Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Iran Coalition Growing

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016 by Denise Simon

Any kind of peace accords and efforts to deal with Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Afghanistan due to broken relationships in the Middle East is not for the most part impossible until at least late 2017. Estimations of terror matrix trends rising is impossible to predict but it is for sure likely in the region.

While the U.S. State Department under John Kerry and the Obama White House are still working to support the Iranian nuclear deal, the real result is Iran’s growing influence and power in the region. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States have had enough and are taking aggressive action. Finally…

Saudi Arabia paid the larger part of the expenses to Pakistan to acquire nuclear weapons with the option at obtaining a minimum of 10. Further, the U.S. maintains the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet I Bahrain, which is a Shiite majority. The Fifth fleet is designed to operate and maintain the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Bahrain has been a worry for the U.S. Navy going back to at least 2011 over Shiite uprisings which is still a major headache after the recent and escalating conflicted relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

New Saudi-Iran crisis threatens wider escalation

Reuters: The last time Saudi Arabia broke off ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters in 1988, it took a swing in the regional power balance in the form of Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait to heal the rift.

It is hard to see how any lesser development could resolve the region’s most bitter rivalry, which has underpinned wars and political tussles across the Middle East as Riyadh and Tehran backed opposing sides.

Riyadh’s expulsion of Iran’s envoy after another storming of its Tehran embassy, this time in response to the Saudi execution of Shi’ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, raised the heat again, making the region’s underlying conflict even harder to resolve.

At the heart of the new crisis is Saudi Arabia’s growing willingness to confront Iran and its allies militarily since King Salman took power a year ago, say diplomats, choosing with his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to abandon years of backroom politics.

Last year, Riyadh began a war in Yemen to stop an Iran-allied militia seizing power in its southern neighbor and boosted support to Syrian rebels against Tehran’s ally President Bashar al-Assad. Its execution of Nimr, while mainly driven by domestic politics, was also part of that open confrontation with Iran, according to political analysts.

The interventions followed years of Riyadh complaining about what it regarded as unchecked Iranian aggression in the region. It has pointed to Iran’s support for Shi’ite militias and accused the country of smuggling arms to groups in Gulf countries – which Iran denies.

“We will not allow Iran to destabilize our region. We will not allow Iran to do harm to our citizens or those of our allies and so we will react,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters on Monday, signaling Riyadh would not back down.

The Saudi decisions in Syria and Yemen were also partly a response to Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which lifted sanctions on Tehran, theoretically giving it more money and political room to pursue its regional activities.

The new crisis has had the effect of hardening a wider confrontation between the loose-knit coalitions of allies each can call upon in the region; some of Riyadh’s allies also cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after the embassy attack, while Iran’s warned of repercussions.

That chain reaction may now complicate complex political talks over the formation of a government in Lebanon, efforts to bring Syria’s warring parties to talks, stalled negotiations to end Yemen’s civil war and Riyadh’s rapprochement with Baghdad.

SIMMERING MISTRUST

Until the 1960s and 70s, Saudi Arabia and Iran were uneasy allies regarded as the “twin pillars” of Washington’s strategy to curb Soviet influence in the Gulf. Sectarianism was muted.

But rich on its new oil wealth, Saudi Arabia began to propagate its rigid Salafi interpretation of Sunni Islam which regards Shi’ism as heretical, in mosques around the region. And, after its 1979 revolution, Iran adopted – and exported – the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih, which says ultimate temporal power among Shi’ites should reside with its own supreme leader.

That growing ideological divide set up a simmering mistrust that was soon matched by a geopolitical rivalry that has driven their fractious relations for the subsequent 37 years.

After Iran’s 1980-88 war with Iraq, when Saddam invaded, it developed a strategy of “forward defense”, seeking to use ties with Arab Shi’ites to build militias and political parties that could stop new enemies emerging and give it deterrent capability through proxy forces.

Riyadh regarded Tehran’s cultivation of Shi’ite groups with intense suspicion, fearing it would foment revolution in Saudi-allied states and destabilize the region.

It broke ties in 1988 when a diplomat died in the storming of its Tehran embassy following tensions over the death of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims in clashes with Saudi police during the haj. But when Saddam invaded Kuwait, Tehran and Riyadh set aside their hostility to make common cause against a shared enemy.

The toppling of Saddam in 2003 upturned the regional power balance, however, as Iran used its ties to the country’s large Shi’ite community to gain sway in Baghdad, pitting Riyadh and Tehran more openly against each other – a pattern repeated in Yemen and Syria after the “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s civil war had poured fuel on growing sectarian tensions as al Qaeda, which follows an extreme form of Salafism, sent suicide bombers against Shi’ite civilians, prompting murderous retaliation from Iran-linked militias.

FURTHER ESCALATION

Now there is some scope for further escalation, both in the various Middle East theaters where Iran and Saudi Arabia back opposing forces, and diplomatically as Riyadh taps Arab and Muslim channels to try to isolate Tehran, according to analysts.

“Since 1979 the two countries have fought numerous proxy conflicts throughout the Middle East and often exchange threats and insults. But they’ve stopped short of direct conflict and eventually agreed to a cold reconciliation,” said Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East program.

But he said that Iran might seek to stoke unrest among Saudi Arabia and Bahrain’s Shi’ite communities.

Renewed protests among Saudi and Bahraini Shi’ites since the execution of Nimr, along with the bombing of two Sunni mosques in Iraq, may be regarded by Riyadh as evidence of Iranian incitement.

Riyadh has itself pushed allies to cut ties with Iran and pressed Muslim bodies like the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to condemn the storming of the embassy. Theoretically, it could also ramp up support for Syrian rebel groups.

All-out conflict is something that even hawks in Saudi Arabia and Iran would likely try to avoid. However, the new escalation between the region’s main enemies shows how events can sometimes pre-empt strategic plans.

After the execution of Nimr, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard elite military force said a “harsh revenge” would strike Saudi’s ruling Al-Saud family in the near future.

“The Revolutionary Guard is part of the Iranian government and their threats should be taken seriously because they control militia in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen and I would not be surprised if they use it to act against the Saudis,” said Abdulaziz al-Sager, head of Jeddah-based Gulf Research Centre.

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Where do the rest of the countries stand?

AP- SAUDI ARABIA — The kingdom severed ties to Iran after attacks on two of its diplomatic posts following its execution of a Shiite cleric last weekend; it also later cancelled all flights between the two nations.

IRAN — Since the attack on the diplomatic posts, Iran says it has made arrests and has criticized the violent protesters. However on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani took a slightly harder line, saying Saudi Arabia’s move to sever ties with his country couldn’t “cover its crime” of executing Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

COUNTRIES BACKING SAUDI ARABIA:

BAHRAIN — The tiny, Shiite-majority island kingdom off the Saudi coast, which long has relied on Saudi Arabia for support of its Sunni rulers, was the first to cut ties with Iran. Bahraini officials repeatedly have accused Iran of training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

SUDAN — The African nation cut its diplomatic ties to Iran and gave Iranian diplomats two weeks to leave the country. Sudan once tilted toward Iran, but has been looking to Saudi Arabia for aid since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — The oil-rich country of seven emirates says it will reduce the number of diplomats in Iran, recall its ambassador and focus only on business relations. While backing Saudi Arabia, it may have chosen to reduce — rather than completely sever ties — because of a long trading history with Iran.

KUWAIT — The oil-rich country is recalling of its ambassador from Tehran, but it isn’t immediately clear how Kuwaiti-Iranian diplomatic ties will be affected. Tiny Kuwait is home to both Shiites and Sunnis living in peace and has the most free-wheeling political system among all Gulf nations.

JORDAN: Overwhelmingly Sunni Jordan is a close ally of Saudi Arabia in the region and a beneficiary of Gulf aid. Jordan’s government spokesman, Mohammed Momani, has condemned the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Iran.

THE MEDIATOR:

OMAN — The sultanate has long historical ties to Iran and served as the base for secret talks between Iranian and U.S. officials that jump-started the deal reached between Iran and world powers over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program.

THOSE BACKING IRAN:

LEBANESE HEZBOLLAH MOVEMENT — Hezbollah was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after Israel invaded Lebanon. The group is one the main Iran-backed factions in the region.

SYRIA’S EMBATTLED PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD — Iran has been one of the biggest supporters of Syria since the 1980s and has stood by Assad’s government in his country’s grinding civil war. Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest benefactors of those trying to overthrow him.

IRAQ’S SHIITE-LED GOVERNMENT IN BAGHDAD — Even as Iraq is embroiled in a major war against the militant Islamic State group, al-Nimr’s execution sparked outrage among the country’s majority Shiites who have taken to the streets in Baghdad and the south, calling for an end to ties with Saudi Arabia. The Shiite-led government has warmed Riyadh that such executions “would lead to nothing but more destruction.”

OTHER REGIONAL ACTORS:

ISRAEL — Israel considers Iran to be its greatest regional threat because of its nuclear program, its arsenal of long-range missiles, its support of anti-Israel militant groups and its repeated threats to destroy it. While Israel has no direct ties to Saudi Arabia either, the countries have come closer because of a shared concern over Iran’s growing influence.

THE PALESTINIANS — The Palestinian Authority issued a statement after the execution of al-Nimr saying that it stands alongside the Saudis in their fight against “terrorism.” The Saudis are the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority in the Arab world, providing them some $200 million annually. The PA, and the Fatah faction that leads it, has had a strained relationship with Iran because of its support of its rival, Hamas.

YEMEN — The Arab world’s poorest country is torn by a civil war pitting its internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who are supported by Iran.

THOSE URGING CAUTION:

THE UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to support peace efforts in Syria and Yemen and avoid escalating tensions.

EUROPEAN UNION: The 28-nation bloc, which opposes the death penalty, criticized Saudi Arabia’s mass executions and said al-Nimr’s case undermined freedom of expression and basic political rights in the kingdom. Since tensions flared between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the EU foreign policy chief has had phone contact with both sides, fearing an escalation would further destabilize the whole region.

THE UNITED STATES — The White House has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to not let their dispute derail efforts to end the Syrian civil war, while President Barack Obama’s administration also hopes to see the Iranian nuclear deal through.

UNITED KINGDOM — Britain and Iran reopened their respective embassies in 2015, four years after hard-line protesters stormed the British embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia is a key diplomatic and economic ally of Britain, though Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood said Britain told the kingdom about its “disappointment at the mass executions.”

TURKEY — Turkey has urged both Saudi Arabia and Iran to ease tensions, saying the Middle East region is “already like a powder keg” and cannot withstand a new crisis.

GERMANY — Berlin has called on Saudi Arabia and Iran to work to mend their diplomatic ties, while condemning both the mass executions in the kingdom and the storming of the Saudi missions in Iran.

RUSSIA — State news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed senior diplomat as saying Moscow is ready to act as a mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear whether Russian officials have made a formal offer to work with the two nations.

Saudi Foreign Lobby Hooked with Hillary/Podesta

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016 by Denise Simon

This is the time when foreign governments are ratcheting up their respective lobby operations in the United States, we are in a major election cycle. Not only will ad agencies hired by countries like Saudi Arabia but they will work to troll and re-tool attitudes and propaganda.

This began as noted at least last Fall and there will be a higher, more robust objective that will fund those in Washington DC and those hoping to have domestic influence in DC in 2016.

Hillary and her top campaign architect, John Podesta are the core designers and recipients of foreign influence.

Saudi Arabia Continues Hiring Spree of American Lobbyists, Public Relations Experts

Intercept: Saudi Arabia is in the market for a better reputation in Washington, D.C.

In September alone, foreign lobbying disclosure documents show the Saudi government signing deals with PR powerhouse Edelman and lobbying leviathan the Podesta Group, according to recent disclosures.

Edelman, the largest privately owned public relations agency in the world, is known for helping clients win favorable media coverage on mainstream outlets. The Podesta Group is a lobbying firm founded by Tony Podesta, a major fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

The new signings are the latest in a year-long hiring spree by the Persian Gulf state as it further builds up its already formidable political arsenal inside the Beltway. The Saudi Arabian Royal Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

In March, the Saudi Royal Embassy retained two influential lobbying firms, DLA Piper and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. DLA Piper, for instance, employs a small army of former government officials, including retired U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and George Mitchell. Also in March, the embassy retained two firms that specialize in analyzing big data for political clients, Targeted Victory and Zignal Labs.

Saudi Arabia’s political operation already includes former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who chairs one of the largest Republican Super PACs in the country, as well as the public relations firm MSLGROUP/Qorvis, and Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company that funds several influential American political groups, including the American Petroleum Institute. Aramco’s U.S. subsidiary, Saudi Refining, is a registered agent of the Saudi government. The government also finances a number of think tanks and universities, and has made contributions to prominent American nonprofits, including the Clinton Foundation.

The Podesta Group contract is with the Center for Studies and Media Affairs at the Saudi Royal Court. The contract, filed in the Justice Department’s foreign lobbying database, says that the firm will provide “public relations” work for the center.

“It is our company policy not to comment further on our work for clients beyond what is required by law and to direct reporters and other interested parties to our clients for any additional information,” said Missi Tessier, a spokesperson for the Podesta Group, when reached for more information about the relationship.

Edelman’s contract calls for the firm to “engage with opinion influencers, establish media engagement opportunities for [sic] principal, and assist in opinion editorial placement” on behalf of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.

The Saudi regime is currently facing yet another public relations crisis as the Kingdom moves to execute Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, the young nephew of a government critic.

The nation also faces international outcry over the widespread killing of civilians in Yemen. Since March, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that includes the U.S., U.K., Egypt and several Persian Gulf nations to support the Yemeni government in its war against the Houthi rebels. The Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly attacked schools, hospitals, and other civilian targets, including recent reports of a wedding party that was bombed, killing over 100 people.

Last week, I spoke to a number of lawmakers about Saudi human rights abuses, but found them extremely reluctant to criticize the Kingdom. Disclosures reveal that the lobbying firms that have worked for Saudi Arabia for years communicate frequently with senior members of Congress. Beyond entrenched military and economic ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States, the Kingdom appears to be working to maintain its political clout.

Gitmo: Soon to be at 90 Detainees, Then What?

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by Denise Simon

Control of the released detainees after transfer? Hardly.

Former Guantanamo detainee travels to Argentina, calls for asylum for remaining detainees

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A former Guantanamo detainee who was resettled in Uruguay is asking Argentina to grant asylum for detainees still at the U.S. detention facility.

Abu Wa’el Dhiab wore a Guantanamo-style orange jumpsuit as he told Barricada TV that he believes “the Argentine government could receive the prisoners at Guantanamo here in a humanitarian way.” Calls to the Foreign Ministry seeking comment were not returned.

From the Director of National Intelligence:

Section 307 (a) (2) An assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will engage in terrorism.

Based on trends identified during the past eleven years, we assess that some detainees currently at GTMO will seek to reengage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred. Transfers to countries with ongoing conflicts and internal instability as well as active recruitment by insurgent and terrorist organizations pose particular problems. While enforcement of transfer conditions may deter reengagement by many former detainees and delay reengagement by others, some detainees who are determined to reengage will do so regardless of any transfer conditions, albeit probably at a lower rate than if they were transferred without conditions.

Section 307 (a) (2) An assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will communicate with persons in terrorist organizations.

Former GTMO detainees routinely communicate with each other, families of other former detainees, and previous associates who are members of terrorist organizations. The reasons for communication span from the mundane (reminiscing about shared experiences) to the nefarious (planning terrorist operations). We assess that some GTMO detainees transferred in the future also will communicate with other former GTMO detainees and persons in terrorist organizations. We do not consider mere communication with individuals or organizations— including other former GTMO detainees—an indicator of reengagement. Rather, the motives, intentions, and purposes of each communication are taken into account when assessing whether the individual has reengaged.

Source: ‘Al Qaeda followers’ among 17 being transferred from Gitmo

FNC: The group of 17 detainees expected to be transferred out of Guantanamo Bay as early as this week includes “multiple bad guys” and “Al Qaeda followers,” a source who has reviewed the list told Fox News.

Little is known publicly about which prisoners are being prepared for transfer, but the Obama administration has notified Congress it plans to ship out 17 detainees – some of whom could be transferred within days.

While the identities of the men are closely held, the source who spoke with Fox News said it includes “multiple bad guys … not taxi drivers and cooks.”

This is a reference to the administration’s transfer of Ibrahim al Qosi to Sudan in 2012. Despite entering a “re-integration program,” the one-time cook for Usama bin Laden has now fled to Yemen, where he is among the leadership of Al Qaeda in Yemen. That transfer is now said to be a source of considerable heartburn for the Obama administration.

As for those on the docket for immediate transfer, the source told Fox News the administration will not identify the detainees until they are relocated in their new home countries — because knowing who they are in advance would create further roadblocks and increase the controversy.

Multiple countries have agreed to take the men, in small groups, and the source said some of the countries were so-called first timers — a reference to the fact those countries had not taken Guantanamo detainees in the past.

The move to clear out 17 detainees is seen as part of the administration’s long-term plan to ultimately shutter the detention camp.

The transfer of 17 prisoners would bring the number of detainees left down to 90 – the bulk of whom cannot be transferred to another country.

Many in Congress, though, fiercely oppose any plan to bring those detainees to the U.S.

President Obama in his year-end news conference justified the closure of the detention camp, claiming “Guantanamo continues to be one of the key magnets for jihadi recruitment.” But the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, which tracks jihadist propaganda, said that terrorist groups have moved on from using Guantanamo in their recruitment efforts.

“The topic of Guantanamo prisoners appeared rather frequently in Al-Qaeda’s propaganda in past years,” MEMRI’s Eliot Zweig said. “However, the topic has received little to no attention in the last year or two … Gitmo hasn’t received much attention in official ISIS releases.”

New Jihadi John Identified

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by Denise Simon

Is this former Anjem Choudary lackey the new Jihadi John? Speculation mounts that former bouncy castle salesman who skipped bail to join ISIS in Syria is killer who executed UK spy

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Propaganda video shows ISIS thugs shooting five men at point blank range
Executioner threatened Prime Minister, calling him a ‘slave to White House’
Young boy who appears to be around five said ‘we will kill them over there’
British fighter jets began airstrikes on ISIS locations in Syria a month ago
For more news on the latest ISIS video visit www.dailymail.co.uk/isis
If you recognise the boy or man, email [email protected] or call 0203 615 1926

Speculation was mounting today that the ISIS executioner dubbed the ‘new Jihadi John’ is a British fanatic who taunted police after skipping bail to flee to Syria.

British security agents are racing to identify the masked militant who spoke with a clear English accent in a sickening new execution video in which he is seen shooting an alleged British spy.

Claims have been circulating online that it could be Siddhartha Dhar, a British militant who went on the run with his pregnant wife and family while under investigation by Scotland Yard in 2014.

The father-of-four from Walthamstow was one of nine men detained on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and supporting radical cleric Anjem Choudary and the banned group al-Muhajiroun.

The former bouncy castle salesman later posted a picture of himself cradling his baby while brandishing an assault rifle to mock security services whose blunders allowed him to escape the UK.

Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah, is believed to have met, and possibly mentored, Michael Adebolajo, one of the murderers of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

Speculation was mounting that the ISIS executioner dubbed the ‘new Jihadi John’ (left) is British fanatic Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah (right) who taunted police after skipping bail to flee to Syria.

Dhar was released on bail after his arrest in September 2014 and ordered to hand in his passport.

But less than 24 hours after walking free, he took a coach from London to Paris and headed to the ISIS war zone with his young family.

Prior to posting the photo, Dhar taunted the police on Twitter for clumsily allowing him to slip through their fingers: ‘What a shoddy security system Britain must have to allow me to breeze through Europe to the Islamic State.’

He also boasted how he had fooled MI5: ‘My Lord (Allah) made a mockery of British intelligence and surveillance. Make hijrah (flight) Muslims. Place your trust in Allah.’

Proclaiming his love for ISIS and the importance of the fight against the West, Dhar wrote: ‘The Islamic State will punish the tyrants in the West. The army of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is coming. Rejoice O Muslims.’

Dhar, who has been courted by broadcast media and repeatedly given a platform on the BBC and Channel 4 to promote his radical views, had publicly stated that he wanted to live under the Islamic State in Syria.

A few weeks before his arrest, he told one interviewer that he was willing to renounce his British citizenship if it meant he was allowed to travel.

Dhar was also interviewed by CBS News’s 60 Minutes programme about radicalisation in the UK earlier this month, telling presenter Clarissa Ward that he was unable to love his mother because she was not a Muslim.

Titled ‘Campaigning for ISIS in the West’, the episode focused on Choudary’s band of London-based radicals.

Slipped from police grasp: Siddhartha Dhar (circled) disappeared only 24 hours after being released on bail. The follower of Anjem Choudary (centre) took a coach to Paris with his family before travelling on to Syria.

Taunting the police: Abu Rumaysah posted a picture of him cradling his baby and brandishing an assault rifle in the other to mock security services whose blunders allowed him to escape the UK

It is understood that Dhar is of Indian origin and was brought up a Hindu before converting to Islam.

He was a key member of al-Muhajiroun and offshoot groups such as the Shariah Project, masterminding ‘roadshows’ in London that aimed to recruit troubled youngsters to Islam.

In the ten-minute footage, the executioner threatens Prime Minister David Cameron and vows that ISIS will one day occupy Britain before shooting the alleged spies in the head.

The fanatic has been compared to feared British executioner Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who was killed in a drone strike in November after appearing in several beheading videos.

Intelligence analysts are expected to employ the same techniques used to successfully unmask and track down Emwazi, including voice analysis and possibly even vein-recognition technology that mapped the executioner’s hands. They will also be hunting for clues to the identity of a young English-speaking boy who also appears in the video.

Dressed in military fatigues and a black bandanna bearing the white mark of ISIS, the boy declares: ‘We will kill kuffar [non believers]’.

Experts fear the boy, thought to be just five, is a member of one of dozens of families who have left the UK for the blood-soaked warzone of Iraq and Syria.

A spokeswoman for Mr Cameron said the video was a propaganda tool that serves as a reminder of the barbarity of the group.

They said: ‘We are examining the content of the video and the prime minister is being kept updated on that

‘It serves as a reminder of the barbarity of Daesh (ISIS) and what the world faces with these terrorists.

‘It is also clearly a propaganda tool and should be treated as such.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the video and are examining its content.’

Speculation mounted today that the child could be the son of a notorious Jihadi bride from London, Grace ‘Khadijah’ Dare. This picture of a youngster posing with a toy gun in front of an ISIS flag in 2014 and thought to be Dare’s son, also bears a similarity to the child. It was tweeted by Londoner Umm Khattab, the teenaged widow of an ISIS fighter with the caption: ‘Next generation, Bi’ithnillah (God willing)’. ISIS also threatened David Cameron in the gruesome video in which it executes five suspected spies.

British war veterans said the video was a sign of desperation after ISIS suffered a number of setbacks in Iraq and Syria, notably the fall of the town of Ramadi.

Former Admiralty chief Lord West told The Sun: ‘Terror is part of their policy because they think it shakes and rattles the West.

‘But it’s a sign of desperation, not strength. We must do better at our own propaganda to make them look silly, not terrifying.’

Iraq war hero Colonel Tim Collins added: ‘Nobody is pretending RAF jets are going to do it all, but they are making room for the Iraqis to get the job done.

‘This isn’t going to happen overnight but it’s going to happen.’

It came as speculation mounted today that the child could be the son of a notorious Jihadi bride from London.

The child bears a striking similarity to the young son of Grace ‘Khadijah’ Dare, who grew up in Lewisham, south London, and converted to Islam as a teenager.

In 2014, Dare posted a shocking photograph to her Twitter account of her then four-year-old son Isa, meaning ‘Jesus’, smiling as he aims an AK-47 rifle.

She is married to a Swedish Islamic fighter called Abu Bakr, and is reported to be a convert who previously attended a mosque in South London.

Isa also has a younger brother, who would now be between two and three years old, who his mother has referred to as a ‘mini mujahid’, or holy warrior.

Images of Isa look remarkably similar to those of the young boy featured in the video, who could pass as six years old – the same age as Isa would be now.

The two children also appear to have a mole on their face in the same area and have similarly shaped eyes.

The terror group’s captives (pictured), dressed in orange jumpsuits, were filmed ‘confessing’ in Arabic to spying for British security service

Two years ago, Dare swapped her ‘comfortable life’ in Britain, where she was known for her dimples and her love of her mother’s home cooking, for the horror of Syria, where she has joined the terror group ISIS.

After appearing in an ISIS recruitment video calling on British Muslims to ‘stop being selfish’ and give up their families and studies to join the front line in the Middle East, Dare – a pseudonym – is said to be top of MI6’s list.

Young children have appeared in many ISIS propaganda videos before, including material which shows groups of youngsters being trained with guns.

In one infamous image, a child was pictured holding a severed head, while another photograph that circulated online showed a young child being encouraged to kick a severed head.

More than 30 UK children had been made the subject of family court orders over radicalisation fears, Scotland Yard said in August.

At that time, judges had considered cases involving 12 different families.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the country’s most senior terrorism officer, said in some instances the children were ‘almost babes in arms’, with ages ranging from two up to 16 or 17.

There have been a series of high-profile cases involving families taking their children to Syria, or making unsuccessful attempts to make the journey, in the past year.

In October, police released images of a family of seven from Bradford thought to have begun a journey to Syria or Iraq.

The evil and disgusting ISIS propaganda video shows why we need to do much more to tackle radicalisation in Britain.

In the footage released over the weekend, the five captives were forced to confess to their crimes – most probably under duress – before they were paraded to a remote desert location and ordered to kneel.

The English speaking jihadi yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ before he and four other fanatics shot the men from point blank range.

The video ended with a trailer for another execution in which a young, dark skinned boy warned Britain of coming atrocities.

It raised fears that the child, who appeared to be around five, may have been made to execute someone on camera.

Before killing the prisoners in cold blood, the British jihadi said: ‘This is a message to David Cameron, slave of the White House, mule of the Jews.’

He called the Prime Minister an ‘imbecile’ and warned ‘your children will pay’ for British airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

He added: ‘How strange it is that we find ourselves today hearing an insignificant leader like you challenge the might of the Islamic State.

‘How strange it is that the leader of a small island threatens us with a handful of planes.

‘One would have thought you would have learned the lessons of your pathetic master in Washington and his failed campaign against Islamic State.

‘It seems that you, just like your predecessors [Tony] Blair and [Gordon] Brown, are just as arrogant and foolish.

‘David, only a fool would wage war against a land where the law of Allah reigns supreme and where the people live under the justice and security of the Sharia.

‘As for those of you who wish to continue fighting under the banner of Cameron on the minimum wage, we say to you, to ask yourself, do you really think your government will care about you when you come into our hands?

‘Or will they abandon you, as they have abandoned these spies, and those who came before them.’

The chief executioner (pictured) in ISIS’s newest propaganda video wore military fatigues and spoke in a clear British accent.

The executioner in the new propaganda video bore a chilling resemblance to ISIS’s former executioner in chief, Jihadi Jn.

Reacting to the video, Labour MP Sadiq Khan wrote on Twitter: ‘The evil and disgusting ISIS propaganda video shows why we need to do much more to tackle radicalisation in Britain.’

The masked executioner in the video bore a chilling resemblance to ISIS’s former executioner in chief, Jihadi John.

The fanatic, real name Mohammed Emwazi, was filmed executing British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, American journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, American aid worker Peter Kassig and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

He was killed by a US drone strike near an iconic clock tower in the terror group’s de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria in November.

Security experts believe the mass execution is the culmination of an Islamic State manhunt for those who helped Western forces kill Emwazi.

Among the five men shot dead are understood to be those suspected of providing information on his movements and appearance.

The victims give their names and briefly discuss the details of their so-called offences – presumably under duress. Although their identities could not be verified, among them was Umaar Hamud al-Ja’far, 30, from Raqqa, who said he supplied information about the city’s topography. Another victim, Ubi Muhammad Abdul Ghani, 26, said he undertook covert surveillance.

Faisal Hamud al-Ja’far, 25, said he was also from Raqqa and stated he was paid money to open an internet café in the city.

Mahyar Mahmud al-Uthmaan, 31, says he accepted a payment of $300 in Turkey, also to open an internet café. Ha’il Marwan Abdul Razaq, 40, admitted taking pictures of militant activity.

Intelligence agencies are already working to identify the young boy and the older British jihadi in the film.

More than 800 Britons have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for Islamic State, including families from Luton, Bradford and London.

The new video, which featured a child threatening Britain, comes a month since RAF jets began bombing ISIS targets in Syria.

Russian speaking ISIS fighter threatened President Vladimir Putin before he beheaded a suspected spy on camera in a propaganda video released last month

RAF strikes killed 396 ISIS terrorists from October 2014 to October 2015, with 30 wiped out in a single strike in November, a Freedom of Information request revealed (pictured, US airstrike in Ramadi, Iraq)

In the wake of the Paris attacks and a UN Security Council resolution which called on all member states to double their efforts to eradicate ISIS, British drones, as well as Typhoon and Tornado jets, began airstrikes on Syria.

RAF strikes killed 396 ISIS terrorists from October 2014 to October 2015, with 30 wiped out in a single strike in November, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

And on December 9, Chancellor George Osborne said 16 RAF jets had killed four since MPs voted to extend strikes to Syria a week prior.

In another propaganda video released last month, a Russian speaking ISIS fighter threatened President Vladimir Putin before he beheaded a suspected spy on camera.

The jihadi vowed revenge on Putin in response to Russian jets which had been targetting ISIS and rebel fighters in aid of President Bashar al-Assad.

The executioner, who was later named as Anatoly Zemlyanka, 28, said to Russia: ‘You will not find peace in your homes.

‘We will kill your sons… for each son you killed here. And we will destroy your homes for each home you destroyed.

All praise be to Allah the greatest, the only one worthy of worship, obedience and submission.

And may the peace and blessings be upon the prophet Muhammad, the final messenger sent to all of mankind.

This is a message to David Cameron.

O slave of the White House, o mule of the Jews.

How strange it is that we find ourselves today hearing an insignificant leader like you challenge the might of the Islamic State.

How strange it is that the leader of a small island threatens us with a handful of planes. One would have thought you would have learned the lessons of your pathetic master in Washington and his failed campaign against Islamic State.

It seems that you, just like your predecessors Blair and Brown, are just as arrogant and foolish.

In fact David, you are more of an imbecile.

Only an imbecile would dare to wage war against a land where the law of Allah reigns supreme.

And where the people live under the justice and security of the Sharia.

Only an imbecile would dare to anger a people who love death the way that you love your life.

O British Government. O people of Britain. Know that today your citizenship are under our feet.

And that the Islamic State, our country, is here to stay.

And we will continue to wage jihad, break borders and one day invade your land where we will rule by the sharia.

But as for those of you who wish to continue fighting under the banner of Cameron on the minimum wage, we say to you, to ask yourself, do you really think your government will care about you when you come into our hands?

Or will they abandon you, as they have abandoned these spies, and those who came before them.

Because you will lose this war, as you lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But this time when you lose, your children will pay for your deeds.

And remember you as the fools who thought they could fight the Islamic State.

Russia: The Troll State

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by Denise Simon

Saint Petersburg (AFP) – Lyudmila Savchuk says it was money that wooed her into the ranks of the Kremlin’s online army, where she bombarded website comment pages with eulogies of President Vladimir Putin, while mocking his adversaries.

“Putin is great,” “Ukrainians are Fascists,” “Europe is decadent”: Savchuk, 34, listed the main messages she was told to put out on Internet forums after responding to a job advertisement online.

“Our job was to write in a pro-government way, to interpret all events in a way that glorifies the government’s politics and Putin personally,” she said.

Performing her duties as an Internet “troll”, Savchuk kept up several blogs on the popular Russian platform LiveJournal, juggling the virtual identities of a housewife, a student and an athlete.

I could not be happier that a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley wrote this piece below as he is quite right and it must be understood. His study has validated the propaganda item noted above.

If you as a reader want to further understand Vladimir Putin and is mission leading Russia, to know his background is key. That is found here.

Russia has propaganda operations that literally troll events in the United States and in fact creates them causing alarm and worry for American citizens that pay attention. Well done to Andrew Kornbluth.

AtlanticCouncil: In the eighteen months since Russia annexed Crimea, the world has been alternately captivated and bewildered by the wild swings and sudden shifts that describe Russian foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin. Particularly alarming for those who fear a direct clash between Russia and the West has been Putin’s tendency to swerve between antagonism and conciliation, or—even more bizarrely—to pursue both simultaneously.

In an attempt to put a name to this behavior, a variety of epithets, from “rogue state” to “spoiler,” have been dusted off and applied to the present Russian government. But insofar as the current state of Putin’s Russia represents a new kind of autocracy, none of these labels do justice to its innovative nature. Perhaps a better indication of what drives this system can be found in the Russian government’s well-documented embrace of Internet “trolling,” which corresponds surprisingly well to the seemingly random and contradictory fluctuations of the country’s relations with the outside world.

In its most basic form, trolling refers to the phenomenon of Internet users who post inflammatory messages in online forums like comment sections and social media threads with the aim of antagonizing others. Although most trolling is idle provocation, the Kremlin was famously revealed in the last year to be paying large numbers of professional “trolls” to both write and up-vote posts praising Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory and condemning its critics. But how can trolling be a technique of rule?

To begin with, trolls, regardless of the anger they unleash online, are not people who want to definitively cut themselves off from the real world. Trolls seek instant gratification and attention by spreading vitriol on the Internet, but resume their normal lives offline. With this in mind, Russia’s sudden intervention in the war in Syria can be understood as the latest in a long line of trolling campaigns, beginning with the suspension of foreign adoptions three years ago. These acts were intended to needle the West and cheer Russians, but without risking an actual breakdown in foreign relations (in this respect, the war in Ukraine proved to be a serious miscalculation).

The label of “rogue state” is therefore misplaced when it comes to Russia, which clearly desires to win readmission to the “clubhouse” of world powers. Thus the bombing of Syrian rebels, for all the consternation it has caused, has been accompanied by thinly-veiled pleas for Western governments to lift the isolation imposed on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.

Trolling is also an effective substitute for constructive activity. By tormenting others, trolls create the illusion of action and assuage their own nagging feelings of powerlessness. Likewise, Putin’s military adventures in Ukraine and Syria have been remarkably successful at distracting attention from the worsening decay of Russia’s human and economic capital.

But the satisfaction derived from trolling is inherently short-lived. To sustain their short attention spans, trolls must constantly find new and varied ways to bait their opponents. Hence the dizzying pivot from promoting the so-called “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, which were banished from the headlines almost overnight, to heralding the creation of an “anti-terrorist coalition” in Syria.

Unfortunately, trolling is a tactic that cannot serve as a platform for a long-term vision or strategy. In place of ideology-based opposition to the West, Russia’s troll state offers up only irascibility and schadenfreude, the glee derived from other people’s frustrations. Perhaps it could not be otherwise. After all, Russia’s elite depends on the West—for recreation, money-laundering, medical treatment, and the education of its children. In many ways, Russia’s rulers have more in common with the West’s upper class than they do with the pensioners scraping by in the Moscow suburbs.

The danger, of course, is that even bloodless trolling can unintentionally escalate into life-or-death confrontation, a risk that was made real when, after months of Russian incursions into foreign airspace from the Baltics to Japan, Turkey shot down a Russian bomber passing over its territory. But the state’s reliance on trolling in an ideological vacuum gives some cause for hope. After all, a sustained and sober response, both online and in real life, is often sufficient to curb trolling. In the commotion set off by Russia’s Syrian interlude, many seem to have forgotten that limited sanctions and diplomatic ostracism appear to have persuaded the Kremlin to restrain its forces in the Donbas region. Although the conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to claim lives on a daily basis and has flared back up, no major offensive has been launched since February 2015.

To think of Russia as a troll state is not to assume that it has no real goals or that its targets are chosen purely on a whim. It does, however, help to explain a style of statecraft that might otherwise seem increasingly irrational and unpredictable. Certainly, the Russian public delights in the spectacle of their President poking Western leaders in the eye. And Putin does seem to have hit on something fundamental about the age we live in. As the unexpected popularity of Donald Trump’s run for the American presidency has demonstrated, trolling is a political technique perfectly suited to more than one easily-bored, confrontation-hungry modern society.