Eye on Extremism
September 5, 2019
Associated
Press: Taliban Suicide Bombing Kills 10 Near US Embassy In
Kabul
“A Taliban suicide car bomb rocked Kabul on Thursday, killing at
least 10 civilians in a busy diplomatic area that includes the U.S.
Embassy — the second such attack this week that underscored Afghan
government warnings that a preliminary U.S.-Taliban deal on ending
America’s longest war was moving dangerously quickly. “Peace with a
group that is still killing innocent people is meaningless,” Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement. Interior Ministry
spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said another 42 people were wounded and 12
vehicles destroyed in the explosion. Hours later, the Taliban set off
a car bomb outside an Afghan military base in a neighboring province,
killing four civilians. The Taliban said that in the Kabul attack,
they targeted vehicles of “foreigners” as they tried to enter the
heavily guarded Shashdarak area where Afghan national security
authorities have offices. The NATO Resolute Support mission is nearby,
and British soldiers were at the scene, retrieving what appeared to be
the remains of a NATO vehicle. Neither the NATO mission nor the
British high commission commented on the attack.”
The
New York Times: Judge Rules Terrorism Watchlist Violates
Constitutional Rights
“A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a federal government
database that compiles people deemed to be “known or suspected
terrorists” violates the rights of American citizens who are on the
watchlist, calling into question the constitutionality of a major tool
the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security use for screening
potential terrorism suspects. Being on the watchlist can restrict
people from traveling or entering the country, subject them to greater
scrutiny at airports and by the police, and deny them government
benefits and contracts. In a 32-page opinion, Judge Anthony J. Trenga
of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
said the standard for inclusion in the database was too vague. “The
court concludes that the risk of erroneous deprivation of plaintiffs’
travel-related and reputational liberty interests is high, and the
currently existing procedural safeguards are not sufficient to address
that risk,” Judge Trenga wrote. As of 2017, about 1.2 million people
were on the watchlist, which is maintained by the F.B.I.’s Terrorist
Screening Center.”
The
Wall Street Journal: ‘So What’s His Kill Count?’: The Toxic Online
World Where Mass Shooters Thrive
“Less than two weeks after a gunman killed more than 50 people at
two mosques in New Zealand, law-enforcement officials found a
disturbing piece of graffiti outside a San Diego County mosque that
had been set on fire. “For Brenton Tarrant -t./pol/,” it read. The
cryptic message, which paid homage to the alleged New Zealand shooter
and a dark corner of the internet where such shootings are celebrated,
foreshadowed a string of violence. In April, one month after the
graffiti appeared, John Earnest, the man who police say vandalized the
mosque, allegedly attacked a nearby synagogue, leaving one person
dead. Then, in August, a shooting in an El Paso Walmart killed 22. One
week later, a Norwegian man allegedly opened fire at an Oslo mosque.
The trio of suspects don’t appear ever to have met, but they all
idolized Mr. Tarrant and were part of a hate-filled online community
that is emerging as an important front in law-enforcement efforts to
ward off future attacks.”
Reuters:
U.S. Blacklists 'Oil For Terror' Ship Network As It Raises Pressure On
IRGC
“The United States on Wednesday blacklisted an “oil for terror”
network of firms, ships and individuals allegedly directed by Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for supplying Syria with oil
worth hundreds of millions of dollars in breach of U.S.
sanctions. Washington also issued a new international shipping
advisory about IRGC’s use of “deceptive practices” to violate U.S.
sanctions on Iranian oil sales and warned that those doing business
with blacklisted entities “are now exposed to U.S. sanctions,” said
State Department official Brian Hook, who oversees Iran policy. Hook
also announced that the United States would offer a reward of up to
$15 million for information that disrupts the financial operations of
the IRGC and its elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm, the
Quds Force. The steps intensified a U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign
aimed at eliminating Iran’s oil exports, its main source of income. It
will likely intensify tensions that erupted with President Donald
Trump’s withdrawal last year from a multilateral accord designed to
stop Tehran from producing nuclear weapons. Iran has been gradually
reducing its compliance with the 2015 agreement in a bid to pressure
European countries to compensate it for the severe damage done to its
economy by multiple rounds of U.S. sanctions.”
POLITICO
Pro: 6 Ways Websites Could Lose Their Legal Immunity
“Major tech companies formed the Global Internet Forum to Counter
Terrorism in 2017 to coordinate the removal of terrorist content. They
more recently signed onto the Christchurch Call, a voluntary pledge to
eradicate extremist content. But industry critics argue those efforts
fall short. Some say Section 230 must be amended to ensure the
platforms make every possible effort to stop the trend. “Ideally,
additional regulation would not be necessary," said David Ibsen,
executive director of the Counter Extremism Project. "But given the
tech industry’s track record, it is clear that companies will only
take comprehensive action when forced to do so by regulators."
The
New York Times: Regulators Fine Google $170 Million For Violating
Children’s Privacy On YouTube
“Google agreed on Wednesday to pay a record $170 million fine and
make changes to protect children’s privacy on YouTube, as regulators
said the video site had knowingly and illegally harvested personal
information from children and used it to profit by targeting them with
ads. Critics denounced the agreement, dismissing the fine as paltry
and the required changes as inadequate for protecting children’s
privacy. The penalty and changes were part of a settlement with the
Federal Trade Commission and New York’s attorney general, which had
accused YouTube of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Act, or COPPA. Regulators said that YouTube, which is owned
by Google, had illegally gathered children’s data — including
identification codes used to track web browsing over time — without
their parents’ consent.”
United States
CNN:
NRA Rips San Francisco Board Of Supervisors After Being Labeled A
'Domestic Terrorist Organization'
“The National Rifle Association on Wednesday ripped the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors for declaring the NRA a “domestic
terrorist organization,” calling the vote “worthless and disgusting.”
The resolution, which passed unanimously Tuesday night, claims the NRA
“promotes extremist positions,” “spreads propaganda” to deceive the
American public about gun violence, incites gun owners to “acts of
violence” and “has armed those individuals who would and have
committed acts of terrorism.” NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter called the
resolution a “worthless and disgusting 'soundbite remedy' to the
violence epidemic gripping our nation.” “This is a reckless assault on
a law-abiding organization, its members, and the freedoms they all
stand for,” Hunter said in a statement to CNN. The resolution is a
largely symbolic one. It calls for the city and county to “take every
reasonable step to limit” San Francisco's “financial and contractual
relationships” with vendors who do business with the NRA. But the
resolution does not, for example, carry the law enforcement
implications of designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
Despite the rise in cases that law enforcement describes as domestic
terror-related, there is no federal charge for “domestic
terrorism.”
CBS
News: ACLU Pushes House Judiciary To Oppose Bill Criminalizing
Domestic Terrorism
“The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday urged ranking
members of the House Judiciary Committee to oppose a bill that targets
white supremacist groups by criminalizing domestic terrorism. The ACLU
said the bill would unnecessarily expand authorities used by the Trump
administration to target and discriminate against the very communities
Congress hopes to protect. “People of color and other marginalized
communities have long been targeted under domestic terrorism
authorities for unfair and discriminatory surveillance,
investigations, and prosecutions,” the civil rights group said in a
letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a
Democrat, and Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking Republican member. Rep.
Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, introduced the bill on Aug. 16
amid a growing number of mass shootings in America. Patrick Boland,
Schiff's spokesman, said late Tuesday there are reasonable and valid
concerns about such statutes potentially being abused, but that the
responsible solution is not to refuse to take vital legislative
action. “In the wake of El Paso and other horrific attacks, it is
imperative that prosecutors and investigators be given the tools
necessary to combat violent domestic terrorism — particularly white
nationalist terrorism — vigorously, and on equal terms with its
international counterpart,” Boland said.”
The
Houston Chronicle: New Orleans Court Tackles ‘Extravagant’ Ruling In
Houston ISIS Case
“The matter before three federal judges Wednesday in a stately
Louisiana courtroom came down to a simple question — did an
iconoclastic federal trial judge in Houston properly sentence a
24-year-old Spring man when he gave him exponentially less prison time
than more than 100 other U.S. defendants convicted of supporting ISIS
overseas. The unusual appeal by the Justice Department highlights the
frustration the government has with jurists across the country who
tend to disregard the sentencing recommendations of prosecutors in the
wake of a 2005 ruling that freed them to exercise more discretion. A
prosecutor from the national security division in Washington told the
cavernous and mostly empty 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel
that Judge Lynn N. Hughes committed a grave injustice when he
sentenced Asher Abid Khan last year to 18 months in prison after the
young man admitted he and a friend plotted to join the jihadist
struggle in Syria in the early days of the caliphate. Hughes rejected
the idea of tacking on a massive terrorism enhancement that would have
put the sentence in sync with the average range of nine to 15 years,
according to data collected by the Program on Extremism at George
Washington University.”
Marine
Corps Times: The Neo-Nazi Boot: Inside One Marine’s Descent Into
Extremism
“The former Marine junior ROTC cadet and North Carolinian was
interested in communism and antifa before he joined a neo-Nazi
organization known as Atomwaffen Division — an organization described
by some as a terror group. His ideology has drifted across a spectrum
of contradictions from antifa — a group whose name stems from
“anti-fascists” and is known to use violence against those it deems
fascist or supremacist — to a hate group prepping for a race war and
the collapse of the U.S. government. Marine Lance Cpl. Vasillios G.
Pistolis ultimately was booted from Corps mid-summer 2018 for his ties
to a hate group. But, his ability to enlist in the Corps highlights a
challenge to the military recruiters armed with few tools from records
checks to interviews to keep supremacists out of the ranks. An
investigation into his hate group ties by Naval Criminal Investigative
Service — obtained by Marine Corps Times through a government records
request — reads like a psychological evaluation into extremist thought
and behavior, detailing his own path to radicalization and views on
various hate groups. In June 2018, Pistolis was sentenced before a
military court to 28 days confinement, reduction in rank to E-1 and
forfeiture of two-thirds pay for one month.”
Syria
The
New York Times: ISIS Weakened, Finds New Bombers: Cows Wearing
Explosive Vests
“The Islamic State has been reluctant to use humans to carry bombs
because of the group’s reduced numbers, so it has tried out a new
tactic: Bovine suicide bombers. Residents of Al Islah, Iraq, on
Saturday said they had witnessed “a strange” sight: two cows harnessed
to explosive vests roving the northern side of the village, according
to Col. Ghalib Al-Atyia, the spokesman for the police commander in
Diyala Province. The animals wandered into the outskirts of the
community, and when they seemed close to houses, the bombs were
detonated remotely, killing the cows, and damaging nearby houses, but
not harming any people, Colonel Al-Atyia said. In the colonel’s
assessment, the attack signaled that the Islamic State, whose ranks
were sharply reduced by the group’s four-year fight against Iraqi
security forces backed by American special forces, was resorting to
unconventional methods since they lacked manpower. Still, using cows
to deliver bombs is an odd strategy in Iraq, where the animals are
prized both for meat and milk. A cow can easily cost $1,200 or more,
and no one in the area could remember ever seeing a cow sent to its
death in such a way, said several witnesses.”
Fox
News: Syrian Civil War Has Damaged More Than 120 Churches, Report
Finds
“As many as 124 churches have been damaged or targeted by military
forces on all sides of Syria's civil war, which has stretched on for
more than eight years, according to a new report by the Syrian Network
for Human Rights (SNHR). The report's timeline of incidents involving
Syrian government forces, opposition forces and extremist militants,
including the Islamic State (ISIS), extended from March 2011 to
September 2019. The researchers found 75 reported attacks involved
forces supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, 33 involved
armed opposition forces, 12 involved ISIS or other Islamic extremist
groups and four incidents involved other fighting groups. “Assad has
made Syria unsafe for all Syrians, including Christians, and he must
be held accountable for his actions," said Erica Hanichak, a
government relations director at Americans for a Free Syria.”
Iran
Reuters:
No Trade Mechanism Until Iran Passes Terrorism Financing Laws: French
Diplomat
“A European trade mechanism to barter humanitarian and food goods
with Iran will not work until Tehran sets up a mirror company and
meets international standards against money-laundering and terrorism
financing, a French diplomatic source said. Britain, France and
Germany, parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran along with the
United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can
compensate for last year’s U.S. withdrawal, salvage trade promised to
Iran under the accord and still prevent Tehran from developing nuclear
bomb capability. French President Emmanuel Macron has led those
efforts and is trying to clinch a $15 billion credit line that would
offset tough U.S. sanctions that have strangled Iran’s oil exports,
but that requires getting some backing from Washington. In addition to
that the Europeans have attempted for more than a year to set up the
Instex trade mechanism, but it is still not operational. It would
initially only deal with food and medical trade not Iran’s principal
export - crude oil.”
The
New York Times: U.S. Imposes Sanctions On Iranian Shipping
Network
“The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an
elaborate shipping network that Iran uses to sell oil, and unveiled a
$15 million reward to anyone with information that disrupts the
scheme, stepping up its effort to exert pressure on the Iranian
economy. The sanctions were the latest in a flurry of actions taken by
the United States in recent days to further isolate Iran in hopes that
it will return to the bargaining table to renegotiate an international
agreement over its nuclear program. President Trump withdrew from the
2015 agreement in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions to limit Iranian
oil sales, raising tensions with countries in Europe and Asia that
have become reliant on Iran for energy. The Treasury Department placed
sanctions on 26 individuals and “entities” affiliated with the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, which the United States said
has shipped approximately $500 million worth of Iranian oil in the
last year. The sanctions freeze any assets held in the United States
of those affiliated with the shipping network and prohibit them from
doing business with Americans. The action also identifies 11 ships,
placing anyone who owns or operates them on a Treasury list and
exposing any port that lets them in, or firms that fuel or offload
them, to future sanctions.”
The
New York Times: What Was Iran Hiding In Turquz Abad?
“Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency don’t usually
make for riveting reading, so you may have missed last Friday’s
latest, soporifically headlined “Verification and monitoring in the
Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council
resolution 2231 (2015).” Don’t be fooled. Buried in the report are two
oblique sentences hinting at a mystery about which you may soon hear a
great deal. “Ongoing interactions between the Agency and Iran relating
to Iran’s implementation of its Safeguards Agreement and Additional
Protocol require full and timely cooperation by Iran,” the report
says. “The Agency continues to pursue this objective with Iran.”
That’s an exquisite way of saying that Iran is stonewalling the
agency. The question is, over what? Last September, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in his speech to the U.N. General
Assembly that Iran had a “secret atomic warehouse for storing massive
amounts of equipment and material from Iran’s secret nuclear weapons
program.” Those amounts added up to an estimated 300 tons of stuff,
including about 30 pounds of radioactive material. He then urged
I.A.E.A. chief Yukiya Amano to “inspect this atomic warehouse
immediately.”
Radio
Farda: Young Female Football Fan In Iran Sets Herself On Fire To
Protest Jail
“A young woman who set herself on fire on September 1 outside the
public prosecutor’s office in Tehran is among football-starved Iranian
women detained outside Iran's main sports arena, Azadi stadium. "The
29-year-old is suffering from third-degree burns, and currently under
life support," says the CEO/president of Motahari Emergency and Burns
hospital in the Iranian capital city. Meanwhile, the state-run news
agency, Rokna, cited the sister of the victim, as saying, "They
detained my sister on March 12, 2019, when she tried to enter Azadi
Stadium, and watch Tehran's Esteqlal soccer club home match against
the United Arab Emirates' Al Ain, FC." According to Rokna, security
forces arrested the woman who has bipolar disorder and is under
treatment. The security agents took the woman, whose name has not been
released, to the infamous Qarchak prison, in Varamin south of
Tehran.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Iran Threatens Further Nuclear
Breach
“Iran warned it would take further steps to breach the 2015 nuclear
accord later this week, heaping more pressure on European countries
scrambling to provide Tehran with relief from U.S. economic sanctions
and avert the deal’s collapse. France is leading efforts on a possible
$15 billion economic lifeline for Tehran in return for its full
compliance with the multilateral nuclear accord. Iran began to break
some deal limits in July as it pushed back against sanctions that the
U.S. imposed on it after pulling out of the deal last year. Europe is
also seeking to tamp down hostilities following a series of attacks
and ship seizures in the Persian Gulf region that have brought Iran to
the edge of conflict with the U.S. and its allies. Abbas Araghchi,
Iran’s deputy foreign minister and a key player in the country’s
nuclear negotiations, cast doubt Wednesday on the prospect of the
Europeans reaching an agreement by Iran’s Sept. 7 deadline, and said
their failure to do so would prompt Tehran to scale back its
commitments under the nuclear deal, or JCPOA, in the coming days.”
Iraq
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Security Forces Apprehend Islamic State Militant In
Diyala
“Iraqi security forces arrested on Wednesday an Islamic State
member during a security operation in the northeastern province of
Diyala, the Interior Ministry said. “Acting on intelligence
information, a security force from Diyala intelligence and
counter-terrorism directorate arrested an Islamic State militant, who
served as a member of the so-called Diyala province in the terrorist
group,” Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, the ministry spokesman, said in a press
statement. The suspect confessed to carrying out several terrorist
attacks against civilians, as well as providing aid supplies for the
Islamic State militants, the spokesman added. In January 2015, Iraqi
forces announced liberation of Diyala province from Islamic State
extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and
Syria in 2014. The province has seen months of fighting between Iraqi
troops and IS militants especially in the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas
in the province’s north and areas near the town of Muqdadiyah.”
Turkey
Associated
Press: Turkey Threatens To Open Gates For Syria Refugees To Go
West
“Turkey’s president on Thursday threatened to “open the gates” and
allow a flood of Syrian refugees to leave Turkey for Western countries
unless a so-called “safe zone” is established inside Syria soon in
negotiations with the Americans. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech to
his ruling party officials, lamented what he described as Turkey being
left to shoulder the burden of Syrian refugees alone. Turkey is
determined to create the safe zone inside Syria, along its border with
the war-torn country, and was ready to do it alone before the end of
the month if there is no agreement with the United States. “We will be
forced to open the gates. We cannot be forced to handle the burden
alone,” Erdogan said, reiterating Turkey’s annoyance that past
proposals for the creation of the safe zone — envisioned as a place
where refugees could be re-settled — has been ignored by Western
nations.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Afghans Push Back On U.S. Deal With Taliban, Fearing
Too Few Assurances
“The Afghan government is pushing back against American
diplomats on the eve of a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban,
concerned that the proposed agreement does not include enough
assurances that the insurgents will abide by their promises after
American troops leave entirely, Afghan officials say. Zalmay
Khalilzad, the American special envoy who has finalized “in principle”
a deal with the Taliban after nearly a year of negotiations, has met
with President Ashraf Ghani and his senior officials in Kabul at least
four times over the past couple days to try to get them onboard with
the deal that is about to be announced, officials say. That deal
includes a timetable for the withdrawal of the remaining American and
coalition troops that Western officials say could be about 16 months
long, in return for assurances that the Taliban will break from
international terrorist groups and start direct negotiations with
Afghan officials over the political future of the country. But senior
officials involved in the discussions with the Americans said that the
Afghan government is worried that, as worded, the troop withdrawal
agreement in no way seems conditioned on progress in the coming Afghan
negotiations with the Taliban.”
Reuters:
Afghan Government Has Concerns About U.S.-Taliban Peace
Deal
“The Afghan government has concerns about the draft peace agreement
reached between U.S. and Taliban negotiators and wants further
clarification, President Ashraf Ghani’s main spokesman said on
Wednesday. The deal, which would see around 5,000 U.S. troops
withdrawn and five bases closed in exchange for guarantees that
Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on
America, was presented to Ghani this week by the special U.S. envoy
for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. However, with the Taliban
stepping up attacks in the capital Kabul and provincial centers across
the country, the agreement has faced scepticism from several sides,
including a number of former U.S. officials and politicians. “The
Afghan government is also concerned and we, therefore, would like
further clarity on this document to completely analyze its dangers and
negative consequences and avoid the dangers,” Ghani’s spokesman, Sediq
Sediqqi, wrote on Twitter. Many officials in the Afghan government,
which has been shut out of the talks by the Taliban’s refusal to talk
to what they consider a foreign-imposed “puppet” regime, have been
deeply concerned a deal will give too much and allow the Taliban back
into power.”
AEI:
The Afghanistan War Is Over, And Pakistan Has Won
“The US war in Afghanistan is winding down, and Pakistan has won.
The basic outline of the agreement negotiated by US Special Envoy
Zalmay Khalilzad is nothing new: The United States withdraws its
forces in exchange for a Taliban pledge not to associate with
terrorism or allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe-haven for terror
groups. There problems with the agreement are many. Proponents of
diplomacy with the Taliban often say that wars can only end through
diplomacy. “You don’t make peace with your friends. You have to be
willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a
situation that ends an insurgency,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
explained. But the agreement outlined by Khalilzad is little different
from that which Clinton administration officials struck with the
Taliban in the years prior to 9/11: At the time, the Taliban promised
to foreswear terrorism and quarantine Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
The subsequent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington
underscored their insincerity. Perhaps the Taliban have changed, but
not necessarily for the better, as the uptick in attacks throughout
Khalilzad’s negotiations show. In many ways, President Donald Trump
and Khalilzad seem to have embraced the John Kerry school of
diplomacy, in which desperation for a deal substitutes for bringing
leverage to bear and credibly convincing adversaries that failure to
bargain will mean for them a far worse fate.”
Pakistan
The
Washington Post: India Names Leaders Of 2 Pakistan-Based Groups As
Terrorists
“India officially declared on Wednesday that the leaders of two
Pakistan-based militant groups are terrorists under a new law. The
Home Ministry named Masood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hafiz
Muhammad Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, as terrorists under the
amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act. Azhar’s name
has already been placed by the United Nations on a sanctions blacklist
after his group claimed responsibility for a February suicide attack
in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian soldiers and took
India and Pakistan close to war. The United Nations in May imposed a
travel ban and freeze on Azhar’s assets as well as an arms embargo.
Saeed, an anti-India cleric, runs a charity in Pakistan known as
Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The charity is widely believed to serve as a front for
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for attacks in Mumbai in 2008 that
killed 166 people. The new law empowers the government to designate an
individual as a terrorist if he is found committing, preparing for,
promoting or involved in an act of terror. The designation can lead to
their arrest, a freezing of assets and a ban on leaving the
country.”
Yemen
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Arab Coalition: Houthi Ballistic Missile Crashes In
Yemen
“The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced on Wednesday that the
Iran-backed Houthi militias fired a ballistic missile that later
crashed in Yemen. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said the
militias fired the rocket from residential areas in the in Shar
district in the Saada province. The projectile crashed in al-Safraa
region, also in Saada, he added. Maliki accused the Houthis of
persistently violating international humanitarian law by firing
ballistic missiles that crash arbitrarily in residential areas,
threatening the lives of innocent lives in Yemen. The coalition will
continue to take firm deterrent measures to neutralize and destroy the
Houthis’ ballistic capabilities to protect the Yemeni people and
regional and international security, he vowed.”
Lebanon
Foreign
Policy: Hezbollah Readies For Next War Against Israel
“Hilal stretched his legs in a plastic chair on the veranda outside
his house, close to a Hezbollah military base in Hermel, Lebanon. Even
in late summer, the night air here has a crisp edge to it, and stars
dot the sky above the rust-red hills that separate the country from
neighboring Syria. But despite his posture, Hilal, who like other
Hezbollah fighters interviewed by Foreign Policy asked that his name
be changed, was anything but relaxed. An ivory-handled revolver
shimmered on his hip. He pointed to where the hills crest into the
horizon not far from his home. “Can you see all those mountains?” he
asked. “All of this area is full of missiles. They are all under
preparation. Every day, we bring in and deploy them. We have received
instructions not to wait for orders [to fire]. At any minute, or any
bullet, the guys will not wait.” Hilal, a missile operator, is one of
several Hezbollah fighters in eastern Bekaa Valley who told Foreign
Policy during a recent reporting trip that they are preparing for the
possibility of the first major outbreak of war with Israel in 13
years. This follows the recent decision by a newly aggressive Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to breach an unspoken agreement not
to hit Hezbollah in its home country.”
DW:
Hezbollah-Israel Tension Heightens Fear Of Conflict
“Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has openly threatened Israel
with attacks as the group has increased its military might. Two weeks
before Israeli parliamentary elections, the risk of war is growing.
The threat to Israel was delivered in no uncertain terms: "Attacks
against Lebanon will threaten all your soldiers and settlements," said
Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah in a video posted on Monday. The head of
the Lebanese Shiite militia also said the group could carry out
attacks "deep inside Israel" in retaliation to any further offensives.
Nasrallah said that the "red lines" on the border drawn by Israel no
longer existed. The video came shortly after a statement from
Jerusalem: Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz requested his German
counterpart, Heiko Mass, warn Lebanon that the entire country "will be
struck and badly damaged," if Hezbollah aggression did not cease.
Katz's statement came as a response to Sunday's events: Israel claimed
that the militia fired several anti-tank missiles at Israeli Defense
Force (IDF) vehicles. The IDF then attacked Hezbollah targets in
southern Lebanon.”
Haaretz:
Lebanon Pays The Price For A Burden Called Hezbollah
“Shortly before the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, the U.S. Treasury
Department announced it was levying economic sanctions against
Lebanon’s Jammal Trust Bank. In this case, the term “sanctions” does
not elucidate the extent of absolute damage this will cause the bank.
The American administration demanded of Lebanon that it close the
bank, freeze its deposits and prevent it from paying any debts. The
governor of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salameh, quickly moved to
carry out the order. He announced a freeze on the bank’s operations
and handed over accounts management to the central bank until a
solution could be found. Salameh made an assurance that “all
legitimate deposits compliant with Lebanese laws and the Central
Bank’s circulars are insured upon maturity.” In other words, his
representatives would have to confirm with the U.S. Treasury
Department which account owners are legitimate and which aren’t, thus
allowing the American administration unprecedented access to the
Lebanese financial institution.”
Middle East
Foreign
Policy: Al Qaeda Is Ready To Attack You Again
“Eighteen years have passed since the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
and al Qaeda is worse for the wear. The terrorist organization looks
remarkably different today than the group that killed thousands of
U.S. citizens on American soil. Intensive counterterrorism pressure in
Afghanistan and Pakistan has left behind an aging and increasingly
disconnected central leadership. The emergence of the Islamic State as
a peer competitor, meanwhile, has left al Qaeda with a brand that, at
times, has struggled to compete for global jihadist primacy. With the
group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in bad health and isolated, most
likely somewhere in Pakistan, and Hamza bin Laden, who may have been
next in line, recently reported killed, al Qaeda’s most dedicated
members seem to understand that its best chance to remain relevant is
through its ongoing presence in Syria. To capitalize on the
opportunities that the Syrian civil war has presented to al Qaeda, the
group began moving significant assets from Afghanistan and Pakistan to
the Levant in September 2014. This shift in the center of the group’s
gravity constitutes a major change and one with implications still not
fully understood by counterterrorism officials worldwide.”
Global
News: Alleged ISIS Supporter To Be Released After Federal Court
Rejects Appeal
“An alleged ISIS supporter was expected to be freed in British
Columbia after the Federal Court dismissed the government’s attempt to
keep him in custody while it tries to deport him. Although Othman Ayed
Hamdan has been deemed a danger to the security of Canada, on Tuesday
the court upheld an Immigration and Refugee Board decision ordering
his release. “Considering all of past the circumstances, and the
mitigation of danger looking forward, I find that the member’s
decision to release Mr. Hamdan was reasonable,” the court ruled. The
Jordanian citizen has been ordered out of Canada for security reasons,
but remains in the country as he argues he would be at risk if he is
returned to the Middle East.”
Egypt
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Several Extremists Killed, Four Civilians Kidnapped In
Sinai
“Four extremists were killed and four citizens kidnapped in Sinai
province, where security forces continue to carry out operations to
target terrorist elements loyal to ISIS, according to tribal and
security sources. There were conflicting reports on the number of
citizens kidnapped by the gunmen. While the German press agency, dpa,
quoted a security source as saying that unidentified gunmen blocked
the international road of Arish-Qantara and kidnapped six civilians,
the Sinai Tribes Union said the number of abductees stood at four,
indicating that ISIS carried out the operation. Tribal sources told
Asharq Al-Awsat that masked gunmen attacked a house in Masfag village,
northeast of Sinai, and kidnapped a man, two of his sons, and his
son-in-law. The abductees are members of al-Dawaghrah tribe, as
confirmed by tribe member Engineer Sami Hawari to Asharq Al-Awsat. The
gunmen took Musa Hamdan Abu Mrihail, two of his sons, Islam and Jaber,
as well as his brother-in-law Sabah Asbih, and stole Asbih’s car. Two
weeks ago, the Egyptian Interior Ministry announced 11 terrorists were
killed in a fire exchange with security forces in al-Obour area of
el-Arish.”
Nigeria
Sahara
Reporters: Two Feared Dead As Boko Haram Attacks Borno
Village
“At least two civilians have been killed while some houses were
torched after Boko Haram terrorists invaded Nganzai area of Borno
State on Wednesday. The attackers entered Gajiram, headquarters of
Nganzai local council area, about 5:00pm, burning part of the
Divisional Police Headquarters and a telecommunications mast in the
process. According to a local vigilante source, hundreds of civilians
are currently hiding inside the forest while food items were looted by
the hoodlums. He added that apart from the two persons killed, three
military and a police vehicles were also said to have been taken away
by the insurgents. It would be recalled that in less than two months,
Gajiram had been attacked on three occasions.”
Africa
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Tunisia Security Task Forces Kill Three Terror
Leaders
“Tunisia’s interior ministry released the identities of three
terrorists that security forces had killed in a raid on Sept. 2 in the
country’s central west province of Kasserine. According to DNA
profiling, two of the terrorists were Algerian nationals that were
wanted for criminal activity both in Tunisia and Algeria, whilst the
third was a Tunisian national. The Tunisian national was identified as
Salah al Qasimi, a wanted fugitive since 2013. Qasimi is believed to
have been the head of the Wargha terror cell, which has pledged
allegiance to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He is also is wanted
for supervising field training for members of the Aqbat Bin Nafi
terrorist offshoot. The boot camps included looting activity whereby
members seized food, blankets and money at night from people living in
remote rural areas. Qasimi's good knowledge of mountain trails helped
him in planning and mounted such night raids. It is worth noting that
the Sept.2 successful security ambush took down the three terrorist
leaders in a shootout which also killed a local public security
officer. During this pre-emptive security operation,
Kalashnikov-branded machine guns were seized and several explosive
belts were dismantled.”
Germany
The
Washington Post: Why Germany — And Europe — Can’t Afford To
Accommodate The Radical Right
“This past weekend, elections in two states in eastern Germany,
Brandenburg and Saxony, saw the populist radical-right party
Alternative for Germany surge ahead, though it fell short of wins. Its
success has revived an old German — and, indeed, European — debate on
how best to counter the rise of the radical right. Former leader of
the Christian Social Union Franz-Josef Strauss once said that in
Germany, “No legitimate political party can be right of the CSU.” This
claim, which became the mantra of postwar German politics, was based
on the idea that if the alliance between the CSU and Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union positioned themselves enough to
the right, they would be able to win the far-right share of the
electorate and forestall the rise of a radical-right party. With the
emergence of the AfD as a successful challenger to the
right-of-the-Union parties, many commentators, analysts and
politicians have thus blamed the CDU/CSU, and especially Merkel, for
not following through on Strauss’s words. In their eyes, if the
CDU/CSU had only been more conservative on questions of minority
rights, gender equality and immigration, it could have obstructed the
AfD at the outset.”
Deutsche
Welle: German IS Fighter Faces Torture And Murder Terrorism Charges In
Düsseldorf Court
“A fighter from the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS) group stood
trial in Düsseldorf on Wednesday facing serious charges of committing
war crimes, in addition to murder. This is the second time that the
29-year-old has stood trial for terror-related offenses, but his
earlier trial and conviction was on the lesser charge of membership of
a terrorist organization, for which he received a four and a half
years in prison. Identified as Nils D., he appeared at the Düsselsdorf
high court where he was accused of torturing prisoners as a member of
Islamic State in the town of Manbij in Syria. According to a
representative for the Federal Prosecutor, three victims died as a
result of the torture. In addition, the prosecution said that he was a
member of a group of IS fighters who worked inside a prison in Syria
in 2014. The prison specifically contained defectors and deserters
from IS. The defendant declined to comment on any of the charges
brought against him. The defendant, who hails from the western German
town of Dinslaken, was also a member of the ”Lohberger Brigade,” which
supports IS in Syria, in his hometown. Initially he was arrested on
his return from Syria to Germany in 2015. He confessed to working for
the IS ”secret police,” which aim to intimidate the local population
and arrest “deserters.”
Europe
Reuters:
Kosovo Convictions For Planned Terror Attacks On Orthodox
Churches
“A court in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, convicted four people on
September 4 for planning terrorist attacks on international
peacekeepers, Orthodox churches, and night clubs as well as abroad in
France and Belgium. They were handed prison terms ranging from one to
10 years. Two others were ordered to serve shorter terms for failing
to inform authorities of the conspiracy. In October, the four were
charged with planning attacks on NATO troops and bombings of discos
and churches in enclaves with high concentrations of ethnic Serbs. A
majority of Kosovo’s population of 1.8 million people are ethnic
Albanian Muslims, with around 120,000 Serbs living mostly in the
north. Two Belgian nationals, Bujar Behrami and Gramos Shabani, both
aged 26, were arrested in September. Resim Kastrati, 26, and Edona
Haliti, 25, were arrested in June. Some 300 Kosovars have gone to
fight in Syria and Iraq, according to AFP.”
Technology
Bloomberg:
YouTube Will Rely On Spotty AI To Comply With FTC
Settlement
“YouTube will stop selling personalized ads on videos aimed at
children as part of a regulatory settlement on Wednesday. But the
company’s plan relies on technology that has struggled to make nuanced
decisions in the past. The Google unit will use artificial
intelligence to identify which videos are aimed at kids, then cut
those clips off from targeted ads. It’s a plan politicians and
consumers have heard before. YouTube has used AI for years to find and
take down unwanted content including pornography, terrorist propaganda
and extreme violence. Other tech companies, such as Twitter Inc. and
Facebook Inc., have said AI is the answer to their problems too, from
online harassment to election meddling by foreign states. Google is
one of the most accomplished AI companies, but with so much online
content, the technology sometimes falls short, as it did
when thousands of videos of the March terrorist attack on a New
Zealand mosque were uploaded to YouTube. AI isn’t the first line of
defense. YouTube is also asking video creators to self-report if their
content is aimed at kids. But creators rely heavily on ad revenue, so
they may have little incentive to tell YouTube when their clips are
for kids.”
Forbes:
Unsecured Facebook Server Leaks Data Of 419 Million
Users
“Earlier this year, Facebook quietly confirmed that millions of
unencrypted Instagram passwords had been stored in plain text online.
Since then, Facebook has been on a less than successful privacy public
relations crusade, with an off-Facebook privacy tool found to be not
quite what it seems, and the revelation that a "technical flaw"
allowed children using the Messenger Kids app to participate in group
chats with strangers but without parental permission. The latest blow
to the new privacy-friendly Facebook facade came just last night as
news of a data leak exposing the phone numbers linked to 419 million
user accounts broke. This security SNAFU really couldn't have come at
a worse time for Facebook, as is evidenced by the efforts to minimize
the number of phone numbers concerned. Here's everything that's known
so far. How did Facebook leak more than 400 million user phone
numbers? A Facebook server containing databases that, in total,
detailed the phone numbers of 419 million users, linked to their
Facebook account IDs, was found to be unprotected by any password.
This meant that anyone looking for such things could find, and access,
those databases.”
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