Trump does not do a favor by opposing Israeli resumption of sovereignty in Gaza

Donald Trump's recent kowtowing to demands of Muslim states has the Yesha Council concerned:

Israel’s Yesha Council is “deeply concerned” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to set a deadline for extending Israeli sovereignty to the region during a meeting with a council delegation in New York on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Judea and Samaria leaders on Sunday that he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump the region is inseparable from the Jewish state, according to the umbrella group of Judea and Samaria communities. However, he would not commit to a timeline. [...]

On Saturday evening, the council announced that an “unprecedentedly large emergency delegation” consisting of the organization’s leadership, as well as Judea and Samaria mayors and council heads, had departed for New York following Trump’s remarks against Israeli sovereignty.

Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office on Sept. 25, Trump said that he had ordered Netanyahu ahead of their Monday meeting not to “annex the West Bank” and that he would “not allow” the move to take place.

“There’s been enough,” Trump told reporters. “It’s time to stop now.”

What's objectionable about the above is that it implies Israel is a "thief", which is exactly what's led to only so much antisemitic persecution, and will continue to do so if not opposed. This is unacceptable. Similarly, if Trump's proposing that foreign Islamic governments take control of Gaza, that too could lead to renewed terrorist infrastructure in the future, and that's also unacceptable.

Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that his opposition against a Palestinian state “is not simply my policy or my government’s policy; it is the policy of the state and people of the State of Israel.”

“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after Oct. 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after Sept. 11th,” he said. “This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.”

Nearly 70% of Israelis want Jerusalem to extend full legal sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, according to a poll conducted on Jan. 29.

Trump and company would do well to take note and acknowledge the above. It's bad enough they've legitimized Ahmed al-Sharaa in Syria. Any impositions upon Israel are also unacceptable.

Update: in related news, a Secret Service car caught fire in the District of Columbia today, and Catherine Salgado says:

Hopefully, the car burning is the only disaster of today, and Israel is not saddled with a horrible deal in which George Soros-tied globalist Tony Blair is the transitional ruler of Gaza before handing it back over to the terror-funding Palestinian Authority (PA). Reports of such a deal raised concerns due to Blair’s ties and the PA’s pay-for-slay program to incentivize and reward terrorism, not to mention the PA was formed for the express purpose of taking over Israeli land by Yasser Arafat, the inventor of the Palestinian people and father of modern terrorism.

These are very serious points being made, and Blair would be bad news too.

New tyrants in Syria add anti-Semitism and anti-Christian sentiment to educational curriculum

This is no shock at all when one considers what these "rebels" are really like:

Syria’s newly formed government is under fire following the announcement of proposed changes to the school curriculum. Critics have voiced concerns that the amendments, which some perceive as introducing an Islamist bias, could reshape the country’s educational framework, CNN reported Thursday.

Details of the changes were posted on the education ministry’s official Facebook page, according to the report.

Among the modifications are alterations to certain phrases: “path of goodness” has been replaced with “Islamic path,” and the phrase “those who are damned and have gone astray” now explicitly refers to “Jews and Christians,” reflecting a strict interpretation of a Quranic verse.

Additionally, the definition of “martyr” has shifted from someone who died for their homeland to someone who sacrificed their life “for the sake of God.” Entire chapters, such as one on “the origins and evolution of life,” have been removed altogether.

Although it is unclear whether these changes have been implemented, they are intended to affect students aged 6 to 18, according to CNN.

[...] HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader. has recently emphasized efforts to dissociate the group from its Al-Qaeda roots, promoting a vision of a government centered on tolerance and inclusivity. At the same time, he also recently said that the new Syrian regime will operate according to Sharia law.

In that case, they haven't distanced themselves from al Qaeda so much as they have employed taqqiya. So it's clear this is no more than a sad case of one tyrant being replaced by another. Exactly why the regime as it stands now in Syria can't be recognized as valid.

2 Mohammeds raped woman in Brooklyn

A horrifying case of Islamic sexual violence occurred at a business in Brooklyn, with the worst part being that the Islamofascists were armed with a knife:

A 25-year-old man accused of wielding a knife while his accomplice allegedly raped a female worker inside a Brooklyn business nearly two weeks ago has been arrested in connection to the horrifying crime, cops said.

Mohammed Alwi, 25, of Canarsie, was nabbed Wednesday in connection to the attack on a 49-year-old woman around 6 p.m. Dec. 23 inside an unnamed business near 9th Avenue and 59th Street in Borough Park, authorities said.

While Alwi’s partner-in-crime Mohammed Izzeddin, 22, sexually assaulted the worker, Alwi displayed a knife to keep two other people inside the business “under control,” police said.

He was charged with rape, robbery, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching, menacing, assault and harassment, authorities said.

His arraignment was pending Thursday afternoon.

The traumatized victim told PIX 11 days after the attack that she hasn’t been able to sleep since the startling crime.

“I had not rested for 24 hours — not at all, on any day since because I could not calm down, and now I am slowly adjusting. I think I may see a psychiatrist next,” the woman told the network.

The mother of one of the culprits came from Syria. And now, what was seen in places like Europe is taking place on USA soil, and is sure to get far worse soon enough. As Front Page notes:

As the Koran states in Sura 4:24 states, “And forbidden to you are wedded wives of other people except those who have fallen in your hands.” That applies to captured Israelis and Chinese workers.

There was also a terrible incident on New Year's Eve where a 3rd Mohammed ran over pedestrians and 2 police officials. The disastrous way NYC is run under Democrats these days has enabled these horrific crimes to occur.

Video: Syria's War

I stumbled across this video at Facebook. Accurate — or not?

The Jihad Caucus

From the DC Independent Examiner (hat tip to Gulag Bound):

...[A] group of 14 U.S. senators, led by the indefatigable Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, have written a letter to Obama urging him to allow 65,000 Syrians in as refugees. This would require a dramatic expansion of the refugee program, and virtually guarantee that a sizable number of ISIS fighters would slip in among them. Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy has given them the moniker “Jihad Caucus” because practically speaking, Jihad is what this request will bring.

The 14 senators demanding this massive influx of Syrians are:

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Al Franken (D-MN)

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Patty Murray (D-WA)

Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Christopher Coons (D-DE)

Tim Kaine (D-VA)

Edward Markey (D-MA)

Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Mazie Hirono (D-HI)...

Read the entire article HERE.

The FBI has previously warned that there is no reliable way to determiner whether or not ISIS embeds might be among the Syrian refugees.

3 Million Christians "Missing" In Syria --- Presumed To Have Been Murdered By Jihadist Muslims

I saw the souls 

of them that were beheaded 

for the witness of Jesus

This is a repost of a story just a few down.

I am reposting it because this time I want to accentuate the genocide aspect of this story. (The earlier story focused on the conversion of Muslims to Christianity.)

When this genocide of Christians began in the Syria about a few years back, I began telling everyone I know about it; Pastors, fellow Christians, friends who are "concerned" with "Human Rights".

Of course, I have been ignored.

Now, it appears, 3 million Christians have been murdered.

This is another Holocaust. And the world has once again ignored the symptoms and ignored the slaughter.

It will take time for the actual news to come out and become accepted as fact.

You heard it here first. We may be wrong, but this is what appears to have happened.

Over the next few years, we will find out just how accurate this story is.

By the way, I suspect we have not seen the end of this ongoing genocide of Christians. I believe it will spread like a wildfire across the entire landscape of the Muslim world. The "Saints" will be beheaded.

From IBA:

Over 3 million Christians are currently ‘missing’ from Syria in the past 3.5 years and are not included in refugee numbers indicating that they have been killed. 

Because of the extreme persecution against Christians taking place all across the Middle East we have decided not to publish the source or details of this data or where this converted populations live in the Islamic world out of consideration for their security and safety. 

It is our opinion that the mass slaughter of Christians taking place right now is exactly due to the fact that millions of Muslims have converted to Christianity and authorities and Salafis are aware that changes are taking place and trying to put a stop to it.

Angelina Jolie is paying attention:

Days after Angelina Jolie was photographed on a visit to northern Iraq, the Unbroken director has written an impassioned op-ed about her trip for the New York Times. In it, she describes the devastation she witnessed in refugee camps and calls for action to help the millions of displaced Syrians and Iraqis who no longer have a home. 

"I have visited Iraq five times since 2007, and I have seen nothing like the suffering I'm witnessing now," she writes in the op-ed, published by the Times on Tuesday, Jan. 27. 

"For many years I have visited camps, and every time, I sit in a tent and hear stories," she explains. 

"I try my best to give support. To say something that will show solidarity and give some kind of thoughtful guidance. On this trip I was speechless." 

As previously reported, the mom of six visited the Khanke Camp for Internally Displaced People on Sunday, Jan. 25. While there, she spoke with victims of ISIS — some of whom she describes in her Times op-ed. 

"What do you say to the 13-year-old girl who describes the warehouses where she and the others lived and would be pulled out, three at a time, to be raped by the men?" the Maleficent star and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees questions. "When her brother found out, he killed himself." 

She continues: "How can you speak when a woman your own age looks you in the eye and tells you that her whole family was killed in front of her, and that she now lives alone in a tent and has minimal food rations?" 

The piece goes on to detail the increasingly dire situation in Syria, noting that neighboring countries "have taken in nearly four million Syrian refugees, but they are reaching their limits."   

With that in mind, Jolie calls upon the international community to take action. "What does it say about our commitment to human rights and accountability that we seem to tolerate crimes against humanity happening in Syria and Iraq on a daily basis?" she asks. 

"It is not enough to defend our values at home, in our newspapers and in our institutions," she writes. "We also have to defend them in the refugee camps of the Middle East, and the ruined ghost towns of Syria."

‘350 million Muslims secretly live as Christian converts’ - It Appears At Least 3 Million Christians Have Been Slaughtered In Syria

I work with a Egyptian man who used to be a Christian preacher in Egypt. He had to be smuggled out of Egypt 30 years back (by those who shall remain nameless) because of the Fatwas calling for his head.

Anyway, he has been telling me that there is an incredible surge of Muslims becoming Christians, and that this is actually how we're going to defeat Islam, ultimately.

This article here is the first evidence I have seen that what my friend tells me is true.

From Muslim Statistics:

A major Christian syndication has provided video evidence to us from their user data around the world which proves that a massive 350 million (!) Muslims live their outward lives as Muslims, on the surface, but have secretly converted to Christianity. 

The reason for this dramatic transformation in numbers is not due to the Church proselytising Muslims or trying to convince or force conversions. According to the most common Muslim testimonial to their conversion “Jesus appeared to them in dreams or visions” spontaneously and “showed them he was the real prophet”. 

Others reported miracles and answers to prayers to be the reason for their conversion, by what they claim to be “Jesus” having responded to them. This astonishing figure took us by complete surprise but it is real and have been confirmed by Arab Christian sources and figures. 

The Muslim population is now 2.08 billion people as of 2013 figures according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

In addition to the mass conversion of Muslims in Islamic countries, other reports which have been official for a few years have confirmed that over 6 million Muslims in Africa convert to Christianity every single year. 

Over 3 million Christians are currently ‘missing’ from Syria in the past 3.5 years and are not included in refugee numbers indicating that they have been killed. 

Because of the extreme persecution against Christians taking place all across the Middle East we have decided not to publish the source or details of this data or where this converted populations live in the Islamic world out of consideration for their security and safety. 

It is our opinion that the mass slaughter of Christians taking place right now is exactly due to the fact that millions of Muslims have converted to Christianity and authorities and Salafis are aware that changes are taking place and trying to put a stop to it.

Three million Christians have been slaughtered?

Where's Amnesty International? Where Ban Ki Moon? Where's the Free Free Palestine people who are so, so concerned with "Human Rights"?

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

Obama's Monday News Blitz

From White House Dossier:

As the lead-up to his prime time presidential speech on Syria Tuesday, President Obama Monday will conduct interviews with the NBC, ABC and CBS network anchors, as well as with PBS, CNN, and Fox, according to a White House official.

The interviews will air Monday night.

The foundation is being laid right now by the networks: Syria, Syria, Syria. At the moment, I am watching CBS, but all the other networks are doing the same thing.

Demagoguery.

China Moving Warships Toward Syria?

With a hat tip to Mark Alexander of A New Dark Age Is Dawning:

Obama Preparing To Aid Syrian Rebels?

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moved by the Assad regime’s rapid advance, the Obama administration could decide this week to approve lethal aid for the beleaguered Syrian rebels and will weigh the merits of a less likely move to send in U.S. airpower to enforce a no-fly zone over the civil war-wracked nation, officials said Sunday.

The Arab Spring is part of Obama's vision of a new world order.

World war coming soon? Or will the new world order come about not with a bang, but with a whimper?

On The Front Page Of Today's Washington Post

The lead story doesn't come as a surprise to informed infidels:

Islamic law comes to rebel-held Syria

ALEPPO, Syria — The evidence was incontrovertible, captured on video and posted on YouTube for all the world to see. During a demonstration against the Syrian regime, Wael Ibrahim, a veteran activist, had tossed aside a banner inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith.

And that, decreed the officers of the newly established Sharia Authority set up to administer rebel-held Aleppo, constitutes a crime under Islamic law, punishable in this instance by 10 strokes of a metal pipe.

The beating administered last month offered a vivid illustration of the extent to which the Syrian revolution has strayed from its roots as a largely spontaneous uprising against four decades of Assad family rule. After mutating last year into a full-scale war, it is moving toward what appears to be an organized effort to institute Islamic law in areas that have fallen under rebel control.

Building on the reputation they have earned in recent months as the rebellion’s most accomplished fighters, Islamist units are seeking to assert their authority over civilian life, imposing Islamic codes and punishments and administering day-to-day matters such as divorce, marriage and vehicle licensing.

Numerous Islamist groups are involved, representing a wide spectrum of views. But, increasingly, the dominant role is falling to Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States for suspected ties to al-Qaeda but is widely respected by many ordinary Syrians for its battlefield prowess and the assistance it has provided to needy civilians....

More of Obama's change.

More of the results of Obama's outreach to the Islamic world.

Egypt rejected U.S. demand to fire on Iranian ship transporting arms to Syria: Suez chief

Go read the whole story at The Other News.

My picture of the day

Syrians living in Jordan hold a Syrian national flag during a protest against Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad outside the United Nations office in Amman, the word "freedom" is printed on the flag, (Photo: Reuters).




Doesn't freedom look beautiful?

Jihad Jet-Lag? Venuzuelan Airline's Shaheed Shuttle Busted By FOX

FOX News has posted this exclusive report on a Venezuelan airline's "mystery flight" that appears to have been shuttling spies, jihadists, and arms between that country, Iran, and Syria.


EXCLUSIVE: Venezuela Cancels Round-Trip 'Terror Flight' to Syria and Iran
By Ed Barnes
Published September 14, 2010
FoxNews.com

A Venezuelan airline's “mystery” flight that shuttled among the capitals of three of the world’s most terror-friendly nations — Venezuela, Syria and Iran — has abruptly canceled its regularly scheduled departures amid accusations that it was used primarily to transport spies, terrorists and lethal cargo among the pariah counties.

“I am sorry, but we are no longer flying to Tehran and I do not know when the flights will resume. It was a flight that left Caracas on Tuesdays, but it no longer does,” Jenny Gil Romero, who handles international departures for Conviasa, the national airline that operates the flight, said in a message to FOX News.

Messages to the airline seeking further information went unanswered.

Romero's comments came in response to FOXNews.com's efforts to buy tickets on the regularly scheduled, 48-hour round trip from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran, then back again.

Intelligence analysts with both the CIA and Israel said that, despite the listing of the flight as a regular commercial route and a code share with Iran air -- Flight IR744 is also Flight VO3744 -- there was no way that anyone could buy a ticket and travel without being vetted by the Venezuelan or Iranian government.And without passport controls, flight manifests and other documents, it meant some of the world's most dangerous men could travel without fear of being uncovered.

Curiously, unlike most other bookings on the national airline, calls for reservations on this particular flight were routed to a cell phone in Argentina, rather than to Conviasa's regular service in Caracas.

The Venezuelan ambassador to the United States had defended the flights as recently as two weeks ago in response to criticism in a State Department report that cited the flight’s questionable route and procedures. (Click here to read the report.) Messages left at the Venezuelan embassy's press office and the ambassador's office were not returned, and a list of questions submitted to the embassy's press office was not answered.

For the past three years, every other Tuesday, Flight VO3744 would roll out to a secluded loading platform at Simon Bolivar Airport in Caracas. Shrouded from public view and unencumbered by the normal exit procedures, a select passenger list would board the flight.

Over the next 48 hours, according to Western intelligence agencies, Venezuelan opposition figures and a former Iran-based spy for the CIA, the flight would carry illicit, lethal cargoes -- such as explosives and possibly radioactive materials -- and provide safe passage to terrorists, spies, weapons experts, senior Iranian intelligence operatives and members of both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Reza Kahlili, the pseudonym for an Iranian who the CIA has confirmed once spied for the United States as a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, told FoxNews.com these "special flights" have been "instrumental in creating an Iranian dominated worldwide terror network that now reaches the United States." He said the flights were used to expand Iran’s efforts to create a base of operations in the Western Hemisphere.

Peter Brookes, a former Defense Department analyst and CIA employee now with the Heritage Foundation, said there was a steady stream of elite Al Quds officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who were transported to Venezuela aboard the flight and took up positions in the Latin American country’s intelligence service.

“We can’t say for sure what is going on, but it is clandestine and secretive,” he said.

Intelligence agencies are known to suspect the flight may be part of Iran’s program to build nuclear weapons. Venezuela has large deposits of uranium, and -- while raw uranium transport is unlikely by plane -- an Internet page in Caracas used by airline employees stated that the flights carried “radioactive materials.” The page was quickly shut down after the allegation was made, according to El Pais, a newspaper in Madrid, Spain.

Experts and Venezuelan opposition figures also say the influx of Iranians, as well as Hezbollah and Hamas operatives, into Venezuela on the flight was to prepare for a retaliatory strike against the U.S. if there was an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

According to Kahlili, the flight was used to transport Imad Mughniyeh, one of the most wanted men in the world, between Damascus and Tehran before he was assassinated in Lebanon in 2008. Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah operative, was believed responsible for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy as well as the Marine barracks in Beirut that killed over 350 people. He was also accused of planning the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1992.

More recently it was the flight to which Abdul Kadir, the Guyanese member of Parliament who was convicted in the attempted bombing of fuel pipelines at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, was headed when he was arrested. Kadir was accused at his trial of being an Iranian spy.

Alex Vros contributed to this article.

Syria: 19-year-old blogger arrested

Image via Wikipedia

Arab Network for Human Rights has denounced that in Syria a 19-year-old girl who wrote a blog in the internet, has been detained for the last 3 months and without allowing her to communicate with her parents.

In a press release, the NGO explains that Tal Al Melouhi was arrested on Dec 27th, her house was searched and her computer intervened by police. "Since that moment, her family has lost all communication with her, is not allowed to visit her and hasn't been informed of where she is now", it adds.

For the Arab Net, "arresting so young a blogger, who has just completed secondary education because of a poem who is not offensive to anyone and is not against the law, shows a profoundly implacable and clearly repressive and hostile attitude to freedom of expression".

via Detienen a una bloguera de 19 años por publicar un poema en Siria - Libertad Digital.

If there is someone who knows more about this case, please leave the link in the comments' section.

Cross-posted from T&P.

technorati tags: Tal_Al_Melouhi, Syria, Arab_Network_for_Human_Rights, blogosphere, blogger, freedom_of_expression

Lebanon Rejects Islamo-Fascism

Lebanese supporters of the Christian Phalangist and Lebanese Forces parties celebrate their victory in the central Lebanese city of Zahleh in the Bekaa valley on June 8, 2009. Lebanon was anxiously awaiting the results of a hotly-contested election on Sunday that could see an alliance led by the Hezbollah militant group unseat the pro-Western majority in parliament. (Sky News-AFP/Getty Images)

Lebanese voters reject Iran, Syria and Hezbollah:

Lebanon's Western-backed coalition has claimed a surprise victory in the country's parliamentary elections.

There was widespread speculation that the hard line Shi'ite group Hezbollah could upstage the vote.

But Hezbollah's leaders have so far accepted the results, making conciliatory comments and urging stability in the region.

Interior Minister Ziad Baroud announced the results from all 26 districts, which showed the coalition won 68 seats in the 128-member assembly.

Supporters of the coalition celebrated for hours after voters renewed their majority in parliament four years after the "Cedar Revolution" that helped drive Syria's army out of Lebanon.

The outcome was a blow to Syria and Iran, which support Hezbollah.

But it was welcome news for the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which back the "March 14" group, named after the date of a huge rally against Syria's military presence in 2005.Hezbollah and its allies swept the vote in mainly Shi'ite areas, but defeat of their Christian ally, Michel Aoun, in two key districts deprived the alliance of the majority many had predicted.

Saad al-Hariri, the Sunni Muslim leader of "March 14", emerged from the poll as front-runner to lead the new government and follow in the footsteps of his assassinated father Rafik al-Hariri."Congratulations to Lebanon, congratulations to democracy, congratulations to freedom," the billionaire politician said in a victory speech at his mansion in Beirut.

"There are no winners and losers in this election, the only winner is democracy and the biggest winner is Lebanon."

The United States, which lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group, has linked future aid to Lebanon to the shape and policies of the next government.

Party on hot Lebanese girls and have a drink on behalf of the Infidel Bloggers Alliance and myself, personally!!!

Lebanon Fate Hangs in the Balance

A Lebanese woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Beirut's Christian sector of Ashrafieh, Lebanon, Sunday, June 7, 2009. Lebanese streamed to their hometowns on the Mediterranean coast and high up in the mountains Sunday to vote in crucial elections that could unseat a pro-Western government and install one dominated by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Voting under way in Lebanon:

(AP) - Lebanese streamed to their hometowns on the Mediterranean coast and high in the mountains Sunday to vote in a crucial election that could unseat a pro-Western government and install one dominated by Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The race for the 128-member parliament will have repercussions beyond this tiny Arab country's borders. A win for the alliance headed by Shiite militant Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, could bring international isolation and possibly a new conflict with Israel. It could also set back U.S. Mideast policy and boost the influence of Hezbollah's backers, Syria and Iran.

"I voted for reform and change," said Laure Khoury, a 32-year-old school teacher, after voting in the district of Byblos north of Beirut for Hezbollah's Christian allies. "We tried the others for four years and we got nothing but promises and corruption. Enough is enough," she said.

Lebanon has long been a main front in what many see as a power struggle between two main camps in the Mideast—the U.S. and its moderate Arab allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt on one side, and Iran and Syria and militant groups such as Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas on the other.

The vote is the latest chapter in four tumultuous years that began with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 in a car bombing. The pro-Western factions swept into power in elections the same year on a sympathy vote. But the government has been virtually paralyzed since by a power struggle with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's coalition includes the Shiite movement Amal and a major Christian faction led by former army chief Michel Aoun. Opposing it are the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim supporters of current majority leader Saad Hariri—Rafik Hariri's son—allied with several Christian and Druse factions.

Going into the election, the race for a majority appears too close to call. In the outgoing parliament, the pro-Western bloc had 70 seats and Hezbollah's alliance had 58.

Hezbollah's opponents say if the heavily armed group wins, it would drive Lebanon into the arms of Iran, which could use it as a front in the Islamic republic's confrontation with Israel. (Read entire article)

H/T Pat Dollard

Okay, since I am a devotee of Rule 5 Sunday, I did primarily post this for the gratuitous pic of the hot Lebanese girl!

Country Reports on Terrorism 2008

U.S. Department of State

April 30, 2009

State sponsors of terrorism provide critical support to non-state terrorist groups. Without state sponsors, terrorist groups would have greater difficulty obtaining the funds, weapons, materials, and secure areas they require to plan and conduct operations. The United States will continue to insist that these countries end the support they give to terrorist groups.

Sudan continued to take significant steps towards better counterterrorism cooperation. Iran and Syria have not renounced terrorism or made efforts to act against Foreign Terrorist Organizations and routinely provided safe haven, substantial resources, and guidance to terrorist organizations. Cuba continued to publicly defend the FARC and provide safe haven to some members of terrorist organizations, though some were in Cuba in connection with peace negotiations with the Governments of Spain and Colombia.

On October 11, the United States rescinded the designation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a state sponsor of terrorism in accordance with criteria set forth in U.S. law, including a certification that the Government of North Korea had not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period and the provision by the government of assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.

State Sponsor: Implications

Designating countries that repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism as state sponsors of terrorism imposes four main sets of U.S. Government sanctions:

1. A ban on arms-related exports and sales.

2. Controls over exports of dual-use items, requiring 30-day Congressional notification for
goods or services that could significantly enhance the terrorist-list country's military
capability or ability to support terrorism.

3. Prohibitions on economic assistance.

4. Imposition of miscellaneous financial and other restrictions, including:

• Requiring the United States to oppose loans by the World Bank and other international financial institutions;
• Exception from the jurisdictional immunity in U.S. courts of state sponsor countries, and all former state sponsor countries (with the exception of Iraq), with respect to claims for money damages for personal injury or death caused by certain acts of terrorism, torture, or extrajudicial killing, or the provision of material support or resources for such acts;
• Denying companies and individuals tax credits for income earned in terrorist-list countries;
• Denial of duty-free treatment of goods exported to the United States;
• Authority to prohibit any U.S. citizen from engaging in a financial transaction with a terrorist-list government without a Treasury Department license; and
• Prohibition of Defense Department contracts above $100,000 with companies in which a state sponsor government owns or controls a significant interest.

CUBA

Although Cuba no longer actively supports armed struggle in Latin America and other parts of the world, the Cuban government continued to provide safe haven to several terrorists. Members of ETA, the FARC, and the ELN remained in Cuba during 2008, some having arrived in Cuba in connection with peace negotiations with the governments of Spain and Colombia. Cuban authorities continued to publicly defend the FARC. However, on July 6, 2008, former Cuban President Fidel Castro called on the FARC to release the hostages they were holding without preconditions. He has also condemned the FARC's mistreatment of captives and of their abduction of civilian politicians who had no role in the armed conflict.

The United States has no evidence of terrorist-related money laundering or terrorist financing activities in Cuba, although Cuba has one of the world’s most secretive and non-transparent national banking systems. Cuba has no financial intelligence unit. Cuba’s Law 93 Against Acts of Terrorism provides the government authority to track, block, or seize terrorist assets.

The Cuban government continued to permit some U.S. fugitives—including members of U.S. militant groups such as the Boricua Popular, or Macheteros, and the Black Liberation Army to live legally in Cuba. In keeping with its public declaration, the government has not provided safe haven to any new U.S. fugitives wanted for terrorism since 2006.

IRAN

Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism. Iran’s involvement in the planning and financial support of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy.

The Qods Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is the regime’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad. The Qods Force provided aid in the form of weapons, training, and funding to HAMAS and other Palestinian terrorist groups, Lebanese Hizballah, Iraq-based militants, and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Iran remained a principal supporter of groups that are implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace Process. Iran provided weapons, training, and funding to HAMAS and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Iran’s provision of training, weapons, and money to HAMAS since the 2006 Palestinian elections has bolstered the group’s ability to strike Israel. In 2008, Iran provided more than $200 million in funding to Lebanese Hizballah and trained over 3,000 Hizballah fighters at camps in Iran. Since the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict, Iran has assisted Hizballah in rearming, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Iran’s IRGC Qods Force provided assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Qods Force provided training to the Taliban on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives to select Taliban members.

Despite its pledge to support the stabilization of Iraq, Iranian authorities continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to Iraqi militant groups that targeted Coalition and Iraqi forces and killed innocent Iraqi civilians. Iran’s Qods Force continued to provide Iraqi militants with Iranian-produced advanced rockets, sniper rifles, automatic weapons, and mortars that have killed Iraqi and Coalition Forces as well as civilians. Tehran was responsible for some of the lethality of anti-Coalition attacks by providing militants with the capability to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) that were specially designed to defeat armored vehicles. The Qods Force, in concert with Lebanese Hizballah, provided training both inside and outside of Iraq for Iraqi militants in the construction and use of sophisticated IED technology and other advanced weaponry.

Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida members it has detained, and has refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its al-Qa’ida detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for trial. Iran also continued to fail to control the activities of some al-Qa’ida members who fled to Iran following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Senior IRGC and Qods Force officials were indicted by the Government of Argentina for their alleged roles in the 1994 terrorist bombing of the Argentine Israel Mutual Association which, according to the Argentine State Prosecutor’s report, was initially proposed by the Qods Force.

SUDAN

Sudan remained a cooperative partner in global counterterrorism efforts. During the past year, the Sudanese government continued to pursue terrorist operations directly involving threats to U.S. interests and personnel in Sudan. Sudanese officials have indicated that they view their continued cooperation with the United States as important and recognize the benefits of U.S. training and information-sharing. Though the counterterrorism relationship remained solid, some hard-line Sudanese officials continued to express resentment and distrust over actions by the USG and questioned the benefits of the bilateral cooperation. Their assessment reflected disappointment that Sudan's counterterrorism cooperation has not resulted in its removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Nonetheless, there was no indication at year’s end that the Sudanese government will curtail its counterterrorism cooperation with the United States.

Al-Qa’ida (AQ)-inspired terrorist elements, and elements of both Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and HAMAS remained in Sudan. In light of the continuing hybrid UN-AU deployment to Darfur, various terrorist threats against this mission have emerged, and AQ leadership has called for “jihad” against UN forces in Darfur. In the early hours of January 1, 2008, attackers in Khartoum sympathetic to AQ shot and fatally wounded two U.S. Embassy staff members – an American and a Sudanese employee – both of whom worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sudanese authorities cooperated closely with the USG in investigating this terrorist crime. On February 1, five alleged conspirators were arrested and put on trial for murder on August 31. Their trial was ongoing at year’s end. Other extremist groups also have threatened attacks against Western interests in Sudan. The July 14 request by International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges related to atrocities committed in Darfur has further inflamed tensions. Therefore, the terrorist threat level remained critical in Khartoum and Darfur, and potentially other parts of Sudan.

Elements of designated terrorist groups remained in Sudan. With the exception of HAMAS, whose members the Sudanese government consider to be “freedom fighters” rather than terrorists, the government does not appear to openly support the presence of extremist elements. We note, however, that there have been open source reports that arms were purchased in Sudan's black market and allegedly smuggled northward to HAMAS.

The Sudanese government has prevented foreign fighters from using Sudan as a logistics base and transit point for extremists going to Iraq. However, gaps remained in the Sudanese government's knowledge of and ability to identify and capture these individuals. There was evidence to suggest that individuals who were active participants in the Iraqi insurgency have returned to Sudan and were in a position to use their expertise to conduct attacks within Sudan or to pass on their knowledge. There was also evidence that Sudanese extremists continued to participate in terrorist activities in Somalia, which the Sudanese government has also attempted to disrupt.

SYRIA

Syria was first designated in 1979 as a state sponsor of terrorism. Syria provided political and material support to Hizballah and allowed Iran to use Syrian territory as a transit point for assistance to Hizballah. HAMAS, Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), among others, based their external leadership within Syria's borders. The Syrian government insisted these groups were confined to political and informational activities, but groups with leaders in Syria have claimed responsibility for deadly anti-Israeli terrorist attacks.

Over the course of the year, Syria's public support for the Palestinian groups varied, depending on Syrian national interest and international pressure. President Bashar al-Asad continued to express public support for Palestinian terrorist groups. HAMAS Politburo head and defacto leader Khalid Meshal and his deputies continued to reside in Syria. Syria provided a safe haven for Meshal and security escorts for his motorcades. Meshal's use of the Syrian Ministry of Information as the venue for press conferences this year could be taken as an endorsement of HAMAS's message. Media reports indicated HAMAS used Syrian soil to train its militant fighters. Though the Syrian government claimed periodically that it used its influence to restrain the rhetoric and activities of Palestinian groups, the Syrian government allowed a Palestinian conference organized by HAMAS, PFLP-GC, and PIJ to occur in January, and another HAMAS organized conference, reportedly funded by Iran, to take place in November.

Highlighting Syria's ties to the world's most notorious terrorists, Hizballah Operations Chief Imad Mugniyah, perished in a February 12 car bombing near Syrian Military Intelligence (SMI) headquarters in the Damascus neighborhood of Kafr Sousa. Among other atrocities, Mugniyah was wanted in connection with the 1983 bombings of the Marine barracks and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, which killed over 350. Despite initial attempts to cover up the incident, the Syrian government reluctantly acknowledged some days later that one of the world's most wanted terrorists had been present and died on Syrian soil.

Syrian officials publicly condemned some acts of terrorism, while continuing to defend what they considered to be legitimate armed resistance by Palestinians and Hizballah against Israeli occupation of Arab territory, and by the Iraqi opposition against the "occupation of Iraq." Syria has not been directly implicated in an act of terrorism since 1986, although an ongoing UN investigation into the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri continued to investigate Syrian involvement.

Syria itself was the location of at least one major attack. On September 27, the car-bombing of a Syrian government facility reportedly injured 14 and killed at least 17 individuals, marking the first significant attack against regime institutions in nearly 20 years. Not since the Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the early 1980s had Syrian institutions been targeted by terrorists. Regional media reports indicated this bombing was directed at the Palestinian Branch of the Syrian Military Intelligence; the perpetrators remained unknown at year’s end.

Throughout the year, Syria continued to strengthen ties with fellow state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. Syria's Minister of Defense visited Tehran in May and initiated a Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation. Syria also allowed leaders of HAMAS and other Palestinian groups to visit Tehran. President Asad repaid a 2007 visit to Damascus by Iranian President Ahmadinejad with a visit of his own to Tehran in early August, his third visit since 2005. Asad continued to be a staunch defender of Iran's policies, including Iran's "civil" nuclear ambitions.

Syria increased border monitoring activities, instituted tighter screening practices on military-age Arab males entering its borders, hosted two Border Security Working Group meetings with technical experts from the Iraqi Neighbors group, and expressed a desire to increase security cooperation with Iraq. At the same time, Syria remained a key hub for foreign fighters en route to Iraq.

The USG designated several Iraqis residing in Syria and Iraqi-owned entities, including Mishan Al-Jaburi and his satellite television channel Al-Ra'y, under Executive Order 1348 for providing financial, material, and technical support for acts of violence that threatened the peace and stability of Iraq. The United States also designated known foreign fighter facilitators based in Syria, including members of the Abu Ghadiyah network, that orchestrated the flow of terrorists, weapons, and money from Syria to al-Qa’ida in Iraq, under Executive Order 13224.

Despite acknowledged reductions in foreign fighter flows, the scope and impact of the problem remained significant. Syria continued to allow former Iraqi regime elements to operate in the country. Attacks against Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens continued to have a destabilizing effect on Iraq's internal security. Though Syrian and Iraqi leaders met throughout the year both publicly and privately to discuss border enhancements and other measures needed to combat foreign fighter flows, there were few tangible results. While Syria has taken some positive steps, the Syrian government could do more to interdict known terrorist networks and foreign fighter facilitators operating within its borders.

Syria remained a source of concern regarding terrorist financing. The Commercial Bank of Syria remained subject to U.S. sanctions. Industry experts reported that 70 percent of all business transactions were conducted in cash and that nearly 90 percent of all Syrians did not use formal banking services. Despite Syrian governmental legislation requiring money-changers to be licensed by the end of 2007, many money-changers continued to operate illegally in Syria's vast black market, estimated to be as large as Syria's formal economy. Regional "hawala" networks remained intertwined with smuggling and trade-based money laundering, facilitated by notoriously corrupt customs and immigration officials, raising significant concerns that Syrian government and business elites are, at the very least, complicit in illicit financing schemes.

Syria's government-controlled press continued to tout Syrian regime efforts to combat terrorism. The Syrian government, using tightly-controlled press outlets, was quick to blame a Lebanon-based, al-Qa’ida-affiliated group, Fatah al-Islam, for the September 27 attack against a prominent military intelligence installation. Syrian TV broadcasted a November 7 program featuring the confessions of some 20 Fatah al-Islam members, including the daughter and son-in-law of Fatah al-Islam leader Shakr al-Absy, of their involvement.

It remained unclear why Fatah al-Islam would have launched an attack against Syrian security elements, but media reports suggested Absy's disappearance inside of Syria as a possible motive. In response to the September 27 bombing, the Syrian security services conducted at least one reported raid on an alleged terrorist cell residing in the Damascus area, killing and arresting several suspected militants and confiscating a cache of weapons and explosives.

Iran and Syria behind attack on UN Spanish peacekeepers?

That's what some experts belief. Fatah al Islam has important links with Syria and the place where the patrol was attacked is traditionally a Hizbullah's one.

The Iranian Ambassador menaced Spain with a new virus after FM Moratinos protested about the words PM Ahmadinehad had done lately about "destroying Israel", once more, and he was called to give an explanation about them.

Zapatero was heavily critisized in the funerals.

We will see what he says today at the Parliament where he is going to be asked about it.

Read the rest here.