Garland Jihadi’s Inspired by ISIS, Cats Included

I watched this matter unfold myself on social media, then I worked the connections and tracked their posts carefully. Elton Simpson, born in Illinois was radicalized and was on his way to the jihad battleground until the FBI executed a sting operation a little more than a month ago. Elton got scared and concocted the Garland operation which too, the FBI knew about and broadcasted an alert.

The FBI had a rock solid case in 2006 against Simpson, but a liberal judge did not believe their case or investigation. The FBI continues to investigate at jihadis in all 50 states as noted by the director James Comey.

The information about Elton Simpson of Phoenix surfaced hours before the contest in Garland, Texas, which the FBI had already identified as a potential target for violence, Comey said.

The director said the agency then sent an intelligence bulletin to the Garland Police Department, including a picture and other information about Simpson, “even though we didn’t have reason to believe that he was going to attack the event. In fact, we didn’t have reason to believe that he had left Phoenix,” Comey said.

Other parts of the FBI uncovered the following leading up to the Garland attack.

Texas Attackers Communicated With Islamic State (ISIS) Operatives On Twitter

One of the two gunmen involved in the Garland, Texas shooting on May 3, 2015, targeting the “Draw Muhammad” event, telegraphed his intentions on Twitter. In the last message that one of the alleged gunmen posted to his account, he suggests that he was operating in the name of the Islamic State (ISIS). Other Twitter messages posted by known Islamic State members indicate that he was in contact with ISIS operatives. While the ISIS link remains uncertain at this moment, ISIS supporters were quick to praise the attack and honor the perpetrators as martyrs for the cause of jihad.

This screenshot shows the Twitter profile of one of the alleged perpetrators, with the social media handle of “Mutawakil” (“one who places his faith in Allah”). In his last tweet, he claims that both attackers had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and uses the hashtag #texasattack just hours prior to the event itself. His Twitter account shows him to be an online supporter of ISIS whose account had been frequently shut down for spreading jihadi content. He was followed by over 1,000 accounts, and tweeted regularly. He uses a picture of the late Yemeni-American preacher and Al-Qaeda operative Anwar Al-Awlaki, killed in an American drone strike, as his profile.

His social media contacts include several known ISIS operatives. One possible direct contact, the Minnesotan Somali-American Mohamed Abdullahi Hussein, known as Mujahid Miski,[1] who is currently fighting with the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen in Somalia, tweeted immediately following the attack: “I’m gonna miss Mutawakil, he was truly a man of wisdom. I’m gonna miss his greeting every morning on Twitter.” Miski added “I’m gonna miss how he always used to talk speak of the Hoor Al Ayn [virgin of paradise promised to martyrs]. How he always said he wanted to meet her.” In a May 4 tweet, Miski wrote: “Our brother Mutawakil in 2008 wanted to Make #Hijrah to Somalia but a Murtad spied on him. Allah swt was preparing him for something better.”[2]

Mujahid Miski also claimed awareness of what the perpetrator had dreamed about prior to the attack. “Mutawakil saw himself in a dream walking in a road and a woman looking from the sky with a niqab. He was frightened the interpretation of his dream was that the #hoor Al-Ayn [virgins in paradise] were waiting for him eagerly and that he should hasten to meeting them too.” Such dreams are commonly told by jihadi fighters, and are often used to reinforce the operatives’ morale and resolve before they embark on suicide missions.

Also tweeting about Mutawakil and #hoor_al_ayn were Irish ISIS supporter “Abu Khalid” and another Western supporter, “Ibn Rushd AlLubnani.” Abu Khalid wrote: “brother @atawaakul was talking about #hoor_al_ayn for several days, he surely was planning for this. he was a revert [i.e. convert to Islam] (so far as I know).” Ibn Rushd AlLubnani wrote: “Just a few days ago @atawaakul was talking about Hoor al ayn on twitter and the sisters were getting upset with him. Little did they know…”

British ISIS fighter Junaid Hussain, who is known as Abu Hussain Al Britani, tweeted ominously hours before the attack and praised the two perpetrators after it occurred: “The knives have been sharpened; soon we will come to your streets with death and slaughter! #QaribanQariba [soon, soon] … Allahu Akbar! Two of our brothers just opened fire at the Prophet Muhammad art exhibition in Texas! #TexasAttack” He also advocated and threatened further attacks: “Kill Those That Insult The Prophet – #GarlandShooting … They Thought They Was Safe In Texas From The Soldiers of The Islamic State – #garlandshooting #TexasAttack … If there is no check on the freedom of your speech, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions #GarlandShooting #TexasAttack.”

Another American ISIS operative with the alias Abu Khalid Al-Amriki upon learning of the attack on Twitter, praised the attempt and threatened more to come. He tweeted: “This one should hit the front page! Dawlah [ISIS] is in America! Allahu akbar … How much do you love the Prophet? I’m sure the brothers earned their spot next to the messenger of Allah … The drawn Sword on the one that Insults the messenger of Allah. Let this be a wakeup call for all cartoonists. We are coming for you.” On March 29, Abu Khalid had claimed on Twitter that he was in contact with ISIS supporters in the USA and that one of them was prepared to carry out an operation.[3]

ISIS operative Abu Hamza Al-habashi tweeted after the attack: “Allahu Akbar The two Brothers attained shadah[martyrdom] in texas! The disbelievers will never understand our love for death. May Allah accept them.”

Online ISIS supporters immediately reacted to the Texas attack by praising the perpetrators and elevating them to the rank of martyrs in the cause of jihad. For example, ISIS supporter “Australi Witness,” who recently called for targeting Australian cartoonists,[4] tweeted: “May Allah reward the Garland mujahideen with a seat right next to the Prophet in Jannah [heaven].”

The pro-ISIS London-based sheikh Anjem Choudary also reacted to the event on Twitter, by justifying the attack as retribution for the insult to the prophet Muhammad: “Once again we see that people refuse to learn the lesson that insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a deadly pursuit … #garlandshooting the world should know that, for Muslims, the honor of the Messenger Muhammad is dearer to them than their own lives! … #garlandshooting we must learn the lessons from Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, Theo Van Gogh & Chalie Hebdo not to insult the Messenger Muhammad! … #garlandshooting Freedom of speech does not extend to insulting the Messenger Muhammad (saw) & hence provoking the anger of 1/4 of the world.”

“Muslimah 1,” a Dutch ISIS supporter, tweeted a photo of Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was keynote speaker at the Garland, Texas event, to “Al Ghareeb,” an American ISIS supporter, with the comment “Does Geert Wilders look like he is feeling ‘safe’ at the event??” Al Ghareeb had written: “They spend 10000 on security for this blasphemous event but then say they will not be scared. Lol. Your scared, the brothers made a point.”

Ring of Fire, PACOM

Since the Department of Defense announced the Jade Helm operation scheduled for this summer, there have been theories all over the internet with regard to what Jade Helm really is. Personally, none of us is doing our jobs unless we in fact question all actions by government, we are suspicious with proven and historical reasons. There are many take-a-ways in this post, fair warning, go slow. Nothing is ever simple.

Let us take a real hard look at what our Americans in uniform are in fact asked to do and where. To be honest, it is really extraordinary what our soldiers are asked to do, where they are to do it and why. USSOCOM, which is hosting Jade Helm is led by General Kelly. He delivered a posture statement in March. Reading what our soldiers do is eye-popping.

Nepal Earthquake Happened Right On Schedule, Scientists Say

A devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal on Saturday was part of a pattern of major temblors that have become so predictable that many seismologists had been expecting this one — and at least one team of researchers warned just weeks ago that a major quake was due in the exact location where this one struck.

Nepal sits right where the Indo-Australian Plate is pushing itself beneath the Eurasian Plate, a collision that gave rise to the Himalayan Mountains. As the plates push, pressure builds, eventually resulting in a quake to relieve that pressure.

And according to Nature, the Indo-Australian Plate is still pushing itself under the Eurasian Plate at a rate of nearly 2 inches per year. So what does our Defense Department have to do with the earthquake?

Operation Pacific Endeavor tests no only civil and infrastructure drills of our soldiers, but it also tests hardware, signals intelligence, satellite systems and a whole host of platforms and skills. This has been an operation for several years and in cooperation with other participating countries. Here are some videos that will help explain just how integrated these types of operations are with civilians, local civic leaders and infrastructure.

A full operation explanation with regard to natural disasters is detailed below.

Pacom Exercise Program Integrates Disaster Response Preparation

CAMP SMITH, Hawaii, Sept. 5, 2012 – As they reach out to long-time allies and new partners alike to increase regional engagement through U.S. Pacific Command’s exercise program, officials are finding that one of the biggest enticements is a common threat: Mother Nature.

Click photo for screen-resolution image
Navy personnel react to a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief scenario during the Rim of the Pacific 2012 exercise at Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, June 20, 2012. Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participated in the biennial exercise. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Anderson C. Bomjardim
  

(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

The Asia-Pacific region experiences more natural disasters than any other part of the globe. It sits squarely on the earthquake-prone “Ring of Fire” and also suffers frequent cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons, floods, and even volcanic eruptions.

“It’s not a matter of if they are going to have the next disaster. It is really when,” said Army Col. Phillip Mead, director of Pacom’s Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rattled Indonesia on Sept. 3 and the Philippines experienced two earthquakes within the past week: one yesterday in the southern Philippines at magnitude 5.6 and a 7.6-magnitude quake in the east on Aug. 31.

Pacom works with regional nations to promote disaster preparedness and build resilience; and to respond quickly and effectively should disaster strike.

One of the best ways to do that is through the exercise program, Army Col. David Parker, chief of the command’s exercise division, told American Forces Press Service.

As the Defense Department’s largest combatant command in terms of territory – an area covering 52 percent of the Earth’s surface that includes 3.6 billion people in 36 nations – Pacom also conducts the U.S. military’s largest exercise program.

Eighteen of its exercises are joint exercises approved by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a designation that assigns them a specific name and increased priority for resources and people.

“And that doesn’t include a lot of the engagements we have that also fall under the joint exercise program,” Parker said.

The focus of Pacom’s exercise program runs the gamut. “We have exercises that test and then form our contingency plans,” Parker said. “We have exercises that strictly test our joint task force capabilities. Then others focus on engagements with our allies and partners.”

As it implements DOD’s new strategic guidance that focuses heavily on the Asia-Pacific region, Pacom is working to promote the exercise program, expanding the scope of existing exercises and getting more nations to participate.

“The trend is toward more multilateral engagement,” Parker said. “We still have a lot of bilateral relationships, and we are still evolving. But we’re making a concerted effort to encourage more multilateral exercises in the region.”

Parker pointed to Cobra Gold, the largest multilateral exercise in the Asia-Pacific, as the gold standard. Cobra Gold 2012 included participants from 20 nations, and next year’s exercise is expected to include at least as many.

Meanwhile, Pacom is reaching out to new partners with a goal of initiating new exercises. Parker reported promising developments with Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mongolia and other regional partners.

As Pacom strives to exercise with more partners and promote more multilateral engagements, officials are finding disaster preparedness to be a universal common ground.

“If there is something common across the [area of responsibility], it is the awareness that there is going to be another natural disaster. So nations are focusing on that,” Mead said. “And that is why, when you develop a multilateral exercise under the humanitarian assistance disaster relief umbrella, it helps bring everyone to the table.”

As nations come to the table to address crisis response, the conversation goes into the broader issues Pacom’s exercise program addresses. “You are working on issues of interoperability. You are working on isues of ‘How do you get your communications systems to talk to each other?’ You are working on the issue of ‘How do we share information?’” Mead said.

“And all those issues that you work through during the exercise will be leveraged during a regional response to a natural disaster,” he said.

So more Pacom-sponsored exercises – from staff-level table-top exercises and command post exercises to larger-scale field training exercises involving troops on the ground as well as aircraft and ships – are focusing on disasters or including disaster scenarios.

During the recent Khaan Quest 12 exercise in earthquake-plagued Mongolia, for example, Army Brig. Gen. Mike Bridges, commander of the Alaska Army National Guard, shared Alaska’s lessons in responding to natural disasters with officials from Mongolia’s National Emergency Management Agency. Bridges encouraged his Mongolian counterparts to participate in the Vigilant Guard exercise in Alaska in 2014, which will include a simulated earthquake and tsunami with mass casualties.

Pacific Endeavor 2012 in Singapore integrated high-frequency military communications into the amateur or ham radio community that could provide a vital communications link in the event that a natural disaster took out or overran existing systems.

This year’s Rim of the Pacific exercise, which wrapped up earlier this month in Hawaii and its surrounding waters, included the first humanitarian assistance and disaster relief event in the exercise’s 31 iterations, with participants from 22 nations rehearsing crisis scenarios.

“If you talk to anyone who lives within the rim of the Pacific they will tell you it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when the next natural disaster or crisis may affect one of the countries,” said Navy Adm. Gerald R. Beaman, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet.

“[RIMPAC participants] are forming a team,” he said. “In the event of the next crisis or disaster, this team will have worked with each other and understand the processes that a coalition will have to go through in order to form and be able to accomplish whatever mission we may be asked to do.”

To add realism during exercises, Pacom’s Center of Excellence staff, which offers a unique capability within the Defense Department, often serves as the “white cell.” Its members inject disaster scenarios into the play, Mead said, forcing staffs to go through a deliberate decision-making process they would use in a real-life humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission.

As staffs respond, they’re encouraged to go by the book –specifically, the multinational standard operating procedures that 31 Asia-Pacific nations have agreed to — so they can provide a unified, coordinated response.

Parker called those SOPs, which the signatories review annually to ensure they are current, a big step toward in the right direction.

“That document is probably one of the biggest things we have to promote interoperability. It spells out the processes and procedures that these nations may use if we ever engage with each other in a humanitarian assistance disaster response situation or other operations other than war,” he said.

“So when we have a crisis situation, or nations have to come together and operate together, they have already established the processes they are going to use to tackle that crisis – whether it is [humanitarian assistance and disaster relief] or other small-scale events,” Parker said. “The procedures are already established, and that is going to jump-start the process.”

That, he said, will help reduce suffering and save lives.

As Pacom’s exercise program helps U.S. and partner nations prepare for future disasters, it also provides a forum for them to review lessons learned from past responses.

During Cobra Gold 12, for example, leaders from the participating nations shared expertise and lessons from Operation Tomadachi in Japan and flood relief conducted last year in Thailand.

“This is an ongoing learning process, but it’s a critical one,” Parker said. “As we work with many of our partners and friends in the region, humanitarian assistance and disaster response is the most likely scenario that we are going to execute.”