Hey Obama, Got a Notepad? How About Getting Your Head Out of Your Climate Change Ass For a Few?

I find it almost laughable that while the President of the United States decides to spend a couple of minutes at a press conference trying to come up with clever sound bite slogans to describe the Islamic State or the Muslim refugee invasion, we have other world leaders, like the Prime Minister of Britain presenting a 24 PAGE DOCUMENT on the evils of ISIS.

For a supposed college whiz kid, you have to notice just how much Obama AVOIDS detail and research on ANYTHING - it's almost like he never went to college or damn near flunked out of it.  Maybe we should look into that.  Oh yeah.

We can't.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

British Prime Minister highlights Islamic State’s threat to UK, West

Britain’s police and security services have “disrupted no fewer than 7 terrorist plots to attack the UK” in the past 12 months, all of which “were either linked to” the Islamic State or “inspired” by the group’s propaganda, according to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The terrorist threat has grown in recent months because the Islamic State “has a dedicated external operations structure in Syria, which is planning mass casualty attacks around the world.”

Cameron’s claims were included in 24 pages of written text recently submitted to the UK parliament as part of his effort to justify the extension of British military operations from Iraq into Syria. The submission includes a 10 page memorandum from Cameron, as well as 14 pages of answers to questions posed by the UK parliament’s foreign affairs select committee. The Islamic State is referred to as ISIL (an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) throughout.

Although some analysts have assumed that the Islamic State is not really interested in, or capable of, planning large-scale operations in the West, the British government says it has been tracking the “caliphate’s” efforts in this regard for some time. The assault on multiple sites in Paris earlier this month was the organization’s first successful large-scale terrorist attack in Europe, but Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s jihadists had been targeting the West long beforehand.

“For several months now,” one of the answers provided to the foreign affairs select committee reads, “UK security agencies have been monitoring the development of ISIL’s external attack planning capacity, which seeks to target both the UK and our allies and partners around the world.”

Cameron has repeatedly argued that the Islamic State is planning strikes in the UK and elsewhere in the West.

In September, he identified Reyaad Khan and Junaid Hussain, both of whom were killed in airstrikes, as “British nationals based in Syria who were involved in actively recruiting [Islamic State] sympathizers and seeking to orchestrate specific and barbaric attacks against the West, including directing a number of planned terrorist attacks right here in Britain, such as plots to attack high profile public commemorations, including those taking place this summer.” Khan was killed in a Royal Air Force (RAF) drone strike on August 21, while Hussain perished in an American airstrike in Raqqa three days later, on August 24. [See LWJ report, Prime Minister says 2 British nationals killed in airstrikes were plotting attacks.]

In his recent testimony, Cameron cited a number of statistics to highlight the ongoing threat. He noted that the Islamic State “targets our young people, using sophisticated grooming techniques to lure them to Syria.”

Approximately “800 British individuals of national security concern have traveled to Syria since the conflict began” and “[m]any have joined ISIL and other terrorist groups.”

“Of those who are known to have traveled,” Cameron claimed, “about half have returned” and “many of those who remain in Syria, pose a threat to our security.”

According to Cameron, there “were 299 arrests in the UK in the year ending 31 March 2015 for terrorism-related offenses,” which is “an increase of 31% compared with the previous year and the highest number since data collection began in 2001.”

Britain has already increased its role in Iraq, where Cameron claims “Iraqi forces have halted ISIL’s advance and recovered 30% of the territory it had captured.” There is no doubt the Islamic State has suffered some key losses in Sinjar, Tikrit and Baiji. But it is not clear if these losses constitute 30 percent of its total territorial holdings, as Cameron claimed, because the jihadists still control Mosul and other significant areas.

Regardless, Cameron argued that any strategy to combat the Islamic State makes little sense if the “caliphate” is not confronted in its de facto capital of Raqqa.

“As pressure on ISIL in Iraq has grown, and as we have learned more about the threat that ISIL poses to Britain and our allies, we have increasingly been confronted by a significant handicap in our ability to respond to that threat: the fact that British Forces are currently restricted to taking direct military action against ISIL only in Iraq,” Cameron pointed out.

“This restriction has never made military sense.” Cameron elaborated: “ISIL does not recognize the border between Syria and Iraq,” as “it operates in a single ungoverned space that straddles both countries.” Moreover, the group’s “practical and ideological headquarters are in Raqqa…from where it conducts its attack planning, operations and recruitment.”

Cameron made a strong call to action, saying the West does “not have the luxury of being able to wait until the Syrian conflict is resolved before tackling ISIL.”

“Nor should we wait until an attack takes place here: we should act in advance, recognizing that there are inherent risks in any course,” Cameron wrote to parliament.

“There will be those who say that the UK might become more of a target by taking a greater role in the international effort to counter ISIL,” Cameron noted. “The reality is that the threat posed by ISIL to the UK is already very high. ISIL already views the UK, along with other Western countries, as a legitimate target for its attacks.”

The World Teeters On the Ego of Putin?

I don't know about you folks but I'm not sleeping comfortably knowing that the world moving towards World War 3 rests on the decisions of a Soviet KGB mentality.

The story comes from Israel National News.

Kremlin says Putin 'fully mobilized' to tackle threat from Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin is fully mobilised to tackle what the Kremlin regards as an unprecedented threat from Turkey following the shooting down of one of its warplanes by a Turkish F-16, the Russian leader's spokesman said on Saturday.


In comments which underscore how angry the Kremlin still is over the incident, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, called the behavior of
the Turkish air force "absolute madness" and said Ankara's subsequent handling of the crisis had reminded him of the "theater of the absurd." "Nobody has the right to traitorously shoot down a Russian plane from behind," Peskov told Russia's "News on Saturday" TV program, calling Turkish evidence purporting to show the Russian SU-24 jet had violated Turkish air space "cartoons".

Ever Wonder How ISIS Is Surviving All of Those International Coalition Bombings?

First off, I think America flew more sorties during the Grenada conflict than Obama has ordered on ISIS but this is an interesting look into how ISIS is dealing with the onset of airstrikes against their cause.

The story comes from Israel National News.

Why ISIS survives: Airstrike sirens, tunnels

In the Islamic State (ISIS) group's Syrian stronghold of Raqa, sirens ring out whenever a warplane approaches as jihadists flee their posts and vehicles to hide, activists say.

A US-led coalition and Russia have stepped up air strikes on the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital since ISIS claimed to have downed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai in October, and the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris two weeks later.

"The sirens are on the roofs of high buildings, in the squares and in the streets," Taym Ramadan, a city resident and anti-ISIS activist, told AFP.

"When a warplane enters Raqa's air space, the sirens ring out to warn (ISIS) members," said the activist from the "Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" campaign group.

"As soon as they hear the sirens, they immediately leave their posts," he said. "Some of them have been seen to leave their vehicles in the middle of the road" to hide.

A fellow activist who calls himself Abu Sham al-Raqa added: "Whenever the jets fly over they set off the sirens to warn the fighters and the residents, and the problem is that the bombing is going on night and day."

Raqa has been under ISIS control since January 2014 after heavy fighting between the jihadists and opposition fighters, who had seized it from regime control in March 2013.

"Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" has secretly documented ISIS abuses in the city since April 2014 when it became off-limits for journalists after several were taken hostage and killed.

Tunnels

With more airstrikes, ISIS has taken further measures to protect its members.

"The group has resorted to tunnels - some previously used and others now being dug out inside the city," Ramadan said.

According to Abu Sham, "the group has moved all its control posts that used to be on the city outskirts to heavily populated residential areas" after some of these were targeted.

On November 15, French fighter jets targeted weapon caches and a training camp on the southern and western outskirts of the city, according to the French army.

Researcher and writer Hisham al-Hashimi said that the group's latest measures included "moving its stores to residential areas and abandoning its training camps," as well as "depending on tunnels to hold its meetings."

ISIS "holds its general meetings in hospitals and mosques" as it knows that the coalition and to a certain extent Russia do not target them to avoid killing civilians, he said.

The jihadist group's leaders communicate using "verbal communication in code," he said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, said a large number of ISIS fighters had been moved from Syria to Iraq.

According to Hashimi, ISIS has stopped transporting its oil products in 36,000-liter tankers and started using smaller, 4,000-liter vehicles after coalition and Russian airstrikes targeted hundreds of fuel trucks in Raqa and Deir Ezzor, where it controls most oil fields.

An investigation by British newspaper The Financial Times last month estimated the jihadists reap some $1.5 million a day from oil, based on the price of $45 a barrel.

Both Moscow and Washington announced this month their determination to increase air strikes on oil infrastructure in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria.

"Little freedom"

ISIS has recently upped surveillance of Raqa residents, increasing checkpoints in the city where its members check people's IDs.

According to Abu Sham, its members also carry out night raids on Internet cafes.

ISIS "has sent out spies to find out who uses the Internet" in these cafes, said Hashimi.

According to the Observatory, ISIS closed at least 10 Internet cafes last week, but allowed others to open on Wednesday on the condition that they be on a main road, be guarded by two ISIS members from the area and observe segregation between the sexes.

Internet has been cut from homes and shops for months, with connection limited to the cafes.

Activists say that ISIS asks all cafe owners to keep them informed with details of their customers.

ISIS also forbids anyone leaving Raqa to areas not under its control without a "previous permission," Hashimi said.

Since taking Raqa, the jihadist group has spread fear among inhabitants with its brutal executions and punishment of anyone who opposes it and its rulings.

But Hashimi said some trials and executions have been postponed with the increase of air strikes.

Activists agreed that "the religious police has lessened their activity," which has allowed residents to enjoy "time-out" to breathe a little.

"Civilians - especially women - make the best of their absence to enjoy a little freedom, with a young woman for example now able to open a window or go out onto the balcony without a face veil," Ramadan said.

Obama blamed for Islamisation of USA

Well, I guess the ONLY way you're going to see a headline like this from media is to have to look at it from a Pakistani news source, namely DAWN.  There ain't no way in Hell that any main stream media outlet in America would DARE run that headline.

The fact this it is true isn't important people.  It's all about protecting Islam in America.  It's all about keeping the kid gloves on when critiquing our Boy Wonder President.

Obama blamed for Islamisation of USA

WASHINGTON: As Americans celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, an anti-immigration group published names and addresses of Muslims and Muslim sympathisers in a Texas town, urging people to force them out.

On a day when Americans offer thanks for migrating here from the old world, anti-immigration groups blamed President Barack Obama for legalising an “Islamic invasion” of the United States.

Reports posted on various right wing websites claimed that the Obama administration issued 680,000 green cards to migrants from Muslim-majority countries between 2009 and 2013, as part of a conspiracy to “make America Islamic.”

The reports also claimed that since 1980, 1.5 million Muslims settled in the United States.

“To put this five-year tally – 680,000 – in context, it surpasses the total population of Washington, D.C., which is 660,000,” said one such post.

What it did not mention is that many who work in Washington live in its suburbs and that’s why the city has a small population.

The posts also failed to mention that between 2009 and 2013, India topped the list of the countries that sent immigrants to the US, followed by China, South Korea, Canada, Philippines, Mexico, Britain and Taiwan.

Last week, an anti-Islam group staged an armed protest outside the Dallas Islamic Centre, and now it has posted names and addresses of Muslims and “Muslim sympathisers” on its Facebook page. The group, which calls itself the Bureau of American Islamic Relations, said it was “protesting the Islamisation of America.”

And the mayor of a Dallas suburb, Irving, Beth Van Duyne, pledged not to allow area’s Muslims to set up “illegal Sharia courts.” She was referring to a mediation panel that helps local Muslims resolve family disputes.

Islamic State claims suicide attack on presidential guards in Tunisian capital

 The Islamic State claims that Abu Abdullah al Tunisi, pictured here, was the suicide bomber responsible for yesterday’s attack in Tunisia.

Well, I'm the first to admit when I am wrong and I called the Tunisian terror attack on the Presidential security guard as that of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and it appears it was the reach of ISIS.

This is one of the reasons I read The Long War Journal, as in the post you will see that the Islamic State has been picking off AQIM affiliates and that just shows how "popular" the Caliphate is right now.

Islamic State claims suicide attack on presidential guards in Tunisian capital

The Islamic State has issued a statement claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted Tunisian presidential guards yesterday. At least 12 people were killed, according to initial casualty reports. The jihadist group also released a photo of the terrorist it says carried out the operation.

The statement says that the bombing resulted in the “destruction of dozens from the presidential security in the heart of Tunisia’s capital.” The Islamic State claims that “God enabled the knight from the knights of martyrdom, the martyr brother Abu Abdullah al Tunisi from the commandos” to carry out the assault on a “bus carrying some members of the presidential security on Mahmoud V street in the center of Tunis.” The message adds that the bombing was intended to show the “Tunisian tyrants that it is not safe for them.”

“He arrived at his objective at dawn, detonating his explosive belt [and] killing nearly two dozen,” the statement reads. The Tunisian government says the number of people killed is actually half the figure claimed by the Islamic State.

According to the BBC, the explosion happened at a bus stop used by the presidential guards to switch staff. As a result of the suicide bombing, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has issued a 30-day state of emergency in the country and imposed a curfew in the capital.

The attack is the third claimed by the Islamic State in Tunisia. In June, one of the “caliphate’s” terrorists killed 38 people on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia.

In March, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an assault on the Bardo Museum, which left more than 20 people, mainly foreign tourists, dead. Tunisian authorities have disputed the Islamic State’s claim, saying that the Uqba bin Nafi Battalion, a branch of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), planned the operation.

The Uqba bin Nafi Battalion has been behind several attacks in the North African country, including one last month on Tunisian soldiers near Kasserine. Nearly two months earlier, the battalion killed a customs agent in the Bouchebke area of Tunisia. In addition, the group killed four security officers near the Algerian border earlier this year. The Uqba bin Nafi Battalion’s deadliest attack on the Tunisian military happened in the Mount Chaambi region last July, an incident that left 15 soldiers dead and 20 others wounded.

The Islamic State has been building up its presence in the country, poaching from AQIM’s network in North Africa. Groups like Ansar al Sharia Tunisia (AST) and the Uqba bin Nafi Battalion have seen defections to the Islamic State, but remain loyal to al Qaeda. Many Tunisian nationals have traveled to Syria to fight with jihadist groups, including the Islamic State. According to the BBC, almost 3,000 Tunisians are fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Tunisia has arrested dozens of jihadists this year. Last month, seven extremists, who were running a recruiting cell for militants traveling to Syria, were arrested in the northeastern province of Nabeul. In March, more than 30 jihadists, working in four different cells, were arrested in Kairouan. In February, 32 others were arrested and accused of planning “spectacular attacks” in the country. Additionally, an arms cache was found near the border with Libya in March, and another was discovered in Sidi Bouzid in April.

I Thank G_d For America

Number of Canadian radicals kept under wraps

 Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson speaks to media after a public safety committee meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa March 6, 2015. (REUTERS/Blair Gable)




Hey, what right would the people have to know if someone moved in next door wants to cut their head off as long as we know who the sexual offenders are in the neighborhood, right?


The story comes from the Toronto Sun.

Number of Canadian radicals kept under wraps

The RCMP and CSIS won’t update Canadians about the number of radicals they’re tracking. It could be decreasing. It could be increasing. They won’t say.

This is no doubt cold comfort for people wondering just how safe their country is following the Paris attacks. After all, ISIS has mentioned Canada as a target.

As I reported Monday, the latest issue of the terror group’s promotional magazine reiterated calls for adherents to attack Western countries, including Canada.

At a press conference last Wednesday, neither RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson nor CSIS director Michel Coulombe gave updated numbers to reporters. Sun Media received the same response to requests made Monday.

In October 2014, Coulombe revealed to a Senate committee that there were 130 to 145 Canadians overseas engaged in terror.

Around the same time, the RCMP revealed they were watching 90 people who were either planning to go abroad for terror purposes or had already returned.

Then this past April, Coulombe again appeared before senators addressing the issue: “That overall number is slowly increasing, with the sharpest increase in Iraq and Syria. In fact, over the last three or four months, we have probably seen an increase of 50% in the number of people who have left for Iraq and Syria.”

Clearly a lot can happen over the course of a few months. The tally could be completely different now, at a time when Canadians could certainly do with assurances and more information.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s office said they wouldn’t comment on an operational matter.

But Erin O’Toole, the public safety critic, thinks the information should be disclosed.

“I think the numbers should be shared so that people know that this is a real phenomenon,” the Conservative MP said in a phone interview.

O’Toole added it’s especially important to know these numbers because Canadian Forces members abroad may end up engaging with these radicals: “We’re talking a military deployment to a region where there are actually Canadians on the ground as enemy combatants.”

What justification do our agencies have for not revealing this information?

“The number of people currently under investigation does not provide a comprehensive picture of the threat, and therefore the RCMP does not provide an updated number for now,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer explained to me Monday, via e-mail. “Most important is that the RCMP is always re-evaluating these files to ensure that they are prioritized according to risk.”

Senator Daniel Lang, chairman of the Senate committee on national security and defence, doesn’t agree with such rationales. A major report on countering terrorism he co-authored recommends keeping the public regularly up to speed.

The report, released in July, says the public should be provided with “clear, quantitative, and unambiguous” information. That’s not what CSIS and the RCMP currently offer.

“We feel Canadians should be updated on a regular basis in respect to the threats Canada is facing,”

Lang, Conservative senator for the Yukon, explained via phone: “I don’t think it’s too much to ask because there is updating done in other countries and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be done here.”

This past weekend, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls explained to his country that there are over 10,000 people on their country’s list of radicals who are considered a threat to national security.

So far, the only assurances concerned Canadians have received from their own government and security services are the equivalent of “Relax, we’re taking care of it.” They’re not the most relaxing words.

The Liberal government should consider adopting the Senate report’s recommendations on proactive disclosure. A little information will go a long way in the eyes of the public.

The Holger Refugee Contest

You've all seen the contests where you guess the number of gumballs or pieces of candy in a big jar, closest to the number either wins the jar, a prize or money.

Well, this is the First Annual Count the Widows and Orphans Contest.

Look at the photo above closely.  It's fine if you want to get that magnifying glass out...but the contest involves you guessing how many widows and orphan children are in this mass of refugees.

Just log your guess into the Chat section.

And good luck!

Obama and Jihad

I just want to make a simple point.


Barack Hussein Obama spent his childhood praying in a mosque and a madrassa five times a day.  He listened to the readings of the Qur'an that commanded the death of infidels and all non-believers.

And so today, the fact that Barack Hussein Obama defends jihadists, is supposed to surprise me?

Why?

--

Bus Bombing In Tunisia Kills 11 Presidential Guard Security Forces

 Mohamed V Avenue in Tunis where a bus exploded DrFO.Jr.Tn/Creative Commons

Bloody, for sure.  Rather fitting that it happened on "Mohamed V Avenue" I'd say.

Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb would be my bet for who did this one.

The story comes from The Independent.

Tunisia bus explosion: At least 11 killed following blast on military vehicle in Tunis

At least 11 people have died after a bus carrying the Tunisian presidential guard exploded on a main road in Tunis.

The blast occurred on Mohamed V Avenue, at the heart of the Tunisian capital, according to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

The spokesman had previously said that six people had died, but later updated the death toll.

Security and presidential sources have described the explosion as an attack to the Reuters news agency, and said it was not immediately clear whether it was caused by bomb or an explosive fired at the bus as it travelled along the tree-lined road.

Ambulances have rushed to the scene as security forces secured the area, ITV News reported.

Amid a heightened climate of fear following terror attacks carried out by Isis in Beirut and Paris, the Tunisian authorities increased the security level in the capital ten days ago and deployed security forces in unusually high numbers.

The Tunisian authorities recently announced that they had caught a terror cell it said had planned attacks at police stations and hotels in the seaside city of Sousse, around 150 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of Tunis.

The explosion comes in the same year that Isis gunmen stormed the Bardo museum in Tunis killing 22 people; and a shooter from the extremist group killed 38 people on a beach in Sousse, including 30 Britons.

Canadian couple cancel wedding to donate money to help Syrian refugees

There can only be one thing worse than trying to get your head around this couple of morons to the North and that would be if you were the actual offspring of these rocket scientists. 

This substantiates my refuting the theory of Evolution.

By the way, I would like to add something to the bride-to-be....."YOU'RE MARRYING A MUSLIM!"  Just in case she didn't realize it.

The story comes from Times of India.

Canadian couple cancel wedding to donate money to help Syrian refugees

A couple have cancelled their expensive wedding to donate money to help the plight of Syrian refugees settling in their country.

Canadians Samantha Jackson and Farzin Yousef decided to give the cash they would have spent on their nuptials to charity after being moved by the photo of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy found dead on a Turkish beach in September.

The couple, who got engaged in the summer of 2014, had already booked the venue, hired a caterer and drawn up a guest list of 130 people. But instead of going through with lavish wedding, they cancelled it all and had a small reception at Toronto's City Hall last month.

Speaking to ABC News, Mrs Jackson said: "We were in the midst of wedding planning in September when that devastating photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi found on a beach came out.

"Like so many other people, we became acutely aware of how bad the situation was getting and how important it was to act and do something positive, so we cancelled the wedding and redirected the funds."

The couple volunteer for Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge, which has been raising money to help cover essential costs for Syrian families resettling in the area. So far the newlyweds have raised $17,500 towards the cause.


Mrs Jackson added: "Our family and friends were absolutely thrilled and supportive... and rather than giving the traditional gift, they made donations to help fund our sponsorship of a Syrian refugee family."


"Our wedding was perfect...and it was definitely the perfect way to start our marriage."

If the Shoe Fits....

Barack Hussein Obama used the follows words to describe ISIS:

"They're a bunch of killers with good social media."

And so, I ask the question:  Couldn't you use that same sentence to describe the Obama Administration?

Quote comes from this link.

Obama warns against overreaction to Islamic State attacks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Trying to reassure a nation on edge, President Barack Obama said Sunday the Islamic State group "cannot strike a mortal blow" against the U.S., and he warned that overreacting to the Paris attacks would play into extremists' hands. "We will destroy this terrorist organization," he vowed.

Ending a trip to Asia, Obama implored Americans not to let the specter of terror cause them to compromise their values or change the way they live.

"We do not succumb to fear," he said. "The most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we're not afraid, to not elevate them, to somehow buy into their fantasy that they're doing something important," Obama said, using an acronym for the terrorist organization.

Since IS militants killed 130 in France nine days ago, Obama's strategy has come under repeated questioning. He dismissed the group's global prowess of IS and said, "They're a bunch of killers with good social media."

Rejecting the notion of an existential threat, Obama said IS "can't beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid."

"I think it is absolutely vital for every country, every leader, to send a signal that the viciousness of a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing vital business," Obama said. The president and world leaders are set to gather in Paris next week for long-scheduled climate talks. The White House has insisted there will be no change in plans.

Obama also said there was an "increasing awareness" by Russian President Vladimir Putin that IS is Moscow's gravest threat in the Middle East. IS claimed responsibility for downing a Russian passenger jet in Egypt last month with 224 on board.

Long before that, Obama had urged Putin to use Russia's air campaign in Syria to target IS, not U.S.-backed rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Moscow ally. U.S. officials have said Russia has started focusing some airstrikes against IS. Obama said it was not clear whether Putin could work effectively with the U.S.-led coalition.

Putin "needs to go after the people who killed Russia's citizens," Obama said. The two met last week during an economic summit in Turkey.

Nearly five years of fighting between Assad and Syrian rebels has created a vacuum that allowed IS to thrive in both Syria and Iraq. More recently, the militant group has started exporting violence outside its stronghold, radiating fears across the West. U.S. officials have said IS aspires to attack America but they have played down any specific threat.

As Obama spoke in the Malaysian capital, other Western leaders were stepping up their rhetoric against IS, while the European diplomatic hub of Brussels remained under the highest threat level for the second day in a row. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the West would "annihilate Islamic State worldwide."

After Obama's return to Washington early Monday, he will prepare for a White House meeting with French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday, where the leaders will discuss bolstering the international coalition fighting IS. Hollande then goes to Russia for similar talks with Putin.

U.S.-led military efforts come amid parallel talks about a diplomatic solution to end Syria's civil war. The violence has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions, leading to a migrant crisis in Europe and intense concerns in the U.S. about Obama's plan to take in thousands of Syrian refugees.

U.S. lawmakers are pushing legislation to tighten screening requirements for Syrian refugees; some Republican presidential candidates want to halt their entry. In Turkey and the Philippines last week, Obama pushed back on those proposals as un-American, drawing criticism from some who said he failed to grasp Americans' post-Paris fears.

The president has since softened his tone. His administration tried to convince U.S. House members that the refugee screening process was sufficient, and Obama began entertaining a U.S. Senate proposal to deny visa waivers to recent visitors to Iraq and Syria. That program lets foreigners enter the U.S. without visas from 38 countries for short stays.

"The American people are right to be concerned," Obama said Sunday. Still, he said there's a difference between vigilance and surrendering to fears "that lead us to abandon our values, to abandon how we live."

Obama's insistence that Americans not be terrorized carried echoes of the weeks and months after the Sept. 11 attacks, which brought significant changes to U.S. air travel, civil liberties law and views about Muslims in the U.S. Then, as in now, leaders asked Americans not to "let the terrorists win."

"Our nation was horrified, but it's not going to be terrorized," President George W. Bush declared five days after those attacks. "We're a nation that can't be cowed by evil-doers."

Obama brought up the 9/11 analogy when he answered questions at a news conference Sunday. He said the U.S. had survived mass casualties before and pointed out that New York's Times Square was again filled with people - "rightly so."

"I was very proud of the fact that the fundamental nature of America and how we treated each other did not change," Obama said. "We've made some bad decisions subsequent to that attack in part based on fear, and that's why we have to be cautious."

John Kerry Got It 100% Wrong About Al Qaeda

I realize that saying John Kerry is wrong is about like observing that grass is green and the skies are blue but afterall, he is the Secretary of State with an army of a staff and the whole federal government at his disposal.....and he's wrong on terror, he's wrong on Iran, he's wrong on al Qaeda.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Al Qaeda has not been neutralized

Secretary of State John Kerry believes that al Qaeda’s “top leadership” has been “neutralize[d]” as “an effective force.” He made the claim while discussing the administration’s strategy, or lack thereof, for combating the Islamic State, which is al Qaeda’s jihadist rival. Kerry believes that the US. and its allies can finish off the Islamic State quicker than al Qaeda. There’s just one problem: It is not true that al Qaeda or its top leaders have been “neutralize[d].”

Dozens of senior al Qaeda terrorists, including of course Osama bin Laden, have been eliminated. But al Qaeda is not a simple top-down terrorist group that can be entirely vanquished by killing or detaining select key leaders. It is a paramilitary insurgency organization that is principally built for waging guerilla warfare. Terrorism is a part of what al Qaeda does, but not nearly all. And a key reason why al Qaeda has been able to regenerate its threat against us repeatedly over the past 14 years is that it uses its guerilla armies to groom new leaders and identify recruits for terrorist plots against the West.

The summary below shows what al Qaeda looks like today – it is far from being “neutralize[d].” Instead, al Qaeda and its regional branches are fighting in more countries today than ever. They are trying to build radical Islamic states, just like ISIS, which garners more attention but hasn’t, contrary to conventional wisdom, surpassed al Qaeda in many areas.

In Afghanistan, al Qaeda remains closely allied with the Taliban and is participating in the Taliban-led insurgency’s advances throughout the country. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri has sworn allegiance to the Taliban’s new emir, Mullah Mansour, who publicly accepted Zawahiri’s oath of loyalty in August. Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters are playing a key role in the Taliban’s offensive, with the Taliban-al Qaeda axis overrunning approximately 40 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts this year alone. This is part of the reason that President Obama decided to leave a small contingent of American forces in Afghanistan past his term in office.

To give you a sense of what al Qaeda is really doing in Afghanistan, consider that U.S. forces led raids against two large training facilities in the country’s south in October. One of the camps was approximately 30 square miles in size. Gen. John F. Campbell, who oversees the war effort in Afghanistan, explained that the camp was run by al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and is “probably the largest training camp-type facility that we have seen in 14 years of war.”

Think about that: U.S. officials just discovered what is probably the largest al Qaeda camp since 2001. Al Qaeda hasn’t been neutralized in Afghanistan. In fact, numerous al Qaeda leaders have relocated into the country.

AQIS, which answers to Zawahiri, was established in September 2014 and is exporting terrorism throughout the region. The group has claimed attacks in Pakistan and Bangladesh. And al Qaeda is still allied with Pakistan’s many jihadist groups, which frequently carry out operations, especially in the northern part of the country.

In Syria, Al Nusrah Front, which is openly loyal to Zawahiri, is deeply enmeshed in the anti-Assad insurgency. It is such an effective fighting force that it disrupted the Pentagon’s $500 million train and equip program multiple times this year, leading the Obama administration to cancel it. Multiple senior al Qaeda leaders have relocated to Syria since 2011 and they are guiding Al Nusrah’s efforts. In addition, some of these leaders work for what is known as the “Khorasan Group,” which has been planning attacks against the West. In September 2014, the administration began targeting the Khorasan Group with airstrikes. Some top figures in this al Qaeda subunit have been taken out, but others have survived thus far. Even so, al Qaeda has thousands of fighters in Syria today. And Al Nusrah Front jointly leads a coalition known as Jaysh al Fath (“Army of Conquest”), which took substantial territory from Bashar al Assad’s regime earlier this year.

In Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operates a prolific insurgency and has gobbled up territory, particularly in the country’s south. The U.S. has killed several senior AQAP officials this year, but that hasn’t stopped the organization from taking advantage of the Houthis’ surge and the Gulf states’ intervention. The AQAP leaders who replaced those killed in U.S. drone strikes since January are al Qaeda veterans and answer to Zawahiri. AQAP has also threatened the U.S. on multiple occasions, including the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing and other plots.

Across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, in Somalia, Shabaab remains one of the most prolific jihadist organizations on the planet. It, too, does not hide its fealty to Zawahiri. Thousands of Shabaab fighters battle African forces regularly and still control significant territory. Shabaab is most infamous these days for its high-profile massacres in Kenya, such as at the Westgate mall in 2013 and Garissa University College earlier this year. Shabaab has a long history of exporting terrorism throughout East Africa, where it is attempting to build a radical Islamic nation on behalf of al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and affiliated groups remain a potent force in North and West Africa. Groups such Ansar al Sharia, Ansar Dine and others all operate within AQIM’s orbit and are regularly engaged in heavy fighting against their opponents.

Al Murabitoon, led by Mohkthar Belmokhtar, is another al Qaeda group that operates in North and West Africa. Belmokhtar, a former AQIM commander, is a Zawahiri loyalist. His group has reportedly claimed responsibility for a hotel siege in Mali earlier today.

To this brief sketch we can add a number of al Qaeda-affiliated organizations around the globe. But the point is that al Qaeda has a guerilla army totaling tens of thousands of fighters across a large geographic expanse.

AQIS, AQAP, AQIM, Al Nusrah Front, Shabaab – these are al Qaeda’s regional branches. Each of them is fighting to implement al Qaeda-style sharia law in its designated region. All of them are part of Zawahiri’s organization. They have not been “neutralize[d].”

Al Qaeda realized long ago that this is a generational war, and the next generation of leaders are fighting in several countries today. The US government still doesn’t get it.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of The Long War Journal. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for The Long War Journal.

Nigerian Air Force Fucks Boko Haram Up

Now THIS I wish I had video of.

The story comes from AllAfrica.

Nigeria: Air Force Bombs "Mass Gathering" of Boko Haram Terrorists

The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, on Thursday said the air component operation of "Operation Lafiya Dole" hit a "mass gathering" of Boko Haram terrorists at Wulge area of Borno State.

The air component commander of the theatre operation, "Operation Lafiya Dole", Isiaka Amao, said this while briefing journalists in Maiduguri on Thursday.

"The air component struck a mass gathering of Boko Haram terrorists and their leaders at Wulge.

"Report received after the strike was that it was a huge success as many terrorists were killed," Mr. Amao said.

He said NAF also sighted and neutralised terrorists' vehicles in Kunshe town.

The commander also said NAF destroyed Boko Haram's logistics, vehicle workshop and a weapon storage facility after successful interdiction missions on their Sambisa forest hideout.

Mr. Amao, an air commodore, said NAF also destroyed a bomb-making factory in the forest.

"The air component has continued to intensify its air effort in support of the ground troops. In October, over 40 interdiction missions with over 80 per cent success were carried out.

"Just to mention a few, we have in the month degraded the terrorists' logistics in the Sambisa forest," he said.

Mr. Amao said the air force also destroyed two suspected terrorists' camps in the forest.

"The continued air strikes have significantly degraded the capabilities of the terrorists.

"Likewise, two terrorist hideouts in Sambisa were destroyed," he said.

Mr. Amao, however, announced that NAF lost one of its pilots, Ebitimi Owei, during the month.

"On a sad note, we lost a colleague, Flight Lt. Ebitimi Owei and a platform during one of the missions. May his gentle soul rest in peace," he said.

Mr. Amao said the death of Mr. Owei would not affect the morale of officers engaged in the operation.

He said NAF also intercepted and destroyed a boat carrying fuel to the terrorists along Nigeria-Cameroon border.

"Other armed missions were carried out in Geidam, Gamboru, Ngala, Mafa, Kirenowa and Banki towns, among others.

"These missions were aimed at identifying and destroying opportunity targets and denying terrorists freedom of action," the commander said.

ISIS Unveils New Flag

The Obama Rationale

Awe look, more poor widows! pic.twitter.com/wkkUgGyZKc

— Melanie (@mefbama) November 19, 2015

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Mali attack: Special forces storm hotel to free hostages

So here we go again....Muslim terrorists took 170 hostages at a Radisson Hotel complex in Mali and a Mali Special Forces rescue operation is underway.

I gotta give the Mali government some credit in that they did not hesitate one bit in the rescue attempt - they KNEW this would be a blood bath either way.

Does this mean that every liberal in America is going to changes their colors of their Facebook avatar to the colors of the Mali flag today?

The story comes from the BBC.

Mali attack: Special forces storm hotel to free hostages

Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, to end a siege by gunmen who had been holding 170 people hostage.

The gunmen stormed the US-owned hotel, which is popular with foreign businesses and airline crews, shooting and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic.

Malian state TV is reporting that 80 people have now been freed.

At least three people are reported to have been killed in the siege that started around 07:00 GMT.

Air France says 12 of its crew have been successfully freed in the rescue operation.

Six staff from Turkish Airlines were at the hotel when it was attacked.

The Indian government says 20 of its nationals were also there and the Chinese news service CCTV reports that 10 Chinese citizens are among the guests.

Earlier, a security source told Reuters that some hostages who were able to recite verses of the Koran were being freed.

In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in the country in January 2013 when al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako after taking control of the north of the country.

I spoke to a gardener at the hotel who was sweeping the yard when the gunmen arrived.

"They were in car with a diplomatic licence plate. They were masked. At the gate of the hotel, the guard stopped them and they start firing. We fled," he said.

Another eyewitness said that it was difficult to say how many attackers there were, he said it could have between five and 13.

"They injured three security guards who were at the gate of the hotel," he said.

Popular Guinean singer Sekouba Bambino was among some guests who has managed to get out of the hotel. It is not clear how he escaped.

He said: "I woke up with the sounds of gunshots and for me it sounded like small bandits. After 20 or 30 minutes, I realised these are not just petty criminals."

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has cut short a trip to a regional summit in Chad.

Malian soldiers, police and special forces are on the scene along with UN peacekeeping troops and French soldiers, the AFP news agency reports.

The US embassy in Bamako tweeted that all US citizens were asked "to shelter in place" and were "encouraged to contact their families".

Some reports say about 10 gunmen in total are involved in the attack.

The US Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said in a statement earlier that "two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees".

The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French and African troops in July 2013, after the main towns in the north had been recaptured from the Islamist militants.