Eye on Extremism
September 11, 2019
ABC
News: US-Led Coalition Hits ISIS 'Infested' Island In Iraq With 80,000
Pounds Of Munitions
“The U.S.-led coalition conducted airstrikes against an Islamic
State "infested" island in Iraq on Tuesday in order to deny what had
become a safe haven for the terror group, according to Operation
Inherent Resolve. U.S. F-15 and F-35 aircraft dropped 80,000 pounds of
munitions on Qanus Island, located in the Salah ad Din Province, north
of Baghdad, to disrupt ISIS fighters' "ability to hide in the thick
vegetation," the coalition said in a statement. "Follow-on ground
clearance operations are currently taking place by the 2nd Iraqi
Special Operations Forces Battalion to destroy a major transit hub for
[ISIS] members moving from Syria and the Jazeera desert into Mosul,
Makhmour, and the Kirkuk region" of Iraq, the coalition said. "We're
denying Daesh the ability to hide on Qanus Island," Maj. Gen. Eric
Hill, the commander of the coalition's special operations forces, said
in the statement, referring to the group by its Arabic acronym. "We're
setting the conditions for our partner forces to continue bringing
stability to the region."
The
Independent: Airstrikes Return To Syrian Region Just 10 Days After
Russia Ceasefire Declared
“Airstrikes hit a part of northwest Syria for the first time since
a ceasefire was declared 10 days ago, a war monitor and rebel group
spokesman said on Tuesday. Syrian government forces and their Russian
allies unilaterally agreed a truce on 31 August in
opposition-controlled Idlib, where a “de-escalation zone” was brokered
two years ago. The intense airstrikes by Russian and Syrian warplanes
that had accompanied a Syrian government push to re-take the area had
stopped, since 31 August, although there has been ground fighting and
shelling. The United States said its forces had carried out strikes
against an al-Qaeda facility in Idlib on the day the ceasefire came
into effect. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor,
based in Britain, said planes had carried out two raids on in the
strategic Jabal al-Akrad mountain range near the western Latakia
coast. It is not clear if these raids signal a return to the Russian
and Syrian campaign of heavy air strikes.”
Reuters:
New U.S. Sanctions Target Hamas, Islamic State, Other
Groups
“The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on a “wide range
of terrorists and their supporters,” including the Palestinian group
Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, on the eve of the
18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The targets include 15
leaders, individuals and entities affiliated with groups such as
Hamas, al Qaeda, Islamic State and Iran’s IRGC, the U.S. Treasury
Department said in a statement. The sanctions were applied using new
tools from an executive order recently updated by President Donald
Trump. “Since the horrific attacks of 9/11, the U.S. government has
refocused its counterterrorism efforts to constantly adapt to emerging
threats,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the
statement.”
Deutsche
Welle: Burkina Faso Threatened With Famine Caused By
Terrorism
“The latest attack came on Monday evening, when six policemen died
in an ambush in the north of the country. On Sunday, 26 civilians were
killed and six wounded in the northern province of Sanmatenga. Since
2015, more than 500 people have been killed in similar attacks. The
rise in jihadist violence has been attributed to the spread of
Islamist terrorism from neighboring Mali. It is now also metastasizing
to the east and the center of the country. According to a statement by
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), around 289,000 people have had to flee their homes and are now
living in shelters — triple the number compared to January. According
to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ”500,000
people have been deprived of health care since January due to jihadist
violence.” 125 health centers were hit in August, forcing 60 to shut
down and leaving 65 only partially able to function. The ICRC
added 1.2 million people are threatened with famine and malnutrition.
Referring to the recent spate of attacks, Burkinabe President Roch
Marc Christian Kabore warned in a tweet that “these despicable acts
will not go unpunished.”
The
Jerusalem Post: Israeli Watchdog Accuses Facebook Of Promoting
Palestinian Terrorism
“An Jerusalem-based watchdog group has accused Facebook of being an
accomplice to terrorism for its continued refusal to shut down the
official Fatah Facebook page. Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) on Tuesday
released a report documenting dozens of incidents in which Fatah used
its page to promote violence and glorify murderers of Israelis. The
42-page report is the second of its kind. The previous report,
published in February 2019, tracked Fatah’s Facebook activity the year
before. Both reports were sent to Facebook. According to PMW’s CEO
Itamar Marcus, the first report was not only reviewed by the social
networking site, but Marcus had a 45-minute conversation with the
director of Facebook’s global counterterrorism policy team, Brian
Fishman, about its findings. “During our conversation, I emphasized
that every time Fatah posts a new terror message on Facebook
encouraging violence or presenting murderers as role models, hundreds
of thousands of Palestinians are given more motivation to kill
Israelis,” Marcus told The Jerusalem Post. “Facebook still chooses to
do nothing to stop it. “Their willingness to ignore the role they are
playing in Fatah’s terror promotion is incomprehensible,” he
said.”
The
National: Iran And Its Proxy Hezbollah Are Partners In The Syrian
Regime's War Crimes
“In the ongoing saga over the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, the
outcome of the stand-off surprised few people. Earlier this week news
reports said the tanker carrying two million barrels of crude from
Iran and suspected to be heading to Syria, flouting EU sanctions, had
unloaded its cargo in the port of Tartus, despite assurances by Tehran
that it intended to do no such thing. The US and UK reacted angrily
this week to satellite images showing the tanker approaching a port in
Syria, with British foreign secretary Dominic Raab issuing a statement
saying it was “now clear that Iran has breached these assurances and
that the oil has been transferred to Syria and Assad’s murderous
regime”, adding the move was an “unacceptable violation of
international norms”. The episode has brought into stark relief once
again Iran’s destructive role in Syria, in support of a dictator who
starves his own people. Tehran’s foreign policy highlights the need to
address its behaviour in the region as part of a grand rapprochement
with Iran’s rivals in the Middle East and the West.”
United States
The
Washington Post: Trump Issues New, Revised Order To Counter
Terrorism
“A day before the anniversary of 9/11, President Donald Trump on
Tuesday issued an executive order to expand the administration’s
ability to go after suspected terrorists and their financiers and
supporters. “Today’s executive order by President Trump adds further
muscle to U.S. counterterrorism efforts,” Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said during a briefing to reporters at the White House. He said
Trump’s action amends an earlier executive order that former President
George W. Bush initially signed after 9/11 by adding clauses to let
the State and Treasury departments directly target leaders of
suspected terror groups and their affiliates “without having to tie
terrorist leaders to specific acts.” Pompeo said the order also more
effectively targets individuals and groups participating in terrorist
training and provides new authorities to impose sanctions on foreign
financial institutions that knowingly do business with suspected
terrorists. Eric Lorber, a former Treasury Department senior adviser,
said the new order is a “significant change.” “While most financial
institutions would not have done business with designated terrorists
even before this new authority, this action makes clear that the U.S.
Treasury is willing to take serious steps to punish those financial
institutions that do,” Lorber said.”
USA
Today: After Massacres And Thwarted Plots, Federal Authorities
Confront Limits In Fighting Domestic Terror
“In the weeks after a pair of massacres in El Paso, Texas, and
Dayton, Ohio, left 31 dead, local police and federal authorities
scrambled to contain a succession of chilling new threats. A Florida
man allegedly vows to “break a world record” for mass shooting
casualties; a disgruntled hotel cook in California threatens to
transform a Marriott lobby into a killing field; a Jewish community
center in Ohio is the target in a suspected shooting plot. Police
stopped each one before anyone was harmed. But the arrests, spanning
just over a week, highlighted a frequent theme in the government's
efforts to prevent domestic terrorism and other forms of mass
violence: law enforcement didn't see the potentially deadly storms
approaching until members of the public stepped forward with crucial
information, and authorities had little power to intercede until an
attack appeared imminent. The FBI has warned for months that domestic
terrorism, often animated by racial animus and religious
discord, represents one of the United States' most pressing national
security threats. Yet time after time the central weapons against such
threats for local and federal law enforcement have largely proved to
be timely tips, or even a stroke of luck.”
NBC
News: The NRA And Antifa Are Not Domestic Terrorists. Saying They Are
Is A Threat To Everyone.
“We hit peak absurdity last week when the San Francisco city
government branded the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.” In
reaching its conclusion, the city’s Board of Supervisors argued, in
part, that the NRA supports terrorism by making it easy for violent
extremists to get guns. Now, the NRA — which has filed a lawsuit in
response— is a lot of odious things, but it’s not a terrorist group,
domestic or otherwise. Advocating policies, even ones that harm
society, does not make one a terrorist. Trust me, I know from
terrorists. I used to be a military correspondent for The Jerusalem
Post. I wrote about terrorists. I interviewed them face to face. And
in January 2004, one terrorist — a suicide bomber — almost killed me
when he exploded on the bus I was riding on. I still bear the scars
from that day. Though the precise definition is still debated by
academics, a terrorist is a nonstate militant who targets civilians
with deadly force to achieve a political objective. Innocence as
defined by just war theory, which informs modern concepts of right and
wrong in warfare, mean nothing to them. Terrorists make people fear
for their lives. So, yes, I wish San Francisco hadn’t cheapened the
pro-gun-control argument with its rank hyperbole.”
Al
Jazeera: New US Sanctions Target Hamas, ISIL, Other
Groups
“The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on a “wide range
of terrorists and their supporters”, including the Palestinian
group Hamas and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), on
the eve of the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The
targets include 15 leaders, individuals and entities affiliated with
groups such as Hamas, al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL or ISIS) and Iran's IRGC, the US Treasury Department said
in a statement. The sanctions were applied using new tools from an
executive order recently updated by President Donald Trump. “Since the
horrific attacks of 9/11, the US government has refocused its
counterterrorism efforts to constantly adapt to emerging threats,”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. “President
Trump's modernised counterterrorism Executive Order enhances the
authorities we use to target the finances of terror groups and their
leaders to ensure they are as robust as possible,” Mnuchin said.
Sanctioned leaders include Turkey-based Zaher Jabarin, the head of
Hamas's financial office; and Muhammad Sa'id Izadi, the chief of the
IRGC-Quds Force's Palestinian office in Lebanon. The targets also
included a Brazil-based al-Qaeda member, a Maldivian national who
recruits for the ISIL branch active in Afghanistan, and an operative
of the ISIL affiliate in the Philippines, the statement said.”
USA
Today: President Trump’s Timing Is Right On ISIS. Bring American
Troops Home.
“President Donald Trump is right — the Islamic State has been
thoroughly defeated, and it’s time to bring our troops home from
Syria. The terrorist organization once occupied vast swaths of
territory in the Middle East, but thanks to American firepower it no
longer functions as a sovereign entity, and has been unable to rebuild
its political and economic structure for many months. We don’t need to
eradicate every ISIS member, supporter and advocate to defeat it.
Without a functional caliphate, isolated ISIS enclaves pose no
long-term threat to America or our allies in the region. There remains
a global effort to prevent it from gaining strength — but that will
not require large deployments of U.S. forces to foreign lands.
American forces in Syria had one job — to create the right conditions
for regional stability — and they’ve accomplished that. President
Trump has made it abundantly clear that his administration is not
interested in “endless wars” or permanently occupying countries all
over the world. He hasn’t hesitated to deploy the U.S. military in
response to genuine threats, but neither has he exposed them to
unnecessary threats when American interests are not at stake. While
ISIS naturally aspires to rebuild, there is no clear evidence that
it’s having any real success on that front.”
CNN:
Why John Bolton Had To Leave And What To Expect Next
“John Bolton had to go -- because he wanted to cancel President
Donald Trump's worldwide reality show. For a time the now ex-national
security adviser, who first caught Trump's eye with his tough talk on
Fox News, was useful to the President -- sharing his desire to shake
up the globe. But like everyone else in Trump's dysfunctional foreign
policy team, Bolton wore out his welcome, standing in the way of his
boss' impetuous instincts and seeking a share of the spotlight. Only
in the bizarre Trump orbit could the exit of a national security
adviser seen as an ideologue and aggressive hawk also be perceived in
some ways as the removal of a stabilizing force. But he did have a
view of American interests and the use of US power that while hardline
was predictable and logical and positioned within the historic
boundaries of US diplomacy.”
Reuters:
Iran Says Sacking Of Bolton Won't Lead To Talks With
U.S
“Iran said on Wednesday Washington should distance itself from
“warmongers” after the resignation of hawkish White House National
Security Adviser John Bolton, and Tehran stood by its demand that
sanctions be lifted before any talks. The departure of Bolton removes
one of the strongest advocates of a hard line towards Iran from
President Donald Trump’s White House, and raises the prospect of steps
to open up negotiations after more than a year of escalating tension.
“America should understand that ... it should distance itself from
warmongers,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted President
Hassan Rouhani as saying on Wednesday, without mentioning Bolton.
“Iran’s policy of resistance will not change as long as our enemy (the
United States) continues to put pressure on Iran,” said Rouhani, a
pragmatist who won two landslide elections in Iran on promises to open
it up to the world.”
CNN:
Pompeo Hints That Trump Could Meet With Iranian President At UN
Meeting
“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that President
Donald Trump could meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the
upcoming United Nations General Assembly, with "no preconditions." The
comments, made by Pompeo during a press briefing to announce a raft of
new sanctions on groups including a unit in Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guards, came just hours after Trump announced the
resignation of national security adviser and Iran hawk John Bolton.
Asked about the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Rouhani
later this month, Pompeo, who was speaking alongside Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said that Trump was "prepared to meet with
no preconditions." Both Trump and Rouhani are scheduled to attend the
UN General Assembly in New York late September.”
Syria
The
Washington Post: Why Understanding The Role Of Women Is Vital In The
Fight Against Terrorism
“Last month, the Defense Department’s inspector general issued a
detailed report on conditions in the al-Hol refugee and detention camp
in rebel-controlled Syria. In al-Hol, tens of thousands of women and
children who once lived under the so-called caliphate of the Islamic
State are now being held in dire conditions. Yet minimal security
permits women to spread the Islamic State ideology uncontested —
resulting in what some observers are calling “a reign of fear.” If the
extremist group continues to exert influence in the region despite its
lack of a physical stronghold, these women will bear responsibility.
Eighteen years since the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11,
violent extremism persists unabated. The United States has spent
nearly $6 trillion to counter terrorism, yet the number of Islamist
extremist fighters last year was 270 percent higher than it was in
2001. Globally, right-wing extremism poses a rising threat. In the
United States, all but one terrorist killing last year was tied to
right-wing extremism. So far, U.S. national security leaders have
consistently neglected one vital factor: the participation of women.
According to our recent Council on Foreign Relations report, many
extremists recruit and rely upon women as facilitators, martyrs and
critical sources of income.”
The
National: US And Turkey Must Not Ignore ISIS Resurgence In
Syria
“We have been here before. When the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011
it left behind a country with political woes and a security vacuum
that contributed to the emergence of ISIS, which subsequently was able
to seize large areas of Iraq and Syria as the foundation of its
so-called caliphate. Today, despite US President Donald Trump’s
premature declaration in February that ISIS has been successfully
defeated in Syria, it is clear that the terror group remains active
there. In Syria, as in Iraq, ISIS has transitioned smoothly from an
aspirant territory-controlling state to an elusive insurgency. This
outcome was predictable and, indeed, was predicted – by senior figures
in the US military. Last month a report by the office of the inspector
general of the US Department of Defence spelt out in graphic detail
the consequences of US military disengagement in Iraq and Syria. In
the three months from April to June, ISIS had developed its insurgent
capabilities in Syria and Iraq, carrying out assassinations, suicide
bombings, abductions and arson attacks on crops in both countries. The
problems that pre-dated the ISIS declaring its false caliphate in
2014, including the failure of politics in both Syria and Iraq,
continue. Syria is fragmented with various extremist groups taking
advantage of the situation.”
The
Telegraph: Meet The Women With Guns Who Fought ISIL In Syria - And Are
Now Battling Its Patriarchy
“In June 2017, twenty-year-old Nisha Gawrie was deployed to the
front line of one of the most vicious urban conflicts of her
generation – the campaign to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from the
so-called Islamic State. One of the founding members of the first ever
all-female Syriac Christian militia, the Bethnahrain Women's
Protection Forces (HSNB) – Nisha was tasked with leading a unit of
fighters into battle. Founded in 2015, in response to a violent Isil
attack on the historically Christian Khabour region, the HSNB became a
small but key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces - the
US-backed military coalition waging war against Isil in northeastern
Syria.”
Iran
The
Guardian: UK Accuses Iran Of Selling Oil From Seized Tanker To
Syria
“Britain has accused Iran of breaching assurances that it would not
sell oil to Syria from an Iranian tanker released by authorities in
Gibraltar on the condition that the 2.1m barrels it was carrying would
not be sold to the “murderous regime” of Bashar al-Assad. Tehran
acknowledged at the weekend that the oil had been sold and the
reflagged tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously known as Grace 1, had
reached its final destination, after the ship was photographed off the
coast of Syria. Iran, desperate for revenue from oil exports, did not
formally confirm the customer was Syria. The UK foreign secretary,
Dominic Raab, summoned Hamid Baeidinejad, the Iranian ambassador to
the UK, to a meeting on Wednesday to ask why the assurances given to
the Gibraltarian authorities had not been honoured. British officials
are relatively certain from intelligence assessments that the oil was
offloaded on to smaller boats.”
The
Hill: Iran's 'Triangle Of Power' In Middle East Threatens US,
Israel
“In the last week of August, Iran-Israel tensions escalated after
an Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah and Iranian Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in southern Syria. Iran has been
arming its allies in Syria and Lebanon with precision-guided missiles
and “killer drones,” Israel says. At the same time, pro-Iranian groups
from Yemen to Iraq are threatening the United States and U.S. allies,
while an Iranian tanker in the Mediterranean was bringing oil to the
Syrian regime. Iran’s influence in the Middle East generally has been
seen as a “land bridge” or corridor to the sea that stretches through
Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. It has a web of proxies and mostly Shi’ite
paramilitary groups that are allied with Tehran. This influence has
grown since the defeat of ISIS, as Iranian-backed groups put down
roots in areas from which ISIS had been removed, such as Albukamal on
the border of Syria and Iraq. Iran’s real influence comes from not
just this patchwork of groups but also a third side to its power that
emanates from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have been fighting an
alliance led by Saudi Arabia since 2015. The rebels have become
increasingly proficient in using Iranian technology, such as ballistic
missiles, drones and air defense.”
Iraq
The
New York Post: US Warplanes Drop 40 Tons Of Bombs On ISIS-Infested
Island In Iraq
“US warplanes dropped more than 40 tons of bombs on a ISIS-infested
island in Iraq on Tuesday, authorities said. The operation, which
targeted the Qanus Island in the Tigris River, was carried out by the
US and a coalition of other countries in the fight to permanently
erase ISIS strongholds in the country. The extremest group previously
controlled large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria when they declared a
caliphate in the region. They were defeated in 2017 by a coalition of
forces who battled them in northern Iraq. But since their defeat, ISIS
cells have sprung up in the region and carried out deadly bombings.
Video of the US-led bombing on Tuesday was posted to Twitter by the
combined joint task force fighting the militants. It shows an aerial
view of the island and spurts of explosions dotting the landscape.
“Here’s what it looks like when @USAFCENT #F15 and #F35 jets drop
36,000 Kg of bombs on a Daesh infested island,” the task force wrote
on Twitter.”
Al
Monitor: Pentagon Fears Islamic State Surge In Iraqi
Kurdistan
“The Donald Trump administration is worried that the Islamic State
(IS) could take advantage of ongoing tensions between Iraq’s
government and Kurdish authorities to gain sanctuary as the Pentagon
tracks down sleeper cells from the militant group. IS “currently
exploits security gaps that exist in Iraq’s disputed territories and
along the line of separation between Iraqi and Kurdish security
forces,” said Michael Mulroy, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant
secretary for the Middle East. “Ensuring that [IS] is not able to
regain strength or territory in these areas is in the utmost interest
of both Iraqi and Kurdish security forces.” The concerns come amid an
uptick in IS activity in Iraq centered around Kurdish areas. IS has
launched a handful of mortar and insurgent attacks in the disputed
territories in recent weeks, mostly concentrated in agriculture-heavy
Diyala province, where the group’s sleeper cells have grown in valley
pockets along the Hamrin mountain range. In a report released last
month, the Pentagon’s inspector general said IS is able to use the
disputed Kurdish territories to “find safe haven to regroup and plan
attacks,” as the Iraqi government has shown limited interest in
setting up joint security arrangements with the
Kurdish peshmerga.”
Xinhua:
5 IS Militants Killed In Anti-Terror Operation In Central
Iraq
“Five Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Tuesday in an
operation in Iraq's central province of Salahuddin, a provincial
police officer said. A Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) force, backed
by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, conducted in the early
morning a search and clearance operation in the rugged area of Ganous
near the city of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, Khalil
al-Namis, from Salahuddin provincial police command, told Xinhua. The
troops with the air support heavily pounded IS positions in the area,
killing five IS militants, and also seized caches of weapons and
ammunition, al-Namis said. He said the search operation will continue
until they clear the whole area from IS remnants. The operation came a
day after the CTS troops conducted an airdrop operation in Salahuddin
province on IS positions in the rugged area of Mteibijah near the
provincial border with neighboring Diyala province, leaving 15 IS
militants killed and nine others captured. Iraqi security forces
repeatedly carried out operations to take control of rugged areas in
Salahuddin province, but the vast rugged land and nearby Himreen
mountainous area have made it difficult for them to completely clear
the area of the extremist militants.”
Turkey
The
New York Times: Turkey’s Radical Plan: Send A Million Refugees Back To
Syria
“Turkey, which for eight years has welcomed millions of Syrian
refugees, has reversed course, forcing thousands to leave its major
cities in recent weeks and ferrying many of them to its border with
Syria in white buses and police vans. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
is pushing a radical solution — resettling refugees in a swath of
Syrian territory controlled by the United States and its Kurdish
allies. If that does not happen, he is threatening to send a flood of
Syrian migrants to Europe. Mr. Erdogan has long demanded a buffer zone
along Turkey’s border with Syria to keep out Kurdish forces, whom he
considers a security threat. But he has repackaged the idea for the
zone as a refuge for Syrians fleeing the war — pushing it as
resentment against Syrians in Turkey has increased, and a Syrian and
Russian offensive in Syria has sent hundreds of thousands more
refugees fleeing toward the Turkish border.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: In Trump’s Taliban Snub, A Shift Of Fortune For
Afghanistan’s President
“Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, appeared increasingly
trapped in recent months in a demoralizing swim against the political
tides — until President Trump, inadvertently, tossed him a lifeline.
Mr. Ghani, in pursuit of a second five-year term, had pushed
for presidential elections later this month. But the only game in town
that seemed to matter was the high-energy American push for a deal
with the Taliban that could end the 18-year United States military
presence and, ultimately, bring the Afghan sides into a power-sharing
arrangement. Not only was Mr. Ghani’s government largely left out of
the initial peace efforts, a deal would almost certainly have meant
the end of his time at the palace, at least for the time being, given
the likelihood that a transitional government would be put in place.
Then, just when Mr. Ghani’s aides appeared to be running out of
options, their bags packed for a Camp David meeting meant to complete
the American agreement with the Taliban, President Trump pulled the
plug on the talks. All of a sudden, the elections were back in the
front seat, seemingly certain to take place on Sept. 28, with Mr.
Ghani one of the favorites. The sudden change of fortune for Mr. Ghani
in no way means easier times ahead for Afghanistan, even if the
interruption of the peace efforts is seen by many of its critics as an
opportunity for course correction.”
Bloomberg:
A Deal With The Taliban Still Makes Sense
“President Donald Trump is right that it’s time for the U.S. to end
its longest war. He needs to stop making this harder. The president
over the weekend canceled a summit at Camp David with Afghan and
Taliban leaders that was meant to finalize a peace deal. He had little
choice. The decision followed an attack in Kabul that killed an
American soldier. Welcoming Taliban officials to the U.S. just a few
days later would have been wrong. The mistake wasn’t canceling the
meeting — it was summoning it in the first place. The purpose wasn’t
to move along the talks. Taliban officials said they had no intention
of meeting with Afghan leaders or amending the draft agreement, which
reportedly trades a withdrawal of U.S. troops for Taliban commitments
to stop Afghanistan from being used as a terrorist base. The planned
event was mainly to afford the president a photo opportunity. As this
scheme fell apart, the abrupt departure of Trump’s third national
security adviser, John Bolton, compounded the impression of disarray.
Not for the first time, Trump’s theatrics backfired. A deal along the
lines envisioned still makes sense.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Afghan President Inherits Long-Sought Role After
U.S. Ends Taliban Talks
“President Trump’s decision to cancel a U.S.-Taliban deal and end
negotiations effectively hands Afghan President Ashraf Ghani the
control he has long craved over a peace process from which he had been
excluded. Mr. Ghani, a renowned micromanager who presents himself as
history’s answer to Afghanistan’s problems, is now where he insisted
he should have been from the start: in the driver’s seat of efforts to
end his country’s nearly 18-year war. “Things have changed now,” he
told members of the Afghan security forces in a speech Monday in the
presidential palace, with the satisfied air of a man vindicated by
recent events. “We are ready for peace talks, but if the Taliban think
they can scare us, look at these warriors.” Mr. Ghani’s
victory-by-default in his struggle to oversee the Afghan peace process
puts him more comfortably in power than at any time since the U.S.
resumed direct talks with the Taliban more than a year ago. The threat
has vanished of a peace process that could have dashed Mr. Ghani’s
ambitions for a second five-year term by forming an interim
administration. By breaking off the negotiations, Mr. Trump has
effectively cleared the path for Mr. Ghani to win presidential
elections scheduled for Sept. 28.”
Fox
News: Andrew McCarthy: Taliban Terrorists Have No Place At Camp
David
“The Taliban, per se, is not our enemy.” Thus spoke Joe Biden,
Obama administration vice president and resident foreign affairs
solon. It was 2011 and the administration was rationalizing its
desperation to negotiate its way out of Afghanistan, where we then had
about 30,000 troops. It was nothing new. Hamid Karzai, president of
the fledgling Afghan government propped up by the Bush administration
after the Taliban’s ouster, had been seeking negotiations for years
... only to be spurned by the Taliban. Of course, the Taliban did not
get to weigh in on Biden’s babble. If they had, they would surely have
said bluntly what they have demonstrated blatantly for 20 years: They
are absolutely our enemy, not just per se but in aeternum. If, as he
stated in a Saturday Twitter thread, President Trump actually was
planning to host Taliban leaders at Camp David this past weekend for
what he and the administration describe as “peace talks,” that boggles
the mind.”
Pakistan
The
Washington Post: Kashmiris Allege Night Terror By Indian Troops In
Crackdown
“The Indian soldiers descended on Bashir Ahmed Dar’s house in
southern Kashmir on Aug. 10, a few days after the government in New
Delhi stripped the disputed Himalayan region of its statehood and
launched a crackdown. Over the next 48 hours, the 50-year-old plumber
said he was subjected to two separate rounds of beatings by soldiers.
They demanded that he find his younger brother, who had joined rebels
opposing India’s presence in the Muslim majority region, and persuade
him to surrender or else “face the music.” In the second beating, at a
military camp, Dar said he was struck with sticks by three soldiers
until he was unconscious. He woke up at home, “unable to sit on my
bruised and bloodied buttocks and aching back,” he added. But it
wasn’t over. On Aug. 14, soldiers returned to his house in the village
of Heff Shirmal and destroyed his family’s supply of rice and other
foodstuffs by mixing it with fertilizer and kerosene. Dar’s account of
violence and intimidation by Indian soldiers was not unusual. In more
than 50 interviews, residents in a dozen villages in Kashmir told The
Associated Press that the military had raided their homes since
India’s government imposed a security crackdown in the region Aug.
5.”
Middle East
Arab
News: Arab Ministers Condemn Iran’s Support Of Houthis As Militia Fire
Drone At Saudi Target
“The Arab ministerial committee has condemned Iran’s support for
the Houthis’ targeting Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles, state
news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. The committee – made up of
ministers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt - condemned
Iran’s ongoing support for terrorist acts in the Arab region and its
violation of the Security Council resolution 2216 (2015), which
requires militia to be disarmed. The committee also reiterated the
importance of opposing Iranian attempts to threaten the security of
the region’s energy supplies, as well as maritime installations in the
Arabian Gulf and other shipping lanes. The comments come as the Arab
coalition intercept yet another Houthi drone fired towards Saudi
airspace. Coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said the drone was
targeting civilian areas in Saudi Arabia’s Najran.”
Egypt
Gulf
News: Egypt Rules Out Imminent End To Qatar Crisis
“Qatar has shown no “actual interest” in resolving its crisis of
more than two years with an Arab quartet, Egypt’s Foreign Minister
Sameh Shukry has said. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain
and Egypt broke off diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar
over its support for terrorism. The four countries presented to Qatar
a list of demands to end the dispute. “The crisis with Doha will
linger on unless the demands are implemented,” Shukry said in remarks
to Saudi newspaper Asharq Al Awsat published on Wednesday. The demands
include stopping support for radical groups, downgrading ties with
Iran and shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera television network
seen as a mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood designated as a
terrorist organization. “Until now, no response or desire has been
seen on the part of Qatar to implement them positively,” the Egyptian
official said. “These demands are linked to interests of our people.
There are [Qatari] policies harming our people and we reject them.
Consequently, there will be no change until Qatar shows its actual
interest in these demands and stops interference in other countries’
affairs,” he added.”
Nigeria
The
Defense Post: Nigeria: Islamic State Claims ‘Tens’ Of Military
Casualties In 2 Borno Attacks
“Several Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush on a military
convoy near Gudumbali in the Lake Chad area of Borno state, sources
said, after Islamic State claimed its fighters carried out two attacks
in the area. Islamic State West Africa Province fighters opened fire
with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades on the convoy as
it traveled to Gudumbali on Monday, September 9, the security sources
told AFP. One told AFP that “the terrorists surprised troops with an
ambush as they were heading to Gudumbali.” “We lost several soldiers,
vehicles and weapons to the terrorists in the attack,” said the
source, who asked not to be identified. The convoy was travelling to
Gudumbali to reinforce troops from Nigeria and Chad attached to the
regional Multinational Joint Task Force for a major offensive to
recapture the town from ISWAP, a second security source said. He added
that the losses had been great and that from reports coming in, the
number of casualties was “huge.” A third security source told AFP, “It
is not precisely clear the number of casualties recorded in the attack
but a number paid the supreme price.”
BBC
News: Nigeria's Boko Haram Crisis: Military Denies Detaining Thousands
Of Children
“Nigeria has denied allegations it has detained thousands of
children for suspected links to Islamist militant group Boko Haram. A
report released by US-based group Human Rights Watch says children
have been held for years in "horrific conditions". The group has urged
the country to release the children. But the military said the report
was "false", saying they were treated as "victims of war and not as
suspects". While the army does detain women and children they say have
been indoctrinated by Boko Haram, the children are "adequately fed,
profiled and de-radicalised before their release”. Boko Haram
militants have been waging an insurgency in north-east Nigeria since
2009. More than 30,000 people have died in the uprising, which has now
crossed borders into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.”
North Korea
The
Wall Street Journal: In Talks With North Korea, U.S. Faces New
Chessboard
“Seven months after the U.S. and North Korea walked out of nuclear
talks at a summit in Vietnam, the two sides appear ready again to work
toward a deal that trades Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons for a loosening
of U.S.-led economic sanctions. But the chessboard looks very
different now. North Korea appears to have shuffled its negotiating
team from the halted meeting in Hanoi, and American diplomats to some
extent will have to begin the talks anew. South Korea and Japan, the
U.S.’s two largest allies in the region, are sparring over trade.
Seoul has seen its mediator role in nuclear talks diminished by the
North’s dismissal, and it defied Washington in August by pulling out
of an intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo.”
United Kingdom
The
Telegraph: Islamic State Supporter Plotted 'Lone Wolf' Attack On
Barracks Using Drone To Drop Weapons, Court Told
“An Isil supporter plotted a “lone wolf” attack on a military site
by adapting drones to drop weapons, a court heard. Hisham Muhammad,
25, allegedly sketched designs and built prototypes to work out how
they could be used to launch an attack on an army barracks in Greater
Manchester. He also amassed a stash of weapons at his rented home in
Whitefield, Bury, including axes, bear claws and a machete, a jury at
the Old Bailey heard. His landlord called the police when he found
knives and what he thought was a bomb at the three-bedroom terrace
property, where Muhammad lived with his 24-year-old cousin Faisal Abu
Ahmad. Among the items seized by officers were two painted eggs
containing crushed chilli seeds and shards of glass - described as
“Japanese ninja eggs” - which could be used to blind targets before
attacking them. They also discovered lollipop sticks attached to an
electrical component, a tub of wires, a soldering iron, combat
clothing, balaclavas, camouflage make-up and a pizza box used for
“stabbing practice”. The defendant, who moved to Britain from Gambia
in 2013, had identified Castle Armoury Barracks in Bury, Greater
Manchester, as a possible target, it is claimed.”
The
National: Terror Watchdog Casts Doubt Over Extremist Hotspot
Plan
“A UK counter-terror watchdog has cast doubt on the effectiveness
of a new measure to prosecute British extremists who travel abroad to
fight for ISIS. New powers were introduced in February that could see
Britons jailed for up to ten years if they travelled to designated “no
go zones” where extremists operated with impunity. But Jonathan Hall,
the UK’s new independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, warned
that the new law could lead to undesirable unintended consequences. He
told The National that he had been contacted by charities worried that
they could be criminalised for working in some of the most dangerous
areas of the world. He said that banks might be wary of allowing
Britons to send money to their families in so-called terrorist
hotspots because of fears of breaking the law. “For what it is worth,
I suspect that designating an area will be more relevant in terms of
deterrence than in terms of prosecution,” Mr Hall said in his first
speech since taking the job earlier this year. The measure was
introduced into law because of the difficulty of gathering battlefield
evidence about the role of foreign fighters and made it easier to
prosecute on their return home. More than 900 Britons are believed to
have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join the ranks of ISIS.”
The
National: UK Far Right Extremist Jailed For Knife Rampage To “Kill A
Muslim” Day After Christchurch Massacre
“A UK far right extremist who went on a knife rampage to “kill a
Muslim” the day after the Christchurch massacre has been jailed for 18
years. Vincent Fuller stabbed the victim, a 19-year-old Bulgarian man,
in the neck through a car window as part of a plan to “kill a Muslim”.
Kingston Crown Court heard that the 50-year-old, of Stanwell, had been
watching videos of the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand,
and had previously posted on his Facebook page that he “agreed with
what that man did in New Zealand” and in a separate post added “kill
all the non English (sic) and get them all out of our of (sic)
England”. Fuller was involved in a number of separate incidents on
Saturday, 16 March, before finally attacking his victim, who was sat
in a car in a supermarket car park. Shortly before 10.30pm, he tried
to confront his neighbours, who were of Asian heritage, armed with a
baseball bat. After being denied access to the house and shouting
racist abuse at the occupants, he moved on, walking in the middle of a
busy road where he began to attack oncoming cars with the baseball bat
at random. He hit a number of vehicles, while continuing to shout
pro-white supremacist slogans and offensive racist slurs.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Germany: Raids Carried Out Against Terror
Suspects
“Police carried out raids to investigate alleged terror supporters
in several cities in northern Germany on Wednesday morning,
prosecutors said. Special police units examined more than 10
properties in Hamburg and in the states of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, according to reports in the
German Bild and Hamburger Abendblatt newspapers. The reasons for the
raids have not been confirmed, but the suspects have reportedly been
linked to a terrorist organization. Media reports claimed that the
suspects were allegedly financing terrorist activities. The reports
also suggested that the suspects were sending money to Syria to
support the “Islamic State” (IS). The Schleswig-Holstein State Office
of Criminal Investigations (LKA) did not confirm the media reports but
announced it would issue a statement when the operations are
complete.”
The
Daily Mail: ISIS Propaganda Chief's Widow Is Arrested In Hamburg
Months After Being Exposed By Her Lost Mobile Phone Containing
Pictures Of Bin Laden Birthday Cake And 'Jihadi
Mumsnet'
“An ISIS widow of a German rapper turned 'Goebbels' of the
caliphate, has been arrested in Hamburg, prosecutors revealed on
Monday. Omaima Abdi was seen being transferred to a police helicopter
last week by masked officers. She was exposed in April after a lost
phone full of Islamist hate fell into the hands of a reporter. The
German-Tunisian, 34, had been married to the rapper Denis 'Deso Dogg'
Cuspert after her first jihadist husband was killed in an air raid on
the Syrian city of Kobane, according to prosecutors. Cuspert, killed
last year in an airstrike in Syria, was one of the most notorious
Western fighters for ISIS and became a chief propagandist, dubbed 'the
Goebbels' of the regime.”
DW:
German Court Rejects Plea To Repatriate Suspected Jihadi From
Syria
“The German government is not required to repatriate one of its
citizens believed to be imprisoned by Syrian Kurdish forces on
suspicion of being a member of the "Islamic State" (IS), a Berlin
administrative court ruled Tuesday. Read more: Syrian Kurds hand over
four 'Islamic State' children to Germany. The German national, who was
born in 1992, allegedly left for Syria with his brother five years ago
to join the terrorist group. The lawyer representing the alleged
jihadi's father had requested that Germany repatriate the man on the
grounds that he could face torture or the death penalty if handed over
to the Syrian government or Iraq. However, the administrative court
rejected this argument on technical grounds. It said the father lacked
power of attorney or documentation that the imprisoned suspect had
requested his father pursue litigation. In addition, the court
dismissed the demand for his return as "something impossible" because
the man's exact whereabouts were unknown and it was not clear that he
was in the custody of Syrian Kurdish forces.”
Europe
The
New York Post: Europe Learns Again That Trusting Iran Is For
Suckers
“It’s no real surprise when the government of Iran breaks its word,
so why do European leaders keep accepting it? Call the latest debacle
“the tale of the tanker that could.” Back in July, British Royal
Marines stopped an Iranian oil tanker, Grace One, that was plainly
bound for Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Note that
these EU sanctions were on the Syrian government, over its countless
atrocities in the long civil war — not on Iran. Gibraltar authorities
detained the ship for weeks, even after Iran responded by seizing a
UK-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz. But in
mid-August the ship was quietly released from Gibraltar — after Iran
gave written promises it wouldn’t take its 2 million barrels of oil to
Syria. American authorities then sought to seize the tanker, but no
Mediterranean nation would assist, as it was officially bound for
Turkey. Yet the ship, renamed Adrian Darya One, has instead docked at
… Tartus, Syria. And Iran’s foreign ministry even says it has now
delivered its cargo “on the Mediterranean coast.” Meanwhile, the Stena
Impero remains in Iranian custody, though several of its crew were
released this week.”
Technology
The
New York Times: E.U.’S New Digital Czar: ‘Most Powerful Regulator Of
Big Tech On The Planet’
“For five years, Margrethe Vestager was the scourge of Silicon
Valley, levying billions of dollars in fines and initiating
investigations against Google, Apple and Facebook for violating
antitrust laws and harming consumers. As the European Union’s
competition commissioner, she and her army of lawyers became heroes to
many critics of Big Tech, even as they were loathed in some corporate
offices and in the White House. “She hates the United States,”
President Trump said, “perhaps worse than any person I’ve ever met.”
On Tuesday, Ms. Vestager assumed more power than ever, expanding her
portfolio to become the equivalent of the European Union’s digital
czar. It’s a job that analysts say will give her unmatched regulatory
reach at a time when public anger is rising over issues like privacy,
disinformation, data management and the enormous reach of the largest
technology companies — like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook — into
the everyday lives of billions of people.”
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