," Lynch told a dinner hosted by a Muslim civil rights organization. "My message to not just the Muslim community but to the entire American community is: we cannot give in to the fear that these backlashes are really based on."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 05, 2015 8 Comments
A little over a week ago, President Obama was making the case that the most significant security threat was climate change and asserting that ISIS posed no credible threat to the US homeland. In the wake of the San Bernardino massacre of 14 Americans on the homeland, it is clear that the presidential fantasies and the national realities are quite different. The FBI has formally declared the incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism:
"The San Bernardino, California, mass shooting is now being investigated as "an act of terrorism," FBI official David Bowdich said Friday. Bowdich said the FBI "uncovered evidence ... of extreme planning."
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