Paris under attack

[kscarbel2]

Paris attacks: The West’s fatal misunderstanding of Islamic State

Reuters / Rasha Elass / November 15, 2015

The horrendous attacks on Paris have an eerie resemblance to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in that they seem to have caught everyone off guard.

Until perhaps Friday, the main perception among Western intelligence agencies and Washington policymakers has been that Islamic State poses “no immediate threat” to the United States or the West.

“Unlike Al Qaeda, ISIS is more interested in establishing a Caliphate and not so interested in attacking the West,” a retired CIA officer explained during a closed meeting at one of Washington’s think tanks. He was echoing a common sentiment, and insisted that “Al Qaeda remains the main threat.” Even U.S. President Barack Obama recently said with confidence that Islamic State was being “contained.”

But we cannot forget that Islamic State came to the world stage barely over a year ago, when it took Mosul and subsequently one third of Iraq as well as one third of Syria in a matter of weeks. Some of the terror group’s major advances on the ground took mere hours, advances that Obama later said will take years to roll back.

I remember covering the war at that time from Damascus, Syria, and later from Beirut, where I kept in constant communication via the Internet with the Syrian rebels and civilians who had suddenly found themselves under Islamic State rule in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al Zor. During those first few days, many went underground, not sure what to do about their new, brutal occupier, who proceeded to slaughter more than 700 men from the Arab Sunni Muslim tribe of Shueitat because the tribe did not pledge allegiance to Islamic State. The militant group commanded all men of fighting age in Deir Al Zor to report to Islamic State checkpoints, surrender weapons, and either pledge allegiance to Islamic State or leave the territory immediately.

“We never thought the West would allow a group like ISIS to expand, but now I know that we have been played. We have been extremely stupid,” one anti-Islamic State rebel told me on condition of anonymity to protect his family. He sounded embittered by what he called a shocking and swift victory for the group, and he spoke to me from his car, which he said he had parked just outside an Internet cafe to piggy-back on the Wi-Fi signal without anyone hearing our conversation. He said Islamic State had setup checkpoints everywhere.

“The only thing that makes sense to us is that the world wants to dump all its trash here,” he said, referring to the Islamic State jihadists, whom he said were mainly non-Syrian, but other Arab nationals, Chechens, and Westerners. “And then the West will come and bomb them all. This must be the strategy because nothing else makes any sense.”

Conspiracy theories aside, there is some truth to the idea that some countries, as naive and misguided as they have been, privately sighed relief to see their own Islamist nationals travel to Islamist territory to meet their fate.

“It’s better than having them stay in our country,” one Western diplomat told me on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. “Statistically, a newly arrived jihadist to ISIS territory is killed within weeks, so good riddance.” He added that all the West had to worry about were the “lone-wolf attacks” inspired by Islamic State.

Unfortunately, the Paris attacks have disproved this theory, and it is time to shed other falsely comforting illusions as well.

Namely, let us not forget that some of the United States’ staunchest allies have been, and remain, responsible for facilitating the arrival of money, materiel, and jihadists into Islamic State territory, not to mention providing the ideological guidance for the terror group. They have been doing so in the hopes of toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Jihadists have crossed the borders of Jordan and Turkey into Syria, seemingly at will. Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia have not stopped their private citizens from sending money to various Islamist brigades, including Islamic State. They also give airtime to the muftis who provide ideological guidance to Islamic State, religious scholars who condone sectarian killing, gruesome beheadings, and sexual slavery on theological grounds.

It has been too convenient a falsity also for the West to believe that Syria’s war is Syria’s problem, or at least someone else’s problem, when so many world players are already involved in the war there, either directly or by proxy.

[kscarbel2]

Where might terrorists source their weapons?

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Weapons stolen from Army Reserve center in Massachusetts

CNN / November 16, 2015

Weapons were stolen from an Army Reserve center in Worcester, Massachusetts, the FBI said.

The agency and local police are searching for the weapons, spokeswoman Kristen Setera said late Sunday. They were found to be missing after a break-in at the Lake St. Army Reserve Center.

CNN affiliate WCVB reported that the break-in occurred late Saturday.

"We have entered those weapons into NCIC, a national database, and alerted our federal, state and local law enforcement partners," Setera said.

"There is no indication that these missing weapons are connected to any kind of terrorism threat whatsoever. Nevertheless, every effort will be made to recover these weapons immediately," she said.

The FBI refused to say what types of weapons went missing.

[thomastractorsvc]

Where do terrorists get their weapons?

----------------------------------------------------

Weapons stolen from Army Reserve center in Massachusetts

CNN / November 16, 2015

Weapons were stolen from an Army Reserve center in Worcester, Massachusetts, the FBI said.

The agency and local police are searching for the weapons, spokeswoman Kristen Setera said late Sunday. They were found to be missing after a break-in at the Lake St. Army Reserve Center.

CNN affiliate WCVB reported that the break-in occurred late Saturday.

"We have entered those weapons into NCIC, a national database, and alerted our federal, state and local law enforcement partners," Setera said.

"There is no indication that these missing weapons are connected to any kind of terrorism threat whatsoever. Nevertheless, every effort will be made to recover these weapons immediately," she said.

The FBI refused to say what types of weapons went missing.

That was an inside job

In a building such as shown in the video the arms vault would be concrete lined with steel and the arms racks would be bolted to the floor and paddle locked. The vault door is designed for at least 20 minutes entry without code.

There would have been the gate and fence to breach with video camera may or may not be alarmed, defiantly an alarm on the building and a separate alarm on the arms room all hard wired and underground with a default alarm that activates with no power or signal.

[thomastractorsvc]

As a side note "war story"

I was stationed at Fort Sill from 1991 to 1996, if I remember correctly it was 1992, and I was the BN COLs Driver. Fort Sill is a training a training base with one side for set up for training and regular units on the other side of the base. Early one morning somebody dressed like a Drill Sergeant and had a 5/4 ton Cucv M1008 and pulled up to a training bivouac side and told the trainees to load the weapons in the back about two minutes later he was gone. Back then most military bases were open and there were roads that entered and exited from just about anywhere. I don't think the weapons were ever recovered.

It was not until 9/11 that the military bases got locked down. When I PCSed to Fort Mead in 1999 the PX parking lot was a dumping spot for stolen cars and the main road on post was 95% civilians cutting through to save 10 minutes from driving around post.

[41chevy]

At the Democratic presidential primary debate on Saturday in Des Moines, Hillary said of ISIS:

"It cannot be an American fight." Rather, "We will support those who take the fight to ISIS."

Now 24 hours later, she's done a total flip-flop saying:

"This is a worldwide fight......I know America has to lead it, but we cannot and should not do it alone."

If you're going to be president of the United States, you can't flip-flop on your position or you lose all credibility with both the American people and foreign leaders (that need to both respect and fear you).

This the woman person who last week chastised Obamma for not pulling all our troops from Afghanistan "like he promised her", than hailed him for the foresight to send troops to Cameroon to quell the unrest.

DAILY MAIL 16.11.2015 1 p.m.

French and E.U. members hoping for an it's-us-or-them declaration about the ISIS terror army from Barack Obama were left unsatisfied as the U.S. president said he would continue to pursue a strategy that leaves America's military might on the shelf.

Calling Friday's terror attacks in Paris a 'sickening setback,' Obama insisted his goal is to 'reduce the flow of foreign fighters' streaming into ISIS's sphere of influence by addressing the root causes of the terror organization's growth. which the White House feels is lack of jobs and opportunity.

Obama dismissed the idea of any military strategy as misguided, saying it is the Republicans who want to draw blood and are not seeing the big picture.

+6

NOT GOING THERE: President Barack Obama held a news conference following the G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday, saying he'll stay the course on ISIS instead of trying to draw blood

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[RedBullDog]

DAILY MAIL 16.11.2015 1 p.m.

French and E.U. members hoping for an it's-us-or-them declaration about the ISIS terror army from Barack Obama were left unsatisfied as the U.S. president said he would continue to pursue a strategy that leaves America's military might on the shelf.

Calling Friday's terror attacks in Paris a 'sickening setback,' Obama insisted his goal is to 'reduce the flow of foreign fighters' streaming into ISIS's sphere of influence by addressing the root causes of the terror organization's growth. which the White House feels is lack of jobs and opportunity.

Obama dismissed the idea of any military strategy as misguided, saying it is the Republicans who want to draw blood and are not seeing the big picture.

+6

NOT GOING THERE: President Barack Obama held a news conference following the G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday, saying he'll stay the course on ISIS instead of trying to draw blood

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

In that little print it says the White House feels it is a lack of jobs and opportunity feeding ISIS. Maybe the moron should look inside the country he was elected to lead (somehow) if he needs to see a lack of jobs and opportunity!

[kscarbel2]

This is a problem of the Arab World. This region's United Nations of sorts is called the Arab League.

Why should western soldiers spill blood when the extremely-well equipped armed forces of wealthy Arab League member countries won't lift a finger ?

I support helping countries and regions that are trying to help themselves. But I don't support helping those who refuse to act in their own neighborhood.

Thus, we should use our time and resources to protect the United States from ISIS intrusion.

I deeply value the relationship between the U.S. and France. However, if France wants to get revenge and attack ISIS in the Middle East, it has its own vast arsenal that easily wipe any entity off the face of the earth. Naturally the US can provide intelligence support, although I think the intelligence capabilities of the western powers in general is weaker than in decades past.

[kscarbel2]

Here is another angle of the situation that all should know, the thought process of many people in that region.

What is the truth? We common people simply don't have enough facts to make an educated guess.

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The US, ISIS and the conspiracy theory sweeping Lebanon

BBC / August 12, 2014

Is America behind the creation of the Islamic State? The BBC's Suzanne Kianpour, in Beirut, looks at the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds in Lebanon.

"In the Middle East, conspiracy theories are in our blood," said one former Lebanese official.

He was referring to the latest talk of the town: the United States is behind the creation of the Islamic State group (formerly known as Isis, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Hillary Clinton admitted it in her book "Hard Choices".

As Islamic State (IS) militants advanced into Lebanon last week - spreading terror into the village of Arsal, bordering Syria, and driving hundreds out of their homes - whispers pinned the blame for their actions on the US.

Horrific videos of IS atrocities against Lebanese Armed Forces circulated on the internet. So did the theory that America is behind the existence and emboldening of the group.

To back up their claim, conspiracy theorists online pointed to a powerful piece of "proof": the word of Hillary Clinton - the former US secretary of state widely expected to make a bid for the presidency.

Dispelling rumours

Screenshots of supposed "excerpts" from her book spread far and wide on social media in Lebanon, claiming the US created IS to instill instability in the region for American gain.

The rumor even prompted the Lebanese foreign ministry to summon US Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.

Furthermore, to try and quash the gossip, the US embassy in Beirut issued a statement on Facebook:

"Any suggestion that the United States ever considered recognising the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as anything other than a terrorist organization, or had any role in its creation, is patently false. Allegations circulating in Lebanon to the contrary are a fabrication."

Instead, what Hillary Clinton has said is that the failure to help Syrian rebels led to the rise of IS.

It's not completely shocking that such a theory may have started, given America's history of supporting militant and guerrilla groups; the mujahideen in Afghanistan, from which al-Qaeda emerged, quickly comes to mind. The fact that US allies in the Gulf are accused of supporting IS also doesn't help their case.

"Such theories abound, largely because Washington has shown a propensity for outsourcing regime change. Support for insurgent groups in that context is certainly not a new practice and, as of late, has not been a particularly effective one," says Octavius Pinkard, a Brussels-based specialist in foreign policy analysis and Middle East politics, who has been conducting fieldwork in Beirut.

Tarnished image

Rumors like these risk harming US interests in Lebanon - a nation where they have a keen interest in maintaining soft power. Symbolic confrontation and proxy battles for clout with another group also seeking to win over the Lebanese people, Hezbollah, are nothing new.

But a theory that America is to blame for beheadings and the barbaric acts attributed to IS can be severely damaging to the US image - leaving them at risk of losing support and the tide turning against them.

Recently, the narrative on the streets of Beirut has increasingly been that Hezbollah won't let IS get to the Lebanese capital, not "America will help us."

"Most people here believe the US and Saudi are one and when it comes strictly down to oil money, the ultimate benefactor from the whole IS debacle is Saudi/the US. As history has taught us, it is usually the benefactors who are the instigators," says Amer Murad, a native of Beirut.

"An important development that we have seen is the collaboration between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah in their efforts to protect Lebanon from threats posed by the Syrian civil war spilling over into Lebanese territory," Octavius Pinkard says.

As the conflict in Syria/Lebanon evolves, so does the perception of Washington. And it appears the Hezbollah/Damascus/Tehran trio is winning the propaganda battle.

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Suspicions Run Deep in Iraq That C.I.A. and the Islamic State Are United

The New York Times / September 20, 2014

The United States has conducted an escalating campaign of deadly airstrikes against the extremists of the Islamic State for more than a month. But that appears to have done little to tamp down the conspiracy theories still circulating from the streets of Baghdad to the highest levels of Iraqi government that the C.I.A. is secretly behind the same extremists that it is now attacking.

“We know about who made Daesh,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a deputy prime minister, using an Arabic shorthand for the Islamic State on Saturday at a demonstration called by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr to warn against the possible deployment of American ground troops.

Mr. Sadr publicly blamed the C.I.A. for creating the Islamic State in a speech last week, and interviews suggested that most of the few thousand people at the demonstration, including dozens of members of Parliament, subscribed to the same theory. (Mr. Sadr is considered close to Iran, and the theory is popular there as well.)

When an American journalist asked Mr. Araji to clarify if he blamed the C.I.A. for the Islamic State, he retreated: “I don’t know. I am one of the poor people,” he said, speaking fluent English and quickly stepping back toward the open door of a chauffeur-driven SUV. “But we fear very much. Thank you!”

The prevalence of the theory in the streets underscored the deep suspicions of the American military’s return to Iraq more than a decade after its invasion, in 2003. The casual endorsement by a senior official, though, was also a pointed reminder that the new Iraqi government may be an awkward partner for the American-led campaign to drive out the extremists.

The Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS, has conquered many of the predominantly Sunni Muslim provinces in Iraq’s northeast, aided by the alienation of many residents to the Shiite-dominated government of the former prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. President Obama has insisted repeatedly that American military action against the Islamic State depended on the installation of a more inclusive government in Baghdad, but he moved ahead before it was complete.

The Parliament has not yet confirmed nominees for the crucial posts of interior or defense minister, in part because of discord between Sunni and Shiite factions, and the Iraqi news media has reported that it may be more than a month before the posts are filled.

The demonstration on Saturday was the latest in a series of signals from Shiite leaders or militias, especially those considered close to Iran, warning the United States not to put its soldiers back on the ground. Mr. Obama has pledged not to send combat troops, but he seems to have convinced few Iraqis. “We don’t trust him,” said Raad Hatem, 40.

Haidar al-Assadi, 40, agreed. “The Islamic State is a clear creation of the United States, and the United States is trying to intervene again using the excuse of the Islamic State,” he said.

Shiite militias and volunteers, he said, were already answering the call from religious leaders to defend Iraq from the Islamic State without American help. “This is how we do it,” he said, adding that the same forces would keep American troops out. “The main reason Obama is saying he will not invade again is because he knows the Islamic resistance” of the Shiite militias “and he does not want to lose a single soldier.”

The leader of the Islamic State, for his part, declared on Saturday that he defied the world to stop him.

“The conspiracies of Jews, Christians, Shiites and all the tyrannical regimes in the Muslim countries have been powerless to make the Islamic State deviate from its path,” the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared in an audio recording released over the Internet, using derogatory terms from early Islamic history to refer to Christians and Shiites.

“The entire world saw the powerlessness of America and its allies before a group of believers,” he said. “People now realize that victory is from God, and it shall not be aborted by armies and their arsenals.”

Many at the rally in Baghdad said they welcomed airstrikes against Mr. Baghdadi’s Islamic State but not American ground forces, the position that Mr. Sadr has taken. Many of the 30 lawmakers backed by Mr. Sadr — out of a Parliament of 328 seats — attended the rally.

Mr. Sadr’s supporters opposed Mr. Maliki, the former prime minister, and many at the rally were quick to criticize the former government for mistakes like failing to build a more dependable army. “We had a good army, so where is this army now?” asked Waleed al-Hasnawi, 35. “Maliki gave them everything, but they just left the battlefield.”

But few if any blamed Mr. Maliki for alienating Sunnis, as American officials assert, by permitting sectarian abuses under the Shiite-dominated security forces.

Omar al-Jabouri, 31, a Sunni Muslim from a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad who attended the rally and said he volunteers with a Shiite brigade, argued that Mr. Maliki had alienated most Iraqis, regardless of their sect.

“He did not just exclude and marginalize the Sunni people; he ignored the Shiite people, too,” Mr. Jabouri said. “He gave special help to his family, his friends, people close to him. He did not really help the Shiite people, as many people think.”

But the Islamic State was a different story, Mr. Jabouri said. “It is obvious to everyone that the Islamic State is a creation of the United States and Israel.”

[kscarbel2]

Former CIA Director: ISIS Will Strike America

Time / Michael Morell / November 16, 2015

The head of the UK’s domestic security agency recently warned that ISIS is planning mass casualty attacks in Britain. His concerns are well founded. We will not be far behind.

I was an intelligence officer for 33 years. When intelligence officers write or brief, they start with the bottom line. Here it is: ISIS poses a major threat to the US and to US interests abroad and that threat is growing every day.

The nature and significance of the threat flows from the fact that ISIS is— all at the same time— a terrorist group, a state, and a revolutionary political movement. We have not faced an adversary like it before.

As a terrorist group, ISIS poses a threat to the Homeland. That threat today is largely indirect — ISIS’s ability to radicalize young Americans to conduct attacks here. The FBI has over 900 open investigations into homegrown extremists, the vast majority radicalized by ISIS and a large number of which relate to individuals who may be plotting attacks here. Such attacks have already occurred in the US. Others have been arrested before they could act.

While the sophistication of such homegrown attacks is likely to be fairly low, the potential exists for the quantity of these kinds attacks to be large. The number of ISIS followers in the US is in the thousands. It dwarfs the number of followers that al-Qaeda ever had.

Over time, if not significantly degraded, the ISIS threat to the Homeland will become a direct one—that is, an ISIS ability to plan and direct attacks on the Homeland from the group’s safe haven in Iraq and Syria— just like the group did in Paris last week.

Such attacks are deeply concerning because they carry the potential to be much more sophisticated and complex—and therefore more dangerous—than than homegrown attacks, again just like in Paris last week, or London in 2005, or even 9/11 itself. And, in something that should get everyone’s attention, ISIS has shown an interest in weapons of mass destruction.

“Over time” may be shorter than many think. The attack in Paris was the first manifestation of an effort that ISIS made to put together an attack capability in Europe—an effort that they began less than a year ago. The head of the UK’s domestic security agency recently warned that ISIS is planning mass casualty attacks in Britain. His concerns are well founded. We will not be far behind.

As a state, ISIS poses a threat to regional stability—a threat to the very territorial integrity of the current nation states there, a threat to inflame the entire region in sectarian war. All this in a part of the world that still provides almost a third of the world’s oil supply; a region that is home to one of America’s closest allies, Israel; and a region that is home to a set of close American allies— the Gulf Arab states—that are willing to resist Iran’s push for regional hegemony.

And, as a revolutionary political movement, ISIS is gaining affiliates among extremist groups around the world. They are signing up for what ISIS desires as its objective—a global caliphate where day-to-day life is governed by extreme religious views. In the mind of ISIS, its global caliphate would extend to the US itself.

When they join ISIS, these affiliates evolve from focusing on local issues to focusing on establishing an extension of the caliphate themselves. And, their targets evolve from local to international ones. This is the story of the bombing of the Russian airliner by an ISIS group in the Egyptian Sinai.

ISIS has gained affiliates faster than al-Qaeda ever did. From nothing a year ago, there are now militant groups in nearly 20 countries that have sworn allegiance to ISIS. They have conducted attacks that have already killed Americans, and they carry the potential to themselves grab large amounts of territory. Libya is a place that this could happen in the near term.

An intelligence officer has many jobs. One is to describe for a president the threats that we face as a nation, and that is what the previous paragraphs did. Another is to look a president in the eye when his or her policies to deal with these threats are not working and say so.

Mr. President, the downing of the Russian airliner, only the third such attack in 25 years, and the attacks in Paris, the largest in Europe since the Madrid bombings in 2004, make it crystal clear that our ISIS strategy is not working.

Michael Morell is the former deputy director of the CIA and has twice served as acting director. He is author of the book “The Great War of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism — From al Qa'ida to ISIS”, which warned against the types of attacks that occurred in the Sinai and Paris.

[kscarbel2]

U.S. States Shun Syrian [alleged] Refugees

CNN / November 16, 2015

The governors of 31 (was 24) states have announced they will not accept Syrian refugees.

All but one have Republican governors.

The announcements came after authorities revealed that at least one of the suspects believed to be involved in the Paris terrorist attacks entered Europe among the current wave of Syrian refugees. He had falsely identified himself as a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad and was allowed to enter Greece in early October.

Some leaders say they either oppose taking in any Syrian refugees being relocated as part of a national program or asked that they be particularly scrutinized as potential security threats.

Only 1,500 Syrian refugees have been accepted into the United States since 2011, but the Obama administration announced in September that 10,000 Syrians will be allowed entry next year.

Authority over admitting refugees to the country, though, rests with the federal government -- not with the states -- though individual states can make the acceptance process much more difficult, experts said.

American University law professor Stephen I. Vladeck put it this way: "Legally, states have no authority to do anything because the question of who should be allowed in this country is one that the Constitution commits to the federal government." But Vladeck noted that without the state's participation, the federal government would have a much more arduous task.

"So a state can't say it is legally objecting, but it can refuse to cooperate, which makes thing much more difficult."

Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said one tactic states could use would be to cut their own funding in areas such as resettling refugees. The conference is the largest refugee resettlement organization in the country.

But "when push comes to shove, the federal government has both the plenary power and the power of the 1980 Refugee Act to place refugees anywhere in the country," Appleby said.

In announcing that his state would not accept any Syrian refugees, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Monday on his personal account, "I demand the U.S. act similarly," he said. "Security comes first."

Texas will not accept any Syrian refugees & I demand the U.S. act similarly. Security comes first. https://t.co/uE34eluXYd

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 16, 2015

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Abbott said "American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger," referring to Friday's deadly attacks in Paris.

In a statement from Georgia's governor, Republican Nathan Deal, he said Georgia will not accept Syrian refugees "until the federal government and Congress conducts a thorough review of current screening procedures and background checks."

I've issued an executive order directing state agency heads to prevent the resettlement of Syrian refugees in GA. https://t.co/4b41tsIYcm

— Governor Nathan Deal (@GovernorDeal) November 16, 2015

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley also rejected the possibility of allowing Syrian refugees into his state and connected refugees with potential terror threats.

"After full consideration of this weekend's attacks of terror on innocent citizens in Paris, I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program," Bentley said Sunday in a statement.

"As your governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way."

I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way. We refuse Syrian refugees. https://t.co/HTpflJUiPc

— Gov. Robert Bentley (@GovernorBentley) November 16, 2015

There is currently no credible threat against the state, the governor's office said, and no Syrian refugees have been relocated to Alabama so far.

As the list of states blocking refugees grows, at least one state, Delaware, announced that it plans to accept refugees.

"It is unfortunate that anyone would use the tragic events in Paris to send a message that we do not understand the plight of these refugees, ignoring the fact that the people we are talking about are fleeing the perpetrators of terror," said Gov. Jack Markell.

States whose governors oppose Syrian refugees coming in:

-- Alabama

-- Arizona

-- Arkansas

-- Florida

-- Georgia

-- Idaho

-- Illinois

-- Indiana

-- Iowa

-- Kansas

-- Louisiana

-- Maine

-- Maryland

-- Massachusetts

-- Michigan

-- Mississippi

-- Nebraska

-- Nevada

-- New Hampshire

-- New Jersey

-- New Mexico

-- North Carolina

-- North Dakota

-- Ohio

-- Oklahoma

-- South Carolina

-- South Dakota

-- Tennessee

-- Texas

-- Wisconsin

-- Wyoming

States whose governors say they will accept refugees:

-- Colorado

-- Connecticut

-- Delaware

-- Hawaii

-- Pennsylvania

-- Vermont

-- Washington

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said the state would "put on hold our efforts to accept new refugees."

"Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration. But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents," said Snyder. He demanded that the Department of Homeland Security review its security procedures for vetting refugees but avoided blanket suspicion of people from any region.

"It's also important to remember that these attacks are the efforts of extremists and do not reflect the peaceful ways of people of Middle Eastern descent here and around the world," Snyder said.

And Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson posted on his official Twitter account that he would "oppose Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas."

Action taken by some states is similar to several European countries who have forcefully opposed accepting refugees. Hungary built a razor-wire fence along its border, and neighboring countries have been following suit. And previously generous countries such as Sweden and Germany that welcomed thousands were already pulling back.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement, "(At) this time, I find the idea of accepting Syrian refugees highly concerning and have no plans to accept them into our state and believe the federal government has an obligation to carry out extensive background checks on everyone seeking to enter the United States."

Mississippi, Ohio bristle at taking refugees

The governors of Ohio and Mississippi also announced their states would not allow Syrian refugees.

Jim Lynch, a spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, issued this statement:

"The governor doesn't believe the U.S. should accept additional Syrian refugees because security and safety issues cannot be adequately addressed. The governor is writing to the President to ask him to stop, and to ask him to stop resettling them in Ohio. We are also looking at what additional steps Ohio can take to stop resettlement of these refugees."

Kasich is a Republican presidential candidate.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant wrote on Facebook that he was working with the state's homeland security department to "determine the current status of any Syrian refugees that may be brought to our state in the near future.

“We don’t know who these individuals are. Any idea (that) you can do a background check of someone that’s been living in Syria is absolutely ridiculous,” Bryant said. “These are dangerous times, whether people want to admit it or not,” Bryant said. “We want to keep the war out of Mississippi, here on the homefront.”

"I will do everything humanly possible to stop any plans from the Obama administration to put Syrian refugees in Mississippi. The policy of bringing these individuals into the country is not only misguided, it is extremely dangerous. I'll be notifying President Obama of my decision today to resist this potential action."

Louisiana: 'Kept in the dark'

Louisiana governor and GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal complained bitterly in an open letter to Obama that the federal government had not informed his government about refugees being relocated to his state last week.

"It is irresponsible and severely disconcerting to place individuals, who may have ties to ISIS, in a state without the state's knowledge or involvement," says Jindal.

He demanded to know more about the people being placed in Louisiana to avoid a repeat of the Paris attacks and wanted to know whether screening would be intensified for refugees holding Syrian passports.

And he suggested Obama hold off on taking in more refugees.

"It would be prudent to pause the process of refugees coming to the United States. Authorities need to investigate what happened in Europe before this problem comes to the United States," Jindal said.

Republican candidate Donald Trump called accepting Syrian refugees "insane."

"We all have heart and we all want people taken care of, but with the problems our country has, to take in 250,000 -- some of whom are going to have problems, big problems -- is just insane. We have to be insane. Terrible," Donald Trump said at a rally in Beaumont, Texas.

While addressing reporters on Monday, Obama called out Republican candidates who have objected to admitting refugees to the United States.

"When I hear a political leader suggesting that there should be a religious test for which a person who is fleeing from a war torn country is admitted... when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that is shameful," the President said. "We don't have religious tests to our compassion."

New York: 'Virtually no vetting'

A senior White House security official attempted to allay concerns about the vetting of Syrian refugees.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said, "We have very extensive screening procedures for all Syrian refugees who have come to the United States. There is a very careful vetting process that includes our intelligence community, our National Counter Terrorism Center, the Department of Homeland Security, so we can make sure that we are carefully screening anybody that comes to the United States."

New York Rep. Peter King cast doubt on Rhodes' comments.

"What he said about the vetting of the refugees is untrue. There is virtually no vetting cause there are no databases in Syria, there are no government records. We don't know who these people are."

On Sunday, investigators said that one of the Paris bombers carried Syrian identification papers -- possibly forged -- and the fear of Syrian refugees grew worse.

"It's not that we don't want to -- it's that we can't," Florida Sen. and Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "Because there's no way to background check someone that's coming from Syria."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Associated Press / December 2, 2015

Texas has sued the U.S. government in an effort to block six Syrian refugees from resettling in Dallas this week.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday comes after the nonprofit International Rescue Committee defied orders from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the arrival of Syrian refugees in Texas following the November attacks in Paris.

Texas wants to delay the arrival of the refugees for at least a week, until a federal judge can hear the challenge.

The Obama administration has said states don't have the authority to block refugees. Abbott is among more than two dozen governors, mostly Republicans, who have vowed to keep new Syrian refugees from resettling in their states.

Abbott earlier Wednesday called the planned arrival irresponsible.

.

[gearhead204]

anyone want a liberal governor? I sure don't need mine!

[kscarbel2]

In dismissing the idea of a large-scale military strategy as misguided (the failed US strategy with al-Qaeda), Obama has a point.

'We can retake territory, and as long as we leave our troops there we can hold it, but that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these violent extremist groups,' said Obama.

Americans do not want to station U.S. troops in the Middle East, in yet another vain attempt to create peace, over a time frame that amounts to.....forever. The occupation of Iraq has broken us......and for what benefit?

We haven’t the desire, or the finances, to be the region’s baby-sitter for an indefinite period of time.

The Arabs have been fighting for a thousand years. We tried bringing milk and sliced bread to Iraq. It didn’t work, because they are obsessed with a war of religions.

Only the Arab world can help itself. Only when they are forced to change, will they change.

Allowing the population of the Middle East to flood Europe and America isn’t the answer.

(12,000 alleged Syrian and Iraqi refugees, whose backgrounds are impossible to factually check, are set to arrive in Australia. God save the Commonwealth)

Under the banner of the Arab League, the armed forces of Arab countries need to clean up their own neighborhood.

Bahrain

Iran (taking part)

Iraq

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Syria (taking part with Russian support)

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Yemen

One more point needs to be made. When people in other global regions are in trouble, they “expect” the US to come running and provide assistance. If/when we don’t, the US is ridiculed as selfish.

But when we spread our wings and try to maintain peace in the world, the very same people complain that the US is undesirably acting as the world’s policeman, and attempting to dictate how the rest of the world lives (They want us to go away).

We’re criticized for not doing, and also ridiculed for doing. Meanwhile, our coffers in 2015 do not allow us to participate around the world as we did in decades past. We already spend more on defense and counter-terrorism than any other country in the world, and after Paris, that amount is going to leap upward.

The world is changing.......the U.S. no longer has deep pockets (we can't even keep up with road repair). Global regions are going to have to learn to help themselves, because the U.S. no longer has the deep pockets and large footprint of the past.

[Gmerrill0516]

The President has his head buried in the sand...or other places. France is loaded with extremists and has been for some time. I'm all for taking care of our fellow man and such but bringing in 75,000 people of unknown and highly suspect political and religious leanings where if they are "the bad guys" they want us all DEAD, is a mistake. If I had 100 heavily armed people to protect me and my family every second of the day I might worry a bit less about it but so far, I can't find one guy worrying about my life more than his own...Being open minded and tolerant at some point can become being ignorant and blind to reality. We need a president grounded in reality to protect the country and the citizens...that's why the fed exists, right?

There is a next attack. When and how we don't know but they are adapting to our intelligence means and sooner or later it will happen. I pray not, but we need to be smart or we will be dead. Simple as that. Learn from France or be the next France...our choice.

Oh and remember too that our second amendment rights are being threatened every day...No guns in France either...keep that in mind and ask yourself what side of that battle you want to be on when someone is pointing a rifle at you and your family. They make the average murderer, rapist, drug addict look like children.

[kscarbel2]

The President has his head buried in the sand...or other places. France is loaded with extremists and has been for some time. I'm all for taking care of our fellow man and such but bringing in 75,000 people of unknown and highly suspect political and religious leanings where if they are "the bad guys" they want us all DEAD, is a mistake. If I had 100 heavily armed people to protect me and my family every second of the day I might worry a bit less about it but so far, I can't find one guy worrying about my life more than his own...Being open minded and tolerant at some point can become being ignorant and blind to reality. We need a president grounded in reality to protect the country and the citizens...that's why the fed exists, right?

There is a next attack. When and how we don't know but they are adapting to our intelligence means and sooner or later it will happen. I pray not, but we need to be smart or we will be dead. Simple as that. Learn from France or be the next France...our choice.

Oh and remember too that our second amendment rights are being threatened every day...No guns in France either...keep that in mind and ask yourself what side of that battle you want to be on when someone is pointing a rifle at you and your family. They make the average murderer, rapist, drug addict look like children.

Again, I deeply value the relationship between the U.S. and France. However, the woes that Western Europe have now due to these people, particularly France and Belgium, are self-inflicted (plus the UK and Sweden....Germany is about to get a wake-up call). That they invited tens of thousands of these people, without background checks, defies the imagination. And remember, only a small portion of these "refugees" are actually refugees (from Syria).

The 1995 Schengen agreement (the abolishment of border controls) was a huge security mistake and now the EU countries are all realizing it.

The fight against ISIS should be led by the Arab League headed by Saudi Arabia. Given their punishments rival those of ISIS, including flogging, amputation, eye gouging, death-by-stoning and beheading, there's every reason to believe that Saudi Arabia is the ideal country to lead the Middle East countries against ISIS.

[Gmerrill0516]

Agreed Kscarbel2 but is there any movement in any of the middle east to do anything about this? Maybe there is but I've not heard of it. Have you?

[41chevy]

USS OKLAHOMA SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

TERRORISM HISTORY

U.S. History 101

VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE!

You have to read the catalogue of events in this brief piece. Then, ask yourself how anyone can take the position that all we have to do is say we are sorry, sit back, reset the snooze alarm, go back to sleep, and no one will ever bother us again. In case you missed it, World War III began in November 1979... that alarm has been ringing for years. It is an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why this action is so necessary.

AMERICA NEEDS TO WAKE UP! That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 (When more than 3,000 Americans were killed -AD) and maybe it was, but I think it should have been "Get Out of Bed!" In fact, I think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.

It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign U. S. embassy set the stage for events to follow for the next 25 years. America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, President Carter had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism. America's military had been decimated and down sized/right sized since the end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.

Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.

In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.

Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more.

Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.

The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.

Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.

Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.

Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed.

The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259. Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war. The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.

The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed again.

Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.

A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500. The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not respond decisively.

They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned with precision. They kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to sleep.

The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.

And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think this was the first attack against US soil or in America.How wrong they are. America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.

In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official in government over what they knew and what they didn't know. But if you've read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979. The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we have been in a war for the past 25 years and it will continue until we as a people decide enough is enough. America needs to "Get out of Bed" and act decisively now.

America has been changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to keep hitting the snooze button again and again and roll over and go back to sleep.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said "... it seems all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant." This is the message we need to disseminate to terrorists around the world.

Support Our Troops and have the courage, political or militarily, to address what so many who don't have the backbone to do both Democrat and Republican. This is not a political thing to be hashed over in an election year this is an AMERICAN thing. This is about our Freedom and the Freedom of our children in years to come.

Note: Over 4,000 lives were lost by Terroist actions against the United States prior to declaring war on Terrorism around the world after 911.

~ "LEST WE FORGET" ? ~ (THE EDITOR)

[kscarbel2]

Agreed Kscarbel2 but is there any movement in any of the middle east to do anything about this? Maybe there is but I've not heard of it. Have you?

If one didn't know better, you'd think there is a confidential agreement that the Middle East countries will not actually "use" their armed forces, rather, the west will always come in and [try to] save the day. When have they done so?

Why didn't the Arab League push Iraq out of Kuwait? Saudi Arabia and the other Middle East countries didn't lift a finger, but rather did little more than allow us to stage from their lands (western blood was spilled....rather than their own). Any ordinarily prudent person would find this extremely odd.

The Middle East isn't our neighborhood. When it has issues, the Arab League should man up and deal with it.

If and when Middle East evil flows beyond that region's borders and threatens the U.S., only then should we become involved (and strike with unforgettable fury).

[kscarbel2]

USS OKLAHOMA SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

TERRORISM HISTORY

U.S. History 101

VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE!

You have to read the catalogue of events in this brief piece. Then, ask yourself how anyone can take the position that all we have to do is say we are sorry, sit back, reset the snooze alarm, go back to sleep, and no one will ever bother us again. In case you missed it, World War III began in November 1979... that alarm has been ringing for years. It is an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why this action is so necessary.

AMERICA NEEDS TO WAKE UP! That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 (When more than 3,000 Americans were killed -AD) and maybe it was, but I think it should have been "Get Out of Bed!" In fact, I think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.

It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign U. S. embassy set the stage for events to follow for the next 25 years. America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, President Carter had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism. America's military had been decimated and down sized/right sized since the end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.

Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.

In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.

Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more.

Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.

The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.

Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.

Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.

Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed.

The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259. Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war. The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.

The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed again.

Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.

A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500. The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not respond decisively.

They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned with precision. They kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to sleep.

The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.

And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think this was the first attack against US soil or in America.How wrong they are. America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.

In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official in government over what they knew and what they didn't know. But if you've read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979. The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we have been in a war for the past 25 years and it will continue until we as a people decide enough is enough. America needs to "Get out of Bed" and act decisively now.

America has been changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to keep hitting the snooze button again and again and roll over and go back to sleep.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said "... it seems all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant." This is the message we need to disseminate to terrorists around the world.

Support Our Troops and have the courage, political or militarily, to address what so many who don't have the backbone to do both Democrat and Republican. This is not a political thing to be hashed over in an election year this is an AMERICAN thing. This is about our Freedom and the Freedom of our children in years to come.

Note: Over 4,000 lives were lost by Terroist actions against the United States prior to declaring war on Terrorism around the world after 911.

~ "LEST WE FORGET" ? ~ (THE EDITOR)

A wealth of misinformation here.

I also don't care for the the inaccurate comment, "A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military".

In our youth, we were taught that the Soviet Union ran around the world orchestrating regime change. That was partially true. However, we were not taught that the US did it as well.

We literally took the land to make the Panama Canal. A case of earning respect with a big stick.

The U.S. conducted regime change that put the Shah in power. It was an illegal act, an interference into the internal affairs of another country, purely for our economic benefit. My point is, we were no angels for decades, and conducted regime change at the request of American interests and big business. We're lucky the Shah's government lasted as long as it did.

This article's key point is that between January 1979 and September 2011, a 32 year period, 4,000 Americans were killed by terrorists. Okay, but that's a drop in the bucket when compared to the number of Americans killed by......Americans.

Last year alone, there were 14,249 murders in the United States. ISIS doesn't need to attack the US........we're achieving their goal for them.

Over 99 percent of the murders in America were caused by.......non-Muslim Americans (Christians).

Murders in the United States of America (FBI UCS Annual Crime Reports)

2010 14,772

2011 14,661

2012 14,866

2013 14,319

2014 14,249

[41chevy]

The terrorism article was written in 2002 by at the time a 93 year old USS Oklahoma vet, I'm sure this was the best information he could acquire at that time.

Yes we did and still do regime changes and most all come back to bite us.

14249 murders in 2014. How many were done by undocumented emigrants and gang related.

As for my opinion of this mess, how smart can I be? I was too dumb to not get drafted in 1971 and stupid enough to get wounded...twice

[kscarbel2]

When you plant a bomb on a civilian airliner and murder 224 Russian people, Putin doesn’t waste time taking action.

Dropping cruise missiles from TU-22M3s, TU-95s and TU-160s, supported by cutting edge SU-30SMs.

Plus SU-24M and SU-34 tactical bombers, and SU-25 ground attack aircraft.

No holds barred warfare is how one annihilates ISIS, an eye for an eye.

.

[thomastractorsvc]

After spending and living for five years in the middle east from 1988 to 2008 and working with various military's I can tell you that in my opinion 99% of the middle east people do not have the intestinal fortitude, will or wherewithal to wage war and become successful. The strongest forces that were in the middle east was the army under Saddam because they had fear of him, however if you remember the average Iraqi soldier threw down his weapon when the US crossed the boarder in Desert Storm. It was the republican guard that fought hard and routing them was the toughest part of both Desert Shield and Iraqi freedom 15 years later.

The 1% willing to fight are the violent and driven terrorist and who believes in his ideology and the fight and is willing to die for it.

Although the ideology is different, in my opinion based on my experiences the US Soldier believed in the Fight (defense of this nation) and was willing to die for the American way, that is what made the US military so great it was made up of all volunteers not unlike the enemy of today in the middle east. With lessons learned from the Vietnam war an all volunteer force and technology and advanced weapons systems made the US Military strong and that was proven in Desert Storm and Iraq and Afghanistan.

The only way to route out terrorists that want to destroy the West or civilized world is to occupy until they are all either killed or ousted by generations. Look at the Romans, ottomans or even occupation after WWII.

Dropping bombs may temporally keep them in check but it will not solve the problem. Afghanistan is run for the most part by corruption and factions with US service members behind hesco barriers and drones circling around, that is not an occupation. I am talking about a complete transformation and occupation the same as a colonization similar to what happened in Japan and Germany with the US responsible for all aspects of government and law enforcement until the Japaneses occupation lasted from 1945 to 1952 and Germany 1944 to 1955 and Germany originally broken into 4 regions before final the two state division with Allies in the west and the USSR in the east.

Point being the NAZIs never regained power and neither did the Emperor of Japan, by the way Italy was occupied by the Allied Military Government from 1943 to 1947

[kscarbel2]

Honduras arrests five US-bound Syrians with stolen passports

BBC / November 18, 2015

Police in Honduras have arrested five Syrians who were travelling on stolen Greek passports and intended to enter the United States by land.

The five men were detained on Tuesday night after arriving on a flight from neighbouring El Salvador, police said.

A spokesman for the Honduras's special police force, Anibal Baca, said they had been tipped off by Greece about the men's imminent arrival.

Greek diplomats in Honduras say none of the five speaks a word of Greek.

They were held at the international airport in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

According to Honduran police, they were planning to travel to the northern city of San Pedro Sula. From there, they intended to cross into Guatemala and then Mexico before reaching the US border, some 2,000km (1,2000 miles) away.

Unknown identities

"The passports were stolen in Athens," said Mr Baca, from the Police Investigations Division (DPI).

"Those are not their real names. We are still trying to establish their identities," he told La Prensa newspaper.

The names on the passports are: Charalampos Kyrimopoulos, Alexandros Tzempelikos, Vasileios Bouzas, Konstantinos Marinakis and Anastasios Bellios.

Interpol will assist Honduran police with the investigation.

American politicians have expressed concern over the arrival of Middle Eastern refugees following Friday's attacks in Paris.

Republicans in the House of Representatives said they were drafting legislation to introduce tougher controls on Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obama on Wednesday vowed to veto a GOP-drafted bill that would suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk.

"The certification requirement at the core of H.R. 4038 is untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives," the White House said in a statement.

The statement continued: "Given the lives at stake and the critical importance to our partners in the Middle East and Europe of American leadership in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, if the President were presented with H.R. 4038, he would veto the bill."

The refugee issue has emerged as a key political issue in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris. More than half -- 31 -- of the nation's governors, mainly Republicans, oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states and most GOP presidential candidates have called for a pause in allowing them into the country.

A Bloomberg Politics poll released Wednesday found that 53% of American adults don't want Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S., while 28% say the Obama administration should proceed with its plan to accept 10,000 refugees next year without religious screening, and 11% say only Christians from Syria should be allowed in.

Related reading with spot on video - http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/18/virginia-mayor-wartime-internment-of-japanese-justifies-ban-on-syrian-refugees

“We don’t know who these individuals are. Any idea (that) you can do a background check of someone that’s been living in Syria is absolutely ridiculous. These are dangerous times, whether people want to admit it or not. We want to keep the war out of Mississippi, here on the homefront.” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virginia mayor asks to suspend relocating of Syrian refugees

(Associated Press) — The mayor of Roanoke, Virginia has asked agencies to suspend relocating Syrian refugees to the area in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks and other threats.

Mayor David Bowers said in a statement Wednesday that area relocation efforts should be stopped "until these serious hostilities and atrocities end" or are brought under control.

He cited the Paris attacks and the bombing of a Russian airliner. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both.

Bowers also invoked the U.S. government's internment of Japanese-American people in camps during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Bowers said it appears that the threat of harm to America from the Islamic State "now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then."

_______________________________

Mayor Bowers probably meant well but didn't present his case properly. Actor and Japanese-American George Takei corrected him:

"Mayor Bowers, there are a few key points of history you seem to have missed. The internment [not a "sequester"] was not of Japanese "foreign nationals," but of Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were US citizens. "I was one of them, and my family and I spent four years in prison camps because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbour. It is my life's mission to never let such a thing happen again in America."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three young men on scooters -- one of whom wore a T-shirt bearing "an ISIS symbol" -- stabbed a Jewish teacher in Marseille, France, Wednesday evening, prosecutor Brice Robin said.

The assailants insulted the teacher, threatened to kill him and stabbed him in the stomach, arms and legs.

The attackers carried a phone with a photo of Mohammed Merah, who was responsible for a series of 2012 attacks on soldiers and schoolchildren in Toulouse and Montauban.

[Marcel67]

Would the solution like we did on Hiroshima and Nagasaki stop these aholes? I made Japan think twice to continue!

[thomastractorsvc]

If you remember one of the terrorist had traveled via Greece that was in France.

[41chevy]

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/France-attacks-US-refugee/2015/11/17/id/702600/?ns_mail_uid=58617429&ns_mail_job=1643557_11182015&s=al&dkt_nbr=vo974jik