Category Archives: Department of Defense

Report: Christianity will be Extinct in Ten Years

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On the brink: Christianity facing Middle East purge within decade, says group

FNC: By  The dwindling Christian population of the Middle East could vanish completely within a decade unless the global community intervenes, say alarmed aid groups who say followers of the Bible are being killed, driven from their land or forced to renounce their faith at an unprecedented pace.

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The world has largely stood by as a dangerous tide of intolerance has washed over the region, according to a new study by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The study includes disturbing data about the plunging numbers of Christians in the part of the world that gave birth to the faith, and makes a dire prediction of what could happen.

“It’s an answer that depends on the response of the world,” Edward Clancy, director of outreach for the United Kingdom-based Aid to the Church in Need, told FoxNews.com. “What response is there going to be toward us if we act?”

 “Last Christmas was the first time that bells did not ring out in the city of Mosul in 2000 years. I think that speaks to the reality that hundreds of thousands of Christian families are living on the edge of extinction.”

– Elijah Brown, 21st Century Wilberforce

While Christians are under siege from Islamic State radicals in war-torn Syria and Iraq, the report notes that the religion is being targeted throughout the region. Christians who have managed to escape ISIS have fled to places like Europe and Lebanon, while members of the faith also are under increasing pressure in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.

The Christian population in Iraq has plummeted from 1.5 million in 2003 to current estimates of 275,000 and could be gone for good within five years, according to the report. The dwindling numbers are due to genocide, refugees fleeing to other countries, those who are internally displaced, and others hiding in plain sight and not allowing their faith to be publicly known. A dozen Christian families flee Iraq each day, according to 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, a Falls Church, Va., nonprofit dedicated to promoting religious freedom in the Middle East.

 

“Unless the global community gets involved, we will witness the loss of Christian witnesses in a land that is biblically significant,” Elijah Brown, executive vice president for 21st Century Wilberforce, told FoxNews.com.

He noted that Iraq’s second-largest city, once home to a thriving Christian community as old as the faith itself, has now been overrun by ISIS and purged of Christians.

“Last Christmas was the first time that bells did not ring out in the city of Mosul in 2,000 years,” Brown said. “I think that speaks to the reality that hundreds of thousands of Christian families are living on the edge of extinction.”

In Syria, where Aid to the Church in Need has sent $9 million in aid to help Christians driven from small villages north of Damascus, an estimated 15,000 Christians have left their villages to seek refuge in Homs, Zaidal and Fairouzeh in recent days, according to Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh. He told the charity Christians are terrified that ISIS, in a constant see-saw battle for territory with government forces, will capture their villages and kill all non-Muslims. They are particularly fearful for the key city of Sadad, where Christians lived peacefully with Muslims for centuries.

“We are afraid that ISIS — which God will hopefully prevent — will conquer the town. We would lose the center of Christianity in our diocese,” Archbishop Selwanos said, adding that two years ago, jihadists held the town briefly and killed at least 45 Christians, and destroyed churches and homes.

The report names Egypt as the one nation in the Middle East that has reversed the trend under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, following the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist agenda. El-Sisi, himself a Muslim, has vowed to protect Egypt’s Coptic Christians, and last Christmas attended church services with them in an unprecedented show of tolerance and solidarity.

“Such a development holds out a potential beacon of hope for Christians and others in the Middle East against a backdrop of growing Islamism,” the report stated.

While the situation is most dire in the Middle East, Christianity is under assault in Africa and Asia, too, according to the Aid to the Church in Need study. It cited persecution at the hands of Islamist terror groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and other extremists in Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and other parts of the continent. Asia’s Christians have been targeted by nationalist religious movements — Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist — in such countries as Pakistan, Hindu and Myanmar. Many of these groups increasingly view Christianity as a foreign, “colonial” import, and believe its practitioners are doing the bidding of the West, said Clancy.

Persecution has been allowed to spread in many of these countries because of the complacency of its citizens and inaction of the international community, said Brown.

“On average, in many of the Muslim majority countries, an average of 73 percent believe that they already have religious freedom,” he said, referring to a Pew research poll. “So we often see a passive public that is resistant to change.

“Unfortunately, there are also many who are hesitating to use the proper label for what is occurring in many of these countries, which is genocide.”

 

Both 21st Century Wilberforce and Aid for The Church in Need agree that preventing further genocide requires an international undertaking.

“It’s going to have to be a multi-tiered effort,” Clancy said. “We can definitely start with restrictions on the borders of some of these countries. There are definitely weapons flowing into the region. These channels need to be squeezed.

“We need to start putting on the pressure and if and when there is some sort of peace, we need to ensure that minority religious groups are represented in newly forming governments.”

Abu Osama al-Masri Behind the Russian Plane Bomb?

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Here is a link to several interviews with terrorism experts that offer clues of what is going on in Egypt and the Sinai with regard to symptoms of Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood having some collaboration which could give rise to the notion of new alliances and mission objectives against Egypt, the West and a new balance of power.

Frankly nothing can be ruled out, which is to say loyalty and relationships change often but the bottom line objective does not.

Revealed: Jihadi leader suspected of blowing up Russian jet is a former rag merchant who pledged allegiance to ISIS after Egypt’s crackdown on Islamists

  • Abu Osama al-Masri, 42, is leader of Islamic State affiliate Sinai Province
  • Studied at historic Egyptian Islamic centre that supports the government
  • He fled to Syria after President Morsi was toppled in military coup in 2013
  • Returned to Sinai and embraced ISIS’s goal of creating a Muslim caliphate

The Islamic State mastermind suspected of blowing up the Russian holiday jet is a former clothes importer who sought revenge for Egypt’s bloody crackdown on Islamists after the 2013 coup.

Secretive Egyptian cleric Abu Osama al-Masri, 42, has been named by Western intelligence chiefs as the prime suspect behind the attack on Metrojet Flight 9268 which killed 224 people.

He is leader of Sinai Province – formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – which swore allegiance to ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last year and has targeted Egyptian soldiers and police since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests two years ago.

A picture of one of the crashed Airbus A321’s doors show it bearing ‘pockmarks’ on the inside, which could be evidence of shrapnel from a bomb that has gone off inside the plane

The secretive 42-year-old former clothes importer studied at Al-Azhar, a 1,000-year old Egyptian centre for Islamic learning that supports the government, said the officials.

But like others who learned in a centre known for its moderation, he was radicalised and took up arms in Sinai before heading to Syria with about 20 followers when security forces clamped down on Islamists after Mursi’s departure, sources said.

There, he and the other fighters gained experience that would prove useful upon their eventual return to the Sinai, when they were approached by Islamic State and embraced its goal of creating a caliphate across the Muslim world.

It seems they were mesmerised by Islamic State’s mysterious Iraqi leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said the officials.

Islamic State sent arms and cash by boat from Iraq to neighbouring Libya, where militants have thrived in the chaos that followed the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, said another intelligence official.

A porous border then enabled Baghdadi’s supporters to travel to Sinai, on the other side of Egypt, to deliver the goods to Islamist militant comrades, the officials added.

‘Other militants taught them how to evade capture and they learned how to shoot accurately and assemble bombs,’ said one of the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘They became experts.’

Dangerous: A militant with Ansar Bayt al-Maqdisi, later renamed Wilayat Sinai shoots down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai in January 2014

If solid evidence emerges it attacked the aircraft, that would instantly propel the group and Masri to the top of the jihadi ladder, with one of the deadliest attacks since Al Qaeda flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

If a bomb knocked Airbus A321 out of the sky, that would challenge Egypt’s assertions that it had brought under control militants who have carried out high-profile attacks on senior government officials and Western targets.

Security experts and investigators have said the plane is unlikely to have been struck from the outside and Sinai militants are not believed to have any missiles capable of striking a jet at 30,000 feet.

Sinai Province is partly the product of Egypt’s efforts to eliminate militancy, which has threatened the most populous Arab country for decades, according to the intelligence sources.

The three officials, who closely follow the Sinai-based insurgency, say many of its fighters fled to Syria after Mursi was removed and then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unleashed security forces on Islamists, both moderate and radical.

Will McCants, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, said that not a lot is known about the working relationship between the Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate and the movement’s central leadership.

But the Egyptian group – like other affiliates – appears to enjoy considerable autonomy.

The state security crackdown launched against the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists has gained the Islamic State’s Sinai branch significant local support, allowing its fighters to hide and operate among ordinary people, he said.

Egypt security forces have been fighting militants for years in concerted counter-terror efforts. They face frequent bombings of police stations and attacks on military bases. Officials suspect the group have inside army informants given the accuracy and timings of attacks

During Mursi’s time, security officials allege, militants from Al Qaeda, including some who had travelled from as far away as Afghanistan, had a free hand in Sinai.

They included about 4,000 fighters who would form the core of Sinai Province, which was called Ansar Beyt al-Maqdis before declaring its support for Islamic State last year, said the officials.

The crackdown on Islamists by Sisi – now president – led to many militants being killed, jailed or fleeing for countries like Syria and Libya.

Sinai Province now consists of only hundreds of militants scattered into groups of 5-7 men, which have few links to reduce the chances of capture, said the officials.

‘They are very secretive,’ one of the intelligence officials said. ‘Each cell doesn’t know about other cells.’

Another said: ‘It’s a small number of militants but it takes just one person to carry out a suicide bombing.’

Last year, security officials said Masri and a few other leaders had been killed.

He later appeared in a video that purported to prove he is alive and reaffirmed his loyalty to Baghdadi.

Masri could be seen kneeling beside weapons he said were seized from 30 Egyptian soldiers killed in an attack.

A military armoured personnel carrier burned in the background.

A tribal leader in the Sinai told Reuters he had recently noticed pro-Islamic State militants driving around in new Toyota Land Cruisers. Some had Apple computers.

‘It seems they are getting more and more ambitious,’ he said.

Convoluted Conditions Siding with the Enemy, ISIS

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Turkey is a NATO country yet like the United States wants Basher al Assad gone from leadership in Syria, while Iran and Russia do not. No one can tell anymore who is on whose side and the frequency with which loyalty changes by the day.

No single explanation or conclusion can be applied when it comes to what the United States is doing and where it is doing it much less that of the Gulf States and the Western allies.

When it comes to medical aid and support for Islamic State fighters and as a whole, under the surface much more is going on especially with regard to Turkey.

ISIS has been recruiting people globally with certain experience and skill sets including bomb-makers, engineers, internet savvy public relations experts, teachers and doctors.

A Turkish politician says an American is one of the medical students in an ISIS-controlled territory in Syria. CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports.

Turkish President Erdogan’s Daughter Heads ‘Covert’ Medical Facility for Treating Injured Isis Fighters: Report

A recently published investigative report based on the account of a Turkish medical staff has claimed that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter is running a ‘covert’ hospital exclusively to treat wounded Islamic State (Isis) terrorists.

The nurse, who did not reveal her name fearing repercussions, told the Montreal-based Global Research that Sumeyye Erdogan was heading a secret military hospital, located in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa.

The 34-year old, who now lives in Istanbul, said that injured Isis fighters are brought to the hospital by the Turkish army.

“Almost every day several khaki Turkish military trucks were bringing scores of severely injured, shaggy [Isis] rebels to our secret hospital and we had to prepare the operating rooms and help doctors in the following procedures,” she said and added Sumeyye Erdogan would often visit the medical facility.

The former nurse, who lives with her two young children in a rather dilapidated apartment, said that she used to get a salary of $7,500, but that was before the authorities found out that she belonged to a Shia sect.

She said she was forced to leave because of the unfair treatment meted out to her by hospital officials.

“I was given a generous salary of $7,500, but they were unaware of my religion. The fact is that I adhere to the Alawi faith and since Erdogan took the helm of the country the system shows utter contempt for the Alawi minority,” the nurse added.

The Global Research further observed that this is not the first time that the London-educated daughter of the Turkish president Erdogan has been linked to Isis, the terror group.

Sumeyye, according to Global Research, has faced severe criticism on more than one occasion for announcing that she wanted to travel to Mosul to aide the local residents living under Isis rule.

These claims, however, could not be independently verified. However, for long there has been several allegations and conspiracy theories that have claimed that Turkey has been aiding Isis terrorists, a charge Turkey has denied.

Crackas With Attitude Hit FBI Director

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A few days ago, it was the Director of the CIA, John Brennan, now it is the Director of the FBI. The hacking group boasted their success on Twitter, but that account has since been terminated.

CIA email hackers breach FBI-run site, deputy director’s private email

The same hackers who breached the email account of CIA Director John Brennan last month are now believed to be behind another set of intrusions, including accessing a FBI-run law enforcement portal and a private email account of a top bureau official.

The hackers, who call themselves Crackas With Attitude, posted Friday personal data of law enforcement officials that appears to have been stolen from the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal, CNN reported.

The FBI-run site, also known as LEO.gov, connects local and federal law enforcement officials and allows local, state and federal agencies to share information, including details of ongoing investigations.

Three U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed the breach. Users of the portal received notices that their data may have been compromised.

In addition, a Twitter account that investigators believe is operated by the hackers posted screenshotsThursday that appear to have come from a private email account belonging to FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano and his wife.

The same Twitter account also posted data that appeared to come from the LEO.gov site, including names and contact information for law enforcement employees.

The three officials told CNN that the same hackers who accessed Mr. Brennan’s email account are believed to be behind the latest breaches.

An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the alleged breaches.

“We have no comment on specific claims of hacktivism, but those who engage in such activities are breaking the law,” FBI spokeswoman Carol Cratty told CNN. “The FBI takes these matters very seriously. We will work with our public and private sector partners to identify and hold accountable those who engage in illegal activities in cyberspace.”

New Gitmo West, Colorado Rockies

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Where is your voice on this? Where is the outrage?

There is law in place where Guantanamo detainees cannot be moved to the Continental United States, but as usual Barack Obama has a pen and will release his plan this week to close the detention center and move detainees to Colorado.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter just returned from a long trip to Asia and he made a stop today at the Reagan Library to deliver a speech in an all day forum on national defense. He never said a single word on the topic of closing Guantanamo Bay.

In part from WSJ: Mr. Obama’s inability to negotiate honestly with the legislature is a hallmark of his Presidency. More damaging is the precedent he is setting by making major policy changes with no more than a wave of his executive hand. Press reports note that Administration lawyers are working on legal justifications for the Gitmo order. Decision first, the law later.
Another day at the office for a progressive President intent on reducing the legislative branch to a nullity. For the record, the National Defense Authorization Act this year contains an explicit congressional ban on transferring detainees to the U.S. through 2016.

Pentagon to release Guantanamo detainee relocation plan, as Obama pressed ahead with closure

FNC:     The Pentagon is expected to release a plan next week on President Obama’s years-long effort to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center that suggests a Colorado prison dubbed “the Alcatraz of the Rockies” as one suitable site to relocate expected life-long detainees, Obama administration officials say.

Obama made a campaign promise in his 2008 White House bid to close the facility, arguing the move would be in the United States’ best financial, national security and foreign policy interests and in the name of justice — considering some of the detainees have been held for nearly nine years without trial or sentencing.

However, critics of the promise, including many Republicans, fear transferring detainees to the U.S. mainland as part of an overall closure plan poses too much of a homeland security risk. They also say the president has yet to submit a closure plan and have been critical of the administration recently allowing some known terrorists to return to the Middle East.

The Florence, Colo., prison is among seven U.S. facilities in Colorado, Kansas and South Carolina being considered.

The Pentagon plan represents a last-gasp effort by the administration to convince staunch opponents in Congress that dangerous detainees who can’t be transferred safely to other countries should be housed in a U.S.-based prison.

The United States opened the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to get suspected terrorists off the battlefield.

Congressional Republicans have been able to stop Obama from closing the facility by imposing financial and other restrictions.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said this week that the administration is trying “very hard” to transfer 53 more detainees, among the 112 remaining, before the end of the year.

The rest are either facing trial by military commission or the government has determined that they are too dangerous to release but are not facing charges.

Any decision to select a U.S. facility would require congressional approval — something U.S. lawmakers say is unlikely. However, Earnest also suggested that Obama has not ruled out the possibility of using an executive order to close the facility.

The Pentagon plan makes no recommendations on which of the seven sites is preferred and provides no rankings, according to administration officials.

A Pentagon assessment team reviewed the sites in recent months and detailed their advantages and disadvantages. They include locations, costs for renovations and construction, the ability to house troops and hold military commission hearings, and health care facilities.

Colorado’s Centennial Correctional Facility has advantages that could outweigh its disadvantages, according to officials. But no details were available and no conclusions have been reached. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Florence, Colo., facility already holds convicted terrorists, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Zacarias Moussaoui, one of the conspirators of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

To approve a transfer, Defense Secretary Ash Carter must conclude that the detainees will not return to terrorism or the battlefield upon release and that there is a host country willing to take them and guarantee they will secure them.

Arizona Sen. John McCain is among the congressional Republicans who have asked for an administration plan for the shutdown of Guantanamo. And the Pentagon’s assessment team visits over the last few months were part of the effort to provide options for the relocation of Guantanamo detainees.

“I’ve asked for six and a half years for this administration to come forward with a plan — a plan that we could implement in order to close Guantanamo. They have never come forward with one and it would have to be approved by Congress,” McCain said this week.

The facilities reviewed by the assessment team were the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks and Midwest Joint Regional Corrections Facility at Leavenworth, Kansas; the Consolidated Naval Brig, Charleston, South Carolina; the Federal Correctional Complex, which includes the medium, maximum and supermax facilities in Florence, Colorado; and the Colorado State Penitentiary II in Canon City, Colorado, also known as the Centennial Correctional Facility.

Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner made clear this week that he opposes any move to relocate detainees to his state.

“I will not sit idly by while the president uses political promises to imperil the people of Colorado by moving enemy combatants from Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, to my state of Colorado,” he said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

He also expressed concerns about the potential impact of such a move on the state’s judicial system and concerns about detainees potentially have to transported from the rural facility to downtown Denver to the federal courthouse for a hearing.

McCain and others have said that an executive order to shutter Guantanamo would face fierce opposition, including efforts to reverse the decision through funding mechanisms.

The prison at Guantanamo presents a particularly confrontational replay of that strategy. Obama would likely have to argue that the restrictions imposed by Congress are unconstitutional, though he has abided by them for years. The dispute could set off a late-term legal battle with Republicans in Congress over executive power, potentially in the height of a presidential campaign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.