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The truth about sex and Isil – from the ex-soldier who rescued 70 jihadi brides from its ‘giant brothel’ John Carney

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/truth-sex-isil-ex-soldier-rescued-70-jihadi-brides-giant-brothel/

“Islamic State with its torture, brutality and evil hypocrisy may no longer exist as a territorial power, but it will rise again and we in the West must be vigilant.”

After a long day patrolling the Isis border with a Kalashnikov, what the young jihadi fighter looks forward to is getting back to the ‘women’s guesthouses’ for a shower and a one-night ‘pleasure marriage.’

If he happens to bring a loaf of bread or a bar of chocolate, skinny-ribbed girls will line up to be blessed by an imam before climbing into the bridal bed. The marriage will last a couple of hours and be annulled in the morning so the woman can be passed on to someone else.  

This is just one of the many stories I heard from the 70 or so women, children and disaffected fighters I helped to rescue from the so-called Islamic State, over three years.

The religious one-night-stand, if you will, tells so much about its twisted morality: religious piety is key, and sex outside of marriage is forbidden, yet jihadi fighters could sleep with dozens of women – be they locals, European converts or Yazidi slave girls – all while preaching purity.

From 2014 until the collapse of the self-declared Islamic Caliphate in March 2019, thousands of young women made the unconscionable decision to leave their families and travel in secret across Europe to Iraq and Syria. 

Under the spell of Isis lies and propaganda, they went for the promise of love, adventure and jannah – the paradise on earth predicted in the Quran. What they found was a living hell. 

In the scores of interviews I conducted, I heard how girls as young as 15 were sold in Isis slave markets to drug-fuelled jihadis boasting how they intended to score their 72 virgins on earth rather than wait for martyrdom. Raped, starved and beaten with canes, most had watched beheadings. One girl caught with a mobile phone was stoned to death and her sister brides had to join, in terror. 

Syrian Refugees in Germany Are Returning to the Country They Fled for Vacation—While on the Gov’t Dole By Brian Min

https://pjmedia.com/trending/syrian-refugees-in-germany-are-returning-

Syrian refugee Aras Bacho, who has written for the HuffPost and lives in Germany, tweeted that he knew at least six Syrians who traveled from Germany to Syria for vacation this summer season.

He tweeted in German, “Two weeks ago, six Syrians I know went on holiday in Syria to visit their family members and get some rest, especially from Germany. You miss your homeland and it is now commonplace for Syrians to do that!”

“Unfortunately, I was unable to go on holiday to Syria because something very important got in the way, and I hope to catch up very soon during the holidays. Germany is stressful and you need some kind of break,” he added.

Aras Bacho is in his early 20s and came to Germany in 2010. Although the Syrian Civil War did not officially start until March 15, 2011, Bacho still calls himself a refugee.

In the past, Bacho tweeted that it was the women’s fault that they got sexually assaulted on New Year’s Eve in Germany in 2015 when thousands of women were attacked by asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, and other migrants of “Arab or North African appearance.”

In 2018, Bacho was also found guilty of five cases of sexual harassment against female classmates aged 17 to 19.

As early as 2016, German newspapers have been reporting on migrants with recognized refugee status having holidays in countries that they “fled,” such as Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria.

“Sweden is at War” by Judith Bergman

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14518/sweden-is-at-war

In 2017, a Swedish police report, “Utsatta områden 2017” (“Vulnerable Areas 2017”) showed that there are 61 such areas — also known as no-go zones — in Sweden. They encompass 200 criminal networks, consisting of an estimated 5,000 criminals. Most of the inhabitants are non-Western immigrants and their descendants.

In March, the Swedish National Forensic Centre estimated that since 2012, the number of shootings classified as murder or attempted murder had increased by almost 100 percent.

“Sweden is at war and it is the politicians who are responsible. Five nights in a row, cars have been set on fire in the university town of Lund. Such insane acts have occurred on hundreds of occasions in various places in Sweden over the past fifteen years. From 1955 to 1985, not a single car was ignited in Malmö, Gothenburg, Stockholm or Lund…. None of these criminals is starving or lacking in access to clean water. They have a roof over their heads and they have been offered free schooling…. They do not live in dilapidated houses…. It is called upbringing and this is missing for thousands of girls and boys in Swedish homes today.” — Björn Ranelid, Swedish author, Expressen, July 5, 2019.

“Very few things were better in Sweden [before]…. We have built a strong country, where we take care of each other. Where society takes responsibility and no man is left alone”. — Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

Sadly, many Swedes probably feel terribly left alone in a country that increasingly resembles a war zone.

In 2018, Sweden experienced a record number of lethal shootings, 306 in all. Forty-five people were killed and 135 injured nationwide, most deaths occurring in Region South, where Malmö is located. In March, the Swedish National Forensic Centre estimated that since 2012, the number of shootings classified as murder or attempted murder has increased by almost 100 percent. The Centre also found that the most popular weapon used in the shootings is the Kalashnikov assault rifle. “It is one of the world’s most manufactured weapons and used in many wars,” said the Centre’s team manager, Mikael Högfors. “When they are no longer needed… they are smuggled into Sweden”.

Trump’s Taiwan Progress A $2.2 billion arms sale comes as Taipei grows more wary of Beijing.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-taiwan-progress-11562971520

Deterring Chinese military dominance in the Indo-Pacific is a top U.S. strategic goal, and the Trump Administration made progress this week with a tentative $2.2 billion arms sale to Taiwan. The next sale should be F-16V fighter jets, which is the island’s most pressing defense need.

The Pentagon on Monday notified Congress of the sale of 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, 250 Stinger missiles, and transport vehicles. Lawmakers have 30 days to object to the deal, but that’s unlikely given the near-unanimous backing of pro-Taiwan legislation in Congress in recent years.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on the U.S. to “immediately cancel” the deal, and on Friday China said it will sanction U.S. companies that participate in the arms sale. That’s mostly symbolic since China doesn’t buy arms from the U.S.

But what Beijing has never understood is its starring role in consolidating Washington’s cooperation with Taipei. Last month’s voyage of the Chinese Liaoning aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait is the type of saber-rattling that increases American support for the island’s democracy, as Taiwanese want little more than to preserve their freedom.

Trump’s Huawei Reprieve Is a National Security Debacle by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14534/trump-huawei-exemptions

Huawei is in no position to resist Beijing’s demands to illicitly gather intelligence. For one thing, Beijing owns Huawei. The Shenzhen-based enterprise maintains it is “employee-owned,” but that is an exaggeration. Founder Ren Zhengfei holds a 1 percent stake, and the remainder is effectively owned by the state. Moreover, in the Communist Party’s top-down system, no one can resist a command from the ruling organization.

The concern is that the Chinese government and military will be able to use Huawei equipment to remotely manipulate devices networked on the Internet of Things (IoT), no matter where those devices are located. So, China may be able to drive your car into oncoming traffic, unlock your front door, or turn off or speed up your pacemaker.

On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross echoed earlier administration comments when he promised his department would only issue exemptions “where there is no threat to U.S. national security.” That sounds reassuring, but it is not possible to divide Huawei into threatening and non-threatening components. Huawei management can take profits from innocuous-looking parts of the business to support the obviously dangerous parts. Money is fungible, so the only safe course would be to prohibit all transactions with the company.

Beijing, buoyed by the talk of the American climb-down, is now fast selling Huawei equipment around the world, which means, in the normal course of events, the Chinese will soon control the world’s 5G backbone.

Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross outlined the scope of exemptions to be granted to sales and licenses to Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecom giant.

At the end of last month, President Donald Trump publicly promised to give the Chinese company a reprieve from newly implemented U.S. restrictions.

Trump’s move, announced after his meeting with Chinese ruler Xi Jinping at the conclusion of the Osaka G20 summit, was a strategic mistake. Moreover, it was a humiliation for the United States, almost an acknowledgment of Beijing’s supremacy.

The U.S. Commerce Department, effective May 16, added Huawei, the world’s largest networking equipment manufacturer and second-largest smartphone maker, to its Entity List. The designation means that no American company, without prior approval from the Bureau of Industry and Security, is allowed to sell or license to Huawei products and technology covered by the U.S. Export Administration Regulations.

This time it’s different – why anti-Semitism could finally sink Labour Stephen Bush

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/07/11/time-different-anti-semitism-could-finally-sink-labour/

The crisis may now cost Labour significant votes

What is left to be said about Labour and anti-Semitism? The moment when a reconciliation could be effected by the party’s present leadership passed long ago. The majority of British Jewish community organisations and the leadership of Labour’s own affiliate, the Jewish Labour Movement, believe that Jeremy Corbyn is at best a facilitator of anti-Semitism and at worst an anti-Semite himself. According to the pollster Survation, which accurately predicted the result of the 2017 election, 86 per cent of British Jews believe that the Labour leader is anti-Semitic.

There is division over exactly when the point of no return was reached. For some it was Corbyn’s defence of an anti- Semitic mural, for others it was his comment that two British Zionists  had “no sense of irony”,  for a few it was the repeated indulgence of Chris Williamson. But they are united on the important fact, which is that the moment of redemption has been and gone.

As far as the struggle for power in the United Kingdom as a whole is concerned, the lesson of both the recent and the distant past, is that the row doesn’t really matter. The history of race relations is that majorities tend not to consider the fears of minorities when they cast their votes. Outside of the handful of constituencies where Britain’s Jews gather in significant numbers, there is no evidence that Labour’s anti-Semitism problem cost the party electorally in the 2017 election.

A Tale of Two Cities Both of which are London. Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274276/tale-two-cities-bruce-bawer

For the last couple of days, journalists and politicians all over London have been wringing their hands in despair over the disrespectful treatment accorded to a stellar Englishman. No, not Tommy Robinson. Kim Darroch. Sorry: Sir Kim Darroch. Yes, he’s a guy – Kim as in Kim Philby or Kim Jong Un, not Kim Novak. Since 2016, not that you or I would’ve known it, he’s been the UK Ambassador to the US. Before that he was Britain’s National Security Advisor, and before that he was his country’s Permanent Representative to the EU, an organization of which he is known to be exceedingly fond. In short, a career diplomat with predictable PC politics.

And the kind of faceless civil servant whom the public never notices until, as happened the other day, a scandal erupts around him. On July 5, the Mail on Sunday reported on leaked secret cables in which Darroch described the Trump White House as “dysfunctional,” “unpredictable,” “diplomatically clumsy and inept,” and torn by factional conflict, said that Trump himself had led a life “mired in scandal” and might well be indebted to “dodgy Russians,” and warned, after the President’s recent state visit to London, that Trump’s USA “is still the land of America First.”

On wonders: why keep some jerk on the payroll for this kind of stuff when you can get the same thing twenty-four hours a day on CNN or MSNBC? One also wonders: what kind of fatuity, or chutzpah, does it take for an envoy representing the worst prime minister and lamest government in modern British history to describe the most successful American president of our lifetimes as dysfunctional and inept? And one further wonders: did Darroch, while serving in Washington during the last days of the Obama administration, ever once express concern about Barack’s and Hillary’s numerous scandals and “dodgy” foreign connections?

Donald Trump knows Boris is the man to get Brexit done and resuscitate the UK-US alliance Nile Gardiner

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/07/10/donald-trump-knows-boris-man-get-brexit-done-resuscitate-uk/

It is perhaps unsurprising that the British ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, felt the need to resign after Donald Trump’s condemnation of comments he made in leaked diplomatic cables. But the ambassador’s critical views of the White House point to a wider problem.

Despite the success of the president’s state visit to Britain, Trump and Theresa May have long been worlds apart in terms of vision, outlook and approach. There is no chemistry between them, and May has shown little interest in building a partnership with Trump, frequently siding with the EU over the US on foreign policy matters. The special relationship has been left weakened.

This week’s diplomatic spat will not, however, alter the reality that the alliance will be in a far better place once May steps down. Here in Washington, the expectation is that Boris Johnson will be in Downing Street on July 24, and will immediately be America’s most important ally. For the US, a Johnson premiership represents a powerful opportunity to reignite the special relationship.

The US is not taking sides in the Tory leadership contest, but there is an acute understanding in the Oval Office that Johnson represents a distinctly pro-American outlook with a deep-seated affinity for the transatlantic alliance. Johnson, after all, was born in New York, and was until recently a US citizen. He has been a frequent visitor to the US and is well known in political circles here.

This bodes well for Britain. Many Americans admire Johnson’s record as mayor of London, and view him as an exciting personality, with a dash of Churchillian brilliance, who is unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom and get things done.

Who Really Speaks for Gazans? By Muhammad AlZanati and Muhammad AlBuhaisi

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/07/who_really_speaks_for_gazans_.html

The Hashemite king of Jordan claims to speak for the Gazans. So do Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and the Muslim Brotherhood (and its backer, Qatar). Now two native Gazans speak out.

……”Why Is nobody listening to the voice of Gazans?

As the prospect of Middle East peace phases in and out, one has to realize that it’s been a long and nasty 13 years since Hamas ruthlessly took over Gaza in a coup disguised as an election.

The ups and down experienced by Gaza’s citizens have netted not just 2 wars, but economic problem after economic problem. As complaints have risen, a variety of spokespeople have stepped forward. They represent 2 specific types of representations. The first comes from the “Government”, and in all cases such as Jordan, Qatar, and others, these are either Kings or Dictators, or both. The second comes from groups like the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas.

What ties these groups together is a series of anomalies, all of which raise two very important questions: “How can they speak for Palestinians?” And, “If not them, then who?”

The Hashemite King of Jordan claims to speak for the Gazans, but how can he when he has a country’s needs to represent? He openly states that he is the sole “moderate” negotiator between the Palestinians and Israel and the West, but under Abdullah’s 20-year reign, what has he negotiated? All he has done is line his pockets at the expense of Palestinians.

The Muslim Brotherhood claims to represent us, but how? As far as we know, this terrorist organization is so destructive that most Islamic countries do not allow them to operate.  They are classified as terrorists.  But apparently their best friend is the King of Jordan because he allows them to operate.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) – the recognized governing body – represents no one except the needs of Abbas and his leaders, who live in luxury both in and out of the country.  They are impudent, and quite frankly, no one pays attention to them. For example, Gaza is being strangled by Hamas, who is supposed to take orders from the PA, yet they don’t.

Hamas is a political party that thrives on dictatorship, crushing the people, and lying to the world.

Iranian Ships Try to Block U.K. Tanker in Strait of Hormuz U.K. says the Iranian vessels turned away after the HMS Montrose intervened By Rory Jones

https://www.wsj.com/articles/three-iranian-vessels-tried-to-block-u-k-ship-from-passing-through-strait-of-hormuz-11562822874?cx_testId=30&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

DUBAI—Iranian ships attempted to impede the passage of a U.K.-flagged commercial vessel through the Persian Gulf, the British Defense Ministry said, a move that threatens to escalate already high tensions in the region.

Three Iranian vessels tried to block the BP PLC -run tanker British Heritage in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday but were turned away by the presence of a U.K. warship, according to the ministry.

The incident is likely to further spook international shipping markets and investors and could accelerate U.S. moves to build a coalition of states to protect commercial vessels near Iranian waters, after a series of attacks on ships in recent months.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate futures recently were up 0.5% to $60.69, while Brent futures were 0.4% higher at $67.26.

The British Royal Navy frigate, HMS Montrose, issued verbal warnings to the Iranian ships before they backed away, the ministry said Thursday.

“We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region,” it said, adding that the attempt to block the British Heritage’s passage contravened international law.

A spokesman for the ministry added that the British Heritage had since left the Persian Gulf.

BP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.