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2016

MORE ON AL JUBEIR

Britain should ‘respect’ Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty and stop kicking up a fuss about it, according to the country’s foreign minister.

Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia executed 47 people in just one day, sparking widespread protests across the world.

Asked about the oil-rich country’s ‘terrible image problem’, Adel al-Jubeir told Channel 4 News: ‘Well on this issue we have a fundamental difference.

‘In your country, you do not execute people, we respect it.

‘In our country the death penalty is part of our laws and you have to respect this as it is the law, part of the law, in the United States and other countries.’

CAN IRAN CHANGE? By ADEL BIN AHMED AL-JUBEIR SEE NOTE

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — THE world is watching Iran for signs of change, hoping it will evolve from a rogue revolutionary state into a respectable member of the international community. But Iran, rather than confronting the isolation it has created for itself, opts to obscure its dangerous sectarian and expansionist policies, as well as its support for terrorism, by leveling unsubstantiated charges against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It is important to understand why Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are committed to resisting Iranian expansion and responding forcefully to Iran’s acts of aggression.

Superficially, Iran may appear to have changed. We acknowledge Iran’s initial actions regarding the agreement to suspend its program to develop a nuclear weapon. Certainly, we know that a large segment of the Iranian population wants greater openness internally and better relations with neighboring countries and the world. But the government does not.

The Iranian government’s behavior has been consistent since the 1979 revolution. The constitution that Iran adopted states the objective of exporting the revolution. As a consequence, Iran has supported violent extremist groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and sectarian militias in Iraq. Iran or its proxies have been blamed for terrorist attacks around the world, including the bombings of the United States Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, and the assassinations in the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin in 1992. And by some estimates Iranian-backed forces have killed over 1,100 American troops in Iraq since 2003.

The Saudis are changing their tune with respect to Israel. Jubeir is water carrier for the robed tyrants…rsk
Iran uses attacks on diplomatic sites as an instrument of its foreign policy. The 1979 takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran was only the beginning. Since then, embassies of Britain, Denmark, Kuwait, France, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been attacked in Iran or abroad by Iranian proxies. Foreign diplomats and domestic political opponents have been assassinated around the world.

RUTHIE BLUM: US AMBASSADOR DAN SHAPIRO AND HIS DELEGITIMATION SPEECH

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro did his administration proud on Monday. His boss, Secretary of State John Kerry, couldn’t have done a better job of twisting reality to suit fantasy.

At the annual Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv, Shapiro delivered an address worthy of note in its content and timing.

Earlier that morning, a pregnant woman from Tekoa, a settlement in the Judean Hills, was stabbed and seriously injured by a Palestinian teenager in the local grocery store. The previous evening, a mother of six (four biological children and two adopted ones), was stabbed to death in front of her 17-year-old daughter at their home in the settlement of Otniel.

Dafna Meir’s struggles with the Palestinian assailant, and her daughter’s screams for help, caused the terrorist to flee, but not before he managed to slaughter his victim. (At the time of Shapiro’s address, Israeli security forces were still hunting for the killer; a 16-year-old Palestinian was later apprehended and was being interrogated over the attack.)

A ban on Muslim migration will allow us to fight ISIS abroad instead of fighting ISIS and becoming ISIS at home. Daniel Greenfield

Will Banning Muslim Migration Ruin the Anti-ISIS Coalition?We don’t need to become ISIS to fight ISIS.

The most common attack on proposals to end Muslim migration to the United States is that this policy would somehow interfere with the coalition to fight ISIS.

Lindsey Graham asked, “How do you go to any of these countries and build a coalition when your policy is simply because you’re a Muslim you can’t come to America?” “This policy is a policy that makes it impossible to build the coalition necessary to take out ISIS,” Jeb Bush objected.

The White House agreed, “We have an over-60-country coalition fighting with a substantial number of Muslim-majority fighters who are absolutely essential to succeeding in that effort.”

But there are two things wrong with this argument.

First, no Muslim country or faction is fighting ISIS because they like us. They’re not doing us any favors. They’re protecting themselves from the Islamic State.

The insistence of ISIS that it is the supreme authority over all Muslims has even led it into battles with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. No one fighting ISIS is doing it because of our immigration policy. Jeb Bush referenced the Kurds. The Kurds want their own homeland. Those who want to come to America don’t want to fight ISIS. Those who want to fight ISIS aren’t looking to move to Dearborn or Jersey City.

Second, Muslim countries in the anti-ISIS coalition have much harsher immigration policies for Christians than anything that Donald Trump or Ted Cruz have proposed for Muslims.

When Obama gave his speech, the first Muslim country he mentioned in the coalition was Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia bans all religions except Islam. No churches are allowed in Saudi Arabia. Christmas parties are targeted with police raids. Converting to Christianity is punishable by death. Non-Muslims are entirely banned from some Saudi cities and the legal system discriminates against them.

Saudi Arabia also engages in blatant racial discrimination and denies basic civil rights to women. And yet there are no problems with having Saudi Arabia in the anti-ISIS coalition. Certainly the Saudis don’t worry that we’ll drop out of the coalition because they ban Christianity.

The Mullahs’ Historic Victory Iran will spend every dollar on fighting the “Great Satan.” Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

We just handed over hundreds of billions of dollars to the Islamist regime of Iran and its military establishment — which shouts “Death to America” from the rooftops. The regime openly threatens US security and scuttles US national interests in the region. This give-away to the Mullahs is going to be marked as one of the most catastrophic deals of our generation.

The ruling clerics of Iran will now begin to receive relief from major United Nations Security Council sanctions as well as unilateral Western sanctions. They will immediately receive roughly $90 billion. European countries will lift sanctions on major industries, such as gold and metal. The White House will remove major Iranian entities and individuals from the sanctions list. More fundamentally, the lifting of these sanctions will allow the Iranian regime to re-enter the international banking world, and sell oil on the global market.

There is also one major loophole. If Iran decided to resume its nuclear proliferation after sanctions are lifted, there is no adequate UNSC mechanism to roll back sanctions. Because of the geopolitical rivalry between the West, Russia, and China, getting Moscow and Beijing back on the same page is not going to be easy.

In addition, as the European firms will be investing in Iran’s oil and gas markets, they will have less incentive to join the US in pushing for re-imposition of sanctions if Iran heads towards building a nuclear bomb. More than 190 waivers have already been granted by the State Department.

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold…” by Sydney Williams

My wife and I surprised ourselves. We didn’t move to the right or the left. We did what we believed to be sensible, and the responsible thing for ourselves and our children. We moved into a retirement community. We are not old. (Of course, that allegation is relative. I turn 75 later this month and Caroline is two years older.) We are physically active and have all our marbles, or, at least, I believe I do; though my grandchildren don’t always find my sense of humor amusing.

We did not make this move to escape what seems an increasingly discombobulated political environment. However, I admit that a respite is desirable, if just to maintain one’s sense of moral balance. This is especially true in an election year, and particularly so when the leading candidates are as distant from the center as they are. But extremism begets extremism. When dissatisfaction with the present and disillusionment for the future is rampant as it is, candidates and the electorate to whom they appeal hug the fringes. It is enough to make one want to slip beneath the counterpane, wishing for the morrow.

Speaking of retiring, President Obama gave his final State of the Union address last week. It is the moment when exiting Presidents look back and cite their accomplishments, or, at least, present what they have done in a favorable light, and then present their vision for the future. It is the natural way.

Mr. Obama is a good speaker, as long as his teleprompters function. Last Tuesday he was his eloquent self. He told the usual lies and made the expected exaggerations. He took more than the usual jibes at the opposition. His narcissism, as usual was on display. But, with a straight face, he said his biggest regret was a lack of compromise, an increase in unilateral decisions and a corresponding decline in civility. Most of us share that regret. But where does blame lie? Who was it in early 2009 that responded to a query from Representative Paul Ryan: “I won; you lost!”? Who was it that said to Republicans later that same year: “I’m driving; you’re in the back seat!”? Which Speaker admonished skeptical members of Congress when the Affordable Care Act was being considered: “We must pass this bill to find out what’s in it!”? If Mr. Obama had deliberately set out to sabotage any sense of commonality, he could not have done better.

Refugees, Terrorists, Illegals and Cop Killers The Unholy Alliance cements its links in California. Lloyd Billingsley

Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, came to the United States in October, 2012. He left in 2014, as he explained, to visit his grandmother in Turkey. On that trip, however, he rejoined the armed struggle in Syria, in company with terrorists. In his first court appearance in Sacramento, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab drew some good press as a hip young man fond of fast cars and posing before the Golden Gate Bridge. On January 15, a somewhat different portrait emerged.

A Sacramento Bee report cited documents that emerged during the refugee’s January 15 indictment. On his overseas adventure, the refugee praised acts of violence against Americans and took part in the execution of three Syrian soldiers. Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab boasted of using silencers in the attacks. Friends on the refugee’s Facebook page included supporters of Ansar Al-Islam and ISIS. The FBI found that he corresponded with a site ISIS used to distribute propaganda and communicate with terrorist organizations.

Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab also posted a photo of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, and praised him as a Muslim who humiliated the United States, belongs to God’s nation and enjoyed divine protection. According to the Bee report, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab also praised a deadly 2009 suicide attack against CIA analysts in Afghanistan.

The refugee’s public defender said his client planned no acts of violence in the United States and will plead not guilty to charges of lying to U.S. officials and participating in international terrorism. The January 16 Sacramento Bee report included no quotations from local CAIR director Basim Elkarra, who previously told reporters that nobody in local mosques recognized the Iraqi refugee. The day of his indictment, the FBI released more information on the December 2 San Bernardino attack.

Harvard’s Former President on Political Correctness and Academic Boycotts of Israel

In a wide-ranging conversation on the threat posed by political correctness and the “culture of comfort” to the wellbeing of American universities, Lawrence Summers discusses his opposition to the faculty movement pressing for divestment from the Jewish state, along with his fight to return ROTC to campus. (Interview by Bill Kristol; video, 22 minutes.)

CH. 1: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS ON CAMPUS Larry Summers reflects on political correctness and its consequences for our universities.

CH. 2: UNIVERSITIES AND THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH Summers explains why universities must be devoted to the pursuit of truth, even when uncomfortable.

CH. 3: ISRAEL BOYCOTTS AND ROTC Summers discusses several significant controversies from his tenure as president of Harvard.

CH. 4: THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION How might technological developments impact higher education? Summers and Kristol discuss.

Are all SBA loans in Myrtle Beach area justified? BY Adam Andrzejewski

What do some top Myrtle Beach hotels, campgrounds, family entertainment venues, and several serial Myrtle Beach entrepreneurs all have in common? They were the beneficiaries of taxpayer subsidized SBA lending practices since 2007.

The motto of the Small Business Administration (SBA) supports entrepreneurial grit and the little guy: “The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses.” Yet, proponents of Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs will be hard pressed to justify many of the examples cited within our 2015 released OpenTheBooks Oversight Report – SBA Loans to the Wealthy Lifestyle.

In America, we should never demonize success, but we don’t need to subsidize it either. We identified taxpayer loans to luxury car companies selling Bentleys, Beverly Hills, California diamond suppliers, and upscale destination resorts in Palm Beach, Cape Cod and Lake Tahoe which do little to advance the common good.

The Islamization of France in 2015 “We are in a war against jihadist terrorism that threatens the entire world” by Soeren Kern

An estimated 40,000 cars are burned in France every year — a destruction often attributed to rival Muslim gangs. Every day, more than 80 cars are burned.

The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, called for the number of mosques in France to be doubled over the next two years. Boubakeur said that 2,200 mosques are “not enough” for the “seven million Muslims living in France.” He demanded that unused churches be converted into mosques.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls revealed in April that more than 1,550 French citizens or residents are involved in terrorist networks in Syria and Iraq.

“Can we not talk about subjects that split opinion? If you talk about immigration, you are a xenophobe. If you talk about security, you are a fascist. If you talk about Islam, you are an Islamophobe.” – Henri Guaino, MP.

“Those who denounce the illegal behavior of fundamentalists are more likely to be sued than the fundamentalists who behave illegally.” – Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front party.

The Muslim population of France reached 6.5 million in 2015, or around 10% of the overall population of 66 million. In real terms, France has the largest Muslim population in the European Union, just above Germany.

Although French law prohibits the collection of official statistics about the race or religion of its citizens, this estimate is based on several studies that attempted to calculate the number of people in France whose origins are from Muslim-majority countries.