ISIS Surging In Mosul

More evidence of Obama's epic fail in foreign policy and command of our military.

See Number of ISIS Left in Mosul Close to Original Levels at Start of Campaign (dated December 12, 2016). Note that Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is trying to put a good face on what's happening:

Defense officials confirmed that the Islamic State has been pumping reinforcements into Mosul during the battle that was launched in mid-October, but said the maintained level of militants there doesn't indicate a stalemate....

Trying to preserve Obama's "foreign policy legacy," which declared that the war in Iraq is over. Clearly, it is not.

Various members of the Obama Administration and their fellow Dems are carrying Obama's water with regard to other issues as well.

How this water-carrying really is:

Is The U.S. Giving Iraq To Iran?

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AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

Clint Eastwood: To a Point, Moore, Maher Right in 'Sniper' Criticism

From Newsmax:

Clint Eastwood surprised many people recently by saying he agreed with critics who have attacked his Oscar-nominated film "American Sniper." 

Since the film was released last month, it has been attacked by film director Michael Moore, who called military snipers "cowards." 

Comedian Bill Maher questioned whether the subject of the film — the late U.S. military sniper Chris Kyle — was a "hero or not" and called him a "psychopath patriot," The Daily Beast reports. 

As he was leaving a West Hollywood restaurant Monday night, Eastwood was asked by TMZ what he thought about the recent criticism by Moore and Maher. 

"They were right," he said. "Did Clint Eastwood Just Agree with 'American Sniper' Critics?" a Daily Caller headline asked. 

The answer appears to be that he does — to a point. Mediaite reported, for example, that Eastwood has defended the film by stating that "the biggest antiwar statement any film" can make is to show "the fact of what [war] does to the family and the people who have to go back into civilian life like Chris Kyle did." 

In an interview published last month, Eastwood described his philosophy as "more dove than hawk: a pragmatic libertarian rather than a red-meat Republican," the Toronto Star reported. 

He said he opposed both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that he has seen enough conflict in his life. 

"I was a child growing up during World War II. That was supposed to be the one to end all wars," Eastwood, 84, told the Star. 

"And four years later, I was standing at the draft board being drafted during the Korean conflict, and then after that there was Vietnam, and it goes on and on forever." 

Every time "the nation enters these conflicts, it deserves a lot of thought before we go wading in or wading out," Eastwood said. 

But as director of "American Sniper," Eastwood said it was his responsibility to be able to properly represent Kyle's version of events. 

"I'm seeing it from the point of a person who was sort of an American hero, as far as his ability to be this ultra-sniper. And his family and his beliefs were very strong about defending the country," he said. 

"You have to embrace his philosophy if you're going to tell a story about him."

ISIS fighters ‘have contracted Ebola': World Health Organisation investigating reports militants showed up at Iraqi hospital with lethal disease

ISIS fighters ‘have contracted Ebola': World Health Organisation investigating reports militants showed up at Iraqi hospital with lethal disease

Mosul has been under control of ISIS since June 2014 and over the past few weeks militants have reportedly executed more than a dozen doctors for refusing to treat injured fighters.

According to a report in Iraq’s pro-government newspaper, al Sabaah, the disease was brought to Mosul by ‘terrorists’ arriving ‘from several countries’ and Africa.

The symptoms of Ebola, which include nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding and bruising, are similar to those of other diseases including malaria and yellow fever meaning it could easily have have been misdiagnosed.

In addition, very few ISIS fighters are believed to have travelled up from West Africa where the Ebola outbreak originated with most coming from areas where there have been no reports of the disease.

The reports have appeared in pro-government and Kurdish media but if true it could have catastrophic implications for people in ISIS-held areas as the group is against western science and medicine.

Islamic State “Systematically Beheading” Christian Children, Raping Mothers, Hanging Fathers

The Muslims Are Restless

From the Gospel Herald:

A prominent Christian leader of the Chaldean community unveiled the “systematic beheading of children” and other horrendous crimes committed by ISIS 

He said that the Sunni extremists are committing genocide against Christians in Iraq and with the aim to instill the Sharia Law as the law of the land. 

In the interview with CNN’s Jonathan Mann, Chaldean-American businessman Mark Arabo said that the “world hasn’t seen an evil like this for generations.” 

“There is a park in Mosul, where [ISIS] they actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick and have them in the park,” he explained. 

“More children are getting beheaded, mothers are getting raped and killed, and fathers are being hung.” 

Speaking from San Diego over Skype, Arabo called for the international community to offer asylum to the more than 300,000 Christians fleeing and living in neighboring cities. 

“The world hasn’t seen this kind of atrocity in generations,” he said. 

“This is a crime against humanity. This is much broader than a community or a state. This is crime against humanity. They are doing the most horrendous, the most heart-breaking crimes that you can think of.” 

When asked about Sunni extremists’ targeting of Christians, Arabo said that around 95 percent of Christians have fled, five percent have converted. Also, the ISIS have marked the death stamps on Christian homes, so whoever returns will get killed.

The Islamic State destroys an entire Sunni town in Iraq. And those Muslims who lost their town blame America, not the Muslims who actually committed the crime

From NPR:

A small Sunni Arab town north of Baghdad put up a fight when Sunni Muslim extremists from the so-called Islamic State tried to impose their rule on the town. The residents lost, and now the town, Zowiya, just outside of Tikrit, is destroyed. 

More than 200 of its homes have been blown up, and the residents have fled. The Islamic State leveled the town as a warning to anybody else that dares to fight them. 

"My town is gone," says Abu Saad, a businessman in his sixties. "They bombed all our houses. Everything we have is gone." 

'We Fight Them, They Destroy Us' Abu Saad and many of Zowiya's wealthy came to the northern Kurdish city of Erbil for safety. 

Many have rented homes in a small compound for about $1,000 a month, each home with five or more families. Abu Saad rented a little home in Erbil he shares with his four married sons and their families. 

"We have good houses, very luxury houses," he says. "I'm businessman. I have two houses for my sons. They bomb it." Everything is gone: passports, furniture, memories. "Because we fight them, they destroy us," Abu Saad says. 

Online, the Islamic State posted picture of what it called the "purification" of Zowiya. Pictures of homes burning, of rubble and of bodies of people they called "collaborators." 

During the fight, no one came to help from the state, the residents say. Abu Saad blames America for the tragedy. 

Since the U.S.-led invasion, they've lived under 10 years of chaos, with a corrupt government that divided the nation between Sunnis and Shias. 

"Everything is wrong in Iraq because of America," he says. "Because America, they bring us a fake government."

Journalist Fouad Hussein Called It In 2005, His Prediction About the Course of Jihad Eerily Predict Today's Events

Fouad Hussein spent time in prison with al-Zarqawi. He seems to have understood the strategy of Al Qaeda and the Grand Jihad.

Events this weekend reminded me of this from 2005:

The First Phase Known as "the awakening" -- this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the US into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby "awakening" Muslims. "The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaida as very successful," writes Hussein. "The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target." The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard "everywhere."

The Second Phase "Opening Eyes" is, according to Hussein's definition, the period we are now in and should last until 2006. Hussein says the terrorists hope to make the western conspiracy aware of the "Islamic community." Hussein believes this is a phase in which al-Qaida wants an organization to develop into a movement. The network is banking on recruiting young men during this period. Iraq should become the center for all global operations, with an "army" set up there and bases established in other Arabic states.

The Third Phase This is described as "Arising and Standing Up" and should last from 2007 to 2010. "There will be a focus on Syria," prophesies Hussein, based on what his sources told him. The fighting cadres are supposedly already prepared and some are in Iraq. Attacks on Turkey and -- even more explosive -- in Israel are predicted. Al-Qaida's masterminds hope that attacks on Israel will help the terrorist group become a recognized organization. The author also believes that countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, are also in danger.

The Fourth Phase Between 2010 and 2013, Hussein writes that al-Qaida will aim to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The estimate is that "the creeping loss of the regimes' power will lead to a steady growth in strength within al-Qaida." At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers and the US economy will be targeted using cyber terrorism.

The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaida hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.

The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of "total confrontation." As soon as the caliphate has been declared the "Islamic army" it will instigate the "fight between the believers and the non-believers" which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.

The Seventh Phase This final stage is described as "definitive victory." Hussein writes that in the terrorists' eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the "one-and-a-half billion Muslims," the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn't last longer than two years.

(There was an awful lot of poopooing about this "plan" at the time. In the same article der Spiegel wrote "The supposed master plan for the years 2000 to 2020 reads in parts more like a group of ideas cobbled together in retrospect, than something planned and presented in advance. And not to mention the terrorist agenda is simply unworkable: the idea that al-Qaida could set up a caliphate in the entire Islamic world is absurd. The 20-year plan is based mainly on religious ideas. It hardly has anything to do with reality -- especially phases four to seven." Yeah. Ok.)

Bill Roggio wrote about it

As did others

Well done Uncle Barry and friends. Well done indeed.

THIS MAN WILL GET US ALL KILLED

Muslim Cavemen Go On a Rampage In Iraq - ISIS Jihadis Gun Down Innocents In Drive-by Shootings

Here it is, Islam in it's purest form. Mohammed would be proud.

The Caliphate Rising

Back in January 2006, I published this at my first blog site. Excerpt:

From "Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical: Restoration of Caliphate, Attacked by Bush, Resonates With Mainstream Muslims," front-page article in the January 14, 2006 edition of the Washington Post....

I concluded my blog post with this paragraph:

Are we standing before an abyss which we cannot comprehend and refuse to admit the very existence of?

Now, in 2014, Iraq seems to be falling to the jihadists.  $15 billion of our treasure, some 4000 dead American military personnel, and much blood spilled.  For what?

Syria aroil.

A dead U.S. ambassador in Libya.

Various jihad attacks are popping up all over the place.

Five Taliban commanders traded for one PFC.

"The Arab Spring," with whatever purpose it began, represents the push to establish a worldwide caliphate, something for which the majority of Muslims yearn.

And Obama has sent numerous signals that have served to embolden jihad.

Islam respects The Strong Man, and Obama has clearly indicated that he is not A Strong Man.

Clearly, the caliphate establishers are winning. 

How long before we face another 9/11 here on our soil?

Not to worry, though. Obama says (June 11, 2014), and his supporters nod their heads in agreement:

[T]he truth of the matter is that for all the challenges we face, all the problems that we have, if you had to be — if you had to choose any moment to be born in human history, not knowing what your position was going to be, who you were going to be, you’d choose this time. The world is less violent than it has ever been....

Talk about delusion! Or is it something else?

JOE BIDEN FLAT-OUT LIED ABOUT HIS VOTES ON THE WARS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

Somehow, I believed he MUST be telling the truth. After all, how could he have expected to get away with such an outright lie.

When he said it, I thought, "Well, this doesn't gibe with my memory, but, ok."

Turns out he was, indeed, outright lying to the American people, on an issue that is so easy to fact-check, even the Palace Guard Media couldn't find a way to get it wrong ...

I think.

From Ace:

“By the way, they talk about this great recession like it fell out of the sky–like, ‘Oh my goodness, where did it come from?’” Biden said. “It came from this man voting to put two wars on a credit card, at the same time, put a prescription drug plan on the credit card, a trillion dollar tax cut for the very wealthy.” 

“I was there, I voted against them,” Biden continued. “I said, no, we can’t afford that.” 

Then Sen. Biden voted for the Afghanistan resolution on Sept. 14, 2001 which authorized “the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.” 

And on Oct. 11, 2002, Biden voted for a resolution authorizing unilateral military action in Iraq, according to the Washington Post.

The one thing they told this drunken buffoon not to do is to spin some grandly self-serving lie about an important issue which could be easily disproven.

It was like having an argument with your drunk, blowhard, dullwitted uncle at Thanksgiving. And your drunk blowhard dullwitted uncle, who is superior to you only in age, keeps asserting he's right about everything by shouting "I WAS THERE!!!"

Read the story at Ace of Spades.

Donald Rumsfeld Can Be Sued?

While we had our eye on the train wreck of Wall Street following the downgrade of the credit rating of the United States, THIS happened:

'Tortured' US citizens allowed to sue Donald Rumsfeld

Two former US security contractors may sue former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his role in their alleged torture in Iraq, a court has ruled.

US citizens Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel said they were held for months by US troops under harsh conditions.

They said they were detained in retaliation for efforts to reveal illegal activities by their employer.

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that former Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld had no immunity in the case.

"Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to show that Secretary Rumsfeld personally established the relevant policies that caused the alleged violations of their constitutional rights during detention," the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago, ruled in a 2-1 decision on Monday that upheld a decision by a lower US district court.

'Nightmarish scene'

The decision is the second this month in which US judges have ruled Mr Rumsfeld may be sued by US citizens who alleged torture in Iraq at the hands of US troops.

Last week, a US district judge in Washington ruled separately that a former American military contractor who also claims he was tortured in Iraq could sue Mr Rumsfeld.

The government said the contractor was suspected of helping pass information to the enemy, although he was never charged....

[...]

War 'second-guessed'

But the court said it remained to be seen whether Mr Rumsfeld had actually done so.

In a statement, a lawyer for Mr Rumsfeld said the decision to allow the suit "saps the effectiveness of the military, puts American soldiers at risk, and shackles federal officials who have a constitutional duty to protect America".

"Having judges second-guess the decisions made by the armed forces halfway around the world is no way to wage a war," David Rivkin said in a statement.

The US justice department could appeal against the ruling to the full panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals or to the US Supreme Court.

Can attempted litigation against George W. Bush be far behind?

Iraq: Christian tortured, mutilated and murdered

His body was mutilated. His head was nearly severed off. He was tortured before he was executed, according to the Kirkuk police. His eyes were gouged out, his ears were cut off and his faced was skinned. There also were signs of dog bites on the body.
Mr. Jacob is survived by his wife and three children.
He was an Assyrian construction worker.

His name was Ashur Yacob Issa and he had been kidnapped. His family was asked for a $61.500 ransom, a sum they couldn't pay at all.

Photo found at AINA.org.

Posts for Oct 4th: Saudi child bride, Choudhry's process, AQ threatens Christians, Taliban flog drug-addicts, Mosque's hate campaign in UK, Taliban blow schools

1. Saudi Arabia: 80-year-old man marries 14-year-old and now refuses to divorce: “Her father said he does not have the money (for the divorce) and is appealing for all benevolent people to help him so he will regain his daughter…the old man has threatened that they either pay him or he will take her by force.”
2. UK: Woman stabbed MP Timms "in revenge for Iraq war vote": Jeremy Dein QC, defending Roshonara Choudhry, 21, said she did not recognise the jurisdiction of the court and did not wish her lawyers to challenge evidence put before the jury.
3. Iraq: All Christians "targets", Al-Qaeda in Iraq says: Wednesday, the group released a new message saying, “The Ministry of War of Islamic State of Iraq declares that all the centers, organizations and bodies of Christian leaders and followers have become legitimate targets by the Mujahedeens, wherever our hands will reach them.” According to witnesses, one of the attackers was 12-years-old.
4. Pakistan: Taliban publicly flog men for "taking drugs" against their diktat: Members of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan detained 65 tribesmen on the “charge” of selling and using hashish and heroin... After they were “sentenced” by the militant court, the men were taken to a ground on Sunday and each of them was given 10 lashes by Taliban fighters as a large crowd watched.
5. UK: Mosque linked to hate campaign against Ahmadiyya Muslims: Evidence shows Ahmadiyya Muslims are being demonised and ostracised by UK Islamic fundamentalist group Khatme Nabuwat, whose hardline clerics have been preaching in south London mosques.
6. Pakistan: Taliban blow up another school in Mohmand Agency: Another girls primary school was destroyed by miscreants on Tuesday. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack.

Magazine: The People's Cube.

Iraq: 10 Catholics killed, 30 wounded after security forces stormed Baghdad church

Iraqi Policeman inside Our Lady of Salvation Chaldean Catholic church, after security forces have stormed the building

This is an update on this story:

At least 10 Christian worshippers were killed and about thirty wounded tonight, when Iraqi security forces stormed a Baghdad church in which terrorists wearing explosive vests were holding them hostage.

The raid also killed seven Iraqi soldiers and police officers. The violence erupted just after 9pm, almost four hours after a group of between six and eight gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Our Lady of Salvation Chaldean Catholic church in the inner-city suburb of Karrada.

Worshippers caught up in the carnage described their ordeal to the Guardian as they fled the church. They said the terrorist attack was heralded by a car bomb outside the fortified church gate at 5:30pm. The two priests, who were about to begin mass ushered at least half of their 120-strong congregation to a small room in the back of the ornate building, in a bid to protect them.

"After a while one of the terrorists opened the door and threw in a bomb," said a man who identified himself as Bassam. "There were injuries. They killed people, they injured people," he said, before collapsing on the road outside the church. "Where is our father?" he screamed," referring to his priest. "Where is our father?"

More here.

Room for Rent -- Cheap. . .

Sky News:

Revealed: Iraq Terrorists' Deadly New Tactic
Adam Arnold, Sky News Online

Al Qaeda in Iraq is renting residential buildings and rigging them with explosives in a cunning new tactic which has killed dozens of civilians, officials say.

The ploy has defied thousands of security forces in Baghdad by getting around the mass of checkpoints used to deter car bombings.

The new tactic has forced the police and army to change their own operations to counter the terrorists.

America's military has even come up with a new term - HBIED (house-borne improvised explosive device) for the attacks.

The attacks have also left hundreds of people injured in the past month in the Iraqi capital.

The HBIED phrase follows the IED (improvised-explosive device - homemade bomb) and VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device - car bomb) into a terrorism vocabulary started in Iraq and then taken to Afghanistan.

Some 25 people were killed on election day, March 7, when explosives destroyed two buildings in north-east Baghdad.

The US military, which pointed the finger at al Qaeda, said the properties had been rented and deliberately blown up.

Another 35 people died on April 6, when explosives were planted in houses and shops in mostly Shi'ite neighbourhoods.

A number of those properties had been rented days earlier, security officials said.

Major General Qassim Atta, a Baghdad security forces spokesman, said: "Our forces are focusing on the renting of apartments and buildings."

Insurgents were continually looking to exploit gaps in the city's defences, he said.

"They change their methods periodically because most of their plans and tactics have been discovered. I believe they are already searching for another method of attack, maybe churches or bridges."

Counter-terrorism expert Brian Fishman said of the HBIED operations: "The tactic is seen as very disreputable, even among active insurgents."

But he added it allows them "to get around a lot of the tactics developed to prevent car bombs," such as the mass of security checkpoints in Baghdad.

Video: Iraqi Christian Girls Being Systematically Raped and Tortured by Islamists, "They Kept Yelling Allahu Akbar And Reciting Suras From the Koran"

Help Our Troops...Operation Proper Exit

Watch The Video and Make a Donation.

Take a minute to watch this moving video about Operation Proper Exit.

Then make a tax-deductible donation to help the USO stand with our service men and women.

"Allah Akbar"

H/T: Freedom's Lighthouse

Iraqi Christians Remember Martyrs

Iraqi Christians attend Christmas mass at the Virgin Mary church on December 25, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq (Getty Images) Asia News:

Diocese remembers 409 AD in which hundreds of Christians people were beheaded for their faith and the continued history of Iraqi Christian Martyrs.

For 1600 years, Iraq has been "a country of martyrs", which finds in the “Holy Spirit and the Eucharist" the strength to bear witness to the faith “despite persecution”.

So says Mgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, on the eve of a week of celebrations to mark 1600 years since the massacre of Iraqi martyrs. A long series of past and present violence, but one which has not stopped "the sacred history of the Christians ... and their journey."

In 409 AD hundreds of Christians were beheaded for their faith. "Among them - said Msgr. Sako - a widow named Scirin-Miskenta, with two children, and general Tahmazgerd, who carried out the decree of the king, who ordered the massacre.

"Seeing their faith, serenity and the trust of the widow" -continued the prelate - "Tahmzgerd converted to Christianity" and as a result was "beheaded later." Around 470, in order to commemorate the massacre of Christians, the bishop of Kirkuk Maruta "built a sanctuary” on the hill where "the martyrs were buried”.

The "Red Church", as it is called,is now "the graveyard of the Chaldeans"; the relics of martyrs, custodied on the main altar, have always been a destination for the processions of the faithful.

To celebrate the anniversary of the martyrdom, the diocese has organized a series of events: on Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace; Thursday, hymns of the martyrs and a conference at the recently restored Sanctuary; on Friday Mass will be celebrated; on Saturday a play, staged by the choir of the cathedral and the church of St. Joseph. Under the slogan "true to our fathers in faith," Christians in Kirkuk want to "bear witness to the faith, love, trust and openness."

The history of violence and persecution against Christians has continued uninterrupted. Abductions, kidnappings, assassinations, fleeing families are the dramatic testimony of a "chain of martyrs - underlines Msgr. Sako - that continues.

"Our country is dotted with shrines to martyrs that people constantly visit, it is a spirituality of martyrdom". Christians find the strength to "remain faithful" in the "Holy Spirit, but also in the liturgy, especially the Eucharist."

"In every Mass" - added the archbishop of Kirkuk – "we are called upon to make the sacrifice of Christ in our life, in his words; take, break, give ... Do this in memory of me: this is the sacred history of Christians and ... their journey”.

Chavez Rips Fox News

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, unplugged and at his "best"....sounds like a mainstream Democrat or MSNBC commentator to me!!!

Hat Tip: Weasel Zippers