Oh, More Counterterrorism Bureaucracy/SPLC

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Denise Simon

As you read through this, understand that pesky Southern Poverty Law Center is part of the bureaucracy:

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Remarks as prepared for delivery

Thank you, Lorenzo [Vidino], for that kind introduction.

It is an honor to be at this event, co-hosted by the George Washington University’s new Program on Extremism and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The partnership between SPLC and GW serves as a reminder that violent extremism is neither a new phenomenon, nor one that is limited to any single population, region or ideology.

Since its creation in 1971, SPLC has been an important voice on the wide range of extremist groups throughout this country. And over the past four decades, the existence of hate, violence and extremism has remained unfortunately all too constant. Earlier this year, we honored and remembered the victims of the horrific Oklahoma City bombing on the 20th anniversary of that devastating attack. Less than two months after the anniversary, we again saw unimaginable violence motivated by hate. A young man killed nine African-American men and women attending a bible class in Charleston, South Carolina. A senseless, racist act. The list goes on, past and present.

But as we gather today, new and disturbing trends loom over the horizon – trends we must understand to defeat.

New initiatives, like GW’s program, which focus on empirical research and analysis, are critical to policymakers and the interested public alike.

So although the problem set is by no means new, it is changing, and we must take lessons learned in the past and couple them with trend analysis to understand these shifts.

Today’s event is a good start to that conversation. We are here to talk about combating domestic terrorism, which the FBI has explained as “Americans attacking Americans based on U.S.-based extremist ideologies.”

Much attention has focused on those inspired by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) message of hate and violence spreading worldwide and reaching homes here in America through the group’s unprecedented social media recruitment efforts. And rightly so.

But today is a good opportunity to focus the conversation broadly on violent extremism here in America. The threat ranges from individuals motivated by anti-government animus, to eco-radicalism, to racism, as it has for decades. Many more details here.

DOJ announces new position to focus on domestic terror threat

FNC:

A new national security position is being created to help combat homegrown terror threats, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

John Carlin, head of the department’s national security division, announced the new Domestic Terrorism Counsel at a speech Wednesday at George Washington University, to work with DOJ assets on domestic threats.

“…in order to ensure that we are gaining the benefits of the information and input from those eyes on the ground from around the country, and in recognition of a growing number of potential domestic terrorism matters around the United Sates, we have created a new position to assist with our important work in combating domestic terrorism,” Carlin said, according to his prepared remarks.

Carlin emphasized what he called the growing risk from homegrown terrorism and specifically white supremacy.

“We recognize that, over the past few years, more people have died in this country in attacks by domestic extremists than in attacks associated with international terrorist groups,” Carlin said

“Among domestic extremist movements active in the United States, white supremacists are the most violent. The Charleston shooter, who had a manifesto laying out a racist world-view, is just one example,” Carlin said, before also noting killings by white supremacists in Kansas and Wisconsin.

While he spoke about the threat posed by the Islamic State terror group, he emphasized that law enforcement is focused on racist and anti-government ideologies, and that such ideologies may pose a more serious threat than ISIS.

“More broadly, law enforcement agencies nationwide are concerned about the growth of the “sovereign citizen” movement. According to one 2014 study, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials considered sovereign citizens to be the top concern of law enforcement, ranking above ISIL and Al Qaeda-inspired extremists,” he said.

Carlin said the new Domestic Terrorism Counsel will serve as the main point of contact for U.S. Attorney offices nationwide. The new official will work to identify trends that can be used to help shape a national strategy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Iran to Obama and Kerry, in Your Faces Dudes

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Denise Simon

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 stipulates that Iran cannot engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles.

U.S. to refer Iran missile test to U.N. over possible violation

Washington (CNN) The State Department said Tuesday it would refer Iran’s firing of a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile to the United Nations Security Council for review to determine whether the test violated a U.N. resolution.

“It’s deeply concerning that this latest violation does appear to be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1929, and we’ll obviously raise this at the [Security Council] as we have done with previous launches,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“We’ve seen for the past years that Iran has consistently ignored U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he added.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday that while the launch was likely a violation of a Security Council resolution, it was distinct and separate from the nuclear accord reached with Iran earlier this year.

“In contrast to the repeated violations of the U.N. Security Council resolution that pertains to their ballistic missile activities, we’ve seen that Iran over the last couple of years has demonstrated a track record of abiding by the commitments that they made in the context of the nuclear talks,” he said.

Iran entered a final nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other world powers in July that is focused on restricting Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 stipulates that Iran cannot engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles.

A newer U.N. Security Council resolution, number 2231, implementing the deal and banning Iran from engaging in activities related to ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads is not yet in effect.

Over the weekend, state-run media reported that Iran successfully test-fired a new precision-guided, long-range missile.

The Emad (Pillar) surface-to-surface missile, designed and built by Iranian experts, is the country’s first long-range missile that can be precision-guided until it reaches its target, said Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan, Iran’s defense minister.

The Emad would be Tehran’s first precision-guided missile with the range to reach its enemy, Israel.

Israel is bitterly opposed to Iran’s nuclear program, and observers have speculated that it could be prepared to launch pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in an effort to derail their progress.

Dehqan said after the launch that the Emad would greatly increase Iran’s strategic deterrence capability, state media reported.

“To follow our defense programs, we don’t ask permission from anyone,” he said, according to state-run news agency IRNA. *** Due to regional fighter jet activity and testing missiles, commercial flights either get canceled or rerouted.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it has stopped flying over Iran and the Caspian Sea following an air safety agency warning about Russian missiles fired at Syria.

The airline’s decision to reroute flights comes after Russia stepped up its military campaign against Islamic State group fighters in Syria. It started firing cruise missiles from its military warships in the Caspian Sea on Sept. 30.

“In view of the situation in the region, Cathay Pacific suspended all flights over Iran and Caspian Sea since last Thursday until further notice,” the airline said in a statement. “We continue to monitor and review the situation on a daily basis.”

The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a safety bulletin to airlines last week about cruise missiles targeted at Syrian rebels fired by Russian warships in the Caspian Sea. It said the missiles must cross Iran and Iraq below flight routes used by commercial aircraft.

Cathay added that it has had a long-term policy of not overflying Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria.

The agency said it was not making specific recommendations with its bulletin, which was issued to inform airspace users about the potential hazard. Air France said earlier this week it was taking special measures regarding overflying Iran and the Caspian Sea following the agency’s warning.

Airlines are more cautious about flying over conflict zones since the downing of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 last year amid a conflict between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces. Two-thirds of the 298 people who died were Dutch and a Dutch Safety Board report released this week said the jet was destroyed by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by Russia-backed separatist rebels.

Not finished yet, it gets worse:

JPost: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday revealed an underground bunker in which it stores long-range ballistic missiles, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Footage of the underground missile bunker was aired on Iranian state television. According to Fars, a number of ballistic missiles were shown in the underground tunnel including a model with a range of 2,000 kilometers.

Fars quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace branch, as saying that the missiles represented the next generation of Iranian long-range missile technology.

The missile bunker shown is one of many that are buried as deep as “500 meters below the high mountains,” Fars reported.

Iran state television showed on Sunday what it said was a successful launch of the new Iranian missile, named Emad, which appears to be Tehran’s first precision-guided weapon with the range to strike its regional enemy Israel.

A total of 220 of Iran’s 290 lawmakers praised the missile test on Wednesday, announcing their full support of measures that “strengthen Iran’s defense capabilities.”

The US State Department said that the missile test was an apparent violation of a UN Security Council resolution and Washington will raise it at the United Nations.

“We’ll obviously raise this at the UNSC as we have done in previous launches,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters, noting the test appeared to be a violation of U.N. Security resolution 1929.

He and White House spokesman Josh Earnest both said the issue was separate from a deal Iran struck in July with six world powers, which seeks to curb Tehran’s atomic program in return for having sanctions against it eased.

Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under Security Council resolution 1929, which dates from 2010 and remains valid until the July 14 nuclear deal goes into effect.

Once the deal takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” not to undertake any ballistic missiles work designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July.

The resolution says that when the deal is in effect countries will be allowed to transfer missile technology and heavy weapons to Iran on a case-by-case basis with council approval.

However, at the time the resolution was drafted, a U.S. official called this provision meaningless and said the United States would veto any suggested transfer of missile technology to Iran.

Speaking on Tuesday, White House spokesman Earnest made clear countries could more to stop the flow of ballistic missile technology to Iran.

“That is work that requires international cooperation,” he said, adding that Washington was ready to work with Gulf allies to counter Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Putin’s Coalition Forces in Syria vs. Obama’s

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Denise Simon

Iran: Iranian MPs arrive in Damascus before joint offensive ~ A delegation of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Wednesday in the build-up to a joint operation against insurgents in northwest Syria, and said U.S.-led efforts to fight rebels had failed.The visit, led by the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, came as Iranian troops prepared to bolster a Syrian army offensive that two senior officials told Reuters would target rebels in Aleppo.
The attack, which the officials said would be backed by Russian air strikes, underlined the growing involvement in the civil war of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s two main allies, which has alarmed a U.S.-led coalition opposed to the president that is bombing Islamic State militants.

“The international coalition led by America has failed in the fight against terrorism. The cooperation between Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia has been positive and successful,” Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB as he arrived at Damascus airport.

The delegation was due to meet Assad, said officials.

Iran has sent thousands of troops into Syria in recent days to bolster the planned ground offensive in Aleppo, the two officials told Reuters. More here.
China: China’s Syria Connection ~A 2011 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service highlighted the role China has played in arming Assad’s military, providing $300 million worth of arms from 2007 to 2010.
For proof of continuing support, February 2013 saw the United States impose sanctions on China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, a state-owned company, for allegedly conducting military transfers to Syria in violation of nonproliferation legislation.

China seems happy to let Russia and Iran take on the role as Assad’s main supporters. Even though China is less obvious than the other two nations, it is nonetheless far from neutral.

Despite Chinese rhetoric of supporting a political solution, its actions suggest otherwise.

China’s selective use of its “noninterference” policy has seen them (alongside Russia) veto three Western-backed Security Council resolutions seeking to bring Assad to the negotiating table. As a permanent member of the Security Council, any international solution would require Chinese acquiescence.

Furthermore, in an interview given to the Financial Times in June, Kadri Jamil, Syrian deputy prime minister for the economy, boasted that China has joined Iran and Russia in delivering $500 million a month in oil and credit to Syria. The majority of Syria’s oil is in the largely rebel-held north and northeast of the country, and the network of pipelines connecting the wells to the population centres are vulnerable to rebel attack. As a result, Syrian oil production has fallen by as much as 95 percent during the ongoing conflict, and the importance of Chinese aid should not be underestimated. Chinese financial and material support supplements Russian and Iranian aid and has allowed the Assad war machine to remain militarily effective. More here.
Cuba: Cuban Troops Join the Russian Offensive in Syria ~ Russian President Vladimir Putin has made waves of late with his military offensive in Syria, and now he has on-the-ground backing of the Cuban variety. One of the world’s leading centers for research on Cuba has released breaking details of the Castro regime’s presence in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.+
The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami shared via email on October 13, 2015, that General Leopoldo Cintra Frías, head of the Cuban Armed Forces, had already landed in Syria. He is, they write, “leading a group of Cuban military personnel … in support of Syria’s dictator Assad” and, in Cold War fashion, the Russian contingent.+

The ICCAS researchers shared with the PanAm Post that the intelligence came directly from a spokesman of the US Defense Department, and is corroborated by an unnamed but friendly military in the Middle East. They report two Russian-made planes arriving in Syria carrying approximately 300 Cuban soldiers.+

They further detail that the Cuban soldiers will man Russian tanks that have been provided to Syrian head-of-state Bashar al-Assad. Their duty will be to fight Islamic State forces and others who threaten Assad’s grip on power. More here.

Back in 2014, Obama announced his member nation coalition to take on Islamic State and the Khorasan Group:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday morning called the U.S.-led attacks against terrorist targets in Syria a sign that Arab nations in the Middle East and Congress at home are committed to destroying the Islamic State, the terrorist group that occupies large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Eremites, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar all joined the U.S. in the attacks against the Islamic State that included a strike package of stealth fighters, bombers, drones and Tomahawk missiles, Obama said.

“America is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these nations as part of our common security,” the President said in brief remarks from the South Lawn of the White House, just before departing for New York City. “The strength of the coalition makes clear that it is not America’s fight alone.”

In addition to hitting Islamic State targets, Obama said the coalition operation in Syria was meant to disrupt a plot “against the United States and our allies by seasoned al-Qaeda operatives [there] known as the Khorosan Group.”

Strong Cities Network or Global Police?

Posted on October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 by Denise Simon

What’s the Goal of DOJ’s Strong Cities Network?

by Johanna Markind
American Thinker
October 8, 2015

On September 29, 2015, with the endorsement of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a group called the Strong Cities Network was launched at the United Nations.

According to its website, Strong Cities “aims to connect cities and other local authorities on an international basis, to enhance local level approaches to prevent violent extremism; including facilitating information sharing, mutual learning and creation of new and innovative local practices.”

Reportedly, the “network will conduct workshops and training, will offer online documents of best practices, and will offer grants for innovative initiatives. The US State Department will provide funds through 2016, at which time charities are expected to take over funding.” A summit is scheduled to take place next spring in Paris.

The group includes 23 cities, including four from the US: Minneapolis, New York, Denver, and Atlanta. Minneapolis is also one of three US cities – the other two being Boston and Los Angeles – the Obama Administration selected to participate in its Countering Violent Extremism pilot program.

The Strong Cities Program has been criticized by the New York Civil Liberties Union and by American Muslim activists fearful it will target Muslims. Similar criticisms have been leveled against the Department of Justice Countering Violent Extremism program, notably by the Islamist-posing-as-civil-rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations. New York groups like the NYCLU, Association of Muslim American Lawyers and the Justice League NYC expressed concern New York would eventually become active with the Justice Department’s “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, programs, which they say “overwhelmingly” target Muslim communities.

Given this sort of challenge, and the Obama Administration‘s own predilections, it is unsurprising that the program avoids connecting its target to radical Islam. Its stated goals include addressing “violent extremism in all of its forms” without associating violent extremism “with any particular religion, nationality or ethnic group.” It emphasizes inclusiveness, collaboration, and non-discrimination “in compliance with international human rights standards.”

The Attorney General’s remarks likewise avoided referring to any specific religion. The closest she came was to refer vaguely to “groups like ISIL,” and ecumenically to “fanatics motivated by hatred against religious or ethnic factions,” and explained, “all are antithetical to the shared vision and common cause that joins us.”

Similarly, in his remarks at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law’s “More Effective Responses to the Foreign Terrorist Fighter Threat” event the day before the Strong Cities launch, Assistant Attorney General John Carlin managed to avoid all references to Islam, and all reference to Muslims save to describe ISIL as “a group that beheads and kills Muslims and non-Muslims with the same impunity,” and to focus on the need to broadcast “the damage they [ISIL] are doing to Muslim communities.”

The refusal to identify radical Islam as the focus of the Strong Cities Network – indeed, Mayor DeBlasio‘s insistence that it would not focus on any one type of extremism and references to the shooting of African-American churchgoers in Charleston and the past attacks on Planned Parenthood clinics – has in turn stoked fears that it will target conservative groups and criticism of its close cooperation with the United Nations. (Regarding the latter, it is difficult to take seriously an organization that puts Saudi Arabia in charge of its Human Rights Commission; the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Saudi Prince Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, was scheduled to be present at the launch.)

Are Lynch’s remarks, and the Strong Cities Network’s self-description, necessary diplomatic niceties for a program designed to deal with violent Islamism? Or will the program blunt its utility by taking on too many tasks? For example, how many resources will it devote to combating right-wing extremism?

The refusal of the program, and of Lynch and Carlin, to speak plainly about violent Islamism and the need to defeat it, does not bode well for its chances of success at that task. To quote former US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, “You can’t defeat an enemy that you don’t admit exists.”

*** Deeper layer peeled back:

From John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute
Now, with Strong Cities Network, U.S. cities will be cooperating and “sharing resources” with foreign governments around the world. Local police are already training with FBI, DHS and even the military. Obama’s new program lays the groundwork for them to train with foreign police units under the banner of the U.N.

“With the Strong Cities program we see the goal is to have global police, so it’s going to be very hard to rein in global cops,” Whitehead said. “Cops who were trained locally are going by the wayside, dealing solely with local cops is going to be a thing of the past. It’s sort of in your face, it’s saying the U.N. is going to be a global police force, working in this country one way or the other. New York City, L.A., Chicago are going to lead the way. Americans better get ready for this because what it means is, our Constitution is being replaced, and the constitutional protections we have eventually will be gone.”

Among the first steps taken will involve merging some of the law-enforcement capacities within regions, with U.S. cops cooperating more closely with those of Mexico and Canada, Whitehead said. Click here for Whitehead’s summary and warning from 2010.

Rashid Khalidi, Palestinians and Death

Posted on October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 by Denise Simon

Shocking moment Palestinian drives his car into crowd of Israelis at bus stop and then hacks one of them to death before he is shot by police

As Palestinians Stab Jews, Obama Friend Khalidi Says US Should Stop Supporting Israel

BenShapiro: Rashid Khalidi, President Obama’s favorite Palestinian terrorist apologist, has a piece defending the latest spate of Palestinian terrorism in The New Yorker today.

Khalidi made his name as an advisor to Yassar Arafat’s terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization. He then got a job as a professor at the University of Chicago before moving onto Columbia University, where he took over as chair of the Middle East Studies program, named in honor of terror apologist Edward Said. Khalidi has been a longtime Obama friend and ally; Obama infamously attended a 2003 dinner in honor of Khalidi, tape of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The Times then suppressed the tape.

In today’s New Yorker, Khalidi argues that the Oslo Accords should never have taken place – that somehow, Israel handing over guns and land to Palestinian terrorists, as well as paying all their water and power bills, has been a boon for Israel. Khalidi called Palestinian Authority dictator Mahmoud Abbas’ declaration of an end to Oslo at the United Nations “long overdue” and said that Oslo had resulted in “the current upsurge in violence against Palestinians and settlers in the occupied territories.”

Actually, Jews are being stabbed to death in Jerusalem, the Jewish capital of the State of Israel. And Oslo’s main result was the legitimization of an international terrorist group on the world stage. But Khalidi explains that Oslo was never designed as part of a peace process; instead, it was all a sophisticated Jewish ruse to keep those innocent Palestinians under their thumb. In fact, says Khalidi, “The only part of Oslo that was faithfully implemented, in fact, is the protection that the P.A. provides to Israel by policing its own people.”

If by “policing its own people,” Khalidi means using the guns Israel gave the PA to pursue terrorist activities against Jews, that’s exactly correct. But Khalidi says that now that Abbas has disowned Oslo, it’s time for the United States to embrace a “new paradigm.” That paradigm would follow the lead of “young people, people of color and progressives,” who “oppose unconditional US support for Israel.” Khalidi enthusiastically embraces the possibility of sanctions on Israel, and cheers new polls showing that Democrats only favor Israel over Palestinians by ten points.

Khalidi concludes:

It is time for American politicians and policymakers to stop hiding behind the fictions of Oslo. If they really wish to avoid more of the same, they must abandon bankrupt strategies and meaningless platitudes and act vigorously to end a system of military occupation and colonization that would crumble without their support.

The Khalidi family used to babysit the Obama children. They are ideologically and philosophically aligned. Obama said at the 2003 bash for Khalidi – a bash at which a Palestinian likened Zionists to Osama Bin Laden – that Khalidi’s conversations provided “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases….It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table, [but around] this entire world.”

Khalidi told The Los Angeles Times that Obama took a pro-Israel position in 2008 in order to win the election.

The mask is off now, however. President Obama’s ideological allies, from Jeremiah Wright to Khalidi, have spent this week attempting to rip down Israeli self-defense even as Palestinians stab Jewish children in the streets of Israel’s capital. And Obama’s administration says and does nothing. Why would they? They’re on Rashid Khalidi’s side.