Preparing for War on Multiple Fronts?

Posted on December 10, 2015December 10, 2015 by Denise Simon

Preparing for War, too Slow?

Keep an eye on Libya, it too may require a repeated effort.

Without any formal announcements, the military has been testing missile systems both in an offensive and defensive measure. The Pentagon is charged with keeping ahead of forecasted conditions and they are successful and do make robust recommendations to the White House. Under sequestration, some needed measures are not possible yet proving the need given recent global terror events some requests are approved while others are delayed.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An early morning missile test in New Mexico left a white contrail that quickly turned into a corkscrew that was visible for hundreds of miles Thursday.

The unarmed Juno target missile was launched at 6:55 a.m. MST from an old military depot in northwestern New Mexico.

It was aimed at White Sands Missile Range, some 215 miles away, but a White Sands spokesman says it was successfully intercepted over the range by a Patriot missile and disintegrated midair.

Range spokesman Luciano Vera says a second Patriot fired from White Sands self-destructed after the first Patriot hit the target.

The corkscrew-shaped contrail was visible in Phoenix, 245 miles southwest of the launch site.

Moving forward, the Pentagon is also diligently working to gain a robust intelligence advantage as well as expanding a Middle East war footing.

WASHINGTON — As American intelligence agencies grapple with the expansion of the Islamic State beyond its headquarters in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed a new plan to the White House to build up a string of military bases in Africa, Southwest Asia and the Middle East.

The bases could be used for collecting intelligence and carrying out strikes against the terrorist group’s far-flung affiliates.

The growth of the Islamic State’s franchises — at least eight militant groups have pledged loyalty to the network’s leaders so far — has forced a debate within the Obama administration about how to distinguish between the affiliates that pose the most immediate threat to the United States and Europe and others that are more regionally focused. The regional groups, some officials say, may have opportunistically adopted the Islamic State’s brand to bolster their local clout and global stature.

In the midst of that debate, senior military officials have told the White House that the network of bases would serve as hubs for Special Operations troops and intelligence operatives who would conduct counterterrorism missions for the foreseeable future. The plan would all but ensure what Pentagon officials call an “enduring” American military presence in some of the world’s most volatile regions.

While it is in vogue to side with Putin and his mission to stop Islamic State in Syria, it is pure propaganda. Russia has assumed a full defensive posture aiding Bashir al Assad and is only targeting anti-Assad forces in Syria, many of which are supported by the West and the Middle East Gulf States. Russia in fact is expanding their bases in Syria stealing away some objectives even from Iran. Further, Russia is using the conflict in Syria to test the skill levels of ground troops and newly created weapons systems.

Then while the globe is focused on tracking terrorists around the world and connecting them to Islamic State or al Qaida, there is yet another matter of grave concern pointing to North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, state media reported Thursday.

Jong Un made the statement during an arms industry inspection on Wednesday, South Korean news agency Yonhap said, citing reports.

Information related to the highly secretive nation of North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, is extremely difficult to independently confirm.

A report by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the country is now a “powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb (atomic bomb) and H-bomb (hydrogen bomb) to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation,” Yonhap reported. *** This is not a new condition, as the United States has advanced technology to test the air quality to determine what it reveals, which is in fact part of the signals intelligence used by the geo-spatial systems. Going back a few years, conditions were prove what North Korea was doing when it comes to the creation of a hydrogen bomb. There was and is a surge in radiation going back to 2010.

We cannot overlook the matter of the continued aggression by China in the South China Sea where the United States has deployed the USS Larson, which is a guided missile destroyer tasked with surveillance and intelligence gathering.

While there is still the matter of Iran testing missile systems in violation of all resolutions, there is very little if anything being considered to stop Iran.

It appears all of these global events are in fact part of the briefings provided to the White House, yet the Commander in Chief has proven he would rather remain focused on social justice issues and defer national security matters to the next President. You be the judge as to what the worldwide global security conditions will be by then.

Ex-Guantanamo detainee now al Qaeda leader in Yemen

Posted on December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by Denise Simon

15-12-08 Ibrahim Qosi

Ibrahim al Qosi, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, now serves as a leader and spokesman for al Qaeda in Yemen.By Thomas Joscelyn

LWJ: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new video featuring a former Guantanamo detainee, Ibrahim Qosi, who is also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani.

In July 2010, Qosi plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism before a military commission. His plea was part of a deal in which he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors during his remaining time in U.S. custody. Qosi was transferred to his home country of Sudan two years later, in July 2012.

Qosi joined AQAP in 2014 and became one of its leaders. Qosi and other AQAP commanders discussed their time waging jihad at length in the video, entitled “Guardians of Sharia.”

Islamic scholars ensure the “correctness” of the “jihadist project,” according to Qosi. And the war against America continues through “individual jihad,” which al Qaeda encourages from abroad. Qosi also referred to al Qaeda’s policy of encouraging attacks by individual adherents and smaller terror cells. Indeed, AQAP’s video celebrates jihadists who have acted in accordance with this call, such as the Kouachi brothers, who struck Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris earlier this year. The Kouachi brothers’ operation was sponsored by AQAP.

The al Qaeda veterans shown in the video emphasized the importance of following the advice of recognized jihadist ideologues. Although AQAP’s men do not mention the Islamic State by name, they clearly have Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s group in mind. Al Qaeda has criticized the Islamic State for failing to follow the teachings of widely respected jihadist authorities, most of whom reject the legitimacy of Baghdadi’s self-declared “caliphate.”

Qosi’s appearance marks the first time he has appeared in jihadist propaganda since he left Guantanamo. His personal relationship with Osama bin Laden and time in American detention make him an especially high-profile spokesman.

A leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment and other declassified files documented Qosi’s extensive al Qaeda dossier. In the threat assessment, dated Nov. 15, 2007, U.S. intelligence analysts described Qosi as a “high” risk to the U.S. and its allies.

“Detainee is an admitted veteran jihadist with combat experience beginning in 1990 and it is assessed he would engage in hostilities against U.S. forces, if released,” JTF-GTMO found.

In 1990, Qosi met two al Qaeda members who recruited him for jihad in Afghanistan.

Qosi was then trained at al Qaeda’s al Farouq camp, which was the terror group’s primary training facility in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. In 1991, Osama bin Laden relocated to Sudan and Qosi followed. He worked as an accountant and treasurer for bin Laden’s front companies, a role he would continue to fill after al Qaeda moved back to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the mid-1990s.

JTF-GTMO found that after an attempt on bin Laden’s life in 1994, Qosi was chosen to be a member of the al Qaeda founder’s elite security detail. He was also picked to perform sensitive missions around that time.

For example, Qosi served as a courier and may have delivered funds to the terrorist cell responsible for the June 25, 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Qosi relocated to Chechnya that same year, before returning to bin Laden’s side in Afghanistan some time in 1996 or 1997.

“From 1998 to 2001,” JTF-GTMO’s analysts wrote, Qosi “traveled back and forth between the front lines near Kabul and Kandahar to help with the fight against the Northern Alliance.”

In Dec. 2001, the Pakistanis captured Qosi as he fled the Battle of Tora Bora. He was detained as part of a group dubbed the “Dirty 30” by U.S. intelligence officials. The “Dirty 30” included other members of bin Laden’s bodyguard unit, as well as Mohammed al Qahtani, the would-be 20th hijacker. Qahtani, who was slated to take part in the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackings, had been denied entry into the US just months before.

While detained at Guantanamo in 2003, Qosi was asked why he stayed true to bin Laden for so many years. According to JTF-GTMO, Qosi explained it was his “religious duty to defend Islam and fulfill the obligation of jihad and that the war between America and al Qaeda is a war between Islam and aggression of the infidels.”

Qosi made it clear in AQAP’s new production that he hasn’t changed his opinion in the twelve years since.

Meanwhile, directly after the Paris attacks attack, Obama snuck out several Gitmo detainees.

Five Yemeni detainees moved from Guantanamo Bay to United Arab Emirates hours after Paris attacks

Hours after a crew of suicide bombers ravaged Paris on Friday, the U.S. Defense Department quietly transported five Yemeni detainees who have kept in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay for nearly 14 years to the United Arab Emirates.

The Pentagon waited until Sunday to reveal it released five inmates from Yemen, the military prison camp’s third-most populous nationality.

The five inmates, Ali Ahmad Muhammad al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Muhammad Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani, were never charged with a crime during their imprisonment.

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter reportedly informed Congress of the transfer more than a month ago, the Miami Herald reported.

It’s unclear if the move was related to Friday’s terrorist attacks in France.

The Emirates is one of nearly two dozen nations that have pitched in to resettle Guantanamo detainees since President Obama pledge to close the naval base in 2009 — though 107 inmates remain behind bars six years after his executive action.

Obama has made no indication he’ll veto a defense policy bill banning Guantanamo detainees from being transferred to the United States despite the Pentagon preliminary assessment picking prisons in Colorado, Kansas and South Carolina to house detainees domestically.

The release was a longtime coming for three of the inmates freed Sunday. Al-Busays, al-Qadasi and al-Nahdi were approved for release during former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Al-Razihi faced the possibility of lifetime imprisonment after being captured among a group of 30 militants, according to documents obtained by Wikileaks detailing the intelligence value and security threat of detainees. He was initially suspected of not only having a role in 9/11, but being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.

He was never charged and the Guantanamo Review Task Force approved his release in 2014, the Herald reported.

The same task force approved al-Asani’s release in 2010.

Hey Barack, THIS is NOT Contained

Posted on December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by Denise Simon

DailyMail: Rapid rise of the death cult: Graphic shows the terrifying spread of ISIS across the globe in just two years as terror groups across South East Asia and Africa queue up to swear allegiance

In the past two years, dozens of groups operating across the globe have sworn loyalty to the barbaric extremists
It includes jihadis in Uzbekistan, the Philippines and low-lying Russia, while sleeper cells have been formed in Africa
Many of the groups have been operating for decades and are responsible for kidnappings, bombings and extortion
Aside from their brutality they have one common goal – the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Sharia law

The full scale of Islamic State’s influence can today be laid bare as it’s revealed dozens of terror groups worldwide have pledged their allegiance to the barbaric extremists.

From militia lurking in the jungles of the Philippines to sleeper cells training in the deserts of Libya, a vast array of groups are now claiming to be operating alongside the jihadis’ notorious black and white banner.

It is clear the groups have little in common except their desire to establish their own kingdoms governed by a traditional interpretation of Sharia law. But they are united by one other common principle – they will do anything to realise their goals.

It’s believed more than 40 international groups have pledged their support to ISIS and its ruthless leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured)

Many of the rebel groups operating worldwide have sent fighters to battle with ISIS forces (pictured) in the Middle East, while others simply operate as a symbolic partner.

Among the atrocities to be attributed to these groups is the use of child soldiers, suicide bombings, gangland-style warfare, kidnappings and extortion.

Frighteningly, the vast majority of them have pledged their allegiance to ISIS either this year or in 2014, suggesting the group is enjoying a rapid growth of influence.

In total, a staggering 42 international groups are believed to have offered support or pledged affiliation to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the Global Terrorism Index, published last month by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Some, such as Saudi Arabia’s Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, may be little more than rag-tag groupings of people inspired by the ISIS banner.

But others, such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram or the Philippines’ Abu Sayyaf, have been operating independently for many years and are among multiple well-established groups to swear loyalty to the organisation.

The degree to which these groups are linked to ISIS also varies – some have made only an offer of support or symbolic association. Others are thought to have sent fighters to the Middle East, or are groups established by ISIS that essentially operate as sleeper cells.

Dr Christina Schori Liang, a senior fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told MailOnline ISIS had simply fostered a brand which was so effective other terror groups wanted to be associated with it.

She said: ‘They appear to others to be very high performance and this increases their legitimacy. If one market dries up they always have others they fall back upon and other terrorist groups can see that.

‘It offers these groups global recognition that they are part of one of the most effective terrorist organisations in the world. It’s just the idea that they’re part of a greater social movement.’

Using methods Dr Liang said were akin to a successful start-up company, ISIS has created its own markets – such as its illicit oil trade – while also spreading itself further to tap into other revenue.

Dr Liang said she feared ISIS and its vast array of affiliates would soon extend beyond their symbolic and ideological ties to start operating like a multinational company.

She explained: ‘It’s kind of like a mafia organisation. Everyone has their own business and if they co-operate more I can see them extending their businesses to one another – so it could enrich them even further.

‘I think of ISIS as always looking for new markets. They may not necessarily get into the [other groups’] market, but will take a piece of the cut.’

Africa

ISIS supporters in Africa include Boko Haram, the deadly Islamic militants operating in Nigeria who made headlines for the mass abduction of schoolgirls in 2014.

Such is the scale of terror the group inflicts on the country’s north-east, Boko Haram was recently named as the deadliest terror group operating today.

Although this requires discounting the estimated 20,000 battlefield deaths caused by ISIS, in terms of sheer acts of terror and wholesale slaughter, the group takes top spot.

Led by the mysterious Abubakar Shekau, the group pledged allegiance to ISIS in March this year. It has been suggested the brutal leader died several years ago but his profile is purposely kept alive as part of the Boko Haram ‘brand’.

The group earned notoriety when it kidnapped several hundred schoolgirls from the city of Chibok, in the country’s north-east. They were forced to convert to Islam and marry members of Boko Haram as slave brides.

Although the Nigerian army has this year recaptured much of the territory seized by Boko Haram in its six-year campaign to carve out an Islamic state, the militants have recently struck back with a surge of deadly raids and suicide bombings.

Some of its latest attacks occurred last month when a string of suicide bombers – now believed to have been children as young as 11 – blew themselves up, killing more than 40 people.

At the weekend, three female suicide bombers attacked a busy market on an island in Lake Chad, leaving at least 27 people dead and 90 injured.

A video posted online in January this year purported to show the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, issuing a warning to the Cameroon government

The group carries out near-weekly attacks across north-east Nigeria, the latest of which was a series of suicide bombings perpetrated by children

Boko Haram received notoriety last year when it kidnapped several hundred schoolgirls (pictured) from the city of Chibok

Further north, ISIS-inspired splinter cells have been established in Egypt – where ISIS claimed to have destroyed the Russian Metrojet airliner over the Sinai province. Similar operations are thought to be operating in Tunisia, which has suffered three attacks this year, and Libya.

To the east, Sudan’s longstanding Islamic group Al-Attasam belKetab wa al-Sunna announced in July last year it would endorse ISIS.

The organisation broke with Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood in 1991 to establish a stricter Islamic movement. It is another of many groups to have once been aligned to Al-Qaeda, only to switch allegiance as ISIS gained in prominence.

However, ISIS-inspired groups are no longer limited to north African countries. In Mali the rebel group Al-Murabitoon was said to have declared its support for ISIS in May 2015.

This group was formed by the fearsome one-eyed Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who was battle-hardened in the wars against the Soviets in Afghanistan and then against the U.S.-led forces.

However – there remains some dispute about the authenticity of its allegiance after its declaration of support, which consisted of a radio recording, was rejected by Belmokhtar a few days later.

It is likely there is a rift within the organisation and Belmokhtar’s branch of the jihadis may still remain loyal to Al-Qaeda. The organisation claimed responsibility for the Bamako hotel attack last month that left 22 dead.

South East Asia

Just this week, ISIS released a recruitment song in Mandarin aimed at Chinese nationals. However, it’s not entirely clear who the song is directed at.

Insurgents within the country’s ethnic Uyghur population, who are thought to have joined ISIS in the past and are among the country’s 20million-strong Muslim population, do not speak Mandarin.

One of the more far-reaching groups to join the ISIS ranks in recent months is Abu Sayyaf – a small, mobile and deadly terror group which has formed a terrifying reputation within the long-standing Philippines insurgency.

Active across the country’s south, they are only one of many rebel groups attempting to carve out an independent Islamic province in the area.

The group is responsible for atrocities that include kidnapping, rape, extortion and drug trafficking and murder, and in July last year the group pledged allegiance to ISIS. It, like its Middle Eastern compatriots, specialises in kidnapping.

Abu Sayyaf militants are believed to be currently holding nine different hostages, including a Dutch man kidnapped three years ago, two Malaysians and a town mayor.

However, unlike ISIS, which routinely kills those it has taken captive, Abu Sayyaf takes a more practical approach to its kidnappings. They are carried out purely for financial gain, and the terrorists will happily spend several years drawing out negotiations in order to secure a ransom.

In 2004, the group was found to be responsible for the bombing of Superferry 14 – a passenger ship departing the country’s capital of Manila. Some 116 people were killed in the attack, and to date it remains the Philippines’ worst terrorist atrocity.

Although it has been classed as a terrorist organisation by a host of Western countries, Abu Sayyaf treads a fine line between ideological rebellion and criminal enterprise.

Meanwhile, the Bangasamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, led by Ameril Umbra Kato, was formed in 2010 when it broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

It too, like a handful of other groups in the area, wants complete autonomy in the country’s south for a new Islamic state. Its leader and founder Kato died earlier this year from health-related issues – just months after the central government launched an operation to arrest him.

They were said to have pledged support to ISIS in August 2014.

Abu Sayyaf militants wearing bandannas and camouflage fatigues rest in the jungle armed with explosives and machine guns

In 2002, Abu Sayyaf militants took U.S. missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage from a resort in Palawan, in the country’s west. A year later, Filipino army troops conducted a rescue operation in which Mr Burnham was killed

Members of the breakaway Muslim separatist group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters stand guard on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The group pledged its support to ISIS in August 2014

The group’s leader and founder Ameril Umbrakato (third from right) died earlier this year from health-related issues

Mujahideen Indonesia Timor (pictured), a rebel group operating in Indonesia, is thought to be the first in the country to swear loyalty to ISIS

Other groups in the country to have declared support for the Middle Eastern jihadis include Ansar al-Khilafah in the Philippines and Ma’rakat al-Ansar.

Next door, Indonesia’s feared Abu Wardah Santoso – the leader of the self-declared Mujahideen Indonesia Timor – remains his country’s most wanted man. According to local media, his group is believed to be Indonesia’s first to swear loyalty to ISIS and is responsible for killing civilians and several of the country’s anti-terror officers.

The third major terror organisation in the area linked to ISIS is Jemaah Islamiah – the group responsible for the 2002 Bali Bombings which killed 202 people.

While it has refrained from openly swearing loyalty or allegiance to its Middle Eastern counterparts, authorities believe the two organisations have close links and there may be up to 200 Indonesian or Malaysian members operating in Syria and Iraq.

Formed in Malaysia in the 1990s while its founders were seeking refuge from the Suharto dictatorship, it has a history of fostering operational links with other jihadi groups within the region.

The Middle East

Unsurprisingly, ISIS enjoys far reaching support closer to its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. This includes affiliates in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The strength of many of these groups is difficult to determine, and some may be small clusters of ISIS-inspired jihadis, rather than organised terror cells.

However, its reach also extends much further north – to the lower reaches of Russia, where Islamic insurgencies battling Putin have switched over to join ISIS’s global enterprise.

ISIS in the Caucasus Province was created in June this year and lies in south-west Russia, amid a brewing insurgency Putin has battled for years in and around Chechnya.

Some have stated it is no surprise a group has been formed in the region. While it has a history of Islamic insurgency, ISIS is known to cherish the ferocity of the Chechen fighters within its ranks and they are considered prized recruits among the battalions fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Similar to some of the ISIS operations underway in north Africa, it appears to have been established solely as an ISIS cell and was not in existence in a different form prior to this.

However, its leader Rustam Asildarov was recruited from Vilayat Dagestan – a jihadi group created during the Second Chechen War.

It lays claim to areas surrounding Dagestan, Georgia and Chechnya, as well as a handful of provinces in Russia’s south that stretch up to Sochi where the 2014 Winter Olympics were held.

To its east in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan lies a group named the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Operating in the far northern reaches of the countries, and originally emanating from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the group in previous years has been closely allied to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

But this changed midway through 2015 when its leadership publicly switched its allegiance to ISIS.

It is the first Central Asian jihadi group to declare its allegiance to ISIS, though it is not clear if it is the same group referred to as ‘ISIS in the Kohrasan Province’.

This is the moment the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, now based around Afghanistan and Pakistan, publicly swore allegiance to ISIS

While its formative years in the 1990s were focused on establishing an Islamic state in Uzbekistan, it has since spread south to combat Pakistani authorities and Western forces in Afghanistan.

The group was designated a terrorist organisation by the U.S. more than a decade ago for its links to Al-Qaeda and due to several high profile kidnappings.

It made headlines after taking a group of Japanese scientists hostage in 1999, and the following year four U.S. mountain climbers were captured. They later managed to escape.

Since 2012 it has been headed by Usman Ghazi when he succeeded a commander killed in a US drone strike.

In recent years the group has been linked to suicide bombings and several gun battles with authorities throughout the Central Asia region, while it also stands accused of drug smuggling. Last year it claimed responsibility for the attack on Karachi airport in Pakistan which killed 39 people.

Early this year, it released a video showing a beheading. Their victim was believed to have been one of 31 people they took hostage from a bus in Afghanistan.

Groups allied to the jihadis have also surfaced in the Gaza Strip – where their main target remains Israel. The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem was formed three or four years ago.

Compared to many other organisations, it declared its support for ISIS relatively early, in February 2014. Six months later, it had been designated a terrorist organisation by the U.S. for its rocket and IED attacks on Israel.

And in Saudi Arabia, a shadowy group calling itself Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques has sworn its allegiance to ISIS.

Though Saudi Arabia has been subjected to ISIS-inspired attacks, it remains unclear how organised the group is, and whether it has received official backing from ISIS.

Last year the group claimed responsibility for the attack on Karachi airport in Pakistan, which killed 39 people

Originally emanating from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was another group to have once been aligned to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda

ISIS Speaks Mandarin? Threatening Who Now?

Posted on December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 by Denise Simon

Remember when during the Bush administration, we captured enemy combatants on the battlefield that were known as Uighurs? They were sent to Gitmo and under Barack Obama they were released? Remember when only in recent weeks that Barack Obama said that Islamic State was contained?

How to Say ‘Islamic State’ in Mandarin

ForeignPolicy: New Chinese-language propaganda seems to ignore Uighurs, the group Beijing says has the most terrorist connections.

On Dec. 6, the Islamic State released a slick recording of a Mandarin Chinese-language song glorifying jihad, in what seems to be a direct attempt to recruit Chinese Muslims to the terrorist group’s cause. “Awaken, Muslim brothers! Now is the time to wake up,” proclaims the song in Chinese. “It’s our dream to die on this battlefield.”

Although the Islamic State recording is — horrifyingly — catchy, it is unlikely to make it far on the Chinese-language Internet. The nation’s ruling Chinese Communist Party enforces strict online censorship, filtering in real time posts that it deems destabilizing or overtly critical of the government.

The Islamic State has targeted China on several occasions. In July 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called out China as a country that oppresses its Muslims. In December 2014, the Chinese state-run Global Times reported that 300 Uighurs, a largely Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic minority that mostly lives in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang, had left China to join the militant organization, though there is no way to verify that statistic. And on Nov. 18, the Islamic State announced that it had executed its first Chinese hostage, a Beijing native named Fan Jinghui.

But this new recruitment effort indicates that the Islamic State is not just interested in Uighurs, but in all of China’s Muslims, including the Hui, Chinese speakers whose features are often indistinguishable from the majority Han ethnic group. It’s unlikely this latest song is actually attempting to recruit Uighurs, many of whom speak Mandarin poorly or not at all, particularly those in Xinjiang’s rural southern regions.

Chinese authorities have put particular blame for extremist violence within the country on Uighur separatists, a group that has often chafed under what many feel to be the imposition of Mandarin on their culture and historic homeland. The Chinese government has sought to connect the simmering insurgency among some Uighurs in Xinjiang with international terrorism and more recently with the Islamic State. After November attacks in Paris killed 130 and wounded hundreds, including one Chinese citizen, Beijing called on Western powers to recognize Xinjiang, and recent violent attacks in several cities throughout China, as an important front in the global war on terror. Beijing has denounced the failure of Western countries to do so as a “double standard” on terrorism.

Outside observers and Uighur advocacy groups maintain, however, that the Chinese government conflates dissidents and separatists with terrorists, and Chinese authorities have not publicly released evidence establishing a direct connection between high-profile domestic attacks within China and outside terrorist organizations.

THE Smoking Gun Email on Benghazi

Posted on December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 by Denise Simon

Some things speak for themselves, this is one of them and timing is everything. It is now a proven fact, the natural order of business by Barack Obama, his inner circle and the same with Hillary Clinton is to lie and obstruct investigations and justice. Now, the consequence? That is up to us…..we have demands to make here in retribution for death and dishonesty. What say you?

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JudicialWatch-obtained email: DoD had forces ready on 9/11/12 “assuming principals agree.” Guess they didn’t.

New Benghazi Email Shows DOD Offered State Department “Forces that Could Move to Benghazi” Immediately – Specifics Blacked Out in New Document

“They are spinning up as we speak.” U.S. Department of Defense Chief of Staff Jeremy Bash Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 7:19 PM

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released a new Benghazi email from then-Department of Defense Chief of Staff Jeremy Bash to State Department leadership immediately offering “forces that could move to Benghazi” during the terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. In an email sent to top Department of State officials, at 7:19 p.m. ET, only hours after the attack had begun, Bash says, “we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak.” The Obama administration redacted the details of the military forces available, oddly citing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption that allows the withholding of “deliberative process” information.

Bash’s email seems to directly contradict testimony given by then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2013. Defending the Obama administration’s lack of military response to the nearly six-hour-long attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Panetta claimed that “time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response.”

The first assault occurred at the main compound at about 9:40 pm local time – 3:40 p.m. ET in Washington, DC. The second attack on a CIA annex 1.2 miles away began three hours later, at about 12 am local time the following morning – 6 p.m. ET.

The newly released email reads:

From: Bash, Jeremy CIV SD [REDACTED]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 7:19 PM
To: Sullivan, Jacob J; Sherman, Wendy R; Nides, Thomas R
Cc: Miller, James HON OSD POLICY; Wienefeld, James A ADM JSC VCJCS; Kelly, John LtGen SD; martin, dempsey [REDACTED]
Subject: Libya

State colleagues:

I just tried you on the phone but you were all in with S [apparent reference to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton].

After consulting with General Dempsey, General Ham and the Joint Staff, we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak. They include a [REDACTED].

Assuming Principals agree to deploy these elements, we will ask State to procure the approval from host nation. Please advise how you wish to convey that approval to us [REDACTED].

Jeremy

Jacob Sullivan was Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the time of the terrorist attack at Benghazi. Wendy Sherman was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. Department of State. Thomas Nides was the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

The timing of the Bash email is particularly significant based upon testimony given to members of Congress by Gregory Hicks, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. embassy in Tripoli at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attack. According to Hicks’ 2013 testimony, a show of force by the U.S. military during the siege could have prevented much of the carnage. Said Hicks, “if we had been able to scramble a fighter or aircraft or two over Benghazi as quickly as possible after the attack commenced, I believe there would not have been a mortar attack on the annex in the morning because I believe the Libyans would have split. They would have been scared to death that we would have gotten a laser on them and killed them.”

Ultimately, Special Operations forces on their own initiative traveled from Tripoli to Benghazi to provide support during the attack. Other military assets were only used to recover the dead and wounded, and to evacuate U.S. personnel from Libya. In fact, other documents released in October by Judicial Watch show that only one U.S. plane was available to evacuate Americans from Benghazi to Tripoli and raise questions about whether a delay of military support led to additional deaths in Benghazi.

The new email came as a result of a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on September 4, 2014 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01511)), seeking:

Records related to notes, updates, or reports created in response to the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. This request includes, but is not limited to, notes taken by then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or employees of the Office of the Secretary of State during the attack and its immediate aftermath.

“The Obama administration and Clinton officials hid this compelling Benghazi email for years,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The email makes readily apparent that the military was prepared to launch immediate assistance that could have made a difference, at least at the CIA Annex. The fact that the Obama Administration withheld this email for so long only worsens the scandal of Benghazi.”

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