Demand the Pen and Phone for the Alien Enemies Act

 

   

8 Terror Attacks in Almost 8 Years: America Has Averaged One Terror Attack a Year Under Obama’s Watch

NYPost: America has now averaged one serious Islamic terrorist attack a year on President Obama’s watch, yet he still insists the threat from radical Islam is overblown and that he’s successfully protecting the nation.

If only hubris could be weaponized!

In the wake of Omar Mateen’s Orlando massacre, Obama whined about growing criticism of his terror-fighting strategy. But boy, does he deserve it. His record on terrorism is terrible, and Hillary Clinton should have a tough time defending it.

Here we are in the eighth year of his presidency, and the nation has now suffered eight significant attacks by Islamist terrorists on US soil or diplomatic property — an average of one attack a year since Obama’s been in office, with each new attack seemingly worse than the last.

And there’s six long months left to go.

Obama said Orlando “marks the most deadly shooting in American history.” Actually, it was the second-worst act of Islamic terrorism in American history, replacing in six short months the San Bernardino massacre as the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11.

Here are the previous seven:

December 2015: Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married Pakistani couple, stormed a San Bernardino County government building with combat gear and rifles and opened fire on about 80 employees enjoying an office Christmas party. They killed 14 after pledging loyalty to ISIS. A third Muslim was charged with helping buy weapons.

July 2015:
Mohammad Abdulazeez opened fire on a military recruiting center and US Navy Reserve center in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he shot to death four Marines and a sailor. Obama refused to call it terrorism.

May 2015: ISIS-directed Muslims Nadir Soofi and Elton Simpson opened fire on the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, shooting a security guard before police took them down.

April 2013:
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Muslim brothers from Chechnya, exploded a pair of pressure-cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding more than 260. At least 17 people lost limbs from the shrapnel.

September 2012: Terrorists with al Qaeda in the Maghreb attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing the US ambassador, a US Foreign Service officer and two CIA contractors. Obama and then-Secretary of State Clinton misled the American people, blaming the attack on an anti-Muslim video.

November 2009: Army Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13. Obama ruled it “workplace violence,” even though Hasan was in contact with an al Qaeda leader before the strikes and praised Allah as he mowed down troops.

June 2009:
Al Qaeda-trained Abdulhakim Muhammad opened fire on an Army recruiting office in Little Rock, Ark., killing Pvt. William Long and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula.

So there you have it — an average of one serious terror strike against the United States every year on Obama’s watch. And we’re not even counting the underwear bomber, Times Square bomber, Fed Ex bombs and other near-misses.

History will not be kind to this president’s record.

When he came into office, Obama vowed to defeat terrorism using “all elements of our power”: “My single most important responsibility as president is to keep the American people safe. It’s the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It’s the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.”

But it soon became clear he wasn’t serious.

In June 2009, Obama traveled to Cairo to apologize to Muslims the world over for America’s war on terror. Then he canceled the war and released as many terrorists as he could from Gitmo, while ordering the FBI and Homeland Security to delete “jihad” and other Islamic references from their counterterrorism manuals and fire all trainers who linked terrorism to Islam, blinding investigators to the threat from homegrown jihadists like Mateen.

Obama also stopped a major investigation of terror-supporting Muslim Brotherhood front groups and radical mosques, while opening the floodgates to Muslim immigrants, importing more than 400,000 of them, many from terrorist hot spots Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Attack after attack, the president has ridiculously maintained that global warming is a bigger threat than global terrorism. Americans are fed up. Even before San Bernardino and Orlando, polls showed Obama was widely viewed as soft on Islamist terrorists. He has an absolutely awful record keeping us safe from terrorism.

And this is the security mantle Hillary is so proud to inherit? Good luck with that.

Paul Sperry is author of “Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington” and “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.”

***** Now for the human dimension to protect the homeland.

Obama has the authority to use his pen and phone on two options, declare a presidential proclamation or apply the law, The Alien Enemies Act. This can only be done during a time of war, such that the United States remains in a war since 2001. There is no question that the battlefields have remained the same while additional areas of hostilities have been added. The enemy is dynamic and has moved for at least a decade and the terror soldiers wear no flag patch of loyalty to a country but rather to a militant Islamic doctrine. Former President George W. Bush using all the legal and historical experts was correct in using the term ‘enemy combatant’.

As noted above, in the last 8 years, enemy combatants have brought the war, the hostilities and death to the homeland. This is the time for the sitting president to apply his authority which would provide more aggressive actions be taken by all law enforcement and investigative agencies in the United States asserting a higher level of protection. To not do so, is reckless, antithetical to his oath and to all the others that pledge the same oath. The United States is in a national security crisis and it must be declared. Consider, this is not just about the homeland, all foreign locations such as diplomatic posts or embassies are part of U.S. sovereign land where any location that is attack would also require presidential action.

The Alien Enemies Act is still on the books today, such that it is extraordinary that no one in Congress has in fact demanded it be applied. There are those that walk among us in this nation that are from and loyal to hostile nations.

Related reading:  Proclamation 2685–Removal of alien enemies

Related reading: Truman, Proclamation 2685

Related reading: Executive Order 9066

While this summary could be considered rhetorical, nonetheless it is real and this is our mission, our battle to win or lose.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States at any time during the continuance of this act, to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United Slates, within such time as shall be expressed in such order, which order shall be served on such alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his usual abode, and returned to the office of the Secretary of State, by the marshal or other person to whom the same shall be directed. And in case any alien, so ordered to depart, shall be found at large within the United States after the time limited in such order for his departure, and not having obtained a license from the President to reside therein, or having obtained such license shall not have conformed thereto, every such alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to become a citizen of the United States. Read the full Act here.

1.0 Million Green Cards to be Issues by DHS

1M Immigrants From Muslim Countries Admitted During Obama’s Presidency

The Obama Administration is on track to issue 1 million green cards to immigrants from countries where Muslims are in the majority, according to an analysis of Department of Homeland Security data released Friday.

According to the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, green cards were issued to 832,014 people from Muslim-majority countries in the first six fiscal years of the Obama administration, from fiscal years 2009-2014, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest report shows.

In addition, the numbers of green cards increased dramatically in the last two fiscal years of the report, for 2013 and 2014. The records show that 117,423 green cards were issued in fiscal year 2013, compared to 148,810 in fiscal year 2014, for an increase of nearly 27 percent.

The reports show that in the first six fiscal years President Barack has held office, the United States issued green cards to an average of 138,669 migrants from Muslim-majority countries every year, and if the trends continue, the United States will have issued green cards to at least 1.1 million migrants from such countries by the time Obama leaves office in January.  Read more here from NewsMax.

 

The vetting for migrants and refugees is performed by the UN High Commission for Refugees. The UNHCR operates in panic mode, simply rubber-stamping approval due to volume. So, let’s make a movie.

Stars ask you to stand #WithRefugees

More than 60 stars of film, TV and music have joined refugees, faith leaders and UNHCR to back a petition highlighting the plight of forcibly displaced people.

 

GENEVA, June 16 (UNHCR) – More than 60 stars from the worlds of film, TV and music joined refugees, faith leaders and UN Refugee Agency staff today to urge you to stand #WithRefugees and sign a petition on behalf of the world’s forcibly displaced.

The petition aims to gather public support for the growing number of families forced to flee conflict and persecution worldwide, who currently face heightened anti-refugee rhetoric coupled with greater restrictions to asylum.

It calls on governments to ensure every refugee child gets an education; that every refugee family has somewhere safe to live, and can work or learn skills to make a positive contribution to their community.

Despite the fact that the FBI and CIA director have said that Syrian refugees cannot be screened properly, Barack Obama has put the program to resettle Syrian refugees in the country on the fast track.

The AP reported that so far only about 1,000 Syrian families have been brought to the US but that was because the process took 18 to 24 months.  The US now has a speeded up “surge operation” in place.

“The 10,000 (figure) is a floor and not a ceiling, and it is possible to increase the number,” Kassem told reporters. High-risk groups are given priority to include unaccompanied minor, victims of torture and gender-based violence. The UNHCR insists that the US resettle 65,000 Syrian refugees. 

In part from FNC: The danger posed by people coming from terrorism-infested regions has been a hotly contested issue, as is the potentially outsized impact on the small American communities often called upon to receive them. What does not appear in doubt is the hefty price tag, which is projected to total some $644 million over those refugees’ first five years in the United States.

Unlike other classes of immigrants, refugees are immediately eligible for a full range of welfare benefits.

The figure comes from an analysis performed by the Center for Immigration Studies, which looked at processing and administrative costs of the federal agencies, money for assistance provided to refugees directly or through federally funded nonprofit organizations and consumption of government-assistance programs. Unlike other classes of immigrants, refugees are immediately eligible for a full range of welfare benefits.

Camarota, director of research for the Washington-based think tank, estimated costs of the federal welfare programs by examining five-year usage rates contained in a report by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The most recent figures, show usage rates for welfare programs by refugees from the Middle East that are even higher for most programs than when Camarota first wrote the report.

Refugees from the Middle East use those programs at rates that far exceed participation by refugees from any other region. In five of seven programs, the percentage of Middle Eastern refugees participating are higher than those of refugees from Africa, the region with the next-highest usage rates. In some cases, the rates are substantially higher. Nearly nine in 10 were on food stamps, for instance, compared with 80 percent of African refugees.

“The Middle East really stands out,” said Camarota, who speculated that the disparity might be due to deficiencies in eduction, English proficiency or job skills. “There’s something special about Middle Easterners in the cost of these programs.”

The Office of Refugee Resettlement Report, however, indicates that Middle Easterners arrived with better English skills and more education than those from other parts of the world.

If the latest participation figures hold up for the Syrians admitted between Oct. 1 last year and Sept. 30 this year, Camarota’s five-year cost projection — $64,370 per person and $257,481 per household — may be low-ball estimates.

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, said it would be more cost-effective for the United States to provide financial assistance to Jordan and Turkey, which are housing the bulk of refugees who fled war-torn Syria. Those refugees also would have an easier time returning home after the fighting ends.

“In terms of helping people, you get far more for your money helping people close to where they live,” he said. Read more details here.

 

 

Facts on TWO Lists, Watch List and Terror List

   

Most Wanted Terrorists

Select the images of suspected terrorists to display more information.

 

How Does the FBI Watch List Work? And Could It Have Prevented Orlando?

Wired:  OF ALL THE details investigators have uncovered about Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen, perhaps the most infuriating is the fact that he spent 10 months on a government watch list, yet had no trouble buying an assault rifle and a handgun.

Authorities placed Mateen on a watch list in May 2013 after coworkers at the Florida courthouse where he was a security guard told authorities he boasted of connections to al Qaeda and other terrorists organizations. He remained on the list for 10 months, and FBI Director James Comey told reporters this week that during that time the agency placed Mateen under surveillance and had confidential sources meet with him.

But the feds removed Mateen from the list in March 2014, after concluding that he had no significant links to terrorism beyond attending the same mosque as an American suicide bomber who died in Syria. “We don’t keep people under investigation indefinitely,” Comey said, adding that he doesn’t see anything that his agents should have done differently.

Comey didn’t identify the list Mateen was on, but an unnamed official told the Daily Beast that he was in two databases, the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database and the Terrorist Screening Database, more commonly called the terrorist watch list.

Here’s a look at what the lists are and how someone gets their name on one.

What is the Terrorist Watch List?
The Terrorist Screening Database was created in 2003 by order of a Homeland Security Presidential Directive. The database includes the names and aliases of anyone known to be, or reasonably suspected of being, involved in terrorism or assisting terrorists through financial aid or other ways. The federal Terrorist Screening Center maintains the database, and an array of government agencies nominate people to it through the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Some of the information in the database originates with the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, also called TIDE. That list contains classified data collected by intelligence agencies and militaries worldwide, but anything passed on to the terrorist watch list is first scrubbed of classified info. In 2013, TIDE had 1.1 million names in it.

The State Department checks all visa applicants against the watch list. The TSA’s No-Fly list and Selectee List, which identifies people who warrant additional screening and scrutiny at airports and border crossings, are also derived from the watch list. But it is most often used by law enforcement agencies at all levels to check the identity of anyone arrested, detained for questioning, or stopped for a traffic violation. The FBI calls it “one of the most effective counterterrorism tools for the US government.”

Entries in the database are coded according to threat level to provide law enforcement with instructions on what to do when they encounter a suspected terrorist who is on the list. According to a 2005 inspector general report (.pdf), of some 110,000 records in the database that the IG reviewed, 75 percent of them were given handling code 4, considered the lowest level, and 22 percent were given handling code 3. Only 318 records had handling codes 1 or 2. A description of what each level means is redacted in the publicly released version of the document, but a note indicates that people are usually given code 4 when they are either just an associate of a suspected terrorist and therefore may not pose a threat or if there is too little information known about the individual to categorize them at a higher level.

Appearing in the database doesn’t mean you’ll be arrested, denied a visa, or barred from entering the country. But it does mean your whereabouts and any other information gleaned from, say, a traffic stop, will be added to the file and scrutinized by authorities.

What’s the Criteria for Getting on the Watch List?
According to a 2013 watch list guideline produced by the Terrorist Screening Center and obtained by The Intercept, engaging in terrorism or having a direct connection to a terrorist organization is not necessary for inclusion on the list. Parents, spouses, siblings, children and “associates” of a suspected terrorist can appear on the list without any suspicion of terrorist involvement. “Irrefutable evidence” of terrorist activity and connections is also not necessary, the document states. Reasonable suspicion is sufficient, though this isn’t clearly defined.

“These lists are horribly imprecise,” a former federal prosecutor, who asked to remain anonymous, told WIRED. “They are based on rumor and innuendo, and it’s incredibly easy to get on the list and incredibly difficult to get off the list. There’s no due process for getting off the list.”

The guidelines also reveal that the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism can temporarily authorize placing entire “categories” of people on to the No-Fly and Selectee lists based on “credible intelligence” that indicates a certain category of individuals may be used to conduct an act of terrorism.

“Instead of a watch list limited to actual, known terrorists, the government has built a vast system based on the unproven and flawed premise that it can predict if a person will commit a terrorist act in the future,” Hina Shamsi, head of the ACLU’s National Security Project, told The Intercept. “On that dangerous theory, the government is secretly blacklisting people as suspected terrorists and giving them the impossible task of proving themselves innocent of a threat they haven’t carried out.”

What Is the No-Fly List?
This narrower list, derived from the terrorist watch list, includes people who haven’t done anything to warrant being arrested, yet the government deems too dangerous to allow onto commercial aircraft. Mateen reportedly did not appear on this list. The list included 2,500 individuals when Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff released the tally for the first time in 2008. Six years later, Christopher Piehota, director of the Terrorist Screening Center, told a House subcommittee it had 64,000 names on it. That sounds like a lot, but the list includes dead people and multiple versions of names.

The No-Fly list is also notorious for ensnaring the innocent whose names resemble those of suspected terrorists. Senator Ted Kennedy, for example, was repeatedly prevented from boarding planes because his name matched that of someone on the list.

What Kind of ‘Terrorist Activity’ Gets You on the Terrorist Watch List?
Obvious things like using or possessing weapons of mass destruction will land you on the terrorist watch list. So will committing violence at an international airport, or engaging in arson or other types of destruction of government property if it’s done to intimidate, coerce, or influence people or government policy. But computer hacking can also get you included if it damages a computer used for interstate or foreign commerce or ones that are used by a financial institution or the government, if the hack was intended to influence people or policy.

Just as there are those on the list who shouldn’t be, so too are there people who don’t make it onto the list who should. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the so-called “underwear bomber” who attempted to detonate explosives aboard a flight from Europe in 2009, wasn’t on the terrorist or No-Fly lists, even though his father alerted the US embassy in Nigeria to his radicalization. He did appear in the TIDE database, but because that information is classified, it didn’t make it to the No-Fly list or the Amsterdam airport where he boarded his flight.

A 2007 inspector general’s audit of the terrorist watch list found that in 15 percent of terrorism cases the inspector’s office reviewed, the FBI failed to add suspects in the cases to the list.

Can Someone on the List Buy a Gun from a Federally Licensed Seller?
Appearing on the terrorist watch list wouldn’t necessarily prevent someone from purchasing a gun; it simply means law enforcement is alerted if you apply to purchase a weapon. So even if he’d been included on the list at the time he bought his weapons, Mateen would still have had no trouble purchasing his Sig Sauer MCX rifle and Glock 17 handgun.

There are ten criteria, however, that do prevent people, whether they’re on the terrorist watch list or not, from buying firearms from a licensed seller. They include a felony conviction, being an undocumented immigrant and being deemed mentally unstable by a court.

Government Accountability Office data recently released to California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein indicate that 2,477 people on the watch list attempted to buy a firearm between February 2004 (when authorities started checking gun sale purchases against the list) and the end of 2015. Of those, 2,265 of the transactions were allowed.

Feinstein proposed legislation last year to prevent known or suspected terrorists on the watch list from obtaining a gun license or buying a weapon from a licensed seller. The Senate rejected the proposal one day after the San Bernadino attack, but Feinstein said she hopes the Orlando massacre will give the bill new life. This week, Senate Democrats filibustered until Republicans agreed to consider such legislation.

But barring anyone on the list from buying a gun can create a different problem. “If you prevent people on the list from buying a weapon, then an attempt to buy the weapon can alert the person that they’re on the list,” the former prosecutor told WIRED. “So you’re aiding the terrorist [with that information].”

 

How Many People Are on the Terrorist Watch List?
The exact number is unclear because the list includes many aliases and variations of names, and officials often confuse the number of names that are on the list and the number of unique individuals that are on it. In 2011, for example, more than 1 million names appeared on the list, but just 400,000 of these represented unique individuals. In 2014, the Terrorist Screening Center’s Piehota told lawmakers the list included 800,000 names.

About 99 percent of names nominated to the list each year are accepted, and the number of nominations grows annually. In 2009, authorities nominated 227,932 known or suspected terrorists. In 2013, the number reached nearly 469,000.

Most of the people on the watch list are not US citizens; placing a citizen or permanent US resident on the list is supposed to require a higher standard, such information “from sources of known reliability or where there exists additional corroboration or context supporting reasonable suspicion,” according to the guidelines The Intercept obtained.

How Do You Get Off the Terrorist Watch List or No-Fly List?
This remains a source of great controversy. People on these lists rarely know how or why they landed there, and the process of removal can be convoluted. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security created a redress program through which people can challenge their inclusion on the No-Fly list. It works well enough for anyone mistakenly added to the list, but provides little help to those whom the government says are on the list for legitimate reasons but won’t disclose the reasons.

The FBI will remove people from the terrorist watch list after closing an investigation that failed to uncover terrorist activity or connections. This is exactly what happened to Mateen, which has angered some officials. “The only way you should get off the list is if they no longer believe you’re a threat,” Senator Lindsey Graham said during a Capitol Hill briefing after the Orlando shooting. “It should have nothing to do with not being able to prove a crime.”

But the FBI was simply following procedure when it dropped Mateen from the watch list, after being criticized in the past for not promptly removing people when cases get closed. An inspector general’s report in 2007 found that the FBI failed to remove names in a timely manner in 72 percent of the cases the Bureau closed for lack of evidence. A 2009 audit found that the situation had not improved, prompting lawmakers like Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy to criticize the Bureau.

 

The bigger question then, is not why was Mateen removed from the list, but why did the FBI close its investigation of him prematurely? “To me, there was enough here to keep it in some sort of a status,” New York Republican Representative Peter King said during the Capitol Hill briefing this week.

But with so many suspects on the watch list, authorities must be judicious in choosing which ones to pursue. “Our work is very challenging,” Comey said this week. “We are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack. But we’re also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay might someday become needles.”

There is no specific criteria guiding when to close a case related to the terrorist watch list. “It’s a judgment call,” says the former prosecutor. “It depends on the seriousness of the allegations and the result of the investigation. It’s [a matter of whether an] investigator is convinced, more than anything else, that ‘We better keep looking at this guy.’”

In the case of Mateen, investigators surveilled him, looked into his background, and performed a “dangle,” the former prosecutor says. That’s when a confidential informant meets with a suspect. “They feel the guy out to try to figure out if he’s real or if he’s just all talk,” he says. They may do this by asking if he’s interested in purchasing weapons or materials to make a bomb. “They may try the dangle operation two or three times, and if he shows no genuine interest in activity, if he doesn’t take the bait, then they say after a period of time, we’ve got no reason to believe this person is something other than an angry young man … and they close the investigation.”

Still, a case is never truly closed. Authorities can re-open it if something piques their interest—like say, a suspect buying weapons. That would have been sufficient to get Mateen back on the FBI’s radar. But because he wasn’t on the watch list, the FBI didn’t know what he was up to. And that’s what lawmakers are saying they want to fix.

 

 

 

Omar Terrorist Went to Saudi via NYU

The boom happened already, how long has it been going on? And what are they really teaching and how is this promoted? It is called Tablighi Jama’at.

 

Harvard? Uh huh:

The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program At Harvard University

The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program promotes the scholarly study of Islam and the Muslim world in a broadly interdisciplinary context.

Department of Middle Eastern Studies

Established in 1997, the program in Islamic Studies is undergirded by the University’s belief that Islamic religion, culture and history are important areas of inquiry, and that students should be able to pursue such inquiry as a part of their undergraduate education.  At present, the University of Texas at Austin is one of only a handful of four-year institutions in the U.S. that offer Islamic Studies as an independent major; it is the only such program in the state of Texas.

Islamic Studies in U.S. Universities

As in Europe, Islamic studies in the U.S. originated in the tradition of Orientalist scholarship and Christian theology, with its strong textual emphasis, but it has gradually expanded to overlap with Middle East area studies as well as a number of humanistic and social science disciplines, especially religious studies.1 Over the past several decades, and especially since 9/11, scholarly interest in Islamic studies has mushroomed. This interest is visible in the number of doctoral dissertations produced on Islam and Muslims over the past half-century. Read more from Charles Kurzman and Carl W. Ernst University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

****

Orlando Shooter Traveled to Saudi Arabia on Trip Organized By NYU Center

University spokesman says Omar Mateen and three others thought to be family members joined tour group on 2012 trip

Mateen and three others believed to be his family members joined a tour group that was organized by the Islamic Center at New York University, university spokesman John Beckman said.

International students continue to seek out the chance to enroll in Islamic universities and colleges in the US. Islamic colleges provide incredible education to international students who are looking to both advance their education while exploring deeper into their faith. Islamic universities seek to educate their students about the history of their religion as well as continue to build their faith and education for the future.

Islamic Education

The Islamic education main purpose is to educate Muslim students in the United States about the Quran as well as the deep rooted Muslim traditions, known as Sunnah. Islamic colleges are private institution based deep rooted aspects of the faith spread throughout the United States. All of these Islamic colleges share the same message and curriculum. Like most private religious colleges, Islamic universities in America instill an interdisciplinary curriculum with very challenging academic and extracurricular activities. Islamic schools also pride themselves in having incredible faculty and staff who are among the top Muslim educators and scholars in the world. Islamic universities in America follow the teachings of the Quran and their prophet Muhammad. Islamic teachings are the backbone of their universities, with values like knowledge being the upmost important. Islamic colleges seek to turn students into upstanding members of the Muslim community, preparing them for a life of leadership and devotion to their community and their religion. While not all students are expected to be practicing Muslims when they arrive at such a university, they all are expected to follow the basic teachings of the Quran as well as exploring the religion and its customs. Islamic universities seek to make the education affordable for potential students, while also being thoroughly available to all people. Though education is the main fixture for Islamic universities, improving the human experience is a very important function. Islamic colleges in America continue to educate international students and domestic students alike for decades.

Goals of Islamic Colleges and Universities in America

The goals of Islamic universities in America are much like those of any other religious university in the US. The first goal is to educate students on all aspects of the Islamic knowledge. In addition, these universities look to educate students in the proper methods of Islam in order to perform wholly as a Muslim each day. Students are also groomed to be great embers of their community and parish, while providing students with an unwavering sense of knowledge. Like most colleges, the curriculum is based on a four year plan with 120 credits. While each university differs, most Islamic universities push students to major in some sort of Islamic studies area.

Top Islamic Universities in America

There are several Islamic colleges and universities spread throughout the United States which teach a number of different students. While they contain some of the best academics of any college, finding these colleges are quite a bit more challenging. One Islamic college, the Islamic College of Minnesota educates many students. The college has both a graduate and undergraduate section, but only educate students in one major: Islamic Studies.

The Islamic American University is one of the most renowned Islamic colleges in the US. The IAU has several different campuses spread throughout the US in many different states. In addition, the university offers several different online programs for students. An important aspect for international students is to make sure that any classes they have taken transfer into the university, and as well be sure to check into the accreditation of any such college. Islamic education is exceptional in many facets. These universities regularly put out top Islamic leaders in the community and enroll top level international students.

International students will truly enjoy the experiences at these great universities. With a strong education, a diverse and intellectual student body as well as a curriculum based on multiple disciplines and the overall educational experience, international students can find true success in these top universities. Islamic universities are committed to bringing the best education to international students so that they can seek to educate the world with their values of equality and service.

51 Revolting at the State Dept over Assad/Syria

Dozens of US officials call for military action against Syria’s Assad

FNC: Dozens of U.S. officials have called on the Obama administration to order “targeted military strikes” against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, with the aim of pressuring Damascus to accept a binding cease-fire and engage in peace talks.

The Wall Street Journal reported that 51 State Department officials advising Syria policy signed the so-called “dissent channel cable”.

State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed the cable’s existence Thursday, but said he would not comment further until officials have reviewed its contents.

The cable expresses clear frustration with America’s inability to halt a civil war that has killed perhaps a half-million people and contributed to a worldwide refugee crisis, and goes to the heart of Obama’s reluctance to enter the fray.

“It’s embarrassing for the administration to have so many rank-and-file members break on Syria,” a former State Department official told the Journal.

Obama called for regime change early on in the conflict and threatened military strikes against Syrian forces after blaming President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons in 2013. But Obama only has authorized strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other U.S.-designated terror groups in Syria.

While Washington has provided military assistance to some anti-Assad rebels, it has favored diplomacy over armed intervention as a means of ushering Syria’s leader out of power. A series of partial cease-fires in recent months have only made the war slightly less deadly, and offered little hope of a peace settlement.

The U.S. does have military assets available in the region, including two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea and a number of Air Force jets based at Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey.

However, Assad has enjoyed the protection of his Russian allies in recent months, and any action against the Syrian regime would likely bring U.S. and Russian forces into direct conflict.

Moscow has deployed an advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system to Syria, as well as dozens of air-to-air interceptors and strike fighters such as the Su-35 and Su-24.

Navy Vice-Admiral James Foggo III, commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, told Fox News Thursday that Russia also has two Kilo-class submarines in the Black Sea armed with state-of-the art Kalibr cruise missiles. One kilo boat launched one of these cruise missiles into Syria from the Mediterranean Sea this past December.

Since September, Russia has deployed dozens of jets and helicopter gunships to Syria, which are now spread out among four bases. Russia also has dispatched bombers on missions from Engels and Mozdok, in southern Russia, which have launched cruise missiles and dozens of unguided bombs in the last year.

Republican and even some Democratic lawmakers have been urging Obama to take greater military action in Syria for years, from air strikes to the establishment of a no-fly zone over rebel-held areas. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton pushed some of these steps, too.

But Obama has resisted, fearful of leading America into another war in the Muslim world after finding it impossible to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan and keep forces out of Iraq. Military commanders have been similarly reticent, given the lack of a clear alternative to Assad that might unify Syria and advance U.S. national security interests.

Nevertheless, Obama has said Assad must relinquish control if there is to be peace. And Kerry, Clinton’s successor as the chief U.S. diplomat, has repeatedly said that to defeat ISIS, the U.S. must be able to assure Syria’s many other rebel groups that there will be a post-Assad future for their country.

The dissent document echoes these sentiments, calling the government’s barrel bomb attacks on civilians “the root cause of the instability that continues to grip Syria and the broader region.”

“Failure to stem Assad’s flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as (ISIS),” the document continued, “even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield.” More here including graphs.