Social Media Key to Islamic State

Nothing is better and more in vogue than social media, with particular emphasis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The killers of IS are making huge use of Twitter and with great success such that even Twitter or the NSA can keep up. Attempting to track 28,000 accounts in less than 30 days is a Herculean task.

Analysis Summary

ISIS supporters will create a new account, usually under a very similar name, almost immediately after their profile is suspended by Twitter. The new user handle is then promoted by other ISIS-related Twitter accounts.

Despite Twitter’s efforts to shut down accounts, the number of users that talk favorably about ISIS since August 20, 2014 (post-release of the James Foley video) is still quite large at over 27,000 accounts.

Recorded Future’s sentiment and network link analysis can identify Twitter accounts that belong to the same user.

Over the past few months, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has quickly become the most feared terrorist organization in the world. One of their most effective strategies for spreading terror globally is their savvy application of social media.

Almost every organization around the world employs social media to build brand awareness. It’s convenient, free, and offers easy access to a large number of people. So it’s no surprise ISIS has become a sophisticated user of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to recruit and spread propaganda. Their use of Twitter-integrated apps such as Fajer Al Bashaer (Dawn of Good Omens/Tidings) is a prime example.

Read more here and see graphs.

Who is likely the social media point person for IS? Well look no further than someone from Massachusetts and his name is Ahmad Abousamra.

Ahmad Abousamra: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Ahmad Abousamra, 32, a dual U.S./Syrian citizen from Mansfield, Massachusetts, is seen in this FBI handout photo taken in 2004. It’s reported by ABC News that Abousamra is responsible for much of ISIS Twitter posts and YouTube uploads, possibly including the execution footage of American journalists, Steven Sotloff and James Foley.

Speaking to ABC News, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kieran Ramsey said “There continues to be a worldwide search for Abousamra and he will be pursued until he is found. He’s believe to be in Syria right now and is facing charges in the US from 2009 and 2013 relating to terrorism.

Abousamra has been able to turn the computer skills he learned while studying and graduating from the University of Massachusetts and Northwestern toward terror, reports the Boston Herald. The paper says that he left UMASS in 2006. According to the FBI, Abousamra was employed by a telecommunications company before devoting his life to terror. He was born in France in September 1981 but moved to the U.S. when he was young.

It’s reported that Abousamra is a good friend of Tarek Mehanna, a former pharmacist from Sudbury, Massachusetts. The Boston Herald wrote that Abousamra used to spend their time together watching Jihadi videos. At one stage the pair are alleged to have sought to buy automatic weapons to shoot up a mall. Mehanna is being held in prison in Marion, Illinois. Abousamra is considered a co-defendant in the Mehanna case.

The FBI’s official release indicates that Abousamra first went to Syria in 2004 but had previously spent time in Pakistan in 2002. It’s believed that he got his terrorist training while in Pakistan. After leaving for Syria in February 2004, he returned in August, saying he had become ill, according to border police who stopped him at Logan airport. He also said that he had tried to get work as an Arabic/English translator in Iraq. The ABC News report indicates that Abousamra was questioned by the FBI about his terrorism activities in 2006. After this, he fled to Syria and hasn’t returned. He thought to be hiding out in Aleppo with his wife and daughter.

While speaking in code to fellow Jihadists on the phone during his time in the US, Abousamra referred to training camps as “Culinary School” and Peanut Butter and Jelly.”

Ahmad Abousamra: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

There is a magazine published by IS called Dabiq. It is so well done, that likely Abousamra had a deep hand in the text given the perfect USA English used.

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Dabiq: What Islamic State’s New Magazine Tells Us about Their Strategic Direction, Recruitment Patterns and Guerrilla Doctrine

Publication: Volume: 0 Issue: 0
August 1, 2014 03:38 PM Age: 35 days
Category: Global Terrorism Analysis, Hot Issue, Home Page, Featured, Iraq, Syria

Dabiq Magazine (Source: Twitter user @umOmar246)

Executive Summary

On the first day of Ramadan (June 28), the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared itself the new Islamic State and the new Caliphate (Khilafah). For the occasion, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, calling himself Caliph Ibrahim, broke with his customary secrecy to give a surprise khutbah (sermon) in Mosul before being rushed back into hiding. Al-Baghdadi’s khutbah addressed what to expect from the Islamic State. The publication of the first issue of the Islamic State’s official magazine, Dabiq, went into further detail about the Islamic State’s strategic direction, recruitment methods, political-military strategy, tribal alliances and why Saudi Arabia’s concerns that the Kingdom may be the Islamic State’s next target are well-founded.

Published in several European languages, including English, the magazine has a number of purposes. The first is to call on Muslims to come help the new caliph. Next, the magazine, comprising 50 vivid pages of color pictures, illustrations and artfully crafted text, tells the story of the Islamic State’s success in gaining the support of Syrian tribes, reports on the success of its recent military operations and graphically portrays the atrocities committed by its enemies, as well as vivid pictures of its own violence against Shi’ites. The premier issue also used classic Islamic texts to explain and justify the nature of the caliphate, its intentions, legitimacy and political and religious authority over all Muslims. Throughout its carefully constructed allusions, the magazine subtly appeals to the followers of other jihadist groups including the followers of the Islamic State’s foremost jihadist critics and potential followers in the Arabian Peninsula.

Another important purpose of Dabiq in the service of recruitment is to establish the Islamic State’s cosmic destiny by combining an eschatological account of coming battles gleaned from popular apocalyptic literature, the classical traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, prophecies and modern tactics taken from Salafi-Jihadist strategic literature. The strategic portion of this message is attributed to the original leader of the jihadist insurrection during the American occupation of Iraq, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi. Taken together this mix is intended to capture the imagination of young warriors and inspire them to come and fight for Islamic State. This presentation will not solve the array of challenges facing the Islamic State, but it probably will help attract more young adherents as well as prove that al-Baghdadi and his advisors have developed a serious plan. It is important for Western countries to appreciate the dangerous instability this new movement, despite its obvious flaws, is capable of generating if left to its own devices.

This IS a Never-Ending Religious War

It is now time to admit that the globe is in a religious war where fighters are being recruited worldwide in the name of Islam to destroy all other faiths. This is no longer debatable.

The Middle East is the birth of religion as we know it today where places like Damascus, Bethlehem, Qaraqosh, Saidnaya and Maaloula.

 

Today IS (ISIS/ISIL) and al Nusra and other factions in full solidarity are destroying religious history and killing, raping and terrorizing religious leaders and faithful pilgrims.

Once the leadership of nations in the Middle East and those of the West admit these conditions, this war will continue well into the decades ahead. The innocents of the world are paying for the feeble and cowards that refuse to defeat these evils.

The Muslim Rape of Christian Nuns

 

Despite how unsavory and barbaric Islamic groups and persons around the world have been behaving—whether Nigeria’s Boko Haram, Mesopotamia’s Islamic State, Somalia’s Shabaab—perhaps few things are as disgusting and cowardly as the Muslim rape of nuns: defenseless Christian women who sacrifice much of their lives to help sick and needy Muslims.

The latest such attack comes from Bangladesh, which is over 90% Muslim in population.  In early July, dozens of men armed with machetes, knives and iron rods attacked the convent of PIME (Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions nuns in Boldipuku), a village mission in north Bangladesh.

“The nuns were beaten and molested, ending when police arrived,” reported Bishop Sebastian Tudu.

Catholic Online has the complete story:

[S]ome 60 men attempted to loot the building and rape the nuns… The attackers first tied the hands and legs of the mission’s two night watchmen and gagged them in the early morning hours. They then broke down the door of the room where the assistant pastor Father Anselmo Marandy was sleeping. They then raided the convent located in the mission campus…. Three PIME nuns suffered attempted rape and were sent to their provincial house in Dhaka, the national capital where they are trying to overcome the shock and mental suffering.  “It’s very sad that the sisters cannot continue to work for the people, but our sisters are no longer safe,” Rosaline Costa, a Catholic human rights activist lamented.  Local Christians are currently living in fear since the attack. Christians form only 0.8 percent of Dinajpur district’s three million people.

Although some of those quoted in the Catholic Online report portray this attack as “unprecedented,” the fact is, nuns raped by Muslims is a phenomenon that goes back centuries.   According to Muslim historian Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (1364-1442), during his raids on then Christian-majority Egypt, Caliph Marwan II (r.744–50) “made captive a number of women from among the nuns of several convents. And he tried to seduce one of them.”

The account describes how the enslaved nun tricked him into killing her, by claiming she had a magic oil that make skin impenetrable: “She then took some oil and anointed herself with it; then stretched out her neck, which he smote with the sword, and made her head fly.  He then understood that she preferred death to defilement.”

Writing in the tenth century, the Coptic chronicler Severus ibn Muqaffa records that “the Arabs [i.e., Muslims] in the land of Egypt had ruined the country….  They burnt the fortresses and pillaged the provinces, and killed a multitude of the saintly monks who were in them [monasteries] and they violated a multitude of the virgin nuns and killed some of them with the sword.”

After the Islamic conquest of Constantinople in 1453, according to eyewitness accounts, “Monasteries and Convents were broken in. Their tenants were killed, nuns were raped, many, to avoid dishonor, killed themselves. Killing, raping, looting, burning, enslaving, went on and on according to tradition.”

Such is history—expunged as it is in the modern West—even as it repeats itself today. Thus, in August 2013, after torching a Franciscan school in Egypt, “Islamists,” in the words of the AP, “paraded three nuns on the streets like ‘prisoners of war’” and “Two other women working at the school were sexually harassed and abused as they fought their way through a mob.”

Indeed, the rise in attacks on Christian nuns throughout the Islamic world further demonstrates that they are no more inviolable than other “infidel” women:

  • Somalia: In response to Pope Benedict’s historical quotes which, like so many other things so enraged the Islamic world, Muslims in Somalia shot Leonella Sgarbati—a 66-year-old nun who had devoted 30 years of her life working in Africa—in her back.  Her last words before dying in hospital were: “I forgive; I forgive.”
  • Pakistan: In September 2012, gunmen on motorbikes dressed in green (Islam’s color) opened fire on the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral in Hyderabad, murdering at least 28 people.  Their immediate target was a nun, Mother Christina.
  • Libya: In February 2013, after the fall of Col. Gaddafi, Islamic rebels threatened nuns into fleeing the nation. They had been there since 1921, focused primarily on helping the sick and needy.
  • Palestinian Authority: Last year, nuns of the Greek-Orthodox monastery in Bethany sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urging him to respond to the escalation of attacks on the Christian house, including the throwing of stones, broken glass, theft and looting of the monastery property.
  • Philippines: In an article discussing a Christmas Day church bombing in a Muslim-majority region, we learn that the jihadi group responsible “has been blamed for several bomb attacks on the Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo since the early 2000s and for kidnapping priests and nuns.”
  • Guinea: In June 2013, during a mob-led frenzy, Christians and their churches were savagely attacked in the Muslim-majority nation—with some 95 Christians slain and 130 wounded—including “the quarters of the nuns, [which] was looted before being torched.”
  • Syria: Islamic rebels forcibly abducted 13 Christian nuns and three maids, holding them captive for three months.  They were finally released after the Bashar government agreed to release some 150 female criminals in exchange.

The above examples come from several countries that have little in common with one another—neither race, language, culture, nor economics—only Islam.

That alone should say something.

But no matter.  Far from discussing Islamic history and doctrine, and how they tie to current events—especially the subhuman treatment of non-Muslim “infidels”—the predominant Western mentality simply dismisses Muslim violence as the West’s fault, or, in the words of ex-nun Karen Armstrong and Islamic apologist extraordinaire, “We did this.”   Armstrong—who quit the nunnery only to engage in pro-Islamic mummery—insists that what’s needed is for us to focus more on “Muslim pain, Muslim suffering.”

Such, according to the leftist mentality, are the “real” reasons why, wherever Muslim-majorities live near non-Muslim minorities, from the dawn of Islam till today, the latter are being attacked into extinction.

Defcon or Dogleg Left?

It is ISIL, it is Hamas, it is al Nusra, it is the Southern border, it is Ebola, it is the cyber hit, it is the Iranian nuclear negotiations, it is the Taliban, it is the kidnapped Americans, it is the green on blue attacks, it is MH17 shot out of the sky, it is the 17,000 Russia forces invading Ukraine, it is the attack on the Pakistan airbase, it is the Chinese aggression of fighter jets on U.S. aircraft, it is the island disputes in the S. China Sea, it is the attack on the NATO base in Turkey, it is Hamas, it is AQAP, it is, it is, it is.

 

Mr, President Chairman Dempsey is here to see you NOW. Oh, hi there Martin, what’s up? Before you begin, we need a fourth for Saturday, you interested? Ah, thanks just the same Mr. President, but I am here to finally deliver the PBD personally and get immediate strike authorization near Irbil. Can you sign here? Ah yeah sure, but I don’t need Congressional approval, this is gonna be a short gig right? Oh hey there Valerie, what’s up with you? Well sir we have a situation that needs exploitation in Ferguson so Al Sharpton is here to see you. He is our new race Ambassador.

 

 

Ah, Mr. President, this is urgent, I need your signature now, we must be defensive to protect Americans in Irbil. Oh, yeah sure Martin. Now while I have you sir what about Ukraine? Oh, Martin, what is your answer about Saturday’s golf. No thank you sir. Too bad, great weather and I am testing a new Ping driver. Sir we have 18,000 Russian forces in Ukraine now and there is fire exchanging and they murdered the Lithuania general counsel. No worries Martin, Merkel has that handled.

 

 

Ah what a great day for golf huh fellas? Standby, you go first, I have a text message from someone. Oh it is Holder, he is on his way to Ferguson, glad that is handled. Say Ahmad Rashad, where are you and Val going to dinner tonight? Ray Allen, I don’t really want to talk terror on the front nine is that okay with you? I am not interested in Hamas, Gaza or Israel right now or the others that are operating in Gaza. So, Mr. President are you interested in talking about ISIL in Austria then? Nah, but hey this scorecard says it is 477 yards, does that call for a 3 or 4 wood?

 

 

Damn, another text, seems Canada is upping their concept of the threat level of ISIL. Anyone need a beer? Oh, what is this chatter about 1500 Brits fighting for ISIL? With great golf courses in the U.K. I would think they would rather take on two rounds a week, anyone else think so?

You guys in the Secret Service never enjoy yourselves do you? This par 3 is a beauty. We don’t need anything from you guys today, it can hold, I don’t need to be bothered with what other countries are joining the Russians in air exercises much less what ISIS is doing with the incursion in Lebanon. Okay then sir, here is a bit of intel about the attack on the NATO site in Turkey, considered it delivered. Cool thanks, I need to get out of this sand trap in 2 whacks, any bets fellas?

Hey Ahmad, didn’t some of your football buddies graduate from UNC? Seems that campus and a few others are calling for boycotts of Israel, give them a high 5 for me eh?

Oh who is this guy driving that cart so fast? Crap, another Secret Service type over-dressed. Ah, hello Mr. President we have an American journalist, you know the one that has been communicating with the White House for the last several weeks. Well, they did what they said they were going to do, they beheaded the man, there is a video that has gone viral and the video was filmed with the personal message to you. So Cameron has been told it was a Brit in the video that beheaded Foley and he came off of vacation to deal with the matter. Really? No way. So a Brit killed an American? Yes sir it appears to have taken place in and around the south hills of Raqqa, but not too sure just yet. Wow, too bad that op failed in July. Ah yes sir, that brings another matter up for discussion. The media now knows about the op so the White House needs to get ahead of this. Damn, I lost that bet, took 3 to get out of the trap. Cant concentrate with all these interruptions. Look dude, this is screwing up my game and causing me to lose bets, go back to the Secret Service office and get Ben on the phone, have him handle the video. Then get Marie Harf on the phone and tell her to get out a statement that ISIS is not at war with America.

Okay, now for this nasty dogleg left, that rough looks tough…could need a wedge to get out for the approach to the green. Another text…what the heck? We have Secretary Hagel upping the game on the ISIS threat and now even Dempsey is saying that Syria must be on the table and the southern border is a risk?

No, not going to Defcon, this dogleg left has a real handicap. Beer? Watch me do a new birdie dance, I call it Back 9 Biride….

 

 

The Power to Defeat but Lacks Resolve

It was in 1997 that Hamas was declared a terror organization by the United States. Definitions 15 to 20 years ago for ‘terror’ is quite different than today and today the Middle East has become the destination of war, money, indifference and the spilling of blood of the treasure of life.

Presidents come and go, each has a set of priorities and the missions change in the White House due to actions of other states, group leadership and elitists. In 1973, such was the case for 32 terrifying days, the Yom Kippur war.

Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel was hungry for a big and perhaps final solution that she considered readying nuclear weapons to protect and defend against the Soviet coordinated attack by Egypt and Syria on the homeland.

President Nixon had no use for the Jews as they were a thorn in his side when it came to his own political and global objectives. Yet when it was determined that Israel was under attack, without any hesitation, Nixon ordered full immediate and full support for Israel with the full understanding that changing the balance of the Middle East would be a grave condition for the world. Nixon issued an edict, he order it now and the response set forth the real nature of the U.S. military with distinction, performance, coordination and success. Instant precision and results saved Israel as Nixon so ordered. The name of this mission was Operation Nickel Grass.

Has any country since come to the robust aid and support of Israel so ordered by President Nixon? Has the United States since come to stand with Israel in the trenches since Operation Nickel Grass? Of note, this was a very bad time for America coming off the walk away from Vietnam and embarking on the gripping scandal known as Watergate. However the White House understood the implications far and wide that included the Arab nations and the Soviet Union, the order of the globe was about to spin out of control.

There was no real logistical pre-planning, there was no time. There were no locations to refuel, there were no provisions staged to fulfill the requests of Israel and there were no previous interactions with national leaders to assist. Phone calls were made, cables were sent and operations were launched in four days time. This is America’s legacy, do it, be creative, be innovative, be inventive, gather your men, build the army and win.

 

It was justifiably called “the airlift that saved Israel”.

One of the most critical but least celebrated airlifts in history unfolded over a desperate 32 days in the fall of 1973. An armada of Military Airlift Command aircraft carried thousands of tons of materiel over vast distances into the midst of the most ferocious fighting the Middle East had ever witnessed-the 1973 Arab¬Israeli War. MAC airlifters-T-tailed C-141s and C-5As-went in harm’s way, vulnerable to attack from fighters, as they carved a demanding track across the Mediterranean, and to missiles and sabotage, as they were off-loading in Israel.

Though not as famous as the 1948¬-49 Berlin Airlift or as massive as the 1990-¬91 Desert Storm airlift, this 1973 operation was a watershed event. Code-named “Nickel Grass,” it restored a balance of power and helped Israel survive a coordinated, life-threatening Soviet-backed assault from Egypt and Syria. It proved the Air Force concept of global mobility based on jet-powered transport aircraft. The airlift also transformed the image of the C-5 from that of expensive lemon to symbol of US might.

A quarter of a century ago, in summer and fall 1973, the Mideast seethed with tensions. Six years earlier, in June 1967, Israeli forces conquered vast swaths of land controlled by Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Cairo and Damascus failed over the years to persuade or force Israel to relinquish its grip on the land and, by 1973, the stalemate had become intolerable. Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Syria’s Hafez al-Assad meticulously planned their 1973 offensive, one they hoped would reverse Israeli gains of the earlier war and put an end to Arab humiliation. The war was set to begin on the holiest of Jewish religious days, Yom Kippur.

Trapped by Complacency

The Arab states had trained well and Moscow had supplied equipment on a colossal scale, including 600 advanced surface-to-air missiles, 300 MiG-21 fighters, 1,200 tanks, and hundreds of thousands of tons of consumable war materiel. On paper, the Arabs held a huge advantage in troops, tanks, artillery, and aircraft. This was offset, in Israeli minds, by the Jewish state’s superior technology, advanced mobilization capability, and interior lines of communication. Despite unmistakable signs of increasing Arab military capability, Israeli leaders remained unworried, even complacent, confident in Israel’s ability to repel any attack.

The Israeli government became unequivocally convinced of impending war just hours before the Arab nations attacked at 2:05 p.m. local time, Oct. 6. Prime Minister Golda Meir, despite her immense popularity, refused to use those precious hours to carry out a pre-emptive attack; she was concerned that the US might withhold critical aid shipments if Washington perceived Israel to be the aggressor.

On the southern front, the onslaught began with a 2,000-cannon barrage across the Suez Canal, the 1967 cease-fire line. Egyptian assault forces swept across the waterway and plunged deep into Israeli-held territory. At the same time, crack Syrian units launched a potent offensive in the Golan Heights. The Arab forces fought with efficiency and cohesion, rolling over or past shocked Israeli defenders. Arab air forces attacked Israeli airfields, radar installations, and missile sites.

Day 4 of the war found Israel’s once-confident military suffering from the effects of the bloodiest mauling of its short, remarkably successful existence. Egypt had taken the famous Bar Lev line, a series of about 30 sand, steel, and concrete bunkers strung across the Sinai to slow an attack until Israeli armor could be brought into play. Egyptian commandos ranged behind Israeli lines, causing havoc. In the north, things looked equally bad. The Syrian attack had not been halted until Oct. 10.

Grievously heavy on both sides were the losses in armored vehicles and combat aircraft. Israeli airpower was hard hit by a combination of mobile SA-6 and the man-portable SA-7 air-defense missiles expertly wielded by the Arabs. The attacking forces were also plentifully supplied with radar-controlled ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft guns. Israeli estimates of consumption of ammunition and fuel were seen to be totally inadequate. However, it was the high casualty rate that stunned Israel, shocking not only Meir but also the legendary Gen. Moshe Dayan, minister of defense.

The shock was accompanied by sheer disbelief at America’s failure to comprehend that the situation was critical. Voracious consumption of ammunition and huge losses in tanks and aircraft brought Israel to the brink of defeat, forcing the Israelis to think the formerly unthinkable as they pondered their options.

Half a world away, the United States was in a funk, unable or unwilling to act decisively. Washington was in the throes of not only post-Vietnam moralizing on Capitol Hill but also the agony of Watergate, both of which impaired the leadership of President Richard M. Nixon. Four days into the war, Washington was blindsided again by another political disaster-the forced resignation of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.

Not surprisingly, the initial US reaction to the invasion was one of confusion and contradiction. Leaders tried to strike a balance of the traditional US support of Israel with the need to maintain a still-tenuous superpower détente with the Soviet Union and a desire to avoid a threatened Arab embargo of oil shipments to the West.

Shifting Scenarios

The many shifts in US military planning to aid Israel are well-documented, notably in Flight to Israel, Kenneth L. Patchin’s official MAC history of Operation Nickel Grass. Nixon, in response to a personal plea from Meir, had made the crucial decision Oct. 9 to re-supply Israel. However, four days would pass before the executive office could make a final decision on how the re-supply would be executed.

Initially, planners proposed that Israel be given the responsibility for carrying out the entire airlift. (Israel did use eight of its El Al commercial airliners to carry 5,500 tons of materiel from the US to Israel.) Israel attempted to elicit interest from US commercial carriers, but they refused to enlist in the effort, concerned as they were about the adverse effects Arab reaction would have upon their businesses. MAC’s inquiries with commercial carriers received the same negative response. Then, it was suggested that MAC assist the Israeli flag carrier by flying the material to Lajes, the base on the Portuguese Azores islands in the Atlantic, where it could be picked up by Israeli transports.

The US dithered in this fashion for four days. Then, on Oct. 12, Nixon personally decided that MAC would handle the entire airlift. Tel Aviv’s Lod/Ben-Gurion air complex would be the off-load point.

“Send everything that can fly,” he ordered.

USAF had been preparing right along to take on the challenge. Gen. George S. Brown, USAF Chief of Staff, telephoned Gen. Paul K. Carlton, MAC commander, to begin loading MAC aircraft with materiel but to hold them within the US pending release of a formal order sending them onward. Carlton put his commanders on alert and contacted the heads of other involved commands, including Gen. Jack J. Catton of Air Force Logistics Command. AFLC accorded the same high priority to Nickel Grass, and the results showed immediately. More than 20 sites in the United States were designated to be cargo pick-up points where the US military would assemble materiel for shipment to Israel. Equipment, some directly from war-reserve stocks, began pouring into these sites.

Less than nine hours after Nixon’s decision, MAC had C-141s and C-5s ready to depart. There would be some initial delays, and they would encounter some difficulties en route, but they would be the first of a flood of aircraft into Israel.

The complex nature of Nickel Grass required a flexible chain of command. Within MAC, 21st Air Force, commanded by Maj. Gen. Lester T. Kearney Jr., was designated as the controlling Air Force. The vice commander of 21st, Brig. Gen. Kelton M. Farris, was named MAC mission commander. The prime airlift director was Col. Edward J. Nash.

We’ll Hold Your Coat

The threat of an oil embargo frightened US allies. With a single exception, they all denied landing and overflight rights to the emergency MAC flights. The exception was Portugal, which, after hard bargaining, essentially agreed to look the other way as traffic mushroomed at Lajes Field. Daily departure flights grew from one to 40 over a few days. This was a crucial agreement for MAC, which could not have conducted the airlift the way it did without staging through Lajes.

When Nixon flashed the decision Oct. 12, top American officials instantly applied pressure for immediate results. MAC’s complex machinery sprang into action, but it took some hours to establish a steady, regulated flow of aircraft and crews. Initial flights were delayed because of high winds at Lajes, generating White House fury that supplies had not magically reached Israel.

Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Carlton about this, saying, “We’ll have to get them moving, or we’ll lose our jobs.”

Carlton knew the airlift business. He knew that he had an adequate number of aircraft, crews, and required equipment. The fleet consisted of 268 C-141s and 77 C-5As, and Carlton knew that he could sustain a steady flow of three C-141s every two hours and four C-5s every four hours-indefinitely. He also knew that MAC could orchestrate the operation, establishing a rational flow of aircraft matching the cargo to be carried with off-loading equipment at the destination. In his plan, MAC would essentially become a conduit through which materiel would flow in a well-adjusted stream.

At first, however, he could not convey either his concept or his confidence to the White House, State Department, or Pentagon.

Carlton had already begun to expedite things, taking extraordinary actions in the interest of saving time. These steps included waiving crew rest requirements, weight limitations, daily utilization restrictions, and routine maintenance demands. He had to fight a continuing change of orders streaming out of the White House and State and Defense departments. There was continuing pressure to enlist the help of commercial airlines, despite their universal reluctance. At one point, late in the game, officials threatened to remove MAC entirely from the operation.

Even so, Carlton was confident he could establish a flow that not only would let MAC handle the initial requirement of 4,000 tons of materiel but also continue to handle all of MAC’s other assignments. He asked for patience, stating that “once this flow starts, it [the materiel] is going to come like a bushel basket of oranges just being dumped.”

The average distance from US departure points to Lajes was 3,297 miles. It was another 3,163 miles from Lajes to Lod/Ben-Gurion. The route varied from eastern departure points (McGuire AFB, N.J.; Dover AFB, Del.; and Charleston AFB, S.C.) to Lajes, but from Lajes onward it was precise. Aircraft flew to Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain and then followed a narrow path over the Mediterranean to Tel Aviv.

The route was deliberately placed along the center of the Mediterranean Sea on the Flight Information Region boundary line dividing the airspace of the hostile African states to the south and that of the “friendly” European states to the north.

Fighters All the Way

The threat of Arab interception was real, and the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet acted as protector until the transports came within about 200 miles of Israel. There Israeli air force fighters took over. Although threats were made by radio, and several unidentified fighters were seen, no overt hostile action was taken.

Neither Lajes nor Lod possessed adequate aerial port facilities. Carlton called for establishment of Airlift Control Elements at both places, accurately estimating the number of personnel and the equipment that each would require. (More than 1,300 people would work at Lajes, seriously taxing all the facilities.) Other ALCEs were established at points within the US where aerial port facilities were not sufficient to handle the rush.

The initial missions to Israel were delayed as a result of 50-knot crosswinds at Lajes. Scheduled to be the first aircraft at Lod was a C-5 carrying the ALCE team, headed by Col. Donald R. Strobaugh. However, it encountered engine trouble and had to return to Lajes, where Strobaugh and his team transferred to a C-141.

The first C-5 (Tail No. 00461) to land at Lod touched down at 22:01 Zulu. It carried 97 tons of 105 mm howitzer shells, and it arrived at a time when Israeli forces were down to their last supplies of ammunition. Another 829 tons would be delivered in the next 24 hours. Even as Israeli workers unloaded those first cargo airplanes, huge formations of Israeli and Egyptian armor, maneuvering just 100 miles to the southwest, were locked in a desperate tank battle that would prove to be the largest clash of armor since the World War II Battle of Kursk.

Carlton was only too aware of the C-5′s vulnerability to ground attack. Whenever possible, the Air Force would have only a single C-5 on the ground at any one time.

The first C-141 (Tail No. 60177) to arrive at Lod landed at 23:16 Zulu. The aircraft carried more ammunition but, more importantly, it delivered Strobaugh and his ALCE crew. The group ultimately numbered 55, all of whom worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week. They were given three 40K loaders as well as locally improvised unloading gear.

The arriving MAC airplanes were greeted ecstatically by the Israelis. The crews received red-carpet treatment. Israel put in place a system to expedite cargo handling; materiel unloaded from the transports usually were at the front in Syria in about three hours and in the Sinai in less than 10 hours.

The original 4,000-ton airlift requirement grew daily. After the first day, USAF set the daily flow requirement at four C-5s and 12 C-141s. After Oct. 21, it raised the aircraft flow level to six C-5s and 17 C-141s and maintained it there until Oct. 30, when the demand began to drop.

The continuous flow of aircraft on the long flights was tough on the aircrews, but MAC was judicious in its positioning of relief crews for the C-141 and using augmented crews on the C-5. A special pool of navigators was created for the vital but tedious task of navigating the Mediterranean.

To the Offensive

Because it eliminated the need to husband ammunition and other consumable items, the continuous flood of US war materiel enabled Israeli forces to go on the offensive in the latter stages of the war. In the north, Israel’s ground forces recovered all territory that had been lost and began to march on Damascus. In the Sinai, tank forces led by Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon smashed back across the Suez, encircled the Egyptian Third Army on the western side of the canal, and threatened Ismailia, Suez City, and even Cairo itself.

Egypt and Syria, which had previously rejected the idea of a negotiated settlement, now felt compelled on Oct. 22 to agree to the arrangement hammered out by Washington and Moscow with the goal of preventing the total destruction of the trapped Egyptian army. Israel was reluctant to comply immediately, wishing to gain as much as possible before a cease-fire.

The Soviet Union, faced with Israel’s continuing offensive, raised the stakes. Moscow declared to the United States that, if the US could not bring Israel to heel, it would take unilateral action to dictate a settlement. On Oct. 24, the United States, in order to intensify the image of risk in Soviet minds and keep Soviet forces out of the crisis, responded by taking its armed forces to a worldwide DEFCON III alert, implying readiness for nuclear operations, if necessary.

Fortunately, after several abortive efforts, an effective cease-fire finally took hold Oct. 28. Israel suffered 10,800 killed and wounded-a traumatic loss for a nation of some 3 million persons-plus 100 aircraft and 800 tanks. The Arab nations suffered 17,000 killed or wounded and 8,000 prisoners, and lost 500 aircraft and 1,800 tanks.

The airlift officially ended Nov. 14. By then, the Air Force had delivered 22,395 tons of cargo-145 missions by C-5 Galaxy and 422 missions by C-141 Starlifter. The C-5s delivered about 48 percent of the tonnage but consumed 24 percent less fuel than the C-141s. Included in the gross cargo tonnage was a total of 2,264.5 tons of “outsize” materiel, equipment that could be delivered only by a C-5. Among these items were M-60 tanks, 155 mm howitzers, ground radar systems, mobile tractor units, CH-53 helicopters, and A-4E components.

The airlift had been a key to the victory. It had not only brought about the timely resupply of the flagging Israeli force but also provided a series of deadly new weapons put to good use in the latter part of the war. These included Maverick and TOW anti-tank weapons and extensive new electronic countermeasures equipment that warded off successful attacks on Israeli fighters. Reflecting on the operation’s vital contribution to the war effort, Reader’s Digest would call it “The Airlift That Saved Israel.”

Both US transport types distinguished themselves by performing reliably and economically. The C-5A had an 81 percent reliability while the C-141 registered a 93 percent reliability. No accidents occurred. The abort rate of all planned flights came in under 2 percent.

The airlift taught the Air Force many lessons, large and small. One was that Lajes was a godsend-one that the US best not take for granted in a future emergency. The Air Force established an immediate requirement for aerial refueling to become standard practice in MAC so that its airlifters could operate without forward bases, if necessary. Another lesson was that commercial airlines, on their own, could not be expected to volunteer their services and aircraft. This meant that access to commercial lift in the future would have to be met by activating the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, as in fact it was during the Gulf War. Nickel Grass also led to the consolidation of all airlift aircraft under Military Airlift Command and its designation as a specified command on Feb. 1, 1977.

Finally, the C-5 proved to be the finest military airlift aircraft in history, not the expensive military mistake as it had been portrayed in the media. Its ability to carry huge amounts of cargo economically, carry outsize pieces of equipment, and refuel in flight fully justified the expense of the program.

“For generations to come,” said Golda Meir not long after the war’s end, “all will be told of the miracle of the immense planes from the United States bringing in the material that meant life for our people.”

America has proven her worth of being a world power, she has proven goodness, she has proven her worth of maintaining the worldwide equilibrium and she must do so well into the future. It requires a full understanding of the globe and it mostly requires resolve.

http://www.travis.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123122053

Today, Israel faces Hamas and Hamas remains an evil terror operation supported still by Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Turkey. Rather than just critique Israel’s response of the rockets coming from Gaza, the United States should be in their own respective jets and we need to be making a full statement with Israel, we do this together. Such is not the current condition, the present administration is reticent to approve additional defensive weapons or use of the reserve ordnance stored in Israel. Alas it was approved by the Pentagon however, without the full knowledge of the White House.

To compound matters in the Middle East, the world is facing still al Qaeda factions in various countries in North Africa to Asia. Iraq is on a full blown mission creep due to ISIL and the U.S. forces if ordered so, had in more than a decade received orders  to defeat the enemy and enlist the aid of other nations. Most recently in the last six years, the White House has formally announced the end to war, the cessation of hostilities with the Taliban and America has her last foot out of war theaters.

The world in a few short years has become more wicked and injury to life and culture is all too commonplace now, America has retreated.

Sadly, Israel is alone in defeating the enemy that all Western countries should be engaged in defeating. Token gestures of dispatching drones for surveillance, deployment of small units of intelligence operators and simply being defensive in posture is not the final solution. Negotiating with the enemy who has no desire for peace is a misguided diplomatic quest. Now is the time for the final solution whereas, America and her allies will face conflicts, beheadings, kidnappings or yet another catastrophic attack on the homeland is imminent and probable.

The enemy remains at war and the calculus is no longer understood or addressed. Verbal condemnation is not a response, defeat is the answer, the final answer. It is time for Operation Nickel Grass part two for the sake of peace, confidence, order and life. America needs resolve.

Deus, qui nos in pace iuvare, nisi fortis superesse

 

 

 

Illegals, Education and the Poorer Taxpayer

It should be noted that DACA is NOT law, it began with a memo from Baraq Obama to DHS and later to HHS. DACA is for children, in the government definition it includes anyone up to age….31.

In-State Tuition Rates and Financial Aid for DACA Grantees

Talking Points

Background

On June 15, 2012, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Janet Napolitano issued a memorandum announcing the DHS’s new policy to grant deferred action status to certain classes of childhood arrival illegal aliens.1 On the same day, Director John Morton of ICE issued a memorandum directing all ICE employees to apply the Secretary’s policy. 2 The Morton Memo also detailed the criteria necessary for an illegal alien to qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program under this policy, which include:

• The illegal alien came to the United States under the age of sixteen;

• The illegal alien is not above the age of thirty;

• The illegal alien has continuously resided in the United States for at least five years preceding the date of the June 15, 2012 Morton memo and is present in the United States on the date of the June 15, 2012 Morton memo;

• The illegal alien is currently in school, has graduated from high school, has obtained a general education development certificate, or is an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States;

• The illegal alien has not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor offense, or multiple misdemeanor offenses; and

• The illegal alien does not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.3

Deferred action on this basis is granted for two years and may be renewed indefinitely or terminated by DHS at any time at the agency’s discretion.

 

 

The definition of citizen has been redefined by the Federal government.

The sovereign borders have been redefined by the Federal government.

The quality of healthcare access has been redefined by the Federal government.

The security of our homeland has been redefined by the Federal government.

The quality of public education has been redefined by the Federal government.

The value of domestic tranquility has been redefined by the Federal government.

The tax-code has been redefined by the Federal government.

The oath of duty to laws has been redefined by the Federal government.

FACT SHEET: Educational Services for Immigrant Children and Those Recently Arrived to the United States

Schools in the United States have always welcomed new immigrant children to their classrooms – according to the most recent data, there were more than 840,000 immigrant students in the United States, and more than 4.6 million English learners. We have begun to receive inquiries regarding educational services for a specific group of immigrant children who have been in the news – children from Central America who have recently crossed the U.S. – Mexico border. This fact sheet provides information to help education leaders better understand the responsibilities of States and local educational agencies (LEAs) in connection with such students, and the existing resources available to help educate all immigrant students – including children who recently arrived in the United States.

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BACKGROUND

All children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their or their parents’ actual or perceived national origin, citizenship, or immigration status. This includes recently arrived unaccompanied children, who are in immigration proceedings while residing in local communities with a parent, family member, or other appropriate adult sponsor.

Under the law, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to care for unaccompanied children apprehended while crossing the border. While in care at a HHS shelter, such children are not enrolled in local schools but do receive educational services and other care from providers who run HHS shelters.

Recently arrived unaccompanied children are later released from federal custody to an appropriate sponsor – usually a parent, relative, or family friend – who can safely and appropriately care for them while their immigration cases proceed. While residing with a sponsor, these children have a right under federal law to enroll in public elementary and secondary schools in their local communities and to benefit from educational services, as do all children in the U.S.

EXISTING RESOURCES

Existing resources that may be helpful to communities enrolling immigrant children, including newly arrived immigrant children, include:

Services for Educationally Disadvantaged Children (Title I): Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides funds to raise the achievement of children who attend high-poverty schools. To the extent that newly arrived immigrant children attend Title I schools, they may be eligible to receive Title I, Part A services. Additional information about Title I, Part A programs is available here.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): IDEA funds may be used by LEAs to evaluate children of any background who are suspected of having a disability under IDEA. Once a child is found to

be a child with a disability under IDEA, the funds may be used to provide special education and related services to the child consistent with the child’s individualized education program and subject to IDEA’s notice and consent provisions. Additional information about IDEA is available here.

English Language Acquisition Programs: States are required to set aside up to 15 percent of their Title III funds under the ESEA for subgrants to LEAs that have experienced a significant increase in immigrant students. Such funds can be used for a broad range of activities including improving instruction, providing tutoring and intensified instruction, and conducting community participation programs. Such funds may be used to serve newly arrived immigrant children regardless of whether such children are English Learners. Additional information about Title III is available here and here.

McKinney-Vento Act: The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act delineates educational rights and support for children and youth experiencing homelessness, including guaranteeing immediate access to a free, appropriate public education. Federal law identifies a number of living arrangements such as sharing the housing of others, in which inhabitants would qualify for purposes of the Act. Under McKinney-Vento, school districts must appoint a local liaison to ensure, among other things, that (1) children and youth eligible under McKinney Vento are identified; (2) that they immediately enroll in, and have a full and equal opportunity to succeed in, the schools of the district; and (3) they receive educational services for which they are eligible, and referrals to health care services, dental services, mental health services, and other appropriate services.

Unaccompanied children who are in HHS shelters would not be eligible for McKinney-Vento services, but children who are released to live with a sponsor may be eligible on a case-by-case basis under the law’s broad definition, which includes youth who are living with family members in “doubled-up” housing, i.e., sharing the housing of other persons due to economic hardship or a similar reason. School districts should refer children they believe may qualify to the district’s local liaison for further consideration and a determination of McKinney-Vento eligibility. More information about McKinney-Vento eligibility is available here and more information about the rights and services available under the McKinney-Vento Act is available here.

Migrant Education Programs (MEP): MEP funds are awarded to States under the authority of Title I, Part C of the ESEA. The MEP provides educational and supportive services to children who are migratory agricultural workers or fishers or who move with a parent or guardian who is a migratory agricultural worker or fisher. Newly arrived immigrant children may qualify as eligible migratory children on a case-by-case basis— provided they meet the program requirements and fit the program-specific definition of migratory child. Additional information about migrant education programs is available here.

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition: This Clearinghouse provides non-monetary assistance in research-based strategies and approaches such as academic language development, and can also share data and models for the creation of Newcomer Centers to serve recently arrived immigrant students and English language learners. Additional information about the Clearinghouse is available here.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q1. Do States and school districts have an obligation to educate children who arrived to the United States?

A1. Yes. Under Federal law, States and local educational agencies are obligated to provide all children – regardless of immigration status – with equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary level. This includes children such as unaccompanied children who may be involved in immigration proceedings. The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice published a joint guidance letter on this topic that is available here and a fact sheet that is available here.

Q2. Where are unaccompanied children housed while in temporary custody?

A2. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) operates about 150 shelters throughout the nation for unaccompanied children that care for the children until they are released to sponsors, on average within 35 days. A majority of these shelters care for fewer than 50 children. Shelters are operated by non-profit organizations, generally as group homes. HHS pays for and provides all services for the children while they are in care at a shelter. This includes providing food, clothing, education, medical screening, and any needed medical care to the children. The children at these shelters do not attend local public schools, do not integrate into the local community, and remain under staff supervision at all times. Additional information about HHS custody is available here.

Q3. Are children provided with basic education services while in temporary custody at HHS shelters?

A3. Yes. The children are provided with basic education services and activities by HHS grantees. Thus, these children do not enroll in local schools while living in HHS shelters.

Q4. Are children who arrived as unaccompanied children ever enrolled in local schools?

A4. While students are in HHS custody at HHS shelters, they will not be enrolled in the local school systems. When students are released to an appropriate sponsor, typically a parent, relative or family member, or other adult sponsor, while awaiting immigration proceedings, they have a right – just like other children living in their community – to enroll in local schools regardless of their or their parents’ actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status. State laws also require children to attend school up to a certain age. A small number of children in HHS custody are placed in long-term foster care instead of being released to a sponsor. These children do enroll in public school in the community where their foster care is located. Children in all other care settings receive education at an HHS facility.

Q5. Are immunization records available for children who arrived as unaccompanied children to the United States?

A5. While at HHS shelters, the children receive vaccinations. When a child is released from HHS custody to a sponsor, the sponsor is given a copy of the child’s medical and immunization records compiled during their time in custody. If a sponsor does not have a copy of the child’s medical or immunization records, the sponsor can request a new copy from HHS via e-mail at [email protected].

Q6. Are children who arrived as unaccompanied children eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals?

A6. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or “DACA,” does not apply to children who arrive now or in the future in the United States. To be considered for DACA, individuals must have continually resided in the U.S. since June 2007.

Q7. Do districts have the ability to use Federal education funds to address the needs of unaccompanied children who enroll in the district?

A7. States and LEAs have the ability to use various Federal education funds for this purpose. For example, to the extent that such children attend Title I schools, they may be eligible to receive Title I, Part A services. In addition, as discussed above, States can reserve up to 15% of their Title III formula grants for immigrant subgrants, and if a State has previously reserved a lesser amount, it could increase that amount for next year’s subgrants.

Q8. Is there a place to ask additional questions about immigrant children who enroll in the district?

A8. For help with additional questions regarding resources for unaccompanied children, please call the U.S. Department of Education at 1-800-USA-LEARN or visit answers.ed.gov.