Category Archives: Failed foreign policy

Russian Fighter Jets, Navigational Error? Nah..

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Associated Press: NATO chief: Russian jets in Turkish airspace no accident

“BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s secretary-general on Tuesday rejected Moscow’s claim that its military incursion into alliance airspace over Turkey wasn’t intentional or important, saying there were two separate incidents and “the violation lasted for a long time.”

Turkey’s military, meanwhile, said more of its jets patrolling the border with Syria were placed in a radar lock by Russian planes and surface-to-air missile systems.

In Syria, Russian warplanes reportedly continued pounding targets in the country, where the Kremlin has come to the aid of beleaguered ally President Bashar Al-Assad.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels that recent breaches of Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes were “very serious”— even dangerous.

“It doesn’t look like an accident, and we’ve seen two of them over the weekend,” he added.

The latest Russian airstrikes in Syria, in cooperation with Syrian jets, struck targets in rural areas of the northern Aleppo province, targeting the towns of al-Bab and Deir Hafer, Syrian state TV reported, quoting a military official.

Both towns are controlled by the Islamic State group. The official also said IS bases were targeted in Palmyra and surrounding areas in the central Homs province, destroying 20 vehicles, three arms depots and three rocket launchers.

Meanwhile, the Syrian air force was said to have targeted areas in rural Latakia controlled by militants, with the military official reporting the death of at least 12 fighters, including two Turks, one Saudi militant from al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, Nusra Front, and one Palestinian.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group with a wide network of activists on the ground, said in the last 24 hours, Russia carried out at least 34 airstrikes in Palmyra and vicinity, areas controlled by IS.

Airstrikes also were reported in the rural part of the city of Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital. The Observatory said at least 19 IS members were killed, including four in Raqqa in an airstrike that hit two vehicles and an arms depot. In Palmyra and its boroughs, the airstrikes were said to have killed 15 IS militants, struck 10 vehicles and an arms depot.

In a statement, NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Stoltenberg later confirmed that NATO generals would be contacting their Russian counterparts about the violation of Turkish airspace.

“It’s unacceptable to violate the airspace of another country,” Stoltenberg told reporters. He said NATO is expressly worried that such acts by the Russians could have unforeseen consequences.

“Incidents, accidents, may create dangerous situations,” Stoltenberg said. “And therefore it is also important to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

Turkey’s military said Tuesday that eight Turkish F-16 jet patrolling the Turkish-Syrian border were harassed by a MIG-29 plane as well as surface-to-air missile systems based in Syria in two separate incidents on Monday.

It was the second successive harassment of Turkish planes reported by Turkey. The MIG-29 locked radar on the planes for 4 minutes and 30 seconds, while the missile systems threatened the planes for 4 minutes and 15 seconds, the military said.

Turkey reported Monday that two Turkish jets were harassed by a MIG-29 on Sunday.

During an official visit to Belgium, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed NATO’s stance, and pointedly warned the Russians that if such actions continue, relations between the two neighboring countries on the Black Sea could go into a deep freeze.

“Any attack on Turkey is an attack on NATO,” Erdogan said. “If Russia loses a friend like Turkey with whom it has cooperated on many issues, it will lose a lot.”

A Turkish government official confirmed that Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov had been called to the ministry on Monday afternoon during which Turkish officials lodged a “strong protest” over the second infringement.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish government regulations.

On Monday, NATO ambassadors met in special session and condemned what they termed Russia’s “irresponsible behavior” in penetrating alliance airspace. The ambassadors also called on Russia to cease such practices.

On Thursday, NATO defense ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels, and the actions of the Russian military in Syria and any measures the U.S.-led alliance needs to take as a result will be among the leading topics.

Stoltenberg told reporters he was also concerned that in Syria the Russians are not mainly targeting the Islamic State extremist group, “but instead attacking the Syrian opposition and civilians.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry rejected claims that its airstrikes in Syria are targeting civilians or opposition forces.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a televised briefing on Tuesday that Western media is engaged in “information warfare,” distributing “pure propaganda” about alleged civilian deaths caused in Syria.

Russia says the airstrikes that began last week are targeting IS and al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliates, but at least some of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions. The Russian attacks have largely focused on the northwestern and central provinces — the gateways to the heartland of Assad’s power in the capital and on the Mediterranean coast.

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group said Russia’s airstrikes have damaged an archaeological in the northwestern village of Serjilla in Idlib province.

The Syrian National Coalition said the attacked area didn’t have any IS presence, adding that airstrikes occurred on Sunday and damaged an Assyrian site.

The group called on the U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO to condemn the Russian airstrike and preserve archaeological sites in Syria.”

Of course there is more. It is fascinating that Russia is using some cunning tactics above the skies in Syria. The U.S. has drones watching the action and the reports are dispatched back to the Pentagon and for sure the White House situation room.

Watch this interesting video of the Russian planes (with Red Star painted over) at work in Syria

Take a look at what happens inside Latakia airbase, where the Russian Air Force contingent is based.

The following exclusive video by RT brings you inside al-Assad International Airport, near Latakia, where Russian Air Force contingent, currently made of 36 combat planes, is based.

The footage is extremely interesting as it clearly shows the six Su-34 Fullback aircraft returning from the first combat sorties against Islamic State targets in Syria.

A closer look at the warplanes provides the confirmation that all the aircraft, including the Su-25s and the Su-34s, were removed the standard Russian Air Force markings and the typical Red Star: most probably the Russians don’t want their symbol to be shown off along with the wreckage of a plane in case one is shot down or crashes in Syria.

By the way, the insignia were overpainted on the Su-30SMs and the Su-24Ms as well, even if these are not clearly visible in this video; however there are screenshots in the social media that prove the same applies to Flankers and Fencers.

Su-34 tail

Su-25 Latakia

This is not the first time aircraft taking part in real operations are stripped off their national markings. UAE F-16s deployed to Jordan to take part in Operation Inherent Resolve didn’t wear the national flag while some U.S. drones deployed in sensitive areas perform their clandestine missions “unmarked.”

 

For 30 Years Mexico Failed Earthquake Victims

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After so many regimes in Mexico, how can this be? How can the United Nations allow such living conditions? How can 30 years of U.S. Secretaries of State allow such squalor? Consider how these families felt being left behind after the earthquakes in Haiti or the tsunami in Japan or the earthquake in Chili? What about the billions that flows into Mexico via the Merida Initiative or through USAID?

30 years after Mexico City quake, hundreds still live in temporary camps

On the 30th anniversary of the massive Mexico City earthquake, alarms rang out across the city to commemorate the disaster.

But Marcia Vasquez needed no reminder of the Sept. 19 anniversary.

Vasquez, now 52, still lives in the camp she was forced to move to after her apartment caved in three decades ago.

“When I got home and saw everything was destroyed,” she says, “I thought of the people who had been in the building. Children. I could see toys hanging from the ruins. It was horrible.”

All of Vasquez’s belongings were lost that day. Pregnant and single at the time, she couldn’t afford to place a deposit and pay rent on another apartment, so she moved into a makeshift camp. She says that when she approached the government for assistance, she was told that she didn’t qualify because she hadn’t been injured, and that she should be grateful to be alive.

The government says 5,000 people died as a result of the magnitude 8 quake that struck at 7:19 a.m. Citizen activist groups say the death toll was closer to 30,000. Most sources agree that about 30,000 people lost their homes that day, and thousands more buildings were seriously damaged and unfit to live in.

Those left without a roof over their heads were known as damnificados — victims — and many of them moved into camps, most of which shut down as inhabitants gradually found replacement housing.

But 30 years later, about 300 families still live in what were then described as temporary settlements in the capital.

For about 20 years Vasquez lived in a tent that she made of plastic sheeting and wooden poles on the edge of a stinking river. Then the city government moved her to her current home in a collection of sheet-metal shacks that house about 70 families.

She bore and brought up her three children in the camp, and now lives with her 11-year-old grandson in the 10-by-20-foot space that she says leaks when it rains and heats up like an oven when it is warm.

“This place is better than where I was,” she says, sitting on the double bed in the corner of her home. “In the other place, huge rats would come into the tent and fight at night. I had to build a hammock for my babies so they slept high up and wouldn’t get eaten.”

Now, there are fewer rats and they are much smaller. Vasquez has pushed cheap bright pink soap into the holes in her roof to prevent rain from coming in. She has a small standing stove for cooking, but there is no running water. The floor is concrete.

She says she earns a little money each month cleaning houses and mending clothes.

Across the way from Vasquez lives Adriana Garcia, 30. A shabby curtain hangs across her front door, and she reluctantly agrees to be interviewed inside. Wet, clean clothes hang drying on the outside wall of the shack.

Garcia’s mother, Rosalinda, was living in the central Condesa neighborhood when the earthquake struck. Garcia was born two months later, and her mother continued to reside in the same apartment block even though it had been heavily damaged. City authorities insisted that they move out after smaller quakes threatened to bring down the building. Rosalinda died in the camp six years ago.

Garcia and her brother Ernesto, 27, still live in the camp, waiting to be rehoused.

“I get depressed a lot,” says Garcia, who used to work as a shop supervisor but is currently unemployed.

“Why do I have to live like this, I tell myself. I want a better life, but we’ve been waiting [for a new home]. Otherwise we’d have made more of a plan and done something else. It’s the most affordable way for us to get a place.”

Not all the residents are victims of the earthquake. Some are relatives who have taken the place of family members who were left homeless by the temblor and either died or moved on.

A few weeks ago, Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera ordered the local housing institute, INVI, to close the five remaining camps in the city and to resettle the inhabitants.

INVI Director Raymundo Collins said in an interview that within the next few months all of the camps will be gone. People will be given a rent subsidy of about $175 a month and then moved into new heavily subsidized housing that they will pay off, interest-free, at a rate dependent on their income levels.

There are no figures on how many people left homeless by the quake have already been rehoused by INVI. Many went off the official radar by moving in with family or going to live in other states.

“We can’t say that we’ve made a complete recovery, but there have been very important advances,” said Collins, who hopes the closing of the camps will bring an end to the housing crisis precipitated by the earthquake.

Both Vasquez and Garcia have doubts about whether they will be helped as the government has promised once they leave the camp. They say that they’ve been promised assistance before but not received any. Despite the discomfort of the camp, no one pays rent or for water and electricity, and the prospect of facing those bills is daunting, even if the cost of the rent is government-subsidized.

“I’m scared because I don’t know how it will be,” Vasquez says.

But rather like the earthquake in 1985, change is coming to those in these camps. Whether they like it or not.

Bonello is a special correspondent.

Will Putin Prevail in Syria – Iraq Operations?

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Is it incompetence or willful that Russia is operating with impunity in the skies above Turkey and Syria? It is also likely Russia may include Iraq in air strike operations. So, who is going to stop Russia and with what cause exactly?

Allies Respond to Russia’s Violations of Turkish and NATO Airspace

The North Atlantic Council met today to hold consultations on the potential implications of the recent dangerous military actions of the Russian Federation in and around Syria.

Allies expressed their deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially the attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs, and Idlib which led to civilian casualties and did not target Da’esh. Allies call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians, to focus its efforts on fighting ISIL, and to promote a solution to the conflict through a political transition.

Russian military actions have reached a more dangerous level with the recent violations of Turkish airspace on 3 October and 4 October by Russian Air Force SU-30 and SU-24 aircraft in the Hatay region. The aircraft in question entered Turkish airspace despite Turkish authorities’ clear, timely and repeated warnings. In accordance with NATO practice, Turkish fighter aircraft responded to these incursions by closing to identify the intruder, after which the Russian planes departed Turkish airspace.

Allies strongly protest these violations of Turkish sovereign airspace, and condemn these incursions into and violations of NATO airspace. Allies also note the extreme danger of such irresponsible behaviour. They call on the Russian Federation to cease and desist, and immediately explain these violations.

Meanwhile, late last week due to the aggressions of Russia in the region, the Obama White House and National Security Council decided to dust off the solutions, the battle plans and strategies offered by the Pentagon but ignored. It is alleged that the White House may go forward with protections of a 90 mile border region of Syria and Iraq as well as supporting the Kurds, an ally the White House has refused to acknowledge.

As the Defense Department Secretary, Ash Carter and the White House are telegraphing that Russian operations in Syria is a losing proposition, when it comes to Putin seeking and gaining power, that model is working.

Another interesting twist to Russian operations in Syria is the terror factions on the ground.

Nusra Front Bounty ISIS Syria Russia

Al-Qaeda Affiliate Issues Bounty for Capture of Russian Soldiers in Syria

A prominent spiritual leader and financier of Al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, issued a bounty worth three million Syrian pounds ($15,900) for the capture of a Russian soldier in Syria on Thursday, a day after Russia carried out its first airstrikes against rebel groups in the country.

A poster shared on social media offers one million Syrian pounds ($5,300) paid to the fighter who captures a Russian soldier and two million ($10,600) paid to the fighter’s faction.

“To the heroic Mujahideen brothers, a prize of a million [Syrian pounds] to anyone who takes hostage a Russian soldier,” wrote Abu Hassan al-Kuwaiti, a spiritual leader of the Nusra Front, in a tweet that has been retweeted more than 150 times and shared widely among online jihadi sympathizers on Twitter.
Although Newsweek could not independently verify that the account was owned by al-Kuwaiti, Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an expert in the monitoring of online extremists and a fellow at the U.S.-based think tank The Middle East Forum, told Newsweek by email that the bounty had been publicized by al-Kuwaiti, describing him as an “important figure” in the terror group’s structure.

The two bounty posters appeared on social media for the capture of a Russian soldier after al-Kuwaiti’s announcement. One poster shows pictures of al-Kuwaiti, a Kuwaiti citizen whose real name is Ali bin Hamad al-Arjani, as well as Nusra Front’s top military commander, Maysar al-Jubouri, who is known by the nom de guerre Abu Maria al-Qahtani. A third man, who has not been identified, appears in the picture.

According to Laith Alkhouri, co-founder and Middle East and North Africa director of research and analysis at U.S.-based Internet monitoring group Flashpoint Intel, al-Kuwaiti is believed to act as both a spiritual figure and a financier to the Nusra Front. Alkhouri, who tracks online extremists, also confirmed that al-Kuwaiti posted the bounty from his official account, which is widely followed by other jihadi accounts vetted by Flashpoint. While the bounty is in the low thousands, Alkhouri says that it would provide vital funds for Nusra’s factions in rural areas of northern Syria.

“The motivation to capture a Russian soldier is not necessarily going to be the financial reward,” he says. “It’s not a massive amount of money, but that kind of money can really facilitate the movement and operations for a lot of soldiers and it actually is significant for Syrians themselves.”

Abu Hassan Al-Kuwaiti
While little is known about al-Kuwaiti, he has been quoted in the Kuwaiti media previously and regularly posts tweets about radical Islam and blog posts criticizing ISIS. In one post uploaded in July he complains that the rival group attempts to “sow strife in the ranks” of the Nusra Front.

The Nusra Front has been energized by Russia’s entry into the Syrian civil war and is likely using the offer of a bounty as a tool to attract jihadis from the former Soviet republics, says Michael Horowitz, security analyst at the Tel Aviv-based geopolitical risk consultancy The Levantine Group.

“The bounty is meant as a PR campaign to attract more jihadists,” he says. “For the Nusra Front, Russia’s intervention is a good opportunity to bolster its recruitment and to start unifying the mosaic of foreign fighters that are fighting the regime. The fact that Al-Qaeda, via its official branch in Syria, is once again fighting Russian forces, decades after the USSR was defeated in Afghanistan, is also a powerful image that could serve to unify jihadist groups in northern Syria. Nusra will most certainly try to use this image and any operation against Russian forcesincluding the kidnapping of a Russian soldierto gain momentum in the deadly competition with Islamic State [ISIS].”

Another prominent jihadi cleric linked to the Nusra Front also recalled Russia’s war in Afghanistan on Friday, warning that Syria will become a “graveyard for invaders,” the Associated Press reported.

“Oh Russian people, did you forget the Afghan quagmire? Do you want to enter a new quagmire? The people of the Levant will stand up to you,” Abdullah al-Muhaysini, a Saudi militant based in Syria, said in a video statement.

At least two radical Islamist groups from the former Soviet republics operating in northern Syria—one from Uzbekistan and one led by Chechens—officially joined Al-Qaeda in recent weeks, amid increasing signs of a Russian military build-up in Syria.

Al-Kuwaiti tweeted to his 3,000-plus followers on Friday, ordering them to follow Abu Jaber Dagestani, a prominent Russian-born member of the radical Caucasus Emirate group, which has previously received funding from Al-Qaeda. The pledges of allegiance and tweets highlight the close links between Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and the radical fighters from the Caucasus that Moscow considers to be a domestic security risk.

The Caucasus Emirate group is banned in Russia and considered a terrorist organization by the U.K., U.S. and U.N. A number of the group’s warlords declared their allegiance to ISIS in June, according to Russia’s federal security services (FSB). However, Dagestani tweeted at the time: “Do not believe everything you hear, not all jihadists of Caucasus swore allegiance to the Islamic State,” he wrote. “Those who declared allegiance have nothing to do with Sharia laws at all.”

 

USA Loses Identity due to Obama’s Policy

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Does Minneapolis, Minnesota look like it did 5 years ago? How about Lewiston, Maine or Cape Coral, Florida?

Forget Miami, Los Angeles and New York–America’s newest immigrant capitals are the country’s recent boom towns.

Top of the list: Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., with a 122% increase in its foreign-born population from 2000 to 2007, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of U.S. Census Bureau information. Also ranking high are the metro areas of Nashville, Tenn., (74% increase), Indianapolis (71%), Orlando, Fla., (64%) and Raleigh, N.C. (62%).

It makes sense. Like everyone else, immigrants are drawn to places with jobs. These towns offer a relatively low cost of living, compared with their big-city brethren and, in recent years, ample opportunities for work in various fields. Raleigh is a hub of North Carolina’s “Research Triangle,” and in 2007, about 15% of its working immigrant population worked in professional, scientific and administrative occupations, according to the Census Bureau. Orlando, a major tourist destination, is a hub for service-sector jobs.

From Breitbart:

The following chart and background have been provided to Breitbart News exclusively from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, which is chaired by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). The chart shows that for every 1 net American born to today’s population—births minus deaths—the federal government will add 7 more people to the country through future immigration.

1-7-immigration

The Senate Subcommittee told Breitbart News:

October 3rd marked the 50th anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act. According to Pew Research, in the five decades since the Act’s adoption, 59 million immigrants have entered the United States. Pew further estimates that, including the descendants of those new arrivals, immigration policy added 72 million people to the population of the United States. In 1970, fewer than 1 in 21 Americans were foreign-born; today, nearly 1 in 7 are foreign-born. The United States has taken in four times more worldwide immigrants than any other nation on Earth. Over the next five decades, Pew projects that new immigration, including the descendants of those new immigrants, will add 103 million to the current U.S. population. The net addition of 103 million new persons is exclusively the result of new immigration of persons not currently in the U.S. The 103 million figure does not include any immigrants currently in the U.S. or their future children. (As a side note: Pew data shows that new foreign-born arrivals will not lower today’s median U.S. age of 38; Pew estimates the median age of the foreign-born in 2065 will approach 53.)

Pew also found that, by more than a 3-1 margin, Americans wished to see immigration rates reduced – not raised. Unless such reductions are enacted, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population will soon eclipse the highest levels ever recorded in U.S. history and will keep climbing to new all-time records every decade of the 21st century. Pew projects that by 2065, more than 1 in 3 U.S. residents will either be foreign-born or have foreign-born parents, assuming no law is passed to reduce immigration rates. By contrast, in the 20th century, after the foreign-born population share peak reached in 1910, immigration was reduced for the next six consecutive decades.

Lower-income workers, including millions of prior immigrants, are among those most severely impacted by the vast inflow of new workers competing for the same jobs at lower wages. Across the economy, average hourly wages are lower today than in 1973, while the share of people not working is at nearly a four-decade high. Yet the Senate’s Gang of Eight bill would have tripled green card issuances over the next decade (issuing more new green cards than the entire population of Texas) and the industry-backed I-squared bill would triple admission of new H-1B foreign workers provided to technology corporations as low-wage substitutes for their existing workers.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the chairman of the subcommittee, responded to the startling data his committee uncovered by telling Breitbart News there should be immigration controls put in place immediately.

“We should not admit people in larger numbers than we can reasonably expect to vet, assimilate, and absorb into our schools, communities, and labor markets,” Sessions said. “It is not compassionate but uncaring to bring in so many people that there are not enough jobs for them or the people already here. Over the last four decades, immigration levels have quadrupled. The Census Bureau projects that we will add another 14 million immigrants over the next decade. It is not mainstream, but extreme, to continue surging immigration beyond all historical precedent. It is time for moderation to prevail, and for us to focus on improving the jobs, wages, and security of the 300 million people already living inside our borders.”

The subcommittee also pointed to polling data that proves Americans are united entirely behind what Sessions wants to do.

“Polling from Kellyanne Conway shows that, by nearly a 10-1 margin, Americans of all backgrounds are united in their belief that companies should raise wages and improve working conditions for people already living in the United States – instead of bringing in new labor from abroad,” the subcommittee noted.

Sen. Sessions is appearing on Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot Channel 125 with Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon on Sunday evening to discuss this and more right at 7 p.m.

*** The same goes for Europe:

Tip of the iceberg: No end in sight to migrant wave

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — One month after the body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach — and a week after the European Union agreed to secure its borders — the migrant crisis has largely fallen off the front pages and reporters are going home.

But the human tide keeps rolling northward and westward, and aid agencies are preparing for it to continue through the winter, when temperatures along the migrant trail will drop below freezing. They fear the crisis may get worse.

“One thing is clear, the movement is not going to die down,” said Babar Baloch, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative in the Balkans. “What we are seeing right now … it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

While over a half million people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, more than double the figure for all of 2014, that is only a fraction of the people who are on the move. Some 4 million have fled Syria after more than four years of civil war, and 8 million have been displaced inside the country. And it’s not just Syrians. It’s Iraqis and Iranians, Afghans and Eritreans.

The EU acknowledged the scale of the problem last week, even after it approved a plan to toughen border controls and provide at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to help Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan care for refugees living in their countries. The first new border measures won’t take effect until November, and a proposal for strengthening the EU border agency is due in December.

“Recently I visited refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan and I heard only one message — we are determined to get to Europe,” European Council President Donald Tusk said after the agreement was announced. “It is clear that the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come.”

While the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday reported a “noticeable drop” in migrants entering Greece by sea — as weather conditions deteriorated this week — agency spokesman Adrian Edwards said “any improvement in the weather is likely to bring another surge in arrivals.”

About 1,500 people arrived in Greece on Thursday, down from 5,000 a day in recent weeks, UNHCR said.

The EU was spurred to act after photos of Aylan lying face down on a Turkish beach were published around the world, triggering outrage over the suffering of migrants fleeing war and poverty. Aylan drowned, along with his mother and brother, when their boat capsized on the journey from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos.

Before the EU can stop the influx, it must convince the world that it has regained control of its borders after months of news coverage showing the virtually unimpeded flow of people traveling from Turkey to Greece, then north through the Balkans to Austria, Germany and Sweden.

The surge came as donors cut back on funding for groups supporting Syrian refugees. The World Food Program in August said funding shortfalls forced it to cut food aid by 50 percent for 1.5 million refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. EU members pledged to restore funding for the WFP as part of their agreement last week.

The aid is important. Most refugees are unable to build new lives in their Middle Eastern host countries because they are barred from working. And as they watch their resources vanish, even people who hadn’t planned to go to Europe are now considering it.

“There’s no hope at all, so moving on seems the only option,” Baloch said. “It could be an exodus in the making.”

Take, for example, Zafer, a Syrian refugee who spoke on condition that his last name not be used for fear of reprisals. Zafer, 43, fled his country three years ago for Istanbul and is now contemplating Europe, encouraged by a friend who made the illegal crossing to Greece and is now in Germany.

“I don’t have a future here, it is very hard. I had a budget but it is running out,” he told The Associated Press. “I am worried about my children’s education. Now they are young, but what will happen later when they are older? I am worried.”

He isn’t alone.

With a migrant path clearly established, complete with signposts on how to get to Europe, aid groups say it’s almost as if a message has gone out: This is your chance. Now or never.

“In normal conditions, you will think twice about crossing the Mediterranean with your children because it is dangerous,” said Gianluca Rocco, western Balkans coordinator for the International Organization for Migration. “But now you go with the flow. The flow is there and it is moving very quickly.”

Macedonia, the main corridor for people traveling north from Greece, is preparing for the flood to continue through the winter.

Authorities are installing floors and heating in tents at the Gevgelija refugee camp, and aid agencies will provide warm clothes and blankets for the migrants, said Aleksandra Kraus, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Macedonia.

The Macedonian parliament in September extended the state of emergency on the country’s borders until June 2016. The country of 2 million people is spending about 1 million euros a month on migrants.

“Conditions and capacities for migrants depend on the budget,” said Ivo Kotevski, a police spokesman. “We appeal for assistance.”

All over the region, groups are already struggling to keep pace with arrivals, especially with winter drawing close.

“It will get much colder still, and the provision of adequate shelter is not even close to matching the number of people crossing into Serbia every day,” Doctors Without Borders President Meinie Nicolai told The Associated Press.

It’s unclear whether the EU actions will stem the flow, particularly in the short term.

Social media savvy asylum seekers are now aware the new border measures may take effect in November; and that effectively gives potential migrants a deadline that could spur them to make a dash for Europe, making the events of recent weeks a mere prelude to an even larger flood of humanity.

The EU is moving in the right direction, but the new programs will take time to implement, and the conditions that have pushed the refugees toward Europe haven’t changed, said Maurizio Albahari, author of “Crimes of Peace: Mediterranean Migrations at the World’s Deadliest Border,” and a social anthropologist at the University of Notre Dame.

“People in Turkey and in Libya are on top of the news. This includes both smugglers and refugees,” he said by email. “The winter months and the promise/threat of additional border control/patrols at the EU’s external borders might motivate them to move earlier than they would.”

Justice Dept Helps Erase our Sovereignty via UN

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Just some of the text from the website:  A global network of local authorities united in building resilience to prevent violent extremism.  The Strong Cities Network aims to connect cities and other local authorities on an international basis, to enhance local level approaches to prevent violent extremism; including facilitating information sharing, mutual learning and creation of new and innovative local practices. Find out more about the Strong Cities Network strategic objectives below.

The ‘Strong Cities Network’ (SCN) has been created to achieve a focused and rapid exchange of ideas and methods to strengthen the safety, security and cohesion of communities and cities. The Strong Cities Network will connect cities and local authority practitioners through practical workshops, training seminars and sustained city partnerships.

Strong Cities Network member cities will also contribute to, and benefit from, an ‘Online Information Hub’ of municipal-level good practices and web-based training modules, as well as ‘City-to-City Exchanges’. Strong Cities Network member cities will be eligible for grants supporting new innovative pilot projects. Click here to learn more and then start asking some hard questions.

Why be concerned? The U.S, Attorney General, Loretta Lynch joined Vice President Joe Biden at the United Nations this week to introduce this global objective. There has been such chatter and fear about United Nations interference into American culture especially with regard to an outside power and authority where America’s sovereignty continues to fade away. Now we could have real cause for that concern.  Read on…none of this is in our best interest.

The United States has hundreds of thousands of people in powerful positions and advanced technology where profiling must be considered and to cure ‘violent extremism’ we go global for solutions? Heck global is part of the cause.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 28, 2015

Launch of Strong Cities Network to Strengthen Community Resilience Against Violent Extremism

Cities are vital partners in international efforts to build social cohesion and resilience to violent extremism.  Local communities and authorities are the most credible and persuasive voices to challenge violent extremism in all of its forms and manifestations in their local contexts.  While many cities and local authorities are developing innovative responses to address this challenge, no systematic efforts are in place to share experiences, pool resources and build a community of cities to inspire local action on a global scale.

“The Strong Cities Network will serve as a vital tool to strengthen capacity-building and improve collaboration,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch.  “As we continue to counter a range of domestic and global terror threats, this innovative platform will enable cities to learn from one another, to develop best practices and to build social cohesion and community resilience here at home and around the world.”

The Strong Cities Network (SCN)  – which launches September 29th at the United Nations – will empower municipal bodies to fill this gap while working with civil society and safeguarding the rights of local citizens and communities.

The SCN will strengthen strategic planning and practices to address violent extremism in all its forms by fostering collaboration among cities, municipalities and other sub-national authorities.

“To counter violent extremism we need determined action at all levels of governance,” said Governing Mayor Stian Berger Røsland of Oslo while commenting on their participation in the SCN.  “To succeed, we must coordinate our efforts and cooperate across borders.  The Strong Cities Network will enable cities across the globe pool our resources, knowledge and best practices together and thus leave us standing stronger in the fight against one of the greatest threats to modern society.”

The SCN will connect cities, city-level practitioners and the communities they represent through a series of workshops, trainings and sustained city partnerships.  Network participants will also contribute to and benefit from an online repository of municipal-level good practices and web-based training modules and will be eligible for grants supporting innovative, local initiatives and strategies that will contribute to building social cohesion and resilience to violent extremism.

The SCN will include an International Steering Committee of approximately 25 cities and other sub-national entities from different regions that will provide the SCN with its strategic direction.  The SCN will also convene an International Advisory Board, which includes representatives from relevant city-focused networks, to help ensure SCN builds upon their work.  It will be run by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a leading international “think-and-do” tank with a long-standing track record of working to prevent violent extremism:

“The SCN provides a unique new opportunity to apply our collective lessons in preventing violent extremism in support of local communities and authorities around the world”, said CEO Sasha Havlicek of ISD.  “We look forward to developing this international platform for joint innovation to impact this pressing challenge.”

“It is with great conviction that Montréal has agreed to join the Strong Cities Network founders,” said the Honorable Mayor Denis Coderre of Montreal.  “This global network is designed to build on community-based approaches to address violent extremism, promote openness and vigilance and expand upon local initiatives like Montréal’s Mayors’ International Observatory on Living Together.  I am delighted that through the Strong Cities Network, the City of Montréal will more actively share information and best practices with a global network of leaders on critical issues facing our communities.”

The Strong Cities Network will launch on Sept. 29, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT, following the Leaders’ Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism.  Welcoming remarks will be offered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, who will also introduce a Keynote address by U.S. Attorney General Lynch.  Following this event, the Strong Cities International Steering Committee, consisting of approximately 25 mayors and other leaders from cities and other sub-national entities from around the globe, will hold its inaugural meeting on Sept. 30, 2015, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT.