China Expanding Militarization of Disputed Islands

Posted on August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Into the equation comes Vietnam.

BI: Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing.

The launchers have been hidden from aerial surveillance and they have yet to be armed, but could be made operational with rocket artillery rounds within two or three days, according to the three sources. More here from BusinessInsider.

Photos suggest China built reinforced hangars on disputed islands: CSIS

Reuters: Satellite photographs taken in late July show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in disputed South China Sea islands, a Washington-based research group said.

The hangars on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report on the photographs.

The images have emerged about a month after an international court in The Hague ruled against China’s claims in the resource-rich area, a decision rejected by Beijing. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

The Mercenaries Secretly Hired by the Kremlin

Posted on August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

First Putin launched this operation years ago with the Chechens and now with any others they can recruit. The most recent secret group was recruited and deployed to Syria and the survival rate of the ‘Wagner’ cell is less than 50%.

Since 2013, A commander from the Russian Caucasus known as Omar al Chechen is a key leader in the Muhajireen Brigade, a jihadist group that fights alongside the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant against the regime of President Bashir al Assad. More here.

There is yet more as noted below, from the Ukraine to Syria?

Revealed: Russia’s ‘Secret Syria Mercenaries’

Sky News speaks to men who claim they were trained and flown on Russian military planes to assist troops loyal to Bashar al Assad.

By John Sparks, Moscow Correspondent

If Russia is a nation at war, the Kremlin has always been careful to frame its campaign in Syria as an aerial operation.

Other than a limited number of ‘instructors and military advisers’, Russian officials have repeatedly stated that they do not need to put ‘boots on the ground’.

The Russian narrative of low-cost conflict has been seriously challenged however by a group of young Russian men who claim that their country’s involvement in Syria is far more extensive – and more costly – than anyone in President Putin’s administration is prepared to admit.

These individuals told Sky News that they were recruited by a highly secretive private military company called ‘Wagner’ and flown to Syria aboard Russian military transport planes.

For the equivalent of £3,000 a month, they say they were thrown into pitch battles and firefights with rebel factions – including Islamic State.

Two of the group, Alexander and Dmitry, told Sky News they felt lucky to be alive.

“It’s 50-50,” said Alexander (not his real name). “Most people who go there for the money end up dead. Those who fight for ideals, to fight against the Americans, American special-forces, some ideology – they have a better chance of survival.”

“Approximately 500 to 600 people have died there,” claimed Dmitry. “No one will ever find out about them…. that’s the scariest thing. No one will ever know.”

Russian mercenaries are alleged to have fought in eastern Ukraine

The country’s Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, warned in February that the deployment of ground troops by foreign powers could result in a “world war”.

He seems to have excluded the use of Russian mercenaries from that calculation, however – although analysts are not surprised.

The deployment of military contractors is consistent with the Russian take on ‘hybrid-war’, according to military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.

He said: “Obviously (Wagner) does exist. These kind of ‘volunteers’ do appear in different war zones, where the Russian government wants them to appear. So first in Crimea, then in Donbass, now in Syria. But they have not been legalised up till now.”

Private military companies are banned under the Russian constitution – but that is not something that seems to trouble the man who runs the operation.

The only known image of the shadowy head of Wagner Nikolai Utkin. Pic: Fontanka

A former special forces soldier, he is known to his men as Nikolai Utkin.

The only known picture of Mr Utkin was published earlier this year by St Petersburg-based newspaper ‘Fontanka’.

The paper described him as an aficionado of the aesthetics and ideology of the Nazi German Third Reich.

His nom-de-guerre – Wagner – is thought to be a tribute to Hitler’s favourite composer.

The company has recruited hundreds of men online, by posting temporary advertisements in military-themed chat rooms on one popular Russian website.

The men say they were taken from Russia to Syria on Russian military aircraft

Sky News obtained a record of a conversation between one recruit and a Wagner agent. It read:

Recruit: I heard that Wagner is looking for guys. I was in the army in ….. division.
Wagner: What sort of physical shape are you in?
Recruit: I can run 10km. I can do 20 chin ups.
Wagner: Can you do 3km in 13 minutes?
Recruit: For sure! In the army I was doing 11km in 40 minutes.
Wagner: Do you have any problems with the law, debts?
Recruit: I have a problem with money. I want to buy an apartment.
Wagner: Do you have a valid passport for travelling?
Recruit: Yes, sure.
Wagner: Ok, come to Molkino. You have a high chance of being selected.

Molkino is a small village in southern Russia that is home to a Ministry of Defence special forces base. Part of the base has been handed over to Wagner for the selection and training of recruits.

Alexander, who has conducted a number of missions to Syria, said he was aware of men of all abilities being accepted for training – even those who had never fired a gun.

He said the training – which generally lasts from one to two months – was intense.

He added: “If the person hasn’t been the army, he is trained from level zero. They’re taught to be infantrymen – the usual cannon fodder. If the person has served in the artillery, reconnaissance, assault brigades – his skills are polished…. they teach you how to drive and use absolutely all the equipment they have.”

Dmitry said recruits were given ‘NATO-standard’ kit to practise with.

Some of the men Sky News spoke to say they took part in the battle for Palmyra

Both men soon found themselves deployed to the main Russian base on the Syrian coast.

Alexander said he was joined by more than 500 men.

“There were 564 soldiers with me and we were put up at the base,” he added. “We had two reconnaissance companies, one air defence company, two assault groups and foot troops, plus heavy artillery, tanks and so on.”

Dmitry said he was joined by 900 others – but had second thoughts on arrival.

He previously worked as an office secretary and had little military experience.

“We arrived at night at the airport,” he said. “What is it called? Hmay? Hymeem? Hhmemeen? (Khmeimim). Then we were put in trucks. To be honest I was scared. I don’t have a strong build and I wasn’t very good at the drills.”

The Wagner fighters accused their commanders of sending them on ‘suicide missions’ designed to ‘soften-up’ the opposition before Syrian Army troops were sent in.

Alexander recounted the battle for the city of Palmyra, conducted earlier this year.

He said: “During the storming of Palmyra, we were used as cannon fodder. You could say that. Reconnaissance went forward first so they could observe and report. I knew three in that group – two died before they got to the city. From my assault company, 18 died. After us, those chickens from Assad’s army followed and finished the job but we did most of the work.”

The official number of Russians killed in Syria stands at 19. However, the Wagner fighters told Sky News they believed hundreds of their fellow employees have been killed.

They accuse the authorities of covering it up.

“Who will ever tell you about this? Sometimes the bodies are cremated but the papers say ‘they’re missing’. Sometimes the documents say the soldier was killed in Donbass (eastern Ukraine). Sometimes they say ‘car accident’ and so on,” claimed Alexander.

Photos apparently captured by IS fighters appear to show Russian mercenaries

Dmitry claimed hundreds of men have been left in Syria.

“Sometimes they are buried, sometimes they are not,” he said. “Sometimes they just dig a hole. It depends on how the commanders feel towards the person.”

He is back in Moscow now but says the experience still stalks him. When he signed on with Wagner, Dmitry handed over his personal identification papers – an essential part of life in Russia. Upon his return, he went back to the training base to retrieve his documents but found himself arrested by police. An officer told him, unequivocally, that Wagner “does not exist”.

Dmitry told Sky News that there are 50 other men – Wagner survivors – now walking the streets of Moscow, traumatised and without papers.

“No one knows me,” he said. “They just threw me away.”

:: For more of the accounts of the battlefield experiences of the two Russian Wagner soldiers, watch Sky News’ exclusive report.

Hillary’s State Dept Access to Donors, Marc Rich Still Resonates

Posted on August 9, 2016August 9, 2016 by Denise Simon

Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive Marc Rich continues to pay big/Gilbert Chagoury in a new scandal

Seems like the whole Lincoln bedroom playbooks was used at the State Department and perhaps even Hezbollah supporters like Michel Aoun of Lebanon had access.

Secret emails reveal how Hillary’s closest aide Huma was ordered by Clinton Foundation to open State Department doors to donors

Yet more emails from Hillary Clinton’s secret server are revealed and show how Huma Abedin took orders from outside the State Department
Clinton’s closest aide was told by Doug Band, of the Clinton foundation, to set up access to an ambassador for a billionaire donor
She was told to ‘take care of’ another unnamed person by Band
Another Clinton fundraiser emailed Hillary to push for someone to get a job at the State Department – and she told Abedin to ‘help’
Judicial Watch which sued for the emails says they raise questions over whether Clinton was ‘in violation of the law’ as Secretary of State

DailyMail: A Clinton Foundation official pressed Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin to give special State Department access to a major donor who was accused of laundering money from Nigeria, according to emails released on Tuesday.

Doug Band, a top official at the Clinton Foundation, emailed Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin in April 2009 and asked her to connect Gilbert Chagoury, a billionaire Lebanese businessman who pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative, with the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman.

Ties: Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigeria-born Lebanese billionaire who was convicted of money-laundering, was asked to be given access to a US ambassador

Chagoury, a former confidante of brutal Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, was convicted in 2000 of laundering Nigerian money to Switzerland in connection with the Abacha regime. Under a plea deal, he agreed to pay Nigeria $66 million, and the Swiss government later expunged his conviction.

According to U.S. diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks, Chagoury has also been a key financial backer of pro-Hezbollah Lebanese politician Michel Aoun. At the time of Band’s request to connect Chagoury with the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Aoun was running for parliament in Lebanon on the Hezbollah-aligned bloc.

In an October 2007 cable, the prime minister of Lebanon noted Chagoury’s ties to Aoun and ‘suggested that the U.S. deliver to Chagoury a stern message about the possibility of financial sanctions and travel bans against those who undermine Lebanon’s legitimate institutions.’

In 2010, it was discovered that Chagoury had been added to the U.S. No-Fly terror list and barred from boarding a private jet in New Jersey. He was able to obtain a ‘waiver’ to fly, and was later removed from the list and received a written apology from the U.S. government.

Chagoury pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2009 and has contributed between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.

In another email released by Judicial Watch, Band asked Abedin to help look for job openings for an ‘important’ associate, whose name is redacted from the message.

Band forwarded an email to Abedin from the unnamed individual that was headlined ‘A favor…’

‘Hi Doug,’ said the April 22, 2009 email. ‘I really appreciated the opportunity to go on the Haiti trip; it was an eye-opening experiences seeing both the depravity and promise of that island.’ The rest of the email is redacted.

Order: Doug Band (left) emailed Huma Abedin to tell her that it was ‘very imp’ for the billionaire Clinton Foundation donor to get access to Jeffrey Feltman, the ambassador to Lebanon (right)

Band passed on the message to Abedin with the noted ‘Important to take care of [redacted name].’

Abedin responded that the individual was ‘on our radar’ and ‘Personnel has been sending him options.’

In a third email, Clinton fundraiser Lana Moresky emailed Hillary Clinton and asked her about finding a State Department job for an individual whose name is redacted.

‘[Redacted] is looking for an opportunity to meet with a knowledgeable [Department of State] person to learn more about the structure and positions available,’ wrote Moresky in the April 29, 2009 email.

Clinton forwarded the message to Abedin with the note ‘Can you pls followup and help [redacted]?’

Judicial Watch said in a press release that the State Department favors ‘seem in violation of the ethics agreements that Hillary Clinton agreed to in order to be appointed and confirmed as Secretary of State.’

‘No wonder Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin hid emails from the American people, the courts and Congress,’ said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement. ‘They show the Clinton Foundation, Clinton donors, and operatives worked with Hillary Clinton in potential violation of the law.’

SOME OF THE SECRET EMAILS

Here it Comes, Another Sin Tax, Sodas

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 by Denise Simon

Ballot measures are slated for just about everyday and they range from the sublime to the ridiculous…have you paid any attention?

Just in case you need an overview:

Who’s backing 2016 ballot measures?

CPI: National advocacy groups are gearing up to push state ballot measures in 2016 on topics ranging from the minimum wage to marijuana legalization. Below is a sampling of groups and their plans.

For a sampling some of the work and in sight has already been provided such that you should be on alert by going here.

Soda tax battle brewing at 2016 ballot box

June 8, 2016: Opponents of a proposed sugary drink tax demonstrate outside City Hall in Philadelphia. (AP)

FNC: Local governments are always thirsty for revenue – and their taste for a soda tax keeps getting stronger, fueling a new battle this fall with America’s beverage industry.

Boosted in part by anti-soda warrior and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, proponents are trying to get a tax on sugary drinks approved at the ballot box in at least four more municipalities.

The initiatives mark a resurgence of sorts for the soda tax crusade. According to the American Beverage Association, voters have rejected 43 such measures in the past eight years. But in a major win for the movement, the Philadelphia City Council approved a 1.5-cents-per-ounce soda tax this past June.

Now, three California municipalities – San Francisco, Oakland and Albany – are slated to vote on a soda tax of a penny per ounce. Boulder, Colo., could double that, if voters OK a 2-cents-per-ounce tax. The initiatives, which have been approved for the ballot, target both sugary drinks and diet drinks.

Advocates cite health benefits in pushing the proposals. “The goal of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages is to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which science has proven to be directly correlated to detrimental health impacts such as diabetes, obesity and heart diseases,” San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Malia Cohen told FoxNews.com.

Bloomberg, often ridiculed for his efforts to ban the big gulp in his home city, spent $1.6 million to advocate for the passage of the Philadelphia tax and reportedly will be bankrolling efforts in San Francisco and Oakland as well.

But the American Beverage Association is staunchly opposed. ABA spokeswoman Lauren Kane said the Philadelphia tax is highly unpopular and shouldn’t be a model for any other city.

“This is a regressive tax, it raises the price of groceries and it’s discriminatory because it singles out a single product in the grocery cart,” Kane told FoxNews.com. “Once the government reaches into the grocery cart, everything else is vulnerable.”

The beverage association contends that soda consumption is at a 30-year low, yet obesity has continued to climb in recent years. Further, it notes West Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee all imposed some soda tax, but rank among the most obese states in the nation.

“There is no single product that is responsible for obesity,” Kane said.

So far, only Berkeley, Calif., has enacted such a tax with voter approval, OK’ing a 1-cent-per-ounce tax in the 2014 election.

If a city the size of San Francisco adopts a tax at the ballot box, it could be a model for others, advocates hope.

“San Francisco has always been a pioneer in landmark legislation and I have no doubt the passage of a sugary beverage tax in San Francisco will encourage other municipalities to seriously consider implementing a similar tax,” said Cohen, who led the effort to have the measure placed on the ballot.

San Francisco would appear the most likely to adopt the measure since 56 percent of voters backed a proposed 2 percent tax increase in 2014. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass because the tax revenue was dedicated for a specific purpose. This year, it’s a proposed 1 percent tax that requires only a simple majority, since the revenue would be going to the general fund. If approved, the tax is projected to bring in $14.4 million annually – money supposedly to be used for health and nutrition programs.

Therein lies another concern. Kane said the revenue would be going into the general budget “with no strings attached” – so voters wouldn’t even know if the revenue would be used “to fight obesity.”

The ABA has a formidable foe in Bloomberg. He telegraphed his plans in a statement issued after the Philadelphia tax victory.

“In November, voters in three California cities will take up the issue, and it may also come before voters in Boulder, Colorado,” Bloomberg said. “When cities lead the way, solutions that were once considered non-starters can quickly catch fire and spread around the world. It would not be the first revolution Philadelphia has sparked.”

The issue even worked its way into presidential politics this year. After eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said she was “very supportive” of the Philadelphia proposal in April, her opponent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote an op-ed for Philadelphia Magazine calling it a “regressive grocery tax that would disproportionately affect low-income and middle-class Americans.”

Cohen objects to the charge of a regressive tax.

“What this assumption ignores is the fact Type 2 Diabetes is a regressive disease,” Cohen told FoxNews.com. “At today’s rate, 50 percent of African American youth vs. 25 percent White youth will contract Type II Diabetes in their lifetime. This is not a coincidence and we must do something today to address this crisis.”

Is your Church Targeted for Terror?

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 by Denise Simon

Yazidis, Jews, Apostate Muslims and Christians have all been part of the genocide in the Middle East and terror has arrived in Europe.

The Director of the FBI, James Comey has already sounded the alarm speaking to a terror diaspora…anyone listening?

Churches take new security measures in face of terror threats

FNC: As Father Josiah Trenham prepared to read the Gospel, several parishioners discreetly scooped up their babies, retreated up the aisles of St. Andrew Orthodox Church and out into the spring air, so as not to allow the crying of little ones to disturb the divine liturgy.

The time-honored tradition was shattered when a car passed by the Riverside, Calif., church, slowing down as the front passenger leaned out of his window and bellowed menacingly through a bullhorn, according to witnesses.

“Allahu Akbar!” the unidentified man repeated several times as the unnerved parents drew their infants close and exchanged worried glances.

Members of the church were gathered under the main archway when the car passed slowly by, its occupant allegedly yelling “Allahu Akbar!” over a bullhorn. (FoxNews.com)

Witnesses were able to give Riverside police a description of the green Honda Civic, but not of the three occupants. Some told police they believed one or more of the men may have been taking photographs, according to Officer Ryan Railsback. Although Trenham insisted multiple congregants heard the Arabic phrase, Railsback noted no mention of it was in the police report.

Whatever the case, no law was broken – even if an unmistakable message was sent and received.

“Be calm and to keep a special vigilance over the property and our children while we are at church,” Trenham wrote in an email to parishioners in which he recounted the disturbing event. “Pray that these provocative young men might repent of their intimidation and be saved.”

Trenham told FoxNews.com last week the situation remains “tense and tenuous,” and said the church now has security officers on hand for all regular services.

“It is a deep sorrow to live this way in the ‘new America,’” he said.

The incident took place on April 12, some four months after a terror attack left 14 dead in nearby San Bernardino, and just over three months before a French priest was killed by ISIS-linked jihadists in his church. The events, whether far or near, underscore a grim new reality for pastors such as Trenham: Instead of offering sanctuary from evil, churches could in fact be attractive targets for terror.

“Many churches are now hiring self-defense instructors for classes or security guards that include off-duty police,” said Ryan Mauro, a professor of Homeland Security at Liberty University and national security analyst for the Clarion Project. “If you are an Islamist terrorist seeking self-glory, executing a priest will bring you more attention than executing an average civilian.”

While no lethal terror attacks have occurred inside a U.S. church to date, experts like Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, notes the threat tally is growing.

The murder of French Priest Jacques Hamel on July 26 showed terrorists could target Christian churches.

“I’m pretty sure there will be attacks in the future,” King said. “Until [radical Islam is defeated], we can expect Christians, including in the West, to rationally tighten security measures and try to protect themselves from attack.”

In February, Khial Abu-Rayyan, 21, of Dearborn Heights, Mich., was arrested after he told an undercover FBI agent he was preparing to “shoot up” a major church near his home on behalf of ISIS. A month earlier, the Rev. Roger Spradlin of Valley Baptist Church – one of the biggest congregations in Bakersfield, Calif. – told attendees that they had received a threat written in Arabic.

Spradlin told his congregants the church had received a threat, and officials have since taken new precautions. (Valley Baptist Church)

“Undercover officers were then placed during worship services,” Valley Baptist spokesman Dave Kalahar said. “The FBI continues to investigate along with the local task force.”

Last September, an Islamic man clad in combat gear was charged with making a terrorist threat after entering Corinth Missionary Baptist Church, in Bullard, Tex., and claiming that God had instructed him to kill Christians and “other infidels.” A year earlier, police were called to Saint Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Columbus, Ind., after the house of worship was vandalized with the word “Infidels!” along with a Koranic verse sanctioning death for nonbelievers. Similar graffiti was found that same night at nearby Lakeview Church of Christ and East Columbus Christian Church.

St. Bartholomew Pastor Clem Davis said he doesn’t know if the threat was legitimate, but said little can be done to harden a target whose mission is to welcome all.

“I don’t know that there is any real protection against the ‘lone wolf’ mentality, not without infringing on everybody’s freedoms,” Davis said. “We don’t have metal detectors, people go in and out. Churches are family-orientated, public, tax-supported spaces; so they may appeal to some as a target.”

Synagogues have faced increasing threats in recent years, too. Earlier this year, the FBI disrupted a plot by a Muslim convert to blow up the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, in Aventura, Fla. A 2014 audit by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that anti-Semitic incidents rose 21 percent across the country that year.

Eastern Orthodox Christians, who in many cases suffered persecution at the hands of radical Muslims in their Middle Eastern homelands, believe they may be singled out because of their heritage. Mass at St. Andrew typically attracts up to 400 worshippers with roots in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Russia and Greece.

“We have guards now; we never used to have guards,” said St. Andrew attendee Solomon Saddi, a Syrian-American Christian. “They keep an eye on everyone and talk to the faces that aren’t familiar,” he continued, referring to the aftermath of the April incident. “It is a very dangerous time for us even in America.”

In San Diego’s Iraqi-Christian community, known as Chaldeans, many local churches have had to dip into their collection baskets to hire security.

“There is a concern over attacks,” said a parishioner at St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Church. “Everyone knows that a church, especially like St. Peter, is a risk. But everyone tries not to let their fear get in the way of their faith.”

The July 26 murder of the Rev. Jacques Hamel, in the Normandy town of St.-Étienne-du-Rouvray sent shock waves around the world, and signaled to U.S. law enforcement that it could happen here, said Horace Frank, assistant commanding officer of the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“We see things happen in other countries and worry about them happening here,” Frank said. “You always have to be worried about copycats. That’s why we focus on prevention, trying to look ahead.”

Frank’s division works with Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh groups to discuss such topics as terrorist reporting, suspicious activity and active shooter training.

“We reach out to churches and they reach out to us. You have to be aware, you have to be vigilant,” Frank said. “It’s a concern not just in Christian communities, but all faith communities.”

Category Archives: Whistleblower

China Expanding Militarization of Disputed Islands

Related reading: U.S. publicly challenges China’s moves in disputed islands

The Mercenaries Secretly Hired by the Kremlin

Revealed: Russia’s ‘Secret Syria Mercenaries’

Russian mercenaries are alleged to have fought in eastern Ukraine

The only known image of the shadowy head of Wagner Nikolai Utkin. Pic: Fontanka

The men say they were taken from Russia to Syria on Russian military aircraft

Photos apparently captured by IS fighters appear to show Russian mercenaries