RT @PatDollard: Judge Who Ended Jihadi Interrogation Without DOJ Approval Spoke In Egypt At The Invitation Of The Muslim Brotherhood http:/… 22 hours ago
Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.
As we wind down this year and the season of holiday cheer comes to and end, it is easy to pass by one of the biggest stories that was under reported. That being the attack on Christianity throughout much of the world. Let us keep our brothers and sisters in our prayers. Here we go:
The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.
And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.
The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.
The “lion’s share” of persecution faced by Christians arises in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, the report says, quoting estimates that between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left the region or been killed in the past century.
“There is now a serious risk that Christianity will disappear from its biblical heartlands,” it claims.
The report shows that “Muslim-majority” states make up 12 of the 20 countries judged to be “unfree” on the grounds of religious tolerance by Freedom House, the human rights think tank.
It catalogues hundreds of attacks on Christians by religious fanatics over recent years, focusing on seven countries: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China.
State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.
Does the name Qassem Aqlani ring any bells? Bet not. No House hearings for the death of this man. He was murdered in Yemen, not Libya. An employee of a U.S. Embassy. No Issa hearing for this poor fellow. Little news coverage on this man. Then we have ”our man Hadi” our latest Arab Spring nominee to lead Yemen. The only thing is he doesn’t like us too much. So here is a bit of what is going down lately so we can get ready for the next Libya coming our way. Video included.
A drive-by shooting Thursday that killed a top Yemeni security official who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa has raised concern that al Qaeda militants here are bouncing back and getting bolder after suffering defeats this year in a U.S.-Yemeni military offensive. (We have Al Qaeda back on their heels, I know, Obama just told us).
Al Qaeda in Yemen has carried out a string of assassinations of top security and military officials and deadly suicide bombings in recent months. Security officials said they believe it has a hit list to kill more in an attempt to paralyze Yemen’s new leadership installed this year and throw the anti-al Qaeda assaults into turmoil. ABC News
BONUS UPDATE: State Department Spokesdrone Victoria Nuland confirmed her lack of connection with reality by saying “We determined that the security at Benghazi was appropriate for what we knew.”
What the Video of the Attack on Our Embassy in Yemen Reveals
Video is afloat on the internet showing the attack on America’s Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. Any casual look tells you this is not a good thing, but there is more on display than first meets the eye.
But what don’t you see? Any Yemeni cops around? Any host country forces trying to restore order? Nope. Let’s look at another clip; watch towards the end, around 0:54:
Next video:There’s the Yemeni security guy, a soldier or a cop. He’d been watching the whole time. He only fired his 20mm cannon– into the air– when the mob seemed to get too close to him. He and whatever colleagues of his were around did not intercede to stop the riot.
The video shows that the Yemeni security forces either can’t, or more likely, wouldn’t, defend the US Embassy from the mob. This is bad, really bad. It could mean the Yemeni government is on the side of the mob, or, more likely, that the Yemeni government is more afraid of the mob than the US. That as far as we can tell from these videos the Yemenis stood by and let the mob ransack the Embassy is a very, very ominous sign for the future. H/T: We meant well blog
Yemen demands US Marines leave
The day after Qassem Aqlani was murdered, the Marines were scheduled to leave Yemen anyway according to several news reports I heard, but can find no confirmation if they did. Maybe a reporter or two could track this info down, just saying.
Now the good news: The Yemeni parliament has demanded the removal of US Marines sent to boost security efforts in the capital Sanaa. According to the state-run Saba news agency the parliament strongly opposes the presence of any foreign military under any pretext. Video H/T: CNTV
Now for our part in this nasty business:
“It’s portrayed as picking off the bad guys from a plane,” she said. “But it’s actually surveilling entire communities, locating behavior that might be suspicious and striking groups of unknown individuals based on video data that may or may not be corroborated by eyeballing it on the ground.” New York Times : Oct 13, 2012
Who is held to account for deaths by drone in Yemen?
There is a history of Yemeni officials lying to protect the US, and the Pentagon and CIA greeting queries with obfuscation.
When news flashed of an air strike on a vehicle in the Yemeni city of Radaa on Sunday afternoon, (Reported Thursday September 6, 2012), early claims that al-Qaida militants had died soon gave way to a more grisly reality.
At least 10 civilians had been killed, among them women and children. It was the worst loss of civilian life in Yemen’s brutal internal war since May 2012. Somebody had messed up badly. But was the United States or Yemen responsible?
Local officials and eyewitnesses were clear enough. The Radaa attack was the work of a US drone – a common enough event. Since May 2011, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recorded up to 116 US drone strikes in Yemen, part of a broader covert war aimed at crushing Islamist militants. But of those attacks, only 39 have been confirmed by officials as the work of the US.
The attribution of dozens of further possible drone attacks – and others reportedly involving US ships and conventional aircraft – remains unclear. Both the CIA and Pentagon are fighting dirty wars in Yemen, each with a separate arsenal and kill list. Little wonder that hundreds of deaths remain in a limbo of accountability. Guardian U.K.
How many people have been killed by these unmanned aircraft in the Central Intelligence Agency’s strikes in Yemen and Pakistan? How many of the dead identified as “militants” are really civilians? How many are children?
Romney just gave an exceptional speech at VMI, with little coverage. I include several excerpts below the video with a link to the print. Romney is ready to be President. In the beginning of the speech he takes on the Libya failure.
This is what makes America exceptional: It is not just the character of our country—it is the record of our accomplishments. America has a proud history of strong, confident, principled global leadership—a history that has been written by patriots of both parties. That is America at its best. And it is the standard by which we measure every President, as well as anyone who wishes to be President. Unfortunately, this President’s policies have not been equal to our best examples of world leadership. And nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East.
I want to be very clear: The blame for the murder of our people in Libya, and the attacks on our embassies in so many other countries, lies solely with those who carried them out—no one else. But it is the responsibility of our President to use America’s great power to shape history—not to lead from behind, leaving our destiny at the mercy of events. Unfortunately, that is exactly where we find ourselves in the Middle East under President Obama.
There is a longing for American leadership in the Middle East—and it is not unique to that region. It is broadly felt by America’s friends and allies in other parts of the world as well— in Europe, where Putin’s Russia casts a long shadow over young democracies, and where our oldest allies have been told we are “pivoting” away from them … in Asia and across the Pacific, where China’s recent assertiveness is sending chills through the region … and here in our own hemisphere, where our neighbors in Latin America want to resist the failed ideology of Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers and deepen ties with the United States on trade, energy, and security. But in all of these places, just as in the Middle East, the question is asked: “Where does America stand?”
Obama’s mission is almost complete in Egypt and Libya. No reporting by our press, but the outcome of his “kinetic action” is as we expected. Al-Qaeda is alive and well. Thank you Mister President. Meanwhile Obama is dropping drones on six countries including Africa now. We have boots on the ground, but one must go to the foreign newspapers to find out anything about it. He is now moving on to destabilize Africa under the rubric of helping out humanity.
Somalia is the sixth country where the US military has engaged in unauthorized aerial bombing campaigns through the use of its remote-controlled aircraft.Press TV IrDrones away- here-there-everywhere
Here we go: Sadly, the flag of al-Qaeda is not just being flown at the Benghazi courthouse. According to eyewitnesses, it is now being displayed all over Benghazi. The following is an account from an eyewitness that has seen the flag flying over the Benghazi courthouse for himself….
It was here at the courthouse in Benghazi where the first spark of the Libyan revolution ignited. It’s the symbolic seat of the revolution; post-Gaddafi Libya’s equivalent of Egypt’s Tahrir Square. And it was here, in the tumultuous months of civil war, that the ragtag rebel forces established their provisional government and primitive, yet effective, media center from which to tell foreign journalists about their “fight for freedom.”
But according to multiple eyewitnesses—myself included—one can now see both the Libyan rebel flag and the flag of al Qaeda fluttering atop Benghazi’s courthouse.
According to one Benghazi resident, Islamists driving brand-new SUVs and waving the black al Qaeda flag drive the city’s streets at night shouting, “Islamiya, Islamiya! No East, nor West,” a reference to previous worries that the country would be bifurcated between Gaddafi opponents in the east and the pro-Gaddafi elements in the west.
According to the Telegraph, the leader of the Libyan rebels was very open about the fact that his “troops” included significant numbers of al-Qaeda fighters that were firing bullets at U.S. soldiers in Iraq….
Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
According to a recent article by Kurt Nimmo for Infowars.com, al-Qaeda rebels had established an “Islamic emirate” in eastern Libya as early as February….
In February, it was reported that al-Qaeda had set-up an Islamic emirate in Derna, in eastern Libya, headed by a former prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Abdelkarim al-Hasadi.
According to the Telegraph, the leader of the Libyan rebels was very open about the fact that his “troops” included significant numbers of al-Qaeda fighters that were firing bullets at U.S. soldiers in Iraq….
Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
Sickening. I suggest going to “FALLEN WARRIORS“ which is located on the right of our home page. Check it every day to honor the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Word had come down the morning Brooks spoke to this reporter that watch towers surrounding the base were going to be dismantled because Afghan village elders, some sympathetic to the Taliban, complained they were invading their village privacy.
“We have to take down our towers because it offends them and now the Taliban can set up mortars and we can’t see them,” Brooks added, with disgust
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – To the U.S. Army soldiers and Marines serving here, some things seem so obviously true that they are beyond debate. Among those perceived truths: Tthe restrictive rules of engagement that they have to fight under have made serving in combat far more dangerous for them, while allowing the Taliban to return to a position of strength.
“If they use rockets to hit the [forward operating base] we can’t shoot back because they were within 500 meters of the village. If they shoot at us and drop their weapon in the process we can’t shoot back,” said Spc. Charles Brooks, 26, a U.S. Army medic with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, in Zabul province.
“Everyone dies for their own reasons but it’s sad to think that our friends, the troops, have given their lives for something we’re not going to see through.”
Read more at the Washington Examiner: More at the Washington Examiner
I suggest this appointment will be more deadly than Al-Qaeda and the Taliban combined. Once more, in the dark of the night, our dictator strikes again.
“The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open,” Berwick said in a June 2009 interview with Biotechnology Healthcare.
President Barack Obama intends to use the congressional recess to bypass the Senate and appoint Dr. Donald Berwick, an expert on patient care who’s drawn fire from the GOP, to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, the White House announced late Tuesday.
The decision means Berwick can assume the post of administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services without undergoing confirmation hearings in the Senate. Republicans have indicated they’re prepared to oppose him over comments he’s made on rationing of medical care and other matters.
Democrats want to avoid a nasty confirmation fight that could reopen the health care debate. Berwick was nominated in April but no confirmation hearing had been scheduled.
“More info on Dr. Donald Berwick. . .
(CNSNews.com) — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday that Dr. Donald Berwick, an advocate of health-care rationing nominated by President Barack Obama to run Medicare and Medicaid, is “absolutely the right leader at this time” to run the government’s largest health-care entitlement programs.
Under the health-care reform law signed by President Obama in March, hundreds of billions of dollars will be cut from the Medicare program over the next decade. Berwick is nominated to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees Medicare.
Berwick, a professor at Harvard Medical School, has repeatedly indicated his support for rationing and for the single-payer, government-run health care system of Great Britain.
After President Obama signed a $787-billion stimulus law that created a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research — perceived by critics to be a first step toward creating a federal rationing system for health care — Berwick defended the program and rationing health care.
Thanks to “Creeping Sharia” for this news from our Northern neighbors. Less we forget, miles of unprotected border that we pay little attention to.
The ring leader of an Al Qaeda-linked plot against Canada had planned to storm parliament, ‘cut off some heads’ and then announce this by capturing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) here, a court here heard Thursday.
The shocking details of terrorist designs were revealed in an intercept played in the court where the last three of the 18 men arrested in the plot are facing trial.
Known as Toronto-18, the terror plot was unearthed in June 2006 with the arrest of these 18 Muslims, many of them of Pakistani origin, from the Toronto area.
Working at the behest of Al Qaeda, these men had planned to target civilian, military and nuclear targets, storm parliament, behead the prime minister and others and then announce their mission by capturing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) headquarters here.
To carry out their mission, they had undergone training in firearms at a remote place from here in the winter of 2005.
The plot was uncovered with the help of a mole who was paid nearly $4 million by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
So far, one plotter has been jailed for life, other have been let off with light sentences and seven released without any charges.
It was the Faux leather jacket that Obama wore that was the tipping point for me with this Military visit this weekend. POTUS, Playing soldier.
“The United States of America does not quit once it starts on something. You don’t quit, the American armed services does not quit. We keep at it. We persevere.” — Pres. Obama to US troops in Afghanistan, March 28, 2010
“Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year. ‘Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was,’ Obama said.” — Obama calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, AP, Sep. 12, 2007 [emphasis added]
“there’s no daylight when it comes to support for all of you. There’s no daylight when it comes to supporting our troops.”
John Kerry accused US troops of “terrorizing” women and children in Iraq.
John Murtha accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians “in cold blood.”
Dick Durbin accused US troops at Guantanamo of acting like “Nazis
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves” Abraham Lincoln. And so it goes. Our judicial system will have us surrender.
Another notch for making us look like fools to the world. It is reported that there is no way he will be released. You Betcha.
A suspected al Qaeda organizer once called “the highest value detainee” at Guantánamo Bay was ordered released by a federal judge in an order issued Monday. Mohamedou Ould Slahi was accused in the 9/11 Commission report of helping recruit Mohammed Atta and other members of the al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Military prosecutors suspected Mr. Slahi of links to other al Qaeda operations, and considered seeking the death penalty against him while preparing possible charges in 2003 and 2004. Fox news reports that the court action is classified, Follow the link for lots more background from ace terror analyst Tom Joscelyn, who notes that U.S. intel had the goods on Slahi long before he was interrogated. If you want to know what precisely they did to him at Gitmo, go here, type in 166 in the page field, and read through to page 171. http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/22/federal-judge-orders-release-of-gitmo-jihadi-who-recruited-four-911-hijackers/
Among Slahi’s most notorious recruits were four of the September 11 conspirators, all of whom were members of the infamous Hamburg cell. Slahi’s role in recruiting the Hamburg cell for al Qaeda is explained on pages 165 and 166 of the 9/11 Commission’s final report. Slahi arranged for Ramzi Binalshibh, al Qaeda’s point man for the 9/11 operation, and three of his cohorts to travel from Germany to Afghanistan so that they could train in al Qaeda’s camps and swear allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Binalshibh’s three friends were: Mohammed Atta, Marwan al Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah–the suicide pilots of American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, and United Airlines Flight 93, respectively.
