In any time and place, war is fiendishly simple. It is the ultimate zero-sum contest — you win or you lose.
That eternal truth is so obvious that it should not need to be said. Yet even after the horrific slaughter in Paris, there remains a distressing doubt about whether America’s commander in chief gets it.
President Obama has spent the last seven years trying to avoid the world as it is. He has put his intellect and rhetorical skills into the dishonorable service of assigning blame and fudging failure. If nuances were bombs, Islamic State would have been destroyed years ago.
He refuses to say “Islamic terrorism,” as if that would offend the peaceful Muslims who make up the vast bulk of victims. He rejects the word “war,” even as jihadists carry out bloodthirsty attacks against Americans and innocent peoples around the world.
He shuns the mantle of global leadership that comes with the Oval Office, with an aide advancing the preposterous concept that Obama is “leading from behind.” He snubs important partners like Egypt, showers concessions on the apocalyptic mullahs of Iran, and called the Islamic State the “jayvee team” even as it was beginning to create a caliphate.
By Alex Napoliello | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 15, 2015 at 4:34 PM, updated November 15, 2015 at 5:58 PM
For Kelly Coyle, the terrorist attacks in Paris are all too familiar.
The 45-year-old Hoboken resident worked in 7 World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and was just blocks away when the first tower collapsed.
On Friday night, Coyle and a friend were having dinner near their hotel in the 7th arrondissement of Paris when she started receiving text messages from family and friends asking if she was safe.
Coyle didn’t know it at the time, but a series of coordinated terrorist attacks were being carried out across Paris. The attacks left at least 129 people dead and hundreds of others injured.
The head of the House Homeland Security Committee warned on Sunday that “gaping holes” within U.S. defenses make the nation vulnerable to attacks similar to Friday’s violence in Paris.
“There are a lot of holes — gaping holes,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We have hundreds of Americans that have traveled” to Iraq and Syria, he added. “Many of them have come back as well. I think that’s a direct threat.”
McCaul has previously warned that the flow of Europeans and — to a lesser extent — Americans into the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) poses a threat to those countries when people return home.
In addition, McCaul has warned that an influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the ongoing chaos provides a perfect opportunity for Islamic extremists to slip into the U.S. or another country undetected.
“This causes a great concern on the part of policymakers, because we don’t want to be complicit with a program that could bring potential terrorists into the United States,” McCaul said.
One of the men involved in Friday’s attack across Paris, which killed 129 people, was reported to have slipped into the country by disguising himself as a Syrian refugee.
Though the Obama administration has insisted that that revelation does not affect its plans to allow thousands more migrants into the U.S., the news will surely be used by opponents of the policy.
On Capitol Hill, top intelligence and law enforcement officials have testified that “gaps” in intelligence about the refugees leave them with some worries.
McCaul on Sunday said that he had spoken with officials at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, who “they tell me this cannot be properly done.”
‘Just wait…’ Islamic State reveals it has smuggled THOUSANDS of extremists into Europe
AN OPERATIVE working for Islamic State has revealed the terror group has successfully smuggled thousands of covert jihadists into Europe.
By AARON BROWN
PUBLISHED: 07:27, Thu, Sep 10, 2015 | UPDATED: 12:07, Mon, Sep 14, 2015
The Syrian operative claimed more than 4,000 covert ISIS gunmen had been smuggled into western nations – hidden amongst innocent refugees.
The ISIS smuggler, who is in his thirties and is described as having a trimmed jet-black beard, revealed the ongoing clandestine operation is a complete success.
“Just wait,” he smiled.
The Islamic State operative spoke exclusively to BuzzFeed on the condition of anonymity and is believed to be the first to confirm plans to infiltrate western countries.
Attacks threaten viability of Schengen agreement and the vision of tolerant, multi-cultural society that is “essence” of Europe, analysts warn
By Peter Foster, Europe Editor
12:22PM GMT 14 Nov 2015
The Paris attacks that killed at least 128 people on Saturday night will put renewed pressure on Europe Schengen agreement and threaten the “very essence” of the European way of life, as far-right parties seek to capitalise on the attacks, analysts have warned.
With Paris now enduring this second major terror bloodbath in under a year, questions are now being asked about how much longer both Europe’s open border system and vision of a tolerant, multi-cultural society can survive.
“With Paris in lockdown and France closing its borders, we can see all too clearly that what is at stake here is the very essence of our way of life in Europe,” said Davis Lewin, the deputy director of the Henry Jackson Society, a conservative think-tank.
Designed to facilitate the free movement of goods and labour that is the economic life-blood of the continent, the Schengen system has also enabled the easy transfer of both weapons and, potentially jihadist fighters, across those same borders.
Following the attacks, Francois Hollande, the French President also re-imposed border controls in a bid to ensure that none of the Paris terrorists or their support network in France were able to escape, as occurred after the Charlie Hebdo atrocity.
Even before the Paris attacks, Donald Tusk, the EU president, had warned that Europe faced a “race against time” to save the 20-year-old system, which is seen as one of the Union’s most concrete achievements.
Ridgewood NJ, seeing the images of Friday nights Paris attack were a sad reminder of all the people I knew who were murdered on 9/11 .It is
so long after that day it still astonishes me that I can go to the 9/11 memorial and see all those names of people that I recognize and used to have daily interactions with .
What also has remained the same is the self doubt and blame game ,some would suggest cowardise that our political leadership continues to engage in ,instead of dealing with the threat of Nihilistic Islamic Extremism . While the names may have changed , ISIS, al Quada and so on the ugly reality as demonstrated over and over is that these “people” ,are sworn to destroy western society and all it values of freedom and individualism . They want to kill you ,yes YOU living in Ridgewood and your family ,end of the story and they will do anything to achieve their means.
And NO this dose not mean all Muslims are terrorist , but alas many are . Like World War 2 , all Germans were not Nazi’s we just concentrated on the ones that were.
While western politicians acted more like self indulgent children blaming Bush,western culture, the USA, a CIA conspiracy , an inside job, global warming and a litany of other non causes all the while attempting to placate a philosophy that like the NAZI’s and Communism ,is dead set on destroying western society.
These continued wrong headed excuses have amounted to nothing more than pure cowardice and have encouraged our enemy at every step.
So here we are 14 years later and we are still dealing with the same but a much stronger enemy and the same issues despite giving up an significant level of personal freedom .
This weekends Paris attacks have led once again to the media spin machine launching the we deserve it , you asked for it,its your fault “because you eat bacon” campaign all the while looking to again curtail more of our personal freedoms .
Am I the only one to notice that the President seems to utterly clueless about what our enemies are up to but , yet the NSA and IRS as well as local police are spying on virtually every activity an American citizen can undertake ? And the current administration as well as most of the Democrat party along with their media allies are still referring to utterly FAUX climate change as the greatest security threat to our nation? Really , I didn’t see much climate change in Paris on Friday night .
While Americans who question our government’s behavior have become the focus of suspicion , others engaging in irresponsible behavior like “the clock maker” , or banning certain activities because they might to offensive are celebrated ,while all forms of American culture are constantly being denigrated .
If “innocents” are killed on a battle field , the US grovels and apologizes, yet our enemies, have slaves ,take child brides, think of women as property , decapitate women and children , cook children ,murder gays, murder all non believers, destroy ancient artifacts and places of worship and its all in a days work.
As any parent knows continuing to tolerate bad behavior only invites more of it .Meanwhile has our president ever asked the jihadist in the Mideast to put down their guns and stop clinging to their religion like he told so many Americans ?
Its time to face facts, we are at war with “Radicalized Islam ” and we need to start acting like it.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Thursday, Obama said he didn’t believe ISIS was gaining strength
The interview aired just hours before ISIS claimed responsibility for the horrific attack in Paris that killed 128 people on Friday
Several social media users, including Donald Trump, have criticized Obama
ISIS has grown during the Obama administration from a group he once called al Qaeda’s ‘JV team’ to the force it is today
Obama set off for the two-day G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday
See the latest on Obama’s reaction to the Paris terror attacks
By KELLY MCLAUGHLIN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:23 EST, 14 November 2015 | UPDATED: 06:31 EST, 15 November 2015
President Barack Obama said that ISIS was ‘contained’ just a day before the terrorist group claimed responsibility for a horrific attack in Paris that killed 128 people on Friday.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that aired on Friday’s broadcast of Good Morning America, Obama declared that he didn’t believe ISIS (also known as ISIL) was gaining strength.
‘What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them,’ Obama said in the interview. ‘They have not gained ground in Iraq, and in Syria they’ll come in, they’ll leave, but you don’t see this systemic march by ISIL across the terrain.’
Since Friday’s attacks in Paris, several social media users, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have criticized the comments made by Obama, who set off for the two-day Group of 20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday.
Athens (AFP) – Greek police on Saturday said at least one man with a possible connection to the Paris attacks had registered as a refugee with Greek authorities earlier this year.
French authorities had asked their Greek counterparts to check the fingerprints of one man who died in the attacks, with a Syrian passport found next to him, in addition to the fingerprints of another man.
There were efforts to establish whether both had registered in Greece, the main entry point into Europe for Syrian refugees.
The Greek minister for citizen protection, Nikos Toskas, said one of the men had been registered on the Greek island of Leros in October.
“We confirm that the (Syrian) passport holder came through the Greek island of Leros on October 3 where he was registered under EU rules,” he said a statement.
French police said the passport was found “near the body of one of the attackers” during the investigation into the main site of Friday’s carnage, at the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people were killed.
Nation’s oldest Muslim organization condemns multiple acts of violence in Paris, France
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA expresses our deepest condolences to the victims and families of the horrific acts of terrorism in Paris, France. French officials report more than 40 people killed, with many more wounded and held hostage. The
Community urges calm and patience as authorities work rapidly to restore security and order.
“Our deepest condolences are with the people of France. This is an attack on all of humanity.” said Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, Senior Vice President of Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community USA. “While we await additional information about the attackers and their motives, we condemn any attempt to justify the killing of innocent lives. We stand committed to restoring peace.”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA prays for swift justice and the speedy recovery of the wounded.
About Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, reformist and fast-growing international movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, the Community spans 206 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, established in 1920, is among the oldest American-
Muslim organizations.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long- awaited messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India. Ahmad claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
The Community believes that God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival and moderation. He divested Muslims of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings.
(CNN)[Latest developments, posted at 5:38 p.m. ET]
— At least 60 people have died in the attacks, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
— Counterterrorism officials around the United States have convened secure conference calls to try to gather information and to assess whether there is any indication of threats in the U.S, according to two U.S. counterterrorism officials. There is nothing to indicate any threat to U.S. cities so far. Immediate suspicion for the events in Paris falls to so-called returnees — people who have traveled to Syria and Iraq and have returned, the officials said.
— At least six shootings took place in Paris and three explosions took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis late Friday, CNN affiliate BFMTV said. Two or three gunmen entered the Bataclan concert hall while opening fire on law enforcement, BFMTV reported. A source earlier told CNN there were six to eight hostage takers, citing a person they were talking to inside the venue.
— CNN’s Jim Bittermann, who is based in Paris, reports a producer who is at the Bataclan tells him that police are firing at a rooftop position near the venue.
— President Francois Hollande was evacuated at halftime of the France-Germany soccer match.
— Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are holding a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry to address the attacks in Paris and the explosions in Saint-Denis, according to BFMTV.
— Paris police tell CNN there were three attacks. Attackers reportedly used AK-47 automatic weapons. There were one or two explosions at the Stade de France.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did something important last week — he reminded the world that the Arab war against Israel is a continuation of the Nazis’ war against the Jews.
What an uproar greeted Netanyahu’s remarks. He made them Wednesday, when he suggested that it was the World War II-era mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who planted in Hitler’s mind the idea of exterminating the Jews.
Netanyahu was referring to an infamous meeting between the Mufti and Adolf Hitler in November 1941, two months before the Nazi ghouls gathered at a lakeside villa at Wannsee to plan the Final Solution.
“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time,” Netanyahu told a Zionist conference last week. “He wanted to expel the Jew.” He said the mufti warned Hitler that if he merely expelled the Jews, they’d all go to Palestine.
“What should I do with them?” Hitler asked, according to Netanyahu’s account.
“Burn them,” the mufti supposedly responded.
The liberal pettifoggers are going crazy over this, claiming, with a straight face, that Netanyahu was giving a pass to the Führer. A “defense of Hitler,” is how it wasdescribed in a headline in the Forward. The White House suggested that Netanyahu was being “inflammatory.”
Rep. Scott Garett: “Each trip is an eye-opening and heart confirming experience, from a personal and religious point of view. We have a true love for Israel…Administrations come and go, but when it comes to the house that I serve, it has always been a strong bipartisan experience in support of Israel.”
5 US Congressmen Visit Israel, Braving Terrorist Violence
By JNI Media October 19, 2015 , 2:00 pm
A bipartisan group of five US congressmen spent the last week touring Israel, despite the daily terrorist attacks. Representatives Alan Lowenthal D-CA, Jim Jordan R-OH, Scott Garrett R-NJ, Raoul Labrador R-ID and Mark Meadows R-NC traveled across the country to learn the facts behind the headlines—and to pledge their support for Israel. The fact finding mission was sponsored by Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, a US based Christian organization, and hosted by Yes! Israel.
The congressmen’s jam-packed schedule included briefings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, meetings with fellow legislatures at the Knesset, an IAF helicopter tour, a visit to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a discussion of co-existence in meetings with Israelis and Palestinians in Gush Etzion, a visit to the city of Sderot whose civilian population is a frequent target for Hamas rockets, and tours of ancient Shiloh, and Ariel University.
The congressmen also spent time connecting with some 200 ex-pats, at a Sunday Town Hall meeting at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel. The congressmen shared their impressions from their trip with their Israeli-American audience:
TURKEY IMPOSES NEWS BLACKOUT ON ‘GRUESOME’ BLAST IMAGES
Protesters claimed police prevented ambulances taking the wounded to hospital in the wake of the bombing
Lizzie Dearden
Saturday 10 October 2015 16:27 BST
Protesters have clashed with police in Ankara after officers allegedly blocked a road being used by ambulances transporting victims of this morning’s bombing.
Bulent Tekdemir, who was at the rally, told the BBC that police used tear gas shortly after the explosions at 10am and “would not let ambulances through” in the aftermath.
Footage showed lines of riot officers appearing to block a road near the blast site, with ambulances parked in the background .
TURKEY IMPOSES NEWS BLACKOUT ON ‘GRUESOME’ BLAST IMAGES
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s government says it has imposed a temporary news blackout following two blasts that killed 86 people who were gathering for a peace rally in the capital Ankara. The attack was Turkey’s deadliest in recent years.
A government spokesman said the blackout Saturday covered images showing the moment of the blast, gruesome or bloody images or “images that create a feeling of panic.”
He warned media organizations they could face a “full blackout” if they did not comply.
He helped stop a terror attack on a European train, met President Obama and even had a parade in his honor.
But on Thursday, Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone found himself in a seedy situation — getting stabbed four times during a street brawl in downtown Sacramento.
Surveillance video shows the 23-year-old Stone getting ambushed by a group of men around 12:45 a.m. following a night of barhopping with pals.
At least three men lunge at Stone as he swings back at them, according to the video taken outside A&P Liquors. About a minute into the fight, a dark blood stain seeps through Stone’s white dress shirt as he staggers back onto the sidewalk.
He was rushed to UC Davis Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery with four knife wounds in his upper torso. As of Thursday evening, Stone was listed in serious but stable condition.
The brawl was just a block away from Badlands Dance Club — which bills itself as “Sacramento’s Premier Gay Nightclub” — and police spent about two hours going in and out of the hot spot on Thursday.
Cops are still looking for the suspects, who were wearing white T-shirts and jeans. They fled the scene in a dark-colored Toyota Camry.
Pentagon: ‘We can’t control every situation that these fighters encounter’
BY: Adam Kredo
September 28, 2015 12:50 pm
U.S. defense officials have confirmed that military equipment issued by the United States to Syrian rebel fighters has been funneled to an al Qaeda offshoot, raising new questions about the ways in which the Obama administration is safeguarding U.S. arms in the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
A commander in the New Syrian Forces (NSF), a group being trained and equipped by the United States, was found to have distributed at least 25 percent of the force’s U.S.-provided hardware to the Nusra Front, a terrorist organization affiliated with al Qaeda.
The equipment, which included U.S.-issued ammunition and pick-up trucks, was “surrendered” to a Nusra Front affiliate in order to ensure that the rebel fighters could pass freely through territories controlled by the terrorist group, the Pentagon said.
A Syrian opposition commander who was leading a group of NSF recruits “self-reported to coalition forces that under threat from al Nusra, they surrendered six trucks and ammunition to a suspected al Nusra Front intermediary to secure safe passage after being told that unless he surrendered some of his NSF equipment, his unit would be ambushed en route to their new location,” according to Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, who provided the Washington Free Beacon on Monday with a timeline of what took place.
“We will look at what we can do to prevent such a situation in the future, but given the complexity of the battlefield it is not possible to eliminate all risk,” Ryder added. “We are using all means at our disposal to look into what exactly happened and determine the appropriate response.”
The arms exchange occurred after a group of around 70 NSF graduates crossed into Syria on the morning of Sept. 20, according to the Pentagon.
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_riaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 165
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_inhaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 166
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 177
