On April 14, 2024, following Iran’s large-scale missile- and drone-attack on Israel, the Global Imams Council (GIC) issued an English-language statement that strongly condemned this attack, which “brought with it a new phase of tension, uncertainty and confrontation in the Middle East,” endangered the religious sites in the Holy Land and could spark an escalation threatening the the security of Millions of Muslims across the region. Rejecting Iran’s claim that it was acting in self-defense and highlighting the Iranian regime’s “history of sponsoring terrorism, sheltering terrorist organizations,” the statement also urged the world democracies to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The statement was signed by 295 Imams who are members of the GIC, representing 38 countries, in addition to endorsements from the GIC Governing Board, GIC Senior Imams Committee, GIC Advisory Committee and the Members of the GIC General Council.
The GIC is the world’s first and largest international non-governmental body of Muslim religious leaders from all Islamic denominations and schools, and advocates for peaceful coexistence, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue and for tackling extremist ideologies and militant Islam.[1]
The following is the text of the statement:
PUBLIC STATEMENT CONDEMING IRAN’S TERRORIST ATTACK
By the authority vested in the Global Imams Council by the Islamic Seminaries of the Holy Islamic Cities of Najaf and Karbala, we condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack conducted by the un-Islamic regime occupying the Iranian Republic on the 13th of April 2024.
The wave of drones and missiles that the regime launched has not only brought with it a new phase of tension, uncertainty and confrontation in the Middle East, but also targeted the Holy Land and place religious sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in serious danger.
The Global Imams Council rejects the regime’s self-defense pretest, and we highlight its history of sponsoring terrorism, sheltering terrorist organizations, and exploiting Mosques, Holy Shrines and diplomatic venues to shelter terrorists. For the last four decades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been the main source of Islamist terrorism in the world, with its leader Ali Khamenei financing organizations not limited to Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis:; as well as harboring Al-Qaeda members on Iranian territory.
This escalation and threat of open warfare threatens the safety and stability of millions of Muslims, compelling us, as religious leaders, to denounce the regime in Iran and demand accountability for its acts of terror in the name of Islam.
Furthermore, The Global Imams Council urges all democracies yet to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization to do so promptly in response to this egregious attack.
The Global Imams Council is dedicated to making peace a lived reality. We work both locally and globally to support peacebuilders, as well as collaborate with leading faith-leaders to establish dialogue and promote an innovative approach to peacebuilding. Our Council believes that the establishment of peace amongst all human beings is an essential objective.
Our peacebuilding efforts include, and are not limited to:
Developing and or mediating relations with different religious groups.
Defending religious freedom.
Promoting coexistence between all religious groups.
Interfaith
The Global Imams Council has established an Interfaith Network which comprises of leading faith-leaders from different religions, and who have been provided with constitutional powers to surpass all Council Committees. Members of our Interfaith Network provide direct advice to our Governing Board about matters that concern Islam and their respective religion or region. Our Council invites all prominent voices to join us on this peacebuilding journey.
Countering Terrorism and Extremist Ideologies
The Global Imams Council rejects violence and all violent ideologies. Our President and Director previously served as motivational speakers to the Iraqi Government’s Department of Defense during the war against ISIS. Our council is focused on tackling extremist ideologies and countering Islamic Extremism, terrorism, political and militant Islam (Islamism). We cooperate with security agencies and engage communities and faith-leaders of both Islam and other religions to reaffirm a commitment to developing cooperative programs that prevent violence.
Women’s and Children’s Rights
The Global Imams Council champions women’s rights and strongly believes that women have a right to an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.
We are the first Imams Council in history to appoint women to an administerial board, and establish an ‘Office for Women’ that works with women’s rights organizations around the world. We believe in equality and reject all forms of discrimination against all minorities, including women and children.
Our Council is actively fighting (and lobbying) for women’s rights within the Islamic Seminaries, as well as meeting with different Muftis and Grand Ayatollahs to bring an end to Female Genital Mutilation, Child Marriages, Honor Killings and other matters which harm girls and women alike.
Minority Rights
The Global Imams Council believes that fighting for Human Rights is meaningless if we do not include Minority Rights. Our Council’s Counter-Extremism Project focuses on global attacks against Religious Minorities and our Imams work and cooperate with government departments as well as the police in every continent and major city.
We utilize new technologies, including social media, to dynamically raise awareness regarding Christian Persecution and Anti-Semitism.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-18 16:51:272024-04-18 16:51:27Global Imams Council Issues Statement Condemning Iran’s Attack On Israel
In the lead to the story “Ceasefire Protest Turns Violent,” KGO ABC7 anchor Dan Ashley tells his audience that victims say that what happened to them is part of an alarming trend. But the victims don’t actually say that. Reporter Lena Howland says that, and gratuitously brings up a report from the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Before taking an in depth look at CAIR’s report, let us gain a perspective on what violence looks like.
It is also important to understand that CAIR is playing word games. The “pro-Palestine” events are really pro-Hamas and anti-Israel. The “pro-Palestinians” are not interested in peace. They would never dream of pressuring Hamas to surrender, or of calling for the release of the hostages in order to stop the co-called “genocide.” They are analogous to calling for a ceasefire with Nazi Germany during World War II.
From the “Hate Crimes” section of the CAIR report:
California:A man allegedly tried to murder members of the Muslim community at a park in Rancho Cordova in August. The man reportedly tried to run over Muslim community members of South Asian heritage while yelling racial slurs and allegedly threatening to “shoot and bomb” them. The suspect was reportedly arrested on two felonies and a hate crime charge.
This man may be mentally ill. Just hours earlier, he had an “disturbance” at a liquor store, is a registered sex offender, and with the help of his family, surrendered to police twelve hours after driving through the park. This is an isolated incident that happened in August, and is in no way caused by Israeli violence.
California: An Arab Muslim student at Stanford University was reportedly targeted in a hit-and run on campus in November. The driver had reportedly made eye contact with the student and accelerated and hit him, after which the driver reportedly yelled “f*** you and your people.” The student, who was hospitalized following the incident, reports having seen the driver at a pro-Palestinian rally in the month before the incident. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office reportedly opened a hate crime investigation into the incident.
Hamas violence and support for Hamas here at home might be the cause of this incident.
District of Columbia: A Muslim and Palestinian woman was reportedly threatened by a man while riding the D.C. Metro in October. The woman had been riding the Metro on her way to a demonstration for Palestinian rights when a man reportedly asked her, “How’d you like to lose your life?” On video, the man is then heard asking the woman, “How’d you like to have your head beheaded?” According to the victim and witnesses, the man also reportedly possessed a firearm, which he slightly removed from his pocket. He allegedly made other aggressive remarks toward the woman and her acquaintances before leaving the train. Law enforcement reportedly refused to investigate the incident.
The man was challenging the woman about her support for Hamas, and the police are not considering it a hate incident.
District of Columbia: A Palestinian staff member at American University reportedly received a hateful death threat slipped under his office door in October. The note said, in part, “You might get lucky with a missile and meet your Allah sooner! Death to all Palestinians!” A complaint to CAIR offices reports that the staff member has not received adequate security and protection from American University administrators following the incident. The American University Police Department and federal law enforcement are reportedly investigating the threat.
Somehow, after CAIR tells us that they have evidence of a deluge of hate in this country, we are left expecting more. Remember that with over 8,000 complaints to choose from, this is what CAIR shares with us.
Illinois: In October, six-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed and murdered by his family’s landlord in Chicago. According to his mother, who was also attacked, the landlord yelled “you Muslims must die!” before attempting to choke and stab her. After she attempted to call for law enforcement, she found that the landlord had stabbed her six-year-old son to death. The landlord has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder, attempted murder, battery, and hate crime charges.
Wadea Al-Fayoume was murdered on October 13, nearly 2 weeks before Israel responded to the attack by Hamas. This is a tragic story, but the fact remains that Wadea was killed in response to Hamas violence.
Illinois: A man reportedly threatened to shoot two Muslim men after allegedly shouting anti-Muslim statements in October. The man reportedly approached one of the victims, who had arrived in his vehicle to an apartment complex to meet with a friend, and began shouting obscenities that targeted his Muslim faith and telling him he didn’t belong in the country. The man then allegedly punched the first victim’s car window before going into the lobby of the apartment building, where he encountered the second victim and threatened to beat him. A short time later, one of the victims was sitting on the bench outside the building when the man reportedly lifted one side of the bench such that the victim fell off. The man reportedly told the two victims that he called four of his friends to come and shoot them. A hate crime charge was reportedly brought against the man in October.
This is an isolated incident, not connected to anything beyond the attacker.
New Jersey: A Princeton University staffer allegedly assaulted protestors for Palestinian human rights in October. The staff member was reportedly seen yelling at protestors, making obscene gestures, and filming them. She is also seen grabbing another protestor’s phone and running off with it, apparently pulling the protestor’s hair in the process.
Again, another incident not connected to anything except opposition to support for Hamas.
New York: In 2016, an Uber driver was reportedly attacked by his passengers, two intoxicated men. One passenger punched the driver in the jaw and both hurled expletives and racial slurs at him. As a result of the attack, the client suffered a fractured elbow and a dislocated neck, among other injuries. In May 2023, after years of litigation, and with the assistance of co-counsel at Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP, CAIR-NY secured a six-figure settlement for the client.
2016? CAIR should have plenty of material to choose from in 2023. This entry should be dismissed out of hand.
North Carolina: A Muslim member of the North Carolina Democratic Party was reportedly subjected to Islamophobic remarks by other party members. Following his public support of Palestinian human rights in 2022, other party members reportedly spread Islamophobic remarks about him, reportedly including the claim that he may be an “Iranian spy.” In early 2023, the man made a complaint to party leadership, which he claims was not addressed in a timely manner. In late 2023, CAIR sent a letter on his behalf, requesting that party leadership investigate and address his complaint.
Another irrelevant entry from CAIR that is not part of its 8,000 complaints in 2023; it is from 2022.
Ohio: A man reportedly targeted Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students at Cleveland State University for their pro-Palestine human rights activism in early 2023. The man had previously been accused of reportedly cyberharassing Palestinian students or students with pro-Palestinian views the previous year, after which a CSU student reportedly filed a protection order against him, which was granted. However, in January, the man reportedly returned to campus and stole the banner belonging to the CSU student organization Students for Palestinian Human Rights. He was also arrested by CSU police in January for reportedly violating the protection order. In February, he was reportedly banned from the campus, and in July, he reportedly entered a plea to reduce his charges and was sentenced to probation, a community orientation program, and anger management classes
Another isolated incident that is connected only to general opposition to support for Hamas in America.
Ohio: In October, a man driving a truck reportedly physically and verbally assaulted participants in a pro-Palestine march in Columbus. While members of student organizations and community supporters conducted a peaceful march in downtown Columbus, the man reportedly began shouting obscenities about Palestinians and then swerved out of his lane to hit a demonstrator on a bike. A suspect was reportedly taken into custody.
Many people might conclude that this assault was a reaction to public support for Hamas in this country. But CAIR is again trying to blame Israel for this.
Pennsylvania: In October, a man reportedly brandished a firearm against Muslims at a pro-Palestine protest at the footsteps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. The rally had been organized by the Central Pennsylvania Committee of Masajid, a network of mosques and Islamic organizations. The man reportedly approached the crowd in his vehicle, started yelling racial slurs, and then pointed a gun at the protestors. The suspect has reportedly been taken into custody and faces a felony count of ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats and simple assault by physical menace.
But the police did not charge him with a hate crime.
CAIR’s report is an embarrassment for the organization. More than half of its evidence of hate crimes in 2023 are either irrelevant, or are not considered to be hate crimes by the police. None of these incidents seem to be inspired by “Israeli violence,” but rather by Hamas violence. And this is the cream of the crop out of more than 8,000 incidents?
Let’s look further into CAIR’s report.
Despite CAIR’s claims of an overwhelming number of complaints, they include incidents from previous years such as 2019 (pg. 17), 2021 (pg. 22), and 2020 (pg. 30).
There were a concerning number of attacks on mosques last year, but all of them were committed by mentally ill people (pg. 18).
CAIR brings up the King Khalid Mosque in North Carolina, which has been closed since the pandemic. It is the property of Shaw University, and does not belong to CAIR, which wants the mosque reopened. This is not a hate incident. (pg.18)
An eighth-grade student from Corona Del Mar Middle and High School was allegedly suspended for saying “Free Palestine” in November (pg. 19).
This is not a hate incident.
Oklahoma: In September, Oklahoma State Superintendent announced an ongoing partnership with Prager University (PragerU). PragerU is known for being a right-wing educational website that has produced videos spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric and conspiracy theories. In one such video, the host reportedly claims that “Islam is not a religion of peace.” (pg. 21)
They are referring to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an ex-Muslim whom CAIR has repeatedly tried to censor. This is not evidence of an epidemic of hate.
Maryland: In November, a Muslim teacher was placed on administrative leave reportedly due to her email signature tagline, which expressed support for Palestinians. (pg. 23)
Her email signature was “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This is inappropriate for work, and she was suspended from her job at the school. That is not hate.
Michigan: In April, a female Muslim student was reportedly rejected from an internship interview after declining to shake hands with the CEO of PGF Technology Group Inc. due to her religious beliefs. The student had reportedly refused to shake hands with the CEO because of her sincerely held religious beliefs. (pg. 23)
Again, this is not “hate,” but it is definitely ridiculous.
Minnesota: In October, two Muslim students at Edina High School reported that they were suspended for three days following their participation in a walkout for Palestinian human rights. The students reportedly participated in chanting common pro-Palestinian phrases. (pg.23)
This is inappropriate conduct at school, and again is not hate.
Florida: In October, the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida issued an order deactivating Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across the state. (pg. 23)
SJP is a thuggish pro-Hamas group, and banning them from campus is not “hate.”
California: A newly-arrived Afghan-Muslim teenager was shot twice and hospitalized after a police shooting in January. (pg. 29)
This is about an Afghan family having a knife fight outside their residence in Tracy, California. When the police arrived, one of the family advanced on the police holding a knife. CAIR contributed nothing to this except to say the police needed “cultural sensitivity training.” The police need the training, not the Afghans.
And so on.
All of CAIR’s reports are like this. CAIR’s “Hate” reports do not stand up to scrutiny.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-18 16:51:252024-04-18 16:51:25An In-Depth Look at Hamas-Linked CAIR’s ‘FATAL: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate’ Report
U.S.-based TikTok executives were totally “complicit” in efforts to hand over Americans’ data to China despite company assertions to the contrary, a former senior data scientist at the social media platform alleged, according to Fortune.
The House of Representatives passed legislation in March that would compel Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok for the social media app to continue operating in the United States because of the potential national security threats of its ownership. Evan Turner, a former senior data scientist who worked for the popular app in 2022 from April to September, alleged TikTok hid the participation of ByteDance in the app’s operations during his tenure, which overlapped with an initiative intended to solve the issue of Chinese data access, Fortune reported Monday.
Other ex-TikTok workers interviewed spoke of the progress TikTok has made to separate itself from its China-based parent and segregate U.S. user data from China.
“I literally worked on a project that gave U.S. data to China,” Turner told Fortune. “They were completely complicit in that. There were Americans that were working in upper management that were completely complicit in this.”
Turner first reported to a Beijing-based ByteDance executive but the company then announced Project Texas, a $1.5 billion initiative to establish an isolated unit to safeguard American data, leading him to receive a documented reassignment to a Seattle manager, he told Fortune. However, a human resources representative acknowledged Turner would persist in collaborating with the ByteDance executive.
The former senior data scientist participated in short meetings with the ByteDance executive on a weekly basis, where he would provide rudimentary updates on his progress with key assignments, Fortune reported.
Turner was allegedly required to send spreadsheets containing hundreds of thousands of American TikTok users’ data, including names, emails and locations to ByteDance staff every 14 days, he told Fortune. The project’s intention was to use the data to learn trends to make users more hooked on the app, and it occurred after Project Texas launched.
Fortune interviewed 11 ex-employees, many alleging TikTok’s operations were connected to ByteDance to an extent while they worked there despite the company’s claims it was prohibiting the Chinese parent company from having access. Some of the former employees spoke anonymously because of concerns of revenge against them, according to the outlet.
Managers within TikTok were directing employees to send similar data to ByteDance, bypassing authorized channels, according to current and previous employees as well as company records The Wall Street Journal saw in January. Executives believe it is crucial to distribute the data supposedly protected by Project Texas to ByteDance because it controls TikTok’s algorithm, individuals with knowledge of the project’s unit told the WSJ.
TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s response for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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There is an enemy within America bent on supporting the terrorists in Hamas. They use the myth that they are supporting Palestine, which was always called Judea.
The idea of a Palestine was created out of whole cloth by Yassar Arafat and the Soviet KGB.
The KGB wanted to create a new group of fake “underdogs” to wipe out Israel and replace her with a Muslim state.
Palestine, and the palestinian people are both myths. They are merely Arabs.
As President John F. Kennedy said, “For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears.”
In order for these pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers to hold their rally the City commission of Sarasota, Florida had to approve it.
BTW, very near where these Hamas lovers are standing is the statue Unconditional Surrender, a.k.a. the Kissing Sailor, donated to the City of Sarasota by a WWII veteran.
In 2010 the sculpture “Unconditional Surrender” was purchased by Jack Curran, a WW II Navy veteran, and with support from numerous Sarasota veterans and patriotic organizations. Mr. Curran was able to gift the sculpture to the City of Sarasota at a personal cost of $500,000. The full intent of Mr. Curran was that the statue remain on Sarasota’s bay front.
Today we have “the enemy within” showing support for the terrorist organization Hamas and shouting “intifada.” The Arabic word “Intifada” translates to “uprising” or “shaking off.”
It has been used to describe during periods of intense Hamas protests against Israel, now in Sarasota, Florida.
Remember what President Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
Allowing these supports of an intifada against America to protest anywhere in America is at least a travesty, and borders on treason.
A man involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed a top Democrat staffer entered the United States illegally, federal immigration authorities have confirmed.
Elmer Rueda-Linares was arrested on hit-and-run charges following a two-vehicle crash in the early morning of April 6 in Reno, Nevada, that resulted in the death of Kurt Englehart, a senior advisor to Nevada Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed that he entered the United States illegally.
“Officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations in Reno, Nevada, placed an immigration detainer April 8 on Honduran national Elmer Rueda-Linarez, 18, who is being held at the Washoe County Jail in Reno for felony hit and run causing death,” ICE stated to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Rueda entered the United States March 12, 2021, at or near the Rio Grande City, Texas, Port of Entry without inspection by an immigration official. United States Customs and Border Protection arrested him, and he was later released on his own recognizance June 22, 2021,” ICE stated.
Immigration detainers are requests made from ICE to local and state law enforcement agencies, requesting that they be notified promptly when a removable alien is due to be released from their custody.
Impairment was suspected by authorities at the time of Rueda-Linares’ arrest.
Since his arrest, the charge of hit-and-run against the Honduran national has been changed to failing to stop at the scene of an accident, according to local media. He remains in custody on $100,000 bail.
The DCNF reached out to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, asking if they plan to honor the detainer request if Rueda-Linares posts bail, but they did not immediately respond.
Englehart served as a state senior advisor to Masto. He had worked for the senator’s campaign and her official office for the past eight years. He was 38 at the time of his death.
“Sen. Cortez Masto looks forward to justice being served and has confidence in the local police and prosecutors,” Cortez Masto spokesperson Lauren Wodarski stated to local media.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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Islam enjoys a large and influential ally among the non—Muslims: A new generation of ‘Useful Idiots,’ the sort of people Lenin identified living in liberal democracies who furthered the work of communism. This new generation of Useful Idiots also lives in liberal democracies, but serves the cause of Islamofascism—another virulent form of totalitarian ideology.
Useful Idiots are naïve, foolish, ignorant of facts, unrealistically idealistic, dreamers, willfully in denial or deceptive. They hail from the ranks of the chronically unhappy, the anarchists, the aspiring revolutionaries, the neurotics who are at war with life, the disaffected alienated from government, corporations, and just about any and all institutions of society. The Useful Idiot can be a billionaire, a movie star, an academe of renown, a politician, or from any other segment of the population.
Arguably, the most dangerous variant of the Useful Idiot is the ‘Politically Correct.’ He is the master practitioner of euphemism, hedging, doubletalk, and outright deception.
The Useful Idiot derives satisfaction from being anti—establishment. He finds perverse gratification in aiding the forces that aim to dismantle an existing order, whatever it may be: an order he neither approves of nor he feels he belongs to.
The Useful Idiot is conflicted and dishonest. He fails to look inside himself and discover the causes of his own problems and unhappiness while he readily enlists himself in causes that validate his distorted perception.
Understandably, it is easier to blame others and the outside world than to examine oneself with an eye to self—discovery and self—improvement. Furthermore, criticizing and complaining—liberal practices of the Useful Idiot—require little talent and energy. The Useful Idiot is a great armchair philosopher and ‘Monday Morning Quarterback.’
The Useful Idiot is not the same as a person who honestly has a different point of view. A society without honest and open differences of views is a dead society. Critical, different and fresh ideas are the life blood of a living society—the very anathema of autocracies where the official position is sacrosanct.
Even a ‘normal’ person spends a great deal more energy aiming to fix things out there than working to overcome his own flaws and shortcomings, or contribute positively to the larger society. People don’t like to take stock of what they are doing or not doing that is responsible for the conditions they disapprove.
But the Useful Idiot takes things much farther. The Useful Idiot, among other things, is a master practitioner of scapegoating. He assigns blame to others while absolving himself of responsibility, has a long handy list of candidates for blaming anything and everything, and by living a distorted life, he contributes to the ills of society.
The Useful Idiot may even engage in willful misinformation and deception when it suits him. Terms such as ‘Political Islam,’ or ‘Radical Islam,’ for instance, are contributions of the Useful Idiot. These terms do not even exist in the native parlance of Islam, simply because they are redundant. Islam, by its very nature and according to its charter—the Quran—is a radical political movement. It is the Useful Idiot who sanitizes Islam and misguides the populace by saying that the ‘real Islam’ constitutes the main body of the religion; and, that this main body is non—political and moderate.
Regrettably, a large segment of the population goes along with these nonsensical euphemisms depicting Islam because it prefers to believe them. It is less threatening to believe that only a hijacked small segment of Islam is radical or politically driven and that the main body of Islam is indeed moderate and non—political.
But Islam is political to the core. In Islam the mosque and state are one and the same—the mosque is the state. This arrangement goes back to the days of Muhammad himself. Islam is also radical in the extreme. Even the ‘moderate’ Islam is radical in its beliefs as well as its deeds. Muslims believe that all non—Muslims, bar none, are hellfire bound and well—deserve being maltreated compared to believers.
No radical barbaric act of depravity is unthinkable for Muslims in dealing with others. They have destroyed precious statues of Buddha, leveled sacred monuments of other religions, and bulldozed the cemeteries of non—Muslims—a few examples of their utter extreme contempt toward others.
Muslims are radical even in their intrafaith dealings. Various sects and sub—sects pronounce other sects and sub—sects as heretics worthy of death; women are treated as chattel, deprived of many rights; hands are chopped for stealing even a loaf of bread; sexual violation is punished by stoning, and much much more. These are standard day—to—day ways of the mainstream ‘moderate’ Muslims living under the stone—age laws of Sharia.
The ‘moderate’ mainstream of Islam has been outright genocidal from inception. Their own historians record that Ali, the first imam of the Shiite and the son—in—law of Muhammad, with the help of another man, beheaded 700 Jewish men in the presence of the Prophet himself. The Prophet of Allah and his disciples took the murdered men’s women and children in slavery. Muslims have been, and continue to be, the most vicious and shameless practitioners of slavery. The slave trade, even today, is a thriving business in some Islamic lands where wealthy, perverted sheikhs purchase children of the poor from traffickers for their sadistic gratification.
Muslims are taught deception and lying in the Quran itself—something that Muhammad practiced during his life whenever he found it expedient. Successive Islamic rulers and leaders have done the same. Khomeini, the founder of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, for instance, rallied the people under the banner of democracy. All along his support for democracy was not a commitment of an honest man, but a ruse. As soon as he gathered the reins of power, Khomeini went after the Useful Idiots of his time with vengeance. These best children of Iran, having been thoroughly deceived and used by the crafty phony populist—religionist, had to flee the country to avoid the fate of tens of thousands who were imprisoned or executed by the double—crossing imam.
Almost three decades after the tragic Islamic Revolution of 1979, the suffocating rule of Islam casts its death—bearing pal over Iranians. A proud people with enviable heritage is being systematically purged of its sense of identity and forced to think and behave like the barbaric and intolerant Muslims. Iranians who had always treated women with equality, for instance, have seen them reduced by the stone—age clergy to sub—human status of Islamic teaching. Any attempt by the women of Iran to counter the misogynist rule of Muhammad’s mullahs is mercilessly suppressed. Women are beaten, imprisoned, raped and killed just as men are slaughtered without due process or mercy.
The lesson is clear. Beware of the Useful Idiots who live in liberal democracies. Knowingly or unknowingly, they serve as the greatest volunteer and effective soldiers of Islam. They pave the way for the advancement of Islam and they will assuredly be among the very first victims of Islam as soon as it assumes power.
U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby repeatedly defended President Joe Biden’s decision to relax sanctions enforcement against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has helped the country earn tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue.
Kirby made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Shannon Bream on Fox News after Iran launched 185 one-way suicide drones, 110 surface-to-surface missiles, and 36 cruise missiles at Israel.
Bream asked, “Is it not fair to say though there have been moves by this administration that have opened up cash and other opportunities for them, which we know are fungible in ways that are not helping the Iranian people, but are benefiting the elites and people there who chant ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’?”
Kirby responded by claiming that it was former President Donald Trump who enacted “the sanctions relief program” for Iran, even though Trump was known for enacting crippling sanctions on Iran.
“It doesn’t go to the regime,” Kirby said. “And the idea that the regime was somehow felt like they were freed up to support these proxies because of that, it just doesn’t comport with the facts. They had been supporting these proxies for many, many years.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who signed on Biden’s decision to unfreeze billions to Iran: “Iran has always used & focused its funds on supporting terror.” pic.twitter.com/SkEL2Jcwpg
Biden’s complicity in the attack on Iran from beginning to end.
On Saturday night, Iran launched its attack, codenamed “Ya Rasool Allah” or “Messenger of Allah,” on the Jewish State, after Israel had taken out the Iranian mastermind of Oct 7.
The attack began with waves of drones to swamp Israel’s air defenses, followed by cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. While the British and the French took out some drones, U.S. forces accounted for about half the total of drones and some of the ballistic missiles, leaving the rest for the Israelis to deal with. By the time it was over, 99% of the attack had been intercepted.
The only serious injury in the “Messenger of Allah” bombardment was to a 7-year-old Muslim Bedouin girl.
But why was Iran able to launch so many missiles at all, how did everyone know when the attack would happen, and why is Biden warning Israel not to respond to the Iranian attack?
Last month, the Biden administration provided a $10 billion sanctions waiver for Iran. The administration warned Iran that it would impose sanctions on its missile program if it sent them to Russia. There was no mention of the real focus of those sanctions which was concern that Iran would provide those weapons to proxy terror groups like Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthis, now using those weapons to attack civilian container ships and US Navy vessels.
Iran should never have had that weapons technology in the first place. In 2006, the Bush administration had convinced the UN Security Council to sanction Iran’s missile program “to prevent the supply, sale or transfer …of all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
Part of Obama’s Iran Deal allowed those sanctions to expire on October 18, 2023. Two weeks after the Oct 7 attacks on Israel which killed over 1,000 people, the Biden administration let the UN sanctions lapse, making it easier for Iran to buy, export and boost its development of weapons technology. The administration tried to substitute a limited sanctions program of its own for the original sanctions while continuing to allow Iran to access billions in sanctions relief.
Where the Trump administration had snapped back sanctions for Iran’s violations, Biden lifted them a month after taking office. Sen. Ted Cruz has estimated that the Biden administration allowed around $100 billion to flow to Iran since 2021. That $10 billion was just the latest of it.
Despite the open violations of the Iran Deal, Biden allowed Iran to benefit from an agreement it was actively violating every single day even as it was attacking American soldiers and Israel.
When Biden allowed Iran that latest $10 billion in sanctions relief, not only were US Navy personnel actively in combat with Iran’s Houthi terrorists, but two Navy SEALS had died in an operation to intercept Iranian weapons being smuggled from Somalia to the Houthis in Yemen. In Jordan, an attack by Iran’s Shiite militias operating out of Iraq had killed three American service members. While Biden appeared willing to let Iran get away with it, Israel was not.
As General Mohammad Zahedi and other figures from Iran’s IRGC international terror network were meeting in a building near Iran’s terror facility in Damascus, they were taken out. After his death, Iranian sources named Zahedi as the mastermind of the Oct 7 attacks.
What followed were a series of back-channel communications between the Biden administration and Iran through various third parties. The goal of these negotiations was to persuade Iran not to “escalate” the conflict by limiting its attack to what a Reuters report described as “within certain limits.” The timing of the attack was so widely known that media reports correctly repeated warnings that Iran would strike within 36 hours. Hours before the attack began, not only Iran’s allies, but also other countries in the region, were already prepared for it to begin.
Instead of making clear to Iran that an attack was unacceptable, the Biden administration was pre-arranging the terms of the attack on one of its allies while warning it not to respond.
When Iran launched the attack, it had been coordinated with Biden officials. Had it really wanted to launch a damaging assault, it would have changed the timing of the attack. Instead it not only launched the attack on time, but it did so while communicating with D.C. through backchannels before and after the attack. A Biden administration official stated that there were “direct communications through the Swiss channel” including to tell the Biden administration when the attack was winding down.
That is not how attacks normally work, but this was not a normal attack, nor is it the actual one.
Iran launched the attack to demonstrate its capabilities. For the first time it showed that it could coordinate missile and drone launches from all of its clients across the region. The launches took place not only from Iran, but from the Houthis in Yemen, Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The attacks allowed Iran to test a coordinated assault across four countries, to test how Israeli and American air defenses would respond to being swarmed, and to score a propaganda victory with images of its drones over Jerusalem and that part of the Temple Mount where Muslim invaders had built their Al Aqsa mosque. What it was not meant to do was be devastating.
Iran would have rejoiced if it had hammered Israeli air bases and cities, but barring critical errors by Israel and America, it wasn’t expecting more than an expensive light show and a little rubble.
Compare the Iranian attack on Israel with the finely coordinated attack on Tower 22, the U.S. base on the Jordanian-Iranian border, where the Iraqi Shiite terror proxies had perfectly timed the attack to coincide with a moment of confusion caused by the return of a U.S. drone, or the Oct 7 attack which set out to analyze and dismantle Israel’s border defense network, timing drone attacks to disable automated defenses, with this straightforward telegraphed attack.
If Iran remains true to form, the actual attack will come from its proxies, will exploit vulnerabilities in Israeli defenses and will allow the regime to maintain plausible deniability as it did on Oct 7.
What happened on Saturday night was not the actual attack, but a feint with the added purpose of convincing the Biden administration that its diplomatic approach can work. Beginning with the Iran Deal, the Islamic terror state has played a complicated game, welcoming diplomacy and then abruptly rejecting it, holding out hope and then taking it away, but only doing it long enough to keep up the chase. This time around, Tehran convinced Biden that its Islamic leadership, despite their cries of, “Death to America” are rational actors who want to manage the conflict.
In the two years before Oct 7, Hamas convinced the Biden administration and the Israelis that it could be dealt with before launching a devastating assault, so too Iran, like other Islamic terrorist entities, specializes in luring America into a state of complacency before an attack.
And so the Biden administration is warning Israel not to respond. After all these years it believes that Iran can be dealt with and that it successfully negotiated an end to the crisis. It allowed Iran to launch its attack on Israel, helped intercept it and foolishly believes that Tehran is now satisfied because all its leaders ever wanted, like Biden, was a show, not the real thing.
Biden thinks that when Iran’s elites chant, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” it’s as empty a slogan as all of his campaign promises. But, unlike Biden, Iran’s leaders keep their promises. The slogans are serious. They intend to destroy America and they intend to destroy Israel.
American soldiers continue dying at the hands of Iran and its terror proxies while D.C. diplomats conduct empty negotiations and Iran’s agents penetrate their way into our government.
After September 11, Biden suggested, “this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran.” Since then billions of dollars have made their way to Iran. The Islamic terror state has killed and kidnapped Americans, it is encircling America’s allies in the region, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, and still the ‘no strings’ checks keep coming from D.C.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 14:51:182024-04-17 14:51:18Launched from Iran, Made in America
Regime change in Iran is the only viable way to stop Iran from trying to destroy Israel, it’s Sunni Arab Neighbors, and eventually the Western world.
From an Iranian Perspective, given what happened last Saturday night, Israel should respond ASAP. The best way to do so is go after the regime’s sources of revenue – i.e., its export oil/gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.
Please watch a superb interview with the Iranian Crown Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s on why Regime Change is the only effective way to stop Iran from trying to destroy Israel and eventually the Western world, below.
We don’t need American/Israeli troops on the ground to do this. History tells us that once the Iranian people believe their regime cannot do what it needs to stay in power, the people will go out in the streets and do the rest.
I witnessed this first hand when I was going to university in Mashhad, Iran during the early and mid-stages of the 1978-79 Islamic revolution. When they saw the regime was unwilling/unable to do what was necessary to keep itself in power, they revolted and did the rest. Iranian history is replete with many other examples like this.
The best way to make this happen now is destroy the regime’s only source of income – i.e., Iran’s oil/gas export infrastructure. After the regime is gone, that could be rebuilt.
For an example please see the signs in the attached document which appeared in the streets of Tehran immediately after last Saturday’s Israeli destruction of the Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial devices the Iranian regime sent against Israel.
From an Iranian perspective, Israel must respond to Iran’s aggression against Israel ASAP and devastatingly. Otherwise, Israel looks weak. The will embolden the Iranian regime to up the ante against Israel.
We don’t need American/Israeli troops on the ground to do this. History tells us that once the Iranian people believe their regime cannot do what it needs to stay in power, the people will go out in the streets and do the rest.
I was going to university in Mashhad, Iran during the early and mid-stages of the 1978-79 Islamic revolution. I saw this in action. When they saw the regime was unwilling/unable to do what was necessary to keep itself in power, they revolted and did the rest. Iranian history is replete with many other examples like this.
The best way to make this happen now is to go after the regime’s source of income – i.e., destroy its only source of income – to destroy Iran’s oil/gas export infrastructure. After the regime is gone, that could be rebuilt.
For an example please see the signs below which appeared in the streets of Tehran immediately after last Saturday’s Israeli destruction of the Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial devices the Iranian regime sent against Israel.
From an Iranian perspective, Israel must respond to Iran’s aggression against Israel ASAP and devastatingly. Otherwise, Israel looks weak. The will embolden the Iranian regime to up the ante against Israel.
The rant is just a reflection of how long we’ve been unheard while people made up crazy narratives and tall tales about the Islamic Regime, with only a sliver of time on are to try to correct the mass disinformation. pic.twitter.com/f2mhkzCKva
“Khamenei is trying to start a war to save his failing regime. But this is not a war that our nation wants. Iranians have made it clear: the criminal mafia occupying Iran does not represent our nation, our values, or our aspirations,” Iranian Prince @PahlaviReza tweeted Friday.… pic.twitter.com/zEJ35EGmSx
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) April 13, 2024
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 14:51:172024-04-17 14:51:17VIDEO: Regime Change in Iran is the Only Viable Way to Stop Iran From Trying Destroy Israel and Eventually the Western World
We have written about why Donald J. Trump is the only real choice for America’s patriots to become the 47th President of the United States, here, here and here.
A stunning new video has been delivered that makes the case for ONLY President Donald Trump as commander-in-chief.
The Gateway Pundit explains it is the “most powerful pro-Trump ad of the year” – “It is that good.”
It is from Claremont Institute chairman Tom Klingenstein, a philanthropist, public speaker, writer, and playwright.
He explains:
Now that President Trump is the Republican nominee for President in 2024, it’s time for Republicans, including those who doubt him or even can’t stand him to get behind him. The times demand it. We are in a war fighting an enemy of revolutionaries that kick and spit on America. I call our enemy the Woke regime or the Group quota regime. This war is a contest between those who love America and those who hate it. But we do not have a commander-in-chief. You can’t win a war without one. We shouldn’t much care whether our commander-in-chief is a real conservative, whether he is a role model for children, or says lots of silly things, or whether he is modest or dignified.
What we should care about is whether he knows we are in a war, knows who the enemy is, and knows how to win.
Trump does. His policies are important but not as important as the rest of him. Trump grasps the essential things. He understands the Group quota regime is evil and will not stop until it destroys America. He is a fighter, bold, brave, and decisive, who has confidence in himself and his country.
Trump never apologizes for America. He rightly believes America is the greatest country in history. Trump says, in effect, we have our culture. It’s exceptional, and that’s the way we want to keep it. And we won’t keep it if we usher in millions of immigrants with cultures different from our own. Trump knows his job is to protect Americans and just Americans. Protect them not just from enemies abroad, but from the woke globalists within. He knows that America does not need more diversity. It needs more cohesion. The woke radicals tell the Trump voters they are a threat to democracy. Think about that. They’re saying, You Trumpsters are a threat to democracy. The woke radicals also tell us ad nauseam that America is systemically racist. Trump knows this is deadly nonsense, and he says so. This charge of systemic racism bounces off Trump because he has no white guilt, or any guilt for that matter. Trump tells his supporters what they already know. They are not racist, and they do not have white privilege. The woke radicals shut up those who disagree. Trump will not be shut up. If they manage to put him in jail, he will still roar like a lion.
The woke radicals have the moral arrogance of fanatics. Trump, God bless him, knows we are all sinners. Trump rejects the utopian fanaticism of the woke radicals. He is a businessman who takes the world on its own terms and navigates by facts and common sense. Trump’s base knows firsthand the America that Trump wants to recover. They love him, and they know he loves them. They will fight for him because they know he will fight for them. Trump speaks to his supporters as fellow citizens without any condescension or poll-tested BS. Despite his billions, he is one of them, an outsider looking in, a man who takes catsup on his steak. And is as disgusted as they are with the anti-American elite.
This natural appeal has molded everyday patriotic Americans into an army. We cannot stop the left’s revolution and retake the nation without these men and women. Unlike most Conservatives, they will actually fight for America. But they follow Trump. Without him, they stay home. With him, they are united and determined. At his rallies, his audience invariably breaks into chants of USA, USA. In these moments, Trump and his audience mutually pledge to each other their fidelity and their sacred honor.
His enemies hate him with an indescribable fierceness. Another Hitler, they say. Elect him and he will be a dictator. We should take this hysteria as reason for hope.
The America-haters rightly fear that Trump and his party are on the threshold of a successful counter-revolution. Trump hates his enemies every bit as much as they hate him. His enemies are America’s enemies. Trump is the most towering figure of our time. He has changed politics, not just in America, but in the West. If we are to take back America, we need someone who is unmovable, who has proven that he can stand up against the immensely powerful army of woke modernity that will attack him with all its might. Someone who will go after the deep state without pity or compassion. And someone who has the conviction that America is still the last best hope of Earth. That someone is Trump. Trump, the politician, came out of the blue. An unconventional commander against an unconventional enemy. Almost inconceivable as President at any other time.
Trump fits this turbulent moment to a T. Is it too much to wonder whether the appearance of this most unconventional man is providential?
Lincoln spoke of Americans as the almost chosen people. Trump gives us hope that the God who has never forsaken his almost chosen people will not do so now.
Now that former President Trump is the Republican nominee for President in 2024, it’s time for Republicans, including those who doubt him or even can’t stand him, to get behind him. The times demand it. pic.twitter.com/UZv5fYrvyj
American Civil War 2.0 is about destroying our Constitutional Republic and replacing it with a one world order. It also requires the enslaving of the American people.
It is yet to be seen if it will become a fully armed conflict, although we are witnessing groups like the pro-Hamas supporters calling for “the death of America” and their storming of the White House and violent marches across America waving the flag of the terrorist group Hamas and the burning of the American flag.
Unlike the Civil War of 1861, the American Civil War 2.0 is in essence not seceding from the United States but rather destroying it from within by a cabal of traitors.
Abraham Lincoln wrote, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
We know what President Donald J. Trump must do when inaugurated on January 20th, 2025.
He must drain the swamp from the schoolhouse to the White House, completely and totally.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 13:52:162024-04-17 13:52:16This Video Builds A Rock Solid Case For Only Trump As The Commander-in-Chief
Israel is weighing retaliation options against Iran, which attacked the country on Saturday, as the Biden administration ramps up calls for restraint.
Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and suicide drones at Israel on Saturday — the vast majority of which were intercepted or missed their targets — in retaliation for Israel’s airstrikes on a diplomatic compound in Syria that killed several high-level Iranian military operatives on Apr. 1. Israel’s war cabinet convened on Monday to weigh response options as the Biden administration and European allies are calling on the country to deescalate the situation and embrace a diplomatic approach, rather than a military one.
President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday he needed to “take the win” from Iran’s failed attack, which was also deterred by U.S. forces in the region, underscoring concerns that an Israeli response could spark a broader regional conflict, a senior administration official told Axios. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a phone call on Sunday there must be a response to Iran, according to a U.S. official and source familiar with the call who spoke to Axios, though it’s unclear what such a response could look like.
It is unacceptable to allow Iran to launch an attack directly from within its soil when Israel strikes Iranian targets inside of Syria, Gallant reportedly told Austin.
“If Israel absorbs these blows, she will be alone, her deterrence eroded and [Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei’s] direct attacks normalized,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), said on Sunday. “Khamenei will go back to his proxy attacks, the world will just accept them and restrain Israel.”
“Time to hit the head of the Octopus,” Dubowtiz said. “But patience is a virtue.”
It is the first time Tehran has chosen to launch a strike from directly within its soil against Israel since Oct. 7, the day Hamas, an Iranian-backed terror group, invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people, prompting a massive Israeli counter-offensive. Until Saturday, Iran has solely relied on its network of terror groups throughout the Middle East to launch attacks against Israel and its allies.
Netanyahu asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to provide him with a readout of potential targets and strike options, including hitting a facility inside of Tehran or launching a cyberattack, an official familiar with the talks told The Washington Post. Israel will likely engage in some sort of retaliatory response, but it’s likely to be measured so as to not spark broader regional conflict, Gabriel Noronha, executive director of Polaris National Security and former State Department official, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Part of this is that the West would be smart if they actually offered tangible, real consequences on Iran to supplement or replace some of this kinetic action which Israel is considering. I think Israel still has to do something retaliatory, that can be kinetic, that can be cyber, that can be covert action, but they have to do something just to rebalance, or to settle the score,” Noronha told the DCNF. “I don’t think in that Israeli response, they need to do anything lethal. I think if they take out either critical ballistic missile or drone-related infrastructure facilities, or perhaps oil-related, energy-related facilities, without causing the high casualties, I think that’s sort of a way to demonstrate, ‘Hey, you can’t go and launch missiles into our territory without consequence. But we’re not trying to turn into a tit-for-tat.’”
“Now the issue is that Iran is doing some interesting messaging. They’re basically saying, ‘If Israel responds, we will respond 10 times greater.’ That’s ridiculous, they don’t have like they don’t have the measures to do that unilaterally,” Noronha told the DCNF. “One thing is attacked demonstrated is that Iran’s conventional capabilities to attack Israel on their own are really bad. They don’t have they don’t have the ability, apparently, to actually hit targets on their own without using their [terror] proxies.”
Other experts speculated that striking back at Tehran could open a new front of conflict between Israel and Iran, which may threaten Israel’s — already fighting a war in Gaza — national security.
“That is a fight Israel cannot win. The Iron Dome system along with all the allied air power knocking down drones and missiles, performed brilliantly — this time. But Israel burned through a lot of interceptor missiles to knock down those cheap Iranian drones,” retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, told the DCNF. “It seems likely that Iran can produce a lot more Shahid and similar type drones than Israel has Iron Dome and Patriot interceptor missiles.”
“If the two sides get into a sustained war measured in months, Israel may soon find itself with insufficient air defenses,” Davis told the DCNF. “Then even the slow-moving, unsophisticated Shahid drones would cause major harm to Israeli targets, as they pack a significant warhead and have excellent guidance systems.”
During their phone call on Sunday, Gallant told Austin that the current standoff with Tehran creates an opportunity to form “a strategic alliance to counter the threat posed by Iran,” according to Axios. But Biden told Netanyahu during their phone call a day prior that the U.S. would not participate in or support an Israeli counterattack against Iran, which could spur Israel not to strike, Davis told the DCNF.
“Netanyahu is now in a tough position, because if he strikes into Iran now — and especially if he hits Iranian nuclear facilities — he may get condemnation from some quarters in the West,” Davis told the DCNF.
Biden has been criticized for taking a policy of appeasement toward Iran in a bid to try and deter the country from acting hostile to U.S. allies. The Biden administration allowed Iran access to billions of dollars after failing to enforce oil sanctions, paying “ransom” for six hostages in late 2023 and extending a sanctions waiver so that Tehran could have access to revenues made from Iraqi energy transactions.
“President Biden needs to face reality: His policies of appeasing Iran while waging political warfare against Israel led Tehran to conclude it could launch a massive attack on Israel and face no consequences,” Richard Goldberg, senior fellow at FDD, wrote on Sunday. “The White House has been showering Tehran with access to cash in hopes of incentivizing better behavior.”
“It’s quite logical for the mullahs to examine the record and conclude a strategic-level strike on Israel would end in two results: zero consequences for Tehran and pressure on Israel not to respond,” Goldberg said. “Israel, however, has no choice but to respond forcefully to this attack — imposing costs high enough on Tehran to turn the ayatollah’s calculation into a miscalculation.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another big story unfolding in Iran that U.S. news media has ignored are the crackdowns by the mullah regime’s “morality police” who are beating & kidnapping women for not covering her hair in public through out Iran! Women are facing horrific abuse by the regime’s thugs & goons. pic.twitter.com/8gTU0hx0HX
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 00:51:352024-04-17 00:51:35‘No Choice But To Respond’: Israel Weighs Retaliatory Options Against Iran As Biden Admin Urges Restraint
A National Guard soldier fired at a migrant who stabbed two individuals at the Texas-Mexico border, according to a document obtained by NewsNation.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon along the Rio Grande River in El Paso’s Lower Valley, NewsNation reported. A member of the Indiana National Guard — deployed to the area as part of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star – witnessed an individual stab a fellow migrant and fired their weapon in response, according to the outlet.
The stabbing reportedly took place on the U.S. side of the river.
“Early on the afternoon of 14 April, a National Guard service member assigned to Operation Lone Star discharged a weapon in a border-related incident. The incident is under investigation,” the Texas Military Department said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday.
The individual crossed back onto the Mexican side of the border after being shot at, NewsNation reported. The document did not make clear if the attacker was struck by the shot.
Investigators later determined that two individuals were stabbed during the incident, according to NewsNation. A local fire and rescue crew responded shortly after and treated both migrants for “superficial wounds” that were not deemed to be life-threatening.
“More information will be made available as the investigation progresses,” the Texas Military Department continued in their statement.
The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
That’s how many illegals have entered the United States under the Biden Administration— more than the population of 36 states.
Over 1,000 of them took over NYC City Hall Park here to protest being sent to shelters and they are demanding permanent housing. pic.twitter.com/O9LRNrJ0Rn
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 00:51:342024-04-17 00:51:34National Guardsman Shoots Migrant Who Allegedly Stabbed Two Others
To our friends at the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) we salute you and send you our very best wishes.
Congratulations on your success and superior military capabilities in destroying the incoming ballistic missiles and drones fired upon your beautiful country Israel by the terrorist state of Iran.
I am a retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief, Surface Warfare and Air Warfare designated. I served with you in the past at a training command. I am also a veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
I offer you my military strategic, operational and tactical advice such as it is from my past experiences.
Stop stating publicly that you are going to respond militarily to the terrorist state of Iran. Stop talking and let the evil Iranian government fall into complacency. Instead state the matter is closed when in fact it is not.
Do not tell the Biden administration or any country you consider friendly towards Israel any plans you may have for a future military strike against Iran. The Biden administration will share this information with the Iranian government. The Biden administration is NOT your friend.
Military strategy is the long term planning and execution between adversaries. Military tactics is the movement of military troops on a particular battlefield. You know this already and “You’ve got this covered” just don’t talk about it.
Stop talking to the American and all media outlets unless it’s disinformation because it will be fed back to the Iranian government. Ask yourself why was Biden on vacation over the weekend when he knew Iran was going to attack you.
In Operation Desert Storm in 1991 we told the fake news CNN we would enter Iraq and Kuwait from the South. Saddam Hussein thus relocated most of his military personnel and also buried his Russian made tanks in the Kuwaiti and Iraqi sand in the south after getting this information from CNN.
We then entered Iraq from the north quickly gaining military ground and air superiority. The Iraqi military that was left in the north surrendered quickly.
We then took out the Russian made tanks from the air while the tank crews ran their Air Conditioners as our pilots could see the tank heat signatures from the diesel engines that were used to run the AC units.
Thanks to CNN reporting the false information we fed them we had an easy entry into northern Iraq. CNN is not your friend.
We loved watching the fake news CNN reporting the disinformation from the beach in southern Kuwait and like the idiots they are nobody showed for their party.
Don’t talk to the fake news media unless it’s disinformation.
5. Do nothing and say nothing and wait for our Presidential election in November. Stop talking about future military operations unless it’s disinformation.
Plan your response in destroying the Iranian government in 2025. Trump will be in the White House and he is your true real friend not Biden. You must take out the government and their senior military leadership first.
Iran is a centralized government like most Communist countries. If you take out the people giving the orders first this dismantles their ability to respond to your just deserved military action. You can then take out their nuclear weapons facilities second.
6. Be patient and when the time is right do what must be done to ensure the permanent security of your nation and people. But wait – your enemy must fall into complacency. Right now they are waiting for your response.
7. The Iranian government used over 300 missiles and drones against your homeland and could replace them by 2025 that is true but disregard that.
You’ve already proven your strength and Iran rebuilding its missile and drone inventory should not be taken as a requirement to initiate immediate action against this evil regime. Patience is the key and an unprecedented military strike that totally eradicates their government should be taken but not yet.
Wait until 2025 and wait until Trump has hired real American leadership in our Pentagon that actually supports you. Give him time to rebuild our military leadership and remove the woke commie military leaders currently in our armed forces.
Then do what you have to do without notifying anyone. Bam! Take no prisoners.
Now, they have come out of the shadows to expose its true face—a radical and irrational regime that wants to end the entire free world. pic.twitter.com/7Gi1aGuMVs
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-17 00:51:322024-04-17 00:51:32To Our friends in the IDF — Stop Talking & Start Planning Your Strategic, Operational & Tactical Response to Destroy the Iranian Government
When news broke that Iran had directly attacked Israel, I wrote here that I believed the Iranian people will join Israel to throw off the murdering mullahcracy, something they have been fighting for and dying for years.
Iranian citizens are praising the Israeli army and calling on the Jewish State to assassinate key ruling figures such as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini, as Iran girds for a potential Israeli retaliation following an unprecedented missile and drone attack.
Residents of Iran are expressing those sentiments via social media posts and subversive street graffiti, with many asking Israel to bring down the government, which rules according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
“Israel, strike back. They don’t have the guts to take revenge,” read one message spray-painted on a Tehran street corner. An image of the writing quickly went viral on social media, along with another message that called on Israel to “eliminate the Supreme Leader.”
— JonJon from SF 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@jonjonfromsf) April 14, 2024
A day after the Iranian attack on Israel the streets of Iran are filled with graffiti by the civilian opponents of the regime with clear messages: “Israel, attack them!” “You will start and we will continue in the streets” and also “bomb the leader’s office”… Both in Israel and… pic.twitter.com/HKnhrdJ46p
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-16 13:51:172024-04-16 13:51:17‘Israel, Free Us From The Islamic regime’: Iranians Support The IDF
No one will be deported. No one will even be investigated. It isn’t as if these were “insurrectionists” or some other group that is out of favor with the regime.
Pro-Palestinian protesters chant “d*ath to America” while waiving Hezbollah Flags and light an American Flag on fire at a protest in NYC.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-16 12:51:302024-04-16 12:51:30NYC: Pro-Hamas protestors scream ‘Death to America,’ burn American flag
The Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday that could have major implications for hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants — as well as special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The case, Fischer v. United States, asks the Supreme Court to weigh the scope of an obstruction statute, Section 1512(c)(2), which penalizes anyone who corruptly “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding” with up to 20 years in prison. Joseph Fischer, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, argues that his prosecution under the law for obstructing Congress’ certification of the 2020 election was an “unprecedented expansion” of the statute.
The law, enacted as part of the Corporate Fraud and Accountability Act of 2002, was intended to target evidence tampering, focusing on “deterring fraud and abuse by corporate executives,” Fischer argues.
“Before the January 6 cases, no court had applied Section 1512(c)(2) to conduct not intended to affect the availability or integrity of evidence,” Fischer’s attorneys argued in a brief. “Nor had a defendant ever been convicted of an obstruction-of-Congress offense outside the context of a legislative inquiry or investigation.”
Fischer stated he was in the Capitol for less than four minutes — after Congress had already recessed — and “was not part of the mob that forced the electoral certification to stop.” He was arrested in February 2021 on several charges, including assaulting Capitol police.
Should the Supreme Court agree with Fischer, it could impact not just his case, but hundreds of defendants the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged with a felony under the statute. Over 353 of the nearly 1,387 Jan. 6 defendants have been charged with “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding,” according to the DOJ.
Several defendants have already been granted early release ahead of the ruling, including Kevin Seefried, Alexander Sheppard and Thomas B. Adams Jr., according to The Washington Post.
“It takes four justices to grant certiorari and, although this court will not attempt to read tea leaves, the Supreme Court’s decision to review Fischer means, at a minimum, that this case poses a ‘close question,’” District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta wrote in the January decision granting Adams’ release.
The government argues that the text “is not limited to conduct that affects the integrity or availability of evidence.”
“Instead, Congress adopted a traditional catchall clause, reaching all forms of corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding,” it said in a brief.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals favored the government’s interpretation 2-1 in an April 2023 ruling, finding that the “meaning of the statute is unambiguous.”
“Under the most natural reading of the statute, §1512(c)(2) applies to all forms of corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding,” Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, wrote in the majority opinion.
But Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, wrote that the government’s interpretation was “mistaken,” making it “implausibly broad and unconstitutional in a significant number of applications.”
“Among other things, that construction would sweep in advocacy, lobbying, and protest—common mechanisms by which citizens attempt to influence official proceedings,” he wrote. “Historically, these activities did not constitute obstruction unless they directly impinged on a proceeding’s truth-seeking function through acts such as bribing a decisionmaker or falsifying evidence presented to it.”
“The government’s reading is also hard to reconcile with the structure and history of section 1512, and with decades of precedent applying section 1512(c) only to acts that affect the integrity or availability of evidence,” he wrote.
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan and 21 other members of Congress wrote in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court that the lower court’s ruling “will only reward and incentivize politically motivated uses of ill-fitting criminal statutes with harsh penalties.”
Just when you thought Jack Smith’s J6 case against Donald Trump couldn’t get any more laughable–it just did.
In one week, SCOTUS will hear arguments on DOJ’s (ab)use of 1512c2, post Enron document shredding “obstruction of an official proceeding” statute passed in 2002.
While the Supreme Court will weigh Trump’s bid to dismiss his election interference case based on presidential immunity in April, the Fischer case could also jeopardize part of the indictment.
Two of Trump’s charges in his election interference case are centered on the obstruction statute. Smith’s indictment alleges Trump used “knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the federal government function by which those results are collected, counted, and certified.”
New York University law professor Richard A. Epstein wrote for the Hoover Institution in March that a correct reading of the statute “torpedoes a key part of the Smith indictment.”
“Trump never entered the Capitol building, and he never made any statement urging rioters to enter the building,” he wrote. “His despicable conduct consisted of watching the proceedings before asking the rioters and trespassers to leave the premises, which does not count as obstruction under any legal authority of which I am aware.”
Smith addressed this in the footnote of his brief filed this week in Trump’s election interference, claiming the charges would still be valid regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision on how to read the text of Section 1512(c)(2). He wrote that the “use of falsehoods or creation of ‘false’ documents satisfies an evidence-impairment interpretation.”
Trump’s case is currently on hold at the district court pending the justices’ decision. Oral arguments will be held April 25 to consider Trump’s presidential immunity argument.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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Americans woke up to plenty of terrifying headlines Sunday after Iran lobbed more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. “The world stands at the brink of an all-out war,” The Telegraph insisted. Columbian President Gustavo Petro publicly despaired, calling the weekend’s attack “a prelude to World War III.” Here at home, President Joe Biden continued to walk a political tightrope, declaring his “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel,” while privately urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suck it up and take whatever Iran dishes out.
Like most people watching the scene unfold, the editors at National Review can’t believe the White House’s suggestion that the Jewish state sit on its hands. “Any effort to impede Israel’s retaliation would be morally disgraceful and strategically inane,” they wrote. “… No nation could live under a situation in which another nation vowing to destroy it can threaten its population in this manner, and rest on the hope that it can meet every future attack with the same amount of success in shooting down weapons.”
On the Hill, leaders saw right through Biden’s cheap political ploy. This is a country, Rubio said of Israel, that has faced “constant existential threats to their existence on a repeated basis. … What I don’t understand is why Joe Biden and the administration would leak to the media, the contents of a conversation which he tells Netanyahu he doesn’t think that Netanyahu should respond at all,” unless, as he suspects, it’s to placate their pro-Palestine, anti-Semitic base. “It is the continuing part of the public game they are playing which frankly encourages Iran and Hezbollah.”
But then, as plenty of experts have pointed out, Biden has already done more than his share to help the Islamist regime. “Within weeks of taking office, Biden removed the terrorist designation on Iran’s proxy in Yemen, the Houthis,” NRO’s editors pointed out. “[H]e allowed the U.N. sanctions against the Iranian missile and drone program to expire. Those were the types of weapons not only that were used [Saturday] night but that Iran has sold to Russia for use against Ukraine.”
When pressed about the decision to relax sanctions — ultimately giving Iran five months to build up its missile capabilities and cash reserves — U.S. National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby defended Biden. Asked by Fox News’s Shannon Bream if the administration could’ve done more to deter Tehran, Kirby claimed that it was “hard to look at what President Biden has done with respect to Iran and say that he hasn’t been tough on Iran.”
That’s interesting, former National Security Council member Richard Goldberg said, since Biden hasn’t stopped the flow of money to Iran since the weekend’s attacks. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting Sunday only to adjourn without taking “any meaningful action.” It’s unfathomable to Goldberg, who pointed out, “This was a massive, unprecedented, and unacceptable strategic attack on Israel. It would be a huge mistake to pull Israel back from a military retaliation — but it’s downright insanity to keep $10 billion accessible to Tehran in the aftermath. The president needs to lock down all the money he made available to Tehran these past months.”
Although American Ambassador Robert Wood made a tepid promise that Washington “will explore additional measures to hold Iran accountable,” no one is quite sure what that means. Meanwhile, Mark Dubowitz wanted people to know, there’s been a “massive increase in Iranian nuclear enrichment since President Biden [was] elected.” “Facts are stubborn things,” he warned. “So is [Ayatollah] Khamenei when he faces minimal American pressure and massive sanctions relief.”
At the very least, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told the press, Congress can finally finish the work of Israeli aid that he started more than five months ago. As Family Research Council President Tony Perkins pointed out on “This Week on the Hill,” the first substantive bill that the House passed after Johnson took the gavel was $14.5 billion in assistance for Israel — which the new speaker offset by cutting an IRS slush fund. Democrats voted against it. “And what has the Senate done with it?” Perkins asked Johnson.
“Well,” he replied, “nothing. It’s been sitting on [Schumer’s] desk. I tried again to do a clean Israel [bill] just a full unpaid for assistance. One hundred sixty-six House Democrats voted against it, and Joe Biden threatened to veto it. A clean Israel funding bill. They said no. That’s a pretty amazing thing.”
Even more incredible, Johnson invited Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress, and Schumer refuses to authorize it — despite being the highest-ranking, longest-serving Jewish member of Congress. “It’s stunning, it really is,” the speaker agreed. What happened to Israel being a bipartisan issue, Perkins wanted to know? “Right,” Johnson replied. “The Democrats are turning their back on Israel now [from] the president on down.”
It’s all “deeply concerning” to Netanyahu, the speaker relayed after multiple conversations with the prime minister. “It’s almost unbelievable that the president has turned his back since October 7th on Israel. They’re leaning into the pro-Hamas, pro-protestor branch of their party. … [T]hey’re fearful of that wing of the party. And it’s a rising number of young progressives who are screaming that Israel is the enemy somehow. … You had 50 House Democrats just a few days ago, sent a letter saying that we should no longer have arms transfers to Israel so they can defend their very existence,” he pointed out. “It’s incredible.”
This whole shift in the Democratic Party is alarming, Johnson agreed. “The reason we stand with Israel, for us, it’s a matter of faith, but it’s also a matter of geopolitical stability. They’re the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Before he was speaker, Johnson talked about a meeting with Netanyahu and his cabinet, where they told him, “We want to remind you all that the reason that Israel can stand is because they know that our brother America — the big brother — as it were, is standing behind them, looking over their shoulder.” In other words, he explained, “If the world ever sees that we lack that resolve, they will come with all guns blazing, literally, against Israel. It’s a dangerous, dangerous situation right now. We cannot show a lack of resolve.”
And “the idea that we would not roll out the red carpet and invite our close friend and ally to come and update the Congress on [the war], to me, is unconscionable,” he reiterated. But these issues are going to come home to roost, Johnson warned. If the Democratic Party continues to be held hostage by radical forces that want to abandon Israel, it spells trouble for Biden and company.
“I think they’ve got a very real political problem on their hands. But this should transcend politics. This is bigger than that. This is about safety and security, not just [for] Israel, but the American people. We have got to stand strong right now. They need to put politics aside. But, yes, they’ve got a real problem going into an election year when a rising number of their base is now turning against Israel.”
The Americans who care about this situation, who understand the importance of our ally Israel, need to “let their voices be heard,” Johnson urged. “They need to prevail upon members of Congress to get this job done. I’ve tried to get Israel funded [with] the supplemental, the defense package, that they need. It’s about $14 billion.”
The Middle East is a tough neighborhood, Perkins pointed out. Most of the surrounding nations have threatened to wipe Israel off the map — including Iran. And “you cannot fight to a draw. You have to fight to win. The prime minister understands that. But apparently, the Biden administration does not.”
The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-16 11:51:532024-04-16 11:51:53If the World Sees Us [with a] Lack of Resolve, ‘They Will Come with Guns Blazing,’ Johnson Warns
A Marine at the center of a supplemental probe into the deadly suicide bombing during the 2021 U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan accused the Pentagon of concealing information showing it could have been prevented.
Former Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews caused a stir after he testified in March 2023 that he had sights on an individual he and others on the ground believed to be the suicide bomber while in the guard tower next to Abbey Gate, but was denied permission to engage. After CENTCOM opened up a new probe into the incident to address his allegations and found nothing to corroborate them, the former sniper told the Daily Caller News Foundation he agreed the bomber suspect at the time was a “separate individual” from the man the Pentagon just identified as the perpetrator but stood by his testimony.
“That is the truth. For anyone to say that this wasn’t preventable when we had on the ground intel passed to us stating the threat, it’s bullshit. We were told that the bomber was headed to Abbey Gate in real time, we all knew that,” he told the DCNF.
“I believe that a lot has been covered up,” he added.
Vargas-Andrews lost two of his limbs in the bombing, which took the lives of 13 U.S. service members and killed and wounded dozens of Afghan civilians.
Marines stationed in and around the watchtower near Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate may have confused formal intelligence with “spot reports” made by service members in real time that had not been vetted, the secondary review found, according to The Washington Post.
“Over the past two years, some service members have claimed that they had the bomber in their sights, and they could have prevented the attack,” a U.S. official on the supplemental review team said on Friday, according to CNN. “But we now know that is not correct.”
While Vargas-Andrews disputed the finding, he did not dispute that the person Marines at the time believed to be the prime threat was not the eventual bomber, he told the Post.
The first investigation completed in November 2021 concluded a lone suicide bomber managed to bypass Taliban checkpoints but contained nothing to suggest the perpetrator had been identified or that a request to shoot traveled up the chain of command, interview logs show.
Investigators, “although as thorough as they could be,” told Vargas-Andrews and his team during the course of the secondary probe that photos of the bomber, which were taken while the sniper team was tracking threats, could not be retrieved from any facility in the Pentagon or a U.S. intelligence agency.
“They stated they combed through everything high and low,” he told the DCNF. “So what happened to those hundreds of photos, which are potential intelligence? That is a failure.”
This is the image provided comparing the man officials say was the bomber (L) & the man snipers at the gate believed to be the bomber (R) hours before the attack.
Many photos Vargas-Andrews’ sniper team collected, and photos taken by other units, vanished during the course of the chaotic evacuation in August 2021, a person familiar with the investigation told the Post. Those included two individuals the snipers requested to shoot.
One individual nicknamed the “man in black,” due to his black headscarf and shaved head, was thought to be the suicide bomber, CNN reported.
Vargas told the DCNF the photo of the suspect referenced in the report came from a cell phone and was taken from the display on his team’s camera
CENTCOM’s secondary report identified the bomber as Abdul Rahman Al-Logari, an Islamic State (ISIS) operative whom the Taliban had recently released from prison, according to CNN. Cross-comparison of the figures in each photo — CENTCOM obtained al-Logari’s prison mugshot — “received the strongest negative possible rating” they depicted the same person, officials said.
Vargas-Andrews maintained he still had an opportunity to engage the bomber.
“I will stand by my testimony and what we experienced till the day I die,” Vargas-Andrews told the DCNF.
CENTCOM did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
https://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.png00DrRichSwier.comhttps://libertyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_v6_225x110.pngDrRichSwier.com2024-04-16 11:51:512024-04-16 11:51:51‘It’s Bullsh*t’: Marine At Center Of New Afghanistan Probe Accuses Pentagon Of Covering Up Evidence
On Saturday, startled Americans watched as news anchors broke into their regular programming for a special report: Iran had begun a full-scale attack on Israel. After decades of using terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis, Tehran took direct aim at the Jewish nation for the first time in 40 years, launching more than 300 missiles and drones at its enemy to the east.
Iran’s offensive was a shocking twist on an already explosive situation in the region, as Israel continues its march against Hamas over the international pressure to end the war. And while Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had intercepted as many as 99% of the rockets fired from Iran, the assault marked a new and dangerous chapter in the Middle East tensions.
In Washington, President Joe Biden rushed back to the White House, calling for a G7 meeting to “coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.” Together with Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, Biden applauded Israel’s measures at self-defense but privately urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against retaliation.
“The president’s been clear,” White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby told NBC Sunday morning. “We don’t want to see this escalate; we’re not looking for a wider war with Iran,” he said before adding, “I think the coming hours and days will tell us a lot.”
In the weeks leading up to the strike, Netanyahu had “been preparing for the possibility of a direct attack from Iran.” He reassured the country that its “air defenses are deployed. We are ready for any scenario, both in attack and defense.” Here at home, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin backed up the prime minister, telling the press corps, “We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel.”
The initial wave caused “very little damage,” Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant wanted people to know, but it did manage to accomplish something else: revealing Iran’s real intent. “Overnight, the whole world saw the true face of Iran — a terrorist state that attacked the State of Israel from a distance of 1,500 km and in doing so also attempted to employ all of its proxies.”
Iran’s political and military leaders celebrated the largely unsuccessful mission, calling the operation a “historic, powerful, victorious operation against [the] Zionist regime.” Meanwhile, Israel was carrying out its own counter-offensive, pounding Hezbollah targets in Lebanon early Sunday. “A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a number of military structures in a complex belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces in the area of Jbaa in southern Lebanon,” the country’s forces announced. “Earlier during the night, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah military structures in the areas of Khiam and Kfarkela.”
As the weekend wore on, reaction from U.S. lawmakers poured in. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) insisted that “America must show our full resolve to stand with our critical ally. The world must be assured: Israel is not alone.” He put the blame for the weekend’s conflict, at least in part, at the president’s feet. “I will continue to engage with the White House to insist upon a proper response. The Biden Administration’s undermining of Israel and appeasement of Iran have contributed to these terrible developments.”
While the president is desperately working to keep Israel from engaging Iran directly, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called for more forceful action from the U.S. “We must move quickly and launch aggressive retaliatory strikes on Iran,” she urged.
Members of Biden’s own party joined the chorus for a stronger show of support for Israel after weeks of publicly abandoning our Middle East ally with calls for a ceasefire. Asked by CNN’s John Tapper if he agreed with Blackburn’s strategy, Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said no, but reiterated, “I just think we should follow and have Israel’s back in the situation. I don’t agree with the president.” He’s “entitled to his own views and whatever he decides to do,” the colorful senator explained, “but I would never capitulate to the fringe [of the Democratic Party]. … [T]hat empowers Hamas, and Hamas is actually convinced they’re winning the PR war. And they’re never going to negotiate at this point.”
Over in the House, the weekend’s conflict is prompting leadership to pivot to crucial legislation on Israel. Legislation, several conservatives have pointed out, that Democrats refused to consider four months ago. “… The House will move from its previously announced legislative schedule next week to instead consider [aid proposals] that support our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) announced. “[T]here must be consequences for this unprovoked attack.”
An attack, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shook his head, that never should have happened. “So much for don’t,” the Trump official tweeted, referring to Biden’s one-word admonishment to Iran. “Don’t isn’t a national security policy,” Pompeo said last year when Biden made the comment. “It’s not even a deterrent.”
“When your Secretary of State declares near moral equivalence between good, our ally Israel — and evil, the Islamic Republic,” Pompeo pointed out over the weekend, “you get bad guys wreaking destruction.”
Former Israel Ambassador David Friedman was equally outraged by the administration’s tepid soundbites. “About six months ago, Biden looked Hezbollah and Iran in the proverbial eye and said ‘Don’t.’ Since then, Hezbollah has attacked Israel daily, almost 100,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in the North with no idea when they will return, Iran has received $26 billion in sanctions relief and the US carrier strike forces have sailed away. US policy here is weak, confused and unproductive,” he argued.
And the Democrats’ confused messaging doesn’t help matters. After calling for the overthrow of Netanyahu last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dared to say he “stands” with Israelis. “… [T]he United States will do everything we can to support Israel’s defense against Iran,” he claimed.
This constant wavering on the Left, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said, has given the entire world the impression that the president’s party “tacitly supports Israel’s opponents.” Perkins, who was in Israel three weeks ago meeting with Netanyahu, agrees that “what happened [Saturday] was the result of the Biden administration vacillating back and forth in its support of Israel.” As the prime minister told him last month, “If we are not decisive in our victory against Hamas, it’s going to incite Iran directly to attack us.”
Like other military experts, Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Bob Maginnis believes Iran anticipated that Israel would be supported by the U.S., yet launched the operation anyway. “That means the present deterrence in the region failed,” FRC’s senior fellow for National Security told The Washington Stand. For 40-plus years, Maginnis has written about Iran, including in his book “Never Submit,” which addresses the tragic history of the Islamic Republic and its tyrants. He believes, “They no longer fear the U.S. — and unless the U.S. and others increase their presence and demonstrated willingness to use force, much worse is likely on the horizon.”
The reality is, Maginnis warned, “Iran has the capability to reach out and damage Israel. Jerusalem is no longer safe in spite of separation provided by the Arabian landmass and the Persian Gulf. It also appears some of the Iranian weapons platforms used Iraqi airspace, a consequence of our disengagement with Baghdad.” As he put it, “The mullahs in Tehran are now out of the closet and openly engaging, threatening Jerusalem.”
And the price to Israel is steep. One of Iran’s goals is to exhaust Israel’s arsenal of “expensive anti-missile systems like Iron Dome Patriot, Arrow, and David’s sling,” he pointed out. “In other words, Iran is trading cheap drones for anti-drone, ballistic missile rockets fired by Israel and her Western allies.”
In other words, Perkins said, “Israel is fighting for its survival.” Preaching at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Sunday, the FRC president acknowledged that “we live in times of great uncertainty — both abroad and here at home. But we’ve been given clear instruction on how we as followers of Jesus Christ are to respond, “We’re to stand firm in the truth of God. Jesus warned us that these days would be coming. … God does not want us to be anxious. He does not want us to be worrying about this; He wants us to go to work.”
“This is the greatest threat that this nation of Israel has seen since its founding almost 76 years ago,” Perkins insisted. “And if we depart from our commitment to stand with Israel, I fear for our country’s future.” He announced that FRC and several churches around the country are declaring May 19 “Pray for and Stand with Israel Sunday.” It’s his goal to have churches all across America praying for the Jewish nation.
“While we may not have the political authority to negotiate and make decisions for our government … but as believers, we’ve been given the keys to the kingdom. And we need to exercise those keys. … We need to pray that God would show Himself mighty to save.”
The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.
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One of my favorite preachers is Mar Mari Emmanuel, a native of Iraq who is a bishop in the Assyrian Orthodox Church, and he needs our prayers right now following a brutal attack suffered while preaching the Word of God on the evening of Monday, April 15.
Like many Assyrian Orthodox Christians, Bishop Emmanuel was forced to leave Iraq after the U.S. invasion resulted in mass persecution of Iraqi Christians, who were more than 3 million strong prior to that invasion in 2003. After the U.S. operation was completed there, the Shia militias were empowered and they cracked down hard on Christians. Many were killed, and many more were forced to flee. It’s a shameful reflection on U.S. foreign policy and for that reason it’s a story that was never told in the Western corporate media.
Bishop Emmanuel ended up in Australia, where he has developed an active internet ministry with many videos of his preaching on YouTube and TikTok.
On Monday in a suburban area on the western outskirts of Sidney, Australia, tragedy struck.
The New York Post, citing information from the Australian news outlet News.com.au, reports that Bishop Emmanuel was attacked while giving a sermon and stabbed multiple times in the face and neck. Two others were also injured during the Monday night church service, in a mass stabbing attack that came just days after six people were stabbed to deathat a nearby mall and sparked massive riots throughout the area.
In a disturbing video of the attack, posted Monday to X, Bishop Emmanuel is shown speaking at Christ The Good Shepherd Church, an Assyrian Orthodox congregation in Wakeley, when a man in a black hoodie charges at him with a knife.
This is a level of violence targeted specifically against Christians that has not often been seen in Western-oriented “democratic” countries like Australia.
Below is a report from the crime scene with a brief example of some of Bishop Emmanuel’s preaching. As you will see, he has warned that the world is entering a period of tribulation where many Christians will die for their faith. He said, “For the sake of Christ I will face death and not deny my Savior.”
The bishop appeared to try to talk to his attacker, who then he stabbed the bishop’s face and neck just after 7 p.m. local time in Sidney on Monday.
Emmanuel fell to the floor as congregants moved quickly to his aid.
It noted that Father Isaac Rayel was also among the injured, and asked the public for their prayers for the wounded.
“It is the bishop and Father’s wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator,” the church said. “We also kindly ask anyone at the Church premises to leave in peace, as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, teaches us.”
At least two others were also treated at the scene for lacerations, according to News.com.au.
A motive for the stabbing is not immediately known, but the suspect reportedly told congregants at the scene Emmanuel “was getting involved in my religion so I came to get involved in his,” a politician posted online. We don’t know anything for sure yet, but an knife attack like this bears all the hallmarks of an Islamic jihad attack. Bishop Emmanuel has been very outspoken in his criticism of Islam and where the spirit of jihad emanates from. It comes from the pit of hell.
Thousands rioted in the streets outside the bishop’s church while they waited for the suspect to be marched outside.
An angry crowd chants “bring him out” waiting for the suspect caught on livestream stabbing their Bishop Mar Mari inside their church. pic.twitter.com/zxRNb5tOTE
Other footage showed a large crowd rioting at the scene and apparently damaging local property, with dozens of people bashing in an ambulance window, according to News.com.au.
Please pray for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s complete recovery, and that justice will be served against his attacker.
For more on his ministry, you can view his sermons on his YouTube Channel.
LeoHohmann.com is 100 percent independent and not beholden to any corporate advertisers or sponsorships. If you appreciate my work and would like to support it, you may send a donation of any size c/o Leo Hohmann, P.O. Box 291, Newnan, GA 30264, or via credit card.
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