Posts Tagged ‘Gaza’
Monday, November 12th, 2018
Welcome back my friends to the war that never ends:
Seven Palestinians, including a local militant commander, have been killed during a covert Israeli operation in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.
An Israeli soldier was also killed and another wounded, the Israeli military said, after a firefight erupted.
Palestinians said an Israeli unit travelling in a civilian vehicle had killed the Hamas commander.
It was followed by rocket-fire into Israel, while on Monday a Palestinian mortar hit an Israeli bus.
The bus in question:
Initial reports say the vehicle was empty, although a 19-year-old was seriously hurt, Israel’s ambulance service said.
According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli unit was about 3km (2 miles) inside the Gaza Strip, which borders Israel, when it fired at Nur Barakeh, a commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’ military wing.
The incident is reported to have happened east of Khan Younis, in the south of the territory.
A gun battle erupted and Israeli tanks and aircraft opened fire in the area, witnesses said.
Hamas did its usual “launching terrorist rockets at civilians” thing.
So Hamas is attacking civilians, and Israel is hitting terrorist targets in response.
You know what the situation would be like right now if President Donald Trump hadn’t moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem?
Hamas would be attacking civilians, and Israel would be hitting terrorist targets in response.
It can’t be said too often: The “Middle East Peace Process” is all process and no peace.
Tags:Foreign Policy, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Jihad, Military
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military | No Comments »
Sunday, July 15th, 2018
Or to put it another way, everything in the Middle East is blowing up slightly more than usual:
Hajin, reportedly the last Islamic State stronghold in Syria, has come under sustained attack by coalition forces. There are supposedly some 4,000 heavily dug-in Islamic State fighters there, but that number sounds way too high, being about the number of Islamic State fighters who defended the much larger Raqqa. Hajin is described as a “small city,” but it really looks more like a large town, perhaps on the order of a county seat for a mid-sized Texas county. It’s hard to imagine 4,000 besieged defenders holding out in a such a small area for the eight months since the fall of Deir Ez-Zor, just on the logistical difficulties of maintaining food and ammunition. But anything close to that number would explain why that Islamic State pocket has been so hard to eradicate. But the area is now being pounded with Syrian Democratic Forces artillery and coalition airstrikes, while SDF ground forces push into Hajin.
There was a report that “More than 30 soldiers and officers of the pro-Assad forces, including 13 officers, were killed by aerial bombardment in attempt to seize Hajin.” Since the Islamic State has no air force beyond the occasional drone, that would mean the coalition was bombing pro-Assad forces because they were on the east side of the Euphrates. But at least one Tweet suggests that report is false. “There was no attack by the Syrian Arab Army towards Hajin and there are no clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Arab Army. These attacks are only happening on social media.”
The SDF has also been making a large (and largely under-reported) push to roll-up what remains of the Islamic State in sparsely-occupied eastern Syrian along the Iraqi border, capturing a string of tiny villages as they push south.
Widespread unrest has broken out across southern Iraq (with a few outbreaks elsewhere), including strikes, protests and street blockages over government incompetence at providing basic services like electricity and water.
The war in Yemen grinds on. Saudi-backed forces have failed to capture the Houthi-occupied port of Hodeidah. There’s also mutterings about a peace conference. And there’s no telling how much a yesterday’s 6.2 earthquake might shake things up. (Sorry.)
Finally, Israel and Hamas went at it again. Hamas fired a bunch of projectiles into Israel, and Israel walloped a bunch of Hamas assets in Gaza. You know: the usual. But the Israel retaliatory raids were reportedly the biggest on Gaza since 2014.
Tags:Euphrates, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Hajin, Hamas, Hodeidah, Houthi, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Israel, Jihad, Military, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Syrian Democratic Forces, Yemen
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 31st, 2018
I know CNN may not have had time to cover it, what with having to interview Stormy Daniels lawyer so many times, but did you notice that Israel and Hamas fought a short war a few days ago?
Israel struck dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after coming under a heavy barrage of mortar and rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
The Israeli military said it carried out over 35 airstrikes on seven sites across Gaza, including a cross-border tunnel controlled by Hamas and Islamic Jihad — the two primary militant groups in the Palestinian enclave — The Associated Press reported.
Beginning early Tuesday morning and continuing past nightfall, Palestinian militants launched roughly 70 projectiles toward southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces. One mortar shell landed near a kindergarten just before it opened, and three IDF troops were injured in the bombardment.
The Daily Caller was even kind enough to embed this IDF tweeted infographic:
That Hamas happy kidnap tunnel Israel blew up was 1.2 miles long and extended into both Egypt and Israel.
Did you notice that this dustup barely rated a blip from our mainstream media?
It used to be that military action by Israel would dominate headlines for days, with Democrats rushing to cameras to sonorously demand the President personally intervene with Israel (always with Israel, never with the Scumbag Terrorist Enemy of the Week) to impose a unilateral ceasefire so as not to wreck the endless “Middle East Peace Process.”
Mark that down as another thing killed by the Age of Trump. It’s gone from “If It Bleeds, It Leads” to “Print It If It Hurts Trump.” (Never mind that this endless molehill mongering has only strengthened Trump.) “Car bomb explodes in Beirut” was front-page news back in the 1980s, but today there are multiple concurrent wars going on in the Middle East that won’t make the news for weeks at a time. (When’s the last time you saw a top-of-the-fold story on the war in Yemen?)
An end to the MSM’s fixation on Israel to the exlusion of every other country in the Middle East is probably all to the better. Now if only the MSM could be convinced to cover the violence committed against Americans in Democrat-run cities like Chicago and Baltimore with the same fervor they used to cover random dead Palestinians…
Tags:Eqypt, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jihad, Media Watch, Middle East, Military
Posted in Jihad, Media Watch, Military | No Comments »
Monday, April 9th, 2018
Somebody hit a Syrian airbase near Homs last night; we’re denying it was us, and both Syria and Russia are pointing the finger at Israel:
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed Israel for a deadly attack on a Syrian military airport.
Monday’s attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed.
Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike.
The incident comes amid international alarm over an alleged chemical attack on a Syrian rebel-held town. The US and France had threatened to respond.
US President Donald Trump said there would be a “big price to pay” for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus. He branded Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad an “animal”.
Snip.
Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a military source, reported that air defences had repelled an Israeli missile attack on T4, saying the missiles were fired by Israeli F15 jets in Lebanese airspace.
If true, these would likely be F-15I Strike Eagles firing Israeli Popeye missiles.
Russia’s defence ministry said that, of eight missiles, five were shot down and three reached the western part of the aerodrome.
I would take any sort of Russian claims about Israel missiles being shot down with several grains of salt. Maybe they were, and maybe they weren’t. Either way, Russian air defense systems have not exactly covered themselves in glory in the Syrian conflict.
Israel rarely acknowledges carrying out strikes, but has admitted attacking targets in Syria dozens of times since 2012. Its heaviest air strike on Syria, in February this year, included targeting the T4 air base.
That followed an incursion by an Iranian drone into Israel and the shooting down by Syrian air defences of an Israeli F16 fighter jet.
Israel has said it will not allow Iran, its arch-foe, to set up bases in Syria or operate from there, something Israel considers a major threat.
The Israeli military said Iran and its Revolutionary Guards had long been active in the T4 base, and were using it to transfer weapons, including to Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, an enemy of Israel.
Israel also hit a Hamas military compound in Gaza.
One interesting aspect to the strike was that all the major new services seemed asleep at the switch while reports of the strike from sources on the ground in Lebanon and Syria went out in real time. So if you want to launch a military strike in the Middle East, Sunday night seems to be the time to do it…
Tags:chemical weapons, Douma, F-15, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Hamas, Homs, Iran, Israel, Jihad, Lebanon, Middle East, Military, Russia, Syria, T4 airbase
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 25th, 2017
According to this Intel Center list, there are currently 43 worldwide terrorist groups which have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the Islamic State. I started wondering how many of those were active, how many weren’t covered by that list, and what was the most recent documented activity of each. Hence this list.
I started with the Intel Center list, found the most recent activity (if any) for the group listed, added a few groups I knew they were missing, and alphabetized the whole thing (it was originally grouped by country). I don’t speak Arabic, so this list is not alphabetized the way an Arab scholar might alphabetize it. I’ve given alternate names and spellings where known, but this information is almost certainly not complete. I’ve tried to distinguish between similarly named groups, but it’s still entirely possibly I’ve gotten something wrong. Terrorist groups form, splinter and die-off all the time.
File all this under “first cut,” “incomplete” and “work in progress.”
Abu Sayyaf Group [Philippines]: Attempts to arrest Abu Sayyaf head Isnilon Hapilon are what evidently set off the fighting in Marawi City.
al-Ansar Battalion [Algeria]: Defectors from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), supposedly less than 10 fighters, and I see no evidence of recent activity. Not to be confused with other jihadist al-Ansar Battalions, such as those in the Syrian Free Army or the Ma’arakat al-Ansar Battalion in the Sulu archipelago of the Philippines.
al-Ghurabaa [Algeria]: No recent news. Not to be confused with the UK radical islamic group of the same name.
al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam [Algeria]: May have been absorbed into Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria (see below).
al-Shabaab Jubba Region Cell Bashir Abu Numan [Somalia]: Bashir Abu Numan was a commander for al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab commander who defected to the Islamic State with some 20 fighters late in 2015, and who was later killed by al-Shabaab’s Amniyat death squads. Possibly moribund.
al-I’tisam of the Koran and Sunnah [Sudan]: Apparently no activity since January 2016, when some of its supporters were released from prison.
al-Tawheed Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan]: Not seeing any under that name, but there’s lots of news about “Islamic State in Khorasan,” namely fierce fighting against U.S. troops over the last four months, with their leader being killed in an air strike.
Ansar al-Islam [Iraq]: Appears to have merged with the Islamic State proper. Not to be confused with other groups named Ansar al-Islam, including a Bangladeshi group of that name affiliated with al Qaeda.
Ansar al-Khilafah [Philippines]: There are reports that some 40 Ansar al-Khilafah fighters joined Maute for the assault on Marawi City.
Ansar al-Tawhid in India [India]: Beyond issuing a call to kill non-Muslims in 2014, it does not seem to be very active.
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) [Phillippines]: BIFF is another group that seems to be participating in the fighting on Mindanao, and members were covered in a recent Filipino Department of National Defense arrest orders.
Bangsmoro Justice Movement (BJM) [Phillippines]: BJM is a breakaway splinter from BIFF, and does not seem to have any notable activity since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.
Boko Haram (AKA the Islamic State in West Africa, AKA Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad) [Nigeria]: Still very active, and participated in a running gun battle with police in Kano Sunday. Estimates of Boko Haram’s size range from 4,000 to 20,000 fighters.
Central Sector of Kabardino-Balakria of the Caucasus Emirate [Russia]: Can’t find any recent information. Presumably defectors from the crumbling Caucasus Emirate.
Djamaat Houmat ad-Da’wa as-Salafiya (DHDS) [Algeria]: Another Algerian terrorist group that does not seem to have done much of anything.
Faction of Katibat al-Imam Bukhari [Syria]: All the reports I can find on Katibat al-Imam Bukhari seem to refer to them as an Uzbek Islamist group, some of which seem to be fighting in Syria under Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, AKA the Al-Nusra Front, which split off from the Islamic State, was at one time affiliated with al Qaeda, and now is theoretically independent of both.
Heroes of Islam Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan]: See al-Tawheed Brigade in Khorasan.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) [Pakistan/Uzbekistan]: Actively fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Islamic State in Afghanistan: Not in the Intel Center list. Actively fighting against both U.S. troops and the Taliban. Reported to have ties to the Pakistani ISI, which wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Islamic State Libya (Darnah) [Libya]: Egyptian warplanes hit them in May in response for their involvement in killing Egyptian Copts.
Islamic Youth Shura Council [Libya]: Evidently still active in 2017. “Established an Islamic court and police authority in Benghazi. The group is notorious for decapitating swaths of residents from both Derna and Benghazi.”
Jaish al-Sahabah in the Levant [Syria]: No recent news, possibly absorbed into the Islamic State or other factions in the Syrian civil war.
Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (AKA Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, AKA Wilayat Sinai, AKA Ansar Jerusalem, AKA Ansar Jerusalem, AKA Supporters of the Holy Place) [Egypt]: Turned into the Sinai Province of the Islamic State. One of its members was killed by Egyptian security forces last week.
Jemaah Islamiyah [Philippines/Indonesia]: Very active in various bombing campaigns in Indonesia, but have evidently been relatively quiet since 2015.
Jemaah Anshorut (or Jamaah Ansharut) Tauhid (JAT) [Indonesia]: Evidently the successor to several other jihadist groups in Indonesia, Stratfor describes it as “sputtering,” and the pledge of allegiance to al-Baghdadi caused several members to split into still another terrorist group.
Jund al-Khilafah in Egypt [Egypt]: No recent news, probably merged into the Sinai Province of the Islamic State. See Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis.
Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia [Tunisia]: They recently killed the brother of a shepherd they had also killed in 2015. But the group is also said to be gathering strength in the mountains.
Jundullah [Pakistan]: Jundullah carried out several attacks in Pakistan between 2012 and 2015, and is thought to be a member of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan umbrella jihadi group, not all of which have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. There’s a seperate Jundallah in Iran that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
Khalid ibn al-Walid Army [Syria]. Not on Intel Center list. Syrian jihad group that merged with Martyrs of al-Yarmouk Brigade, also pledged loyalty to the Islamic State and reportedly controls territory in southern Syria along the Golan Heights.
Leaders of the Mujahid in Khorasan (ten former TTP commanders) [Pakistan]: Not finding any recent information on this splinter group.
Lions of Libya [Libya]: No news since they reportedly pledged their allegiance in 2014.
Liwa Ahrar al-Sunna in Baalbek [Lebanon]: Claimed credit for a car bomb attacked that killed a Hezbollah leader in 2014. (Remember, as a Shi’a militia/terrorist group, members of Hezbollah are automatically on the Islamic State’s “kill on sight” list.)
Martyrs of al-Yarmouk Brigade [Syria]: Evidently merged with other groups into the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, which has also pledged loyalty to the Islamic State and reportedly controls territory in southern Syria.
Maute (AKA Islamic State in Lanao) [Philippines]: Not in the Intel Center list. The primary group responsible for the fighting in Marawi City. Reportedly led by brothers Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute.
Mujahideen Indonesia Timor (MIT) (AKA East Indonesia Mujahideen EIM) [Indonesia]: Do not seem to have been active after their leader, Abu Wardah Santoso, was killed in 2016.
Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan [Tunisia]: Not seeing any notable news since 2015, when they carried out a deadly beach attack.
Mujahideen of Yemen [Yemen]: Possibly absorbed into the Islamic State in Yemen (AKA Wilayat Sana) proper.
Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSCJ) [Egypt/Gaza]: Intel Center says Egypt, other sources say they’re active only in Gaza. Since Hamas has not pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, they seem to have been pretty thoroughly suppressed there.
The Nokhchico Wilayat of the Caucasus Emirate [Russia]: Can’t find any recent information. Presumably defectors from the crumbling Caucasus Emirate.
Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion [Tunisia]: Two members were killed in a raid by Tunisian forces, but they were described as “an al-Qaeda-linked group.”
Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Darnah [Libya]: No news since significant defeats in 2014.
The Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria (AKA Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair, AKA Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Algeria Province) [Algeria]: It’s possible that the June 6 Paris hammer attacker may have been a member. If not, they seem to have been largely ineffective. “For the past two years, the Algerian military has stopped 44 members of a local armed group called ‘Soldiers of the Caliphate’ that swore allegiance to the leader of Daesh, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.”
Supporters for the Islamic State in Yemen [Yemen]: Like Mujahideen of Yemen, not a lot of news.
Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [Saudi Arabia]: Nothing since they shot a Danish national back in 2014.
Tehreek-e-Khilafat [Pakistan]: Though it has roots in a movement advocating resistance to British rule during World War I, evidently Tehreek-e-Khilafat has been amalgamated into Wilayat Khorasan, the South and Central Asian “chapter” of the Islamic State, along with “Khilafat Afghan (former Afghan Taliban), the Tehreek-e-Khilafat Pakistan (former TTP), Tehreek-e-Khilafat Khorasan (former TTP), the Omar Ghazi group, the Muslimdost group, the Azizullah Haqqani group (former Afghan Taliban), the Shamali Khilafat, the Jaish-ul-Islam, the Harakat Khilafat Baluch, the Mullah Bakhtwar group (former TTP), the Jaish-ul-Islam and the China-oriented Gansu Hui group created by WK members themselves.” Together they are thought to number some 1,000-3,000 fighters.
Tags:Abu Izzadeen, Abu Sayyaf Group, Abu Wardah Santoso, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, al-Baghdadi, al-Ghurabaa, al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam, al-I'tisam of the Koran and Sunnah, al-Nusra Front, al-Shabaab, al-Shabaab Jubba Region Cell Bashir Abu Numan, Algeria, Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Khilafah, Ansar al-Tawhid, Ansar al-Tawhid in India, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Bangsmoro Justice Movement, Boko Haram, Caucasus Emirate, Central Sector of Kabardino-Balakria of the Caucasus Emirate, Copts, Djamaat Houmat ad-Da'wa as-Salafiya, Egypt, Faction of Katibat al-Imam Bukhari, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Golan Heights, Hamas, Heroes of Islam Brigade in Khorasan, Hezbollah, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic State in Afghanistan, Islamic State Libya (Darnah), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Islamic Youth Shura Council, Isnilon Hapilon, Jaish al-Sahabah in the Levant, Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jihad, Jund al-Khilafah in Egypt, Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia, Jundullah, Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, Leaders of the Mujahid in Khorasan, Lebanon, Libya, Lions of Libya, Liwa Ahrar al-Sunna in Baalbek, Marawi City, Martyrs of al-Yarmouk Brigade, Maute, Military, Mindanao, Mujahideen Indonesia Timor, Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan, Mujahideen of Yemen, Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, Nigeria, Nokhchico Wilayat of the Caucasus Emirate, Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, Pakistan, Pakistani ISI, Philippines, Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Darnah, Somalia, Sudan, Supporters for the Islamic State in Yemen, Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, Tehreek-e-Khilafat, The Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria, Trevor Brooks, Tunisia
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
My contract technical writing position ended, so I’ve been busy looking for a new job (if you know of one, drop me a line). As such, this LinkSwarm is a bit out of band. I’ve been busy.
Ted Cruz is sitting pretty. And that piece came before Scott Walker’s exit from the race…
Gun Owners of America endorses Cruz.
Scott Walker’s implosion. Namely Trump and burn rate.
All glory is fleeing. Especially when it comes to polls this time of the year.
Man pushing RICO lawsuit against global warming skeptics has raked in more than $5.6 million in taxpayer money for himself and his wife since 2001.
“Free of the pension costs and union contracts that weighed down its previous owners, Hostess has nurtured retail sales of its products nearly back to their pre-liquidation level of more than $1.3 billion in 2012, with a fraction of the workers. The old Hostess—which included other brands—employed some 19,000 people. The Twinkies purveyor these days has just 1,100.”
While Europeans wring their hands over Muslim illegal aliens, Egypt floods Gaza smuggling tunnels.
“From the 1970s to the present day, organised pedophilia has been a recurring problem for the supposedly progressive movement.” (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
When do leftists object to a gay pride parade? When it marches through Muslim areas.
Moody’s downgrades France.
“The fences are going up all over Europe, we shall not see them torn down again in our life-time.”
Documented case of Islamic State fighters trying to enter Europe as refugees.
More than 100 girls poisoned in Afghanistan for daring to go to school, but details seem scanty.
Robert Spencer has a new book out: The Complete Infidel’s Guide to ISIS.
America’s Unbanked.
Larry Correia fisks that idiot Lorraine D. Wilke piece about how writers shouldn’t write fast, where Correia discusses greedy desire that his children wear shoes.
Heh: “Extension Cord On Stage Steals Spotlight From Jeb Bush During Campaign Rally.”
Congressman John Carter getting a primary challenger?
Brain, brain, what is brain?
Tags:Afghanistan, Anthropogenic Global Warming, Border Controls, Donald Trump, Egypt, Elections, Gaza, Global Warming, Gun Owners of America, Guns, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Jeb Bush, Jihad, Milo Yiannopoulos, pedophilia, Republicans, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz
Posted in Border Control, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Global Warming, Jihad, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Friday, November 7th, 2014
A Friday LinkSwarm after a very eventful week…
So exactly when was it that the UK became the child rape capital of the Western world? First Rotherham, now Manchester.
Government of Burkina Faso falls. Evidently people there thought that 27 years of rule for President Blaise Compaore was more than enough…
Russia sends more tanks into Ukraine. Looks like we’ll dealing with the fallout of Obama’s “flexibility” for decades… (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty).
The Pakistani version of Axe Cop sounds a whole lot less entertaining than the American version.
DSCC head blames Obama for Senate loss.
The DSCC decides that they’ll stop pouring money down the rathole that is Mary Landrieu.
“Salon Writer Condemns Arithmetic As Racist.” Or how Jonathan Chait ruthlessly used his Mansplaining Male Math Privilege to oppress Jenny Kutner.
Because their attacks on Koch were so successful, Democrats double-down on stupid.
U.S. hits targets in Syria. Not ISIS, but “the Khorasan group.” For such a reportedly “small” group, we seem to be bombing them a lot…
Fatah and Hamas thoughtfully take a break from trying to kill Jews in order to blow each other up.
I’m shocked, shocked that there’s abuse and fraud in the “Obamaphone” program.
In addition to national and statewide outbreaks of sanity, there was even an outbreak in Austin, where voters defeated a proposal to expand Capitol Metro’s toy trains.
Tags:2014 Election, Austin, Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso, Democrats, Elections, Fatah, feminism, fraud, Gaza, Hamas, Jihad, Jonathan Chait, Koch Brothers, Manchester, Media, Military, Pakistan, Rotherham, Russia, sex offender, Texas, UK, Ukraine, waste, Wendy Davis
Posted in Austin, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Media Watch, Military, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, September 25th, 2014
Bombing, revolution, and other jihad-related news breaking out, so let’s dust off this old headline category and throw up some links.
Our air force continues to bomb ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, including hitting their oil refineries.
France has been helping us bomb ISIS in Iraq as well, though evidently not in Syria.
Syrian Kurds flee into Turkey.
Did Hamas just give up control of Gaza? If so, I’d say Israel won the war decisively…
Houthi rebels have taken Yemen’s capital of Sana’a just a day after signing a peace treaty with the government. They follow Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, a Zaidi Shia (i.e., Fivers rather than Twelvers) as opposed to the formerly ruling Sunnis. I can’t tell from scanty news reports how interested they are in jihad or imposing Sharia law (or imposing more Sharia law, since the existing constitution is evidently partially based on it).
Jury finds Arab Bank liable for supporting Hamas by paying out martyrdom payments for suicide bombings in Israel.
“Coming Soon in Aceh [Indonesia]: Shariah Law for Non-Muslims. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)
Jihadists are eyeing the porous Mexican border as a way to launch terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Obama praises “moderate” Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah who backed a fatwa on U.S. soldiers. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)
“From French fries to fatwa: the deadly path to jihad of Numan Haider.”
Actual ABC headline: “How #ISIS Is Complicating Al Franken’s Reelection Bid.” (Hat tip: Creeping Sharia.)
Tags:Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Al Franken, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Hamas, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Israel, Jihad, Numan Haider, Syria, This Week in Jihad
Posted in Border Control, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military | No Comments »
Thursday, August 7th, 2014
A few notes on those Hamas tunnels, the destruction of which drove the latter half of Operation Protective Edge
Israeli military, intelligence, and political officials have known for years that Hamas fighters were burrowing into their country from Gaza through underground tunnels. An Israeli army spokesman said this month that the military had discovered four tunnels just in the past 18 months, well before Israel’s current ground offensive began. But in interviews, current and former Israeli officials said the military and intelligence services didn’t realize the extent of Hamas’s subterranean operations, nor did political leaders act to counter a threat that has become the central focus of Israel’s Gaza campaign and stands as potentially the biggest Israeli intelligence failure in years.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military has so far discovered far more tunnels — 40 and counting — than Israel had previously thought existed. The number came as a surprise, as did the sophistication of the tunnel network. Current and former officials said that Israeli intelligence and political leaders knew that the tunnels were fortified with concrete and had space to store weapons and food. But Israeli intelligence analysts and political leaders didn’t comprehend that the tunnels were wide enough to move several Hamas fighters into the country at a time, and they didn’t realize how many of the tunnels ended up in Israel, particularly near civilians. (A Hamas video that shows fighters emerging from a tunnel and attacking an Israeli military installation provides a vivid example of why Israelis have so come to fear the clandestine attacks.)
How big are these tunnels?
Israel understood that tunnels from Gaza posed a “huge risk” as early as October 2013, when the IDF discovered a long tunnel underneath the kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, just east of the border with Gaza, Col. Grisha Yakubovich, the head of the civil department in the IDF’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, said in an interview.
The tunnel was enormous: It ran 1.5 miles, 66 feet below the ground. Authorities estimated that some 350 tons of concrete were used to build it, enough to build a small hospital three floors high, Yakubovich said. “We were amazed by the size of it.”
Which points out a tough dilemma for Hamas: Building hospitals to hide the rockets you attack Israel with, or build tunnels to conduct kidnapping of Israelis? Decisions, decisions…
Here’s Wolf Blitzer touring one of the tunnels:
Here’s Hamas’ own propaganda video on their tunnels:
And what were they planning to use them for?
“Hamas is said to have planned a huge terrorist attack that would taken place on September 24, 2014, which is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.”
Tags:Foreign Policy, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jihad, Operation Protective Edge
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
Monday, August 4th, 2014
Another roundup of news on Operation Protective Edge:
Israel destroys last known Hamas tunnel.
Atheist explains why he refuses to criticize Israel over Gaza. “People are capable of committing genocide. When they tell us they intend to commit genocide, we should listen.”
John Kerry’s asinine “peace” plan alienated not only Israel, but every Arab state not backing Hamas.
More Krauthammer:
Via Iowahawk’s Twitter feed: An “Israel has been rocket free for” counter.
Hamas is a walking catalog of prosecutable war crimes. So who does the UN target for denunciation? You know who.
“Strategically and economically, the Palestinian people are far worse off now than they were two decades ago when then Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Yasser Arafat signed the first Oslo accord in Washington in September 1993.”
Anti-Israeli protestors in Calgary hold silent vigil. Well, silent except for the shouting “Heil Hitler!” part…
Reminder: U.S. protestors against Israel are the usual far-left, Che-loving lunatics they’ve always been.
Tags:Charles Krauthammer, Gaza, Hamas, Iowahawk, Israel, Jihad, John Kerry, UN, video
Posted in Democrats, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Media Watch | No Comments »