RUTHFULLY YOURS

A threat-monitoring firm in London tallied at least 52 incidents of chemical weapons use by the Islamic State since 2014 and warned of a high possibility that more could be unleashed as Mosul starts to fall.

IHS Markit’s Conflict Monitor said chemical weapons were used around ISIS’ largest occupied city in Iraq, currently under attack by Iraqi and Kurdish forces with U.S. support, at least 19 of those times.

Most of the threat is posed by chlorine and mustard agents, but analysts said ISIS could use a “dirty bomb” — radiological dispersion through a conventional explosive device.

“Medical and industrial sources of radioactive material are present within territory held by the Islamic State, for example, at the Hazim al-Hafid Hospital, a specialist oncology and nuclear medicine facility in Mosul,” said Karl Dewey, a chemical, biological and radiological weapons analyst at IHS Jane’s.

ISIS acquired nearly 90 pounds of low-grade nuclear material from the University of Mosul soon after sacking the city in 2014, the company noted.

“Although the uranium compounds would only be of very limited utility for [radiological dispersal device] fabrication, comments made by Islamic State supporters suggest that members have at least thought about the idea,” Dewey said.

There has been a noted decline in chemical weapons use by ISIS in the run-up to the Mosul offensive, now in its sixth week.

But Columb Strack, senior analyst and leader of IHS Conflict Monitor, warned that as ISIS loses ground “there is a high risk of the group using chemical weapons to slow down and demoralize advancing enemy forces, and to potentially make an example of — and take revenge on — civilian dissidents within the city.”

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters Tuesday that Iraqi forces “continue to make progress while exercising commendable care to avoid civilian casualties” as “they’ve been dealing, among other things, with vehicle-borne IEDs and the use of human shields by ISIL.” Defense officials have refused to say whether American advisers are in Mosul.

Strack noted that Mosul had been the home base for ISIS’ chemical weapons production, “but most of the equipment and experts were probably evacuated to Syria in the weeks and months leading up to the Mosul offensive, along with convoys of other senior members and their families.”

isis chemical weapons

Asked about the report at Tuesday’s State Department briefing, press secretary John Kirby said he couldn’t “confirm the veracity” of the findings.

“What I can tell you, though, is that we have, ourselves, talked about our view that in the past Daesh has proven capable of trying to use chemical agents, whether it’s mustard and/or chlorine,” Kirby said. “And DoD has spoken to their view that they have at least attempted to do that in the past. So this is very much in keeping with a methodology we’ve seen out of these terrorists.”

The United Nations has also presented evidence of ISIS chemical weapons use. Kirby called the State Department’s refusal to confirm any ISIS chemical weapons usage yet an abundance of caution “because you don’t want to levy such a charge unless you know you’re 100 percent sure about it.”

“It’s not about reticence. I mean, clearly this is a group we’re not afraid to talk strongly about it and to act strongly against. I think it’s really about information and wanting to be careful,” he added. “But obviously, I mean, if they did, it would certainly be in keeping with their methodology. I think we’re just — we’re telling you what we think we know when we know it.”

The State Department’s travel alert for Europe issued Monday warned that “credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events” and “terrorists may employ a wide variety of tactics, using both conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.”

As we begin to wind down to the end of Hassan Rouhani’s term as president of the regime in Iran, it is time to take a look back at the past four years. We all remember how the West joyfully welcomed his election — read selection — as a change of gear in Iran aimed at moderation. However, what the world witnessed ever since has been anything but. An atrocious rise in executions, continued public punishments and an escalating trend of oppression has been Rouhani’s report card during his tenure. With a new administration coming into town, Washington must make it crystal clear to Tehran that human rights violations will no longer be tolerated.

Unprecedented executions

Despite pledging to hold the “key” to Iran’s problems, Rouhani has failed to provide even an iota of the freedoms the Iranian people crave and deserve. His record has revealed an unrelenting loyalty to the regime establishment in regards to social oppression and continued crackdowns. Iran sent 18 to the gallows last week alone, according to official reports.

As the international community continued its policy of appeasement, Rouhani and the entire regime used this opportunity to launch an execution rampage. Over 2,500 people have been sent to the gallows ever since Rouhani came to power, shattering all records held by this regime itself in over two decades.

In 2015 alone, Iran was executing an individual every eight hours, as reported by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

Vast social crackdown

Rouhani’s commitment to regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the ruling elite has rendered a wide-ranging, escalating crackdown. In addition to the executions mentioned above, state-sponsored social oppression has resulted in horrific scenes of public hangings, floggings, and even limb amputations.

The prisons are overwhelmed with inmates, leading to intolerable and inhumane conditions. Political prisoners, specifically, are subject to horrendous treatment by the authorities. Renowned human rights organization Amnesty International has recently issued an Urgent Action call expressing major concerns over the case of Maryam Akbari Monfared, a Green Movement organizer still in prison two years after her family put up her bail.

The pundits were wrong, so wrong, in predicting that Hillary Clinton’s ascent to the White House was an inevitability. No surprise there, though, as the same homegrown solons and star columnists were no less convinced that Tony Abbott was ballot-box poison and had to go

The exit poll that caught my eye from the US election was the one in which those who ticked ‘we detest both candidates’ then went on to break 69% for Trump. That would be me too. I think the US voters got this right. Each party nominated the only person who could have lost to the other party’s candidate, but Hillary was worse by far. As for talk of ‘role model’ deficiencies with the Donald, well Hillary attacked the women who accused hubby Bill not of lewd talk but of actual rape. On what planet is that better role-modelling?

And here’s another surprise: it turns out that when East Coast comics insult Midwest voters, as they have done for decades, those voters couldn’t give a fig what comedians and chat-show hosts think about the election. Same with Hollywood stars such as Robert DeNiro ( as per below) and all the other Tinseltown tossers who condemn Trump for his attitude to women.

Regular voters can see that these people are hypocritical morons, the sort who denounce the president-elect in one breath and gush with praise for fugitive molester Roman Polanski or Woody Allen, who couldn’t keep his aged hands of his stepdaughter. Give me the last 30 years of phone and email records for JayZ, Charlie Sheen, DeNiro and the rest and I will personally guarantee that there will be comments a lot worse than Trump’s. So maybe they should have the self-awareness to butt out. Every time some Hollywood halfwit supported Clinton, Trump got more votes. The post-election ‘sore loser’ protests have been enough to make me puke, such are the hypocrisies of the Left these days.

And, just by the way, it’s worth noting that Trump got more of the black vote than Romney or McCain. He got less (yes, LESS) of the white vote than Romney. So the whiny left should shut up about “racism” — except it wouldn’t have anything else to say, so it won’t. Trump also got more of the Latino vote than Romney (who speaks Spanish) or McCain (who has a child married to a Latino). Turns out wide open immigration is not popular with all sorts of groups, including some Latinos.

On substance I hate Trump’s attitude to free trade. I hope Paul Ryan blocks that in the House, though much of this sits in the realm of executive power. Meanwhile, I think Trump will be miles and miles and miles better on appointing Supreme Court judges, given Hillary’s pledge to nominate candidates who are, once you cut through her rhetoric, left-wing pseudo-politicians, much like all of Canada’s top Supreme Court judges and more than a few here in Australia. I like Trump on seeing that if China and Russia do nothing on carbon emissions — and the reality is that they’re not — then carbon taxes and trading schemes and massive subsidies of renewables are idiocy. If we now don’t change direction here in Australia we are going to go from comparatively low cost energy to some of the world’s most expensive, with all of the massive renewables subsidies driving low cost production into the ground. Those disconcerting sounds you hear are jobs, lots of jobs, leaving the country.

What are “rights”?

A right is an existential condition that permits an individual to live, act, and speak in ways that promote his existence and happiness as a rational being.

“Rights” as perceived by Islam are privileges conferred on Muslims exclusively by Sharia and Islamic doctrine, and on no one else. “What is inside Sharia is good and permissible, what is outside Sharia is evil and prohibited.”

“Rationality” and “Reason” do not even have the same meanings in Islam that Westerners subscribe to.

The bases of Shariah are four: two are revelatory, coming from Allah, and include the two core sources, the Qur’ān, Islam’s holy book, and the Sunnah (the practice and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s)); and two are based in rational endeavor, consensus (ijma) and analogical juristic reasoning (qiyās).

All other quotations are from The Ayn Rand Lexicon, found on http://aynrandlexicon.com/, according to subject.

Rand on reason and logic:

The distinguishing characteristic of logic (the art of non-contradictory identification) indicates the nature of the actions (actions of consciousness required to achieve a correct identification) and their goal (knowledge…..

“It’s logical, but logic has nothing to do with reality.” Logic is the art or skill of non-contradictory identification. Logic has a single law, the Law of Identity, and its various corollaries. If logic has nothing to do with reality, it means that the Law of Identity is inapplicable to reality. If so, then: a.) things are not what they are; b.) things can be and not be at the same time, in the same respect, i.e., reality is made up of contradictions. If so, by what means did anyone discover it? By illogical means…..

Reason is man’s only means of grasping reality and of acquiring knowledge—and, therefore, the rejection of reason means that men should act regardless of and/or in contradiction to the facts of reality.

The method which reason employs in this process is logic—and logic is the art of non-contradictory identification.

Sharia and Islam, as a “unified” package of ethics, is based, primarily, on those three old hoary diseases of man’s existence: superstition (the purported existence of a supreme being, in this case, Allah), consensus (so many people believe in Allah, he must exist, beginning with Mohammad), and, emotions or feelings. The latter are not tools of cognition; they are responses to what one observes, that is, when one employs one’s cognitive faculties.

Last week the Shia terrorist organization and Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, held a military parade in the city of Al-Qusayr, located in western Syria. The venue was likely chosen for its symbolism. In 2013, it was the site of fierce battles between the Free Syrian Army and Hezbollah. Though it suffered heavy casualties, the Shia terror group eventually gained the upper hand over the rebels and succeeded in ejecting them from the city and surrounding region.

The parade featured a wide assortment of Russian weapons including laser guided AT-14 Kornet anti-tank missiles, T-72 tanks equipped with reactive armor and R-330P electronic warfare vehicles. But among the weapons displayed, one stood out as a curiosity – the American made M-113 armored personnel carrier. The Hezbollah configuration mounts a twin 23mm anti-aircraft cannon that could also be used in an infantry support role.

The M-113 is essentially a battle taxi whose primary purpose is to ferry troop into battle while offering a measure of armored protection. It was introduced into the U.S. military during the early 1960s and is a versatile platform that has since been configured to take on a variety of roles including mortar and anti-tank missile carrier. One highly effective variant, known as the M163 Vulcan Air Defense System, mounts a six-barreled 20mm cannon.

Since its introduction, the M-113 has seen extensive service with the U.S. military and militaries throughout the world. The vehicle has been widely exported and is known to be in service with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Lebanon is the fifth largest recipient of U.S. military assistance and U.S. military aid to Lebanon in 2016 totaled $216 million. The Pentagon and the State Department maintain oversight over all shipments to the LAF to ensure that the weapons are utilized for the purposes intended.

Hezbollah is lavishly supplied by Iran but there has been growing speculation that Hezbollah has been pilfering weapons from LAF stocks. The revelation of M-113s in Hezbollah’s arsenal has lent credence to this notion. It is also possible that Hezbollah captured the weapons from the now defunct South Lebanon Army (SLA). During the 1980s Israel transferred a small number of M-113s to the SLA. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the SLA collapsed and its weapons, including M-113s, fell into the hands of Hezbollah.

The LAF has denied claims that it either supplied Hezbollah with U.S. equipment or turned a blind eye toward misappropriation but irrespective of how Hezbollah acquired the M-113s, it is clear that the aid given to the LAF by the United States is not being utilized for its intended purpose. As noted by the Weekly Standard’s Lee Smith;

“The 2016 appropriations bill to Lebanon stipulated that military aid must be used ‘to professionalize the LAF and to strengthen border security and combat terrorism, including training and equipping the LAF to secure Lebanon’s borders, interdicting arms shipments, preventing the use of Lebanon as a safe haven for terrorist groups.’ The military assistance was also intended to help Lebanon ‘implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701’—namely, disarming Hezbollah and helping the government of Lebanon take full control of all its territory.”

The State Department issued a new travel alert for Europe today, warning American citizens about the potential for attacks particularly as the holiday season approaches.

The alert specifically noted that U.S. citizens “should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets.”

“Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events,” the notice continued. “U.S. citizens should also be alert to the possibility that extremist sympathizers or self-radicalized extremists may conduct attacks during this period with little or no warning.”

“Terrorists may employ a wide variety of tactics, using both conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.”

ISIS’ Rumiyah magazine has been giving guidelines on different terror tactics in their first three issues, including choosing random victims such as teens playing sports in a park, conducting random knife attacks on gatherings or lone passers-by, and plowing a heavy vehicle into a parade or political rally crowd in the model of the Bastille Day attack in Nice, France.

Last month, soon after the offensive to retake Mosul was launched, U.S. officials warned that ISIS could stage a “spectacular attack” to draw attention away from their losses at the hands of the Iraq-led coalition. In a rare break from their usual propaganda last week, ISIS admitted losing a handful of districts in Mosul to Iraqi forces.

The commander for U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria also warned that “an external plot” for a terror attack was being fomented in Raqqa, ISIS’ capital in Syria.

Pressed on what that external threat could entail, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters last month that he didn’t want to discuss specific intelligence but “we actually aren’t sure how pressing it is, and that’s what’s worrying us.”

“So we’re not sure, we know they’re up to something. And it’s an external plot, we don’t know exactly where, we don’t know exactly when. You can understand this because you’ve been following these kinds of terrorist plots for a number of years, and we’re gonna try to hit if off,” he said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula also recently published a new issue of their English-language Inspire magazine — the premiere DIY guide for lone jihadists — analyzing the Sept. 17 attacks on a race in New Jersey, a street in Manhattan and a shopping mall in Minnesota.

François Fillon’s Focus on the Economy Resonates in French Presidential PrimaryFormer prime minister surprise winner against rivals stressing immigration, security.By William Horobin
PARIS—Veteran French politician François Fillon has long advocated stern measures for his country’s economy, calling for sharp cuts in government jobs, higher sales taxes and legal changes to make it easier for companies to hire and fire workers.

On Sunday, voters in the first round of a presidential primary for center-right candidates defied pollsters’ predictions by throwing huge support behind Mr. Fillon and his establishment brand of fiscal and social conservatism. While immigration and French identity dominated coverage of the campaign, the results suggested Mr. Fillon tapped into a strong undertow of economic concerns.

In his surprising come-from-behind victory, Mr. Fillon won 44.1% of the vote, eliminating former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had campaigned on a platform of radical anti-immigration measures and tax cuts for households. Mr. Fillon will face the second-place finisher, Alain Juppé, who received 28.6% of the 4.13 million ballots cast, in a runoff on Sunday.

The winner will contest the presidential election in April and May for the center-right Republicans.

For much of the campaign, Messrs. Sarkozy and Juppé focused on nationalism, security, immigration and French identity, seeking to appeal to an electorate scarred by recent Islamist terror attacks.

Mr. Fillon, in contrast, pledged in the first order to repair the economy of France, where unemployment is stuck around 10% and public debt is nearing 100% of economic output.

French police have detained seven people suspected of plotting a terror attack in France, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

The seven individuals were arrested in Marseille on the Mediterranean coast and in Strasbourg on the border with Germany over the weekend after an eight-month investigation, Mr. Cazeneuve said at a news conference.

“Yesterday, the department of interior security foiled a terrorist action that was being planned for a long time on our soil,” he said.

The suspects—whose names weren’t disclosed—had links with five people detained on June 14 ahead of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament held in France, he said.

Investigators suspect some of the men spent time fighting with extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, a French official said.

The sweeping police operation shows French security forces are still on edge in France, fearing terrorists may strike again after a series of attacks that have killed more than 200 people over the past 12 months.

The suspects detained over the weekend are French, Moroccan and Afghan nationals aged between 29 and 37, Mr. Cazeneuve said. Only one of them had been previously identified by French police as a potential suspect, he said.

The Moroccan man had been flagged by Portuguese antiterror police in the summer of 2015 as a suspected member of a terrorist group, Portuguese police said in a statement.

As many as 418 people with links to terrorist networks have been detained since the start of the year, Mr. Cazeneuve said.

European anti-Americanism — which was on the wane during the presidency of Barack Obama, who steered the United States on a course of globalism rather than nationalism — is back with a vengeance.

Europe’s media establishment has greeted Donald Trump’s election victory with a vitriol not seen since the George W. Bush presidency, when anti-Americanism in Europe was at fever pitch.

Since the American election on November 9, European television, radio and print media have produced an avalanche of negative stories, editorials and commentary that seethe with rage over the outcome of the vote.

European criticism of Trump goes far beyond a simple displeasure with the man who will be the next president. The condemnation reveals a deep-seated contempt for the United States, and for American voters who democratically elected a candidate committed to restoring American economic and military strength.

If the past is any indication of the future, European anti-Americanism will be a pervasive feature of transatlantic relations during the Trump presidency.

Although European opinion-shapers have focused much of their indignation on the threat Trump allegedly poses to global order, the president-elect will inherit a world that is significantly more chaotic and insecure than it was when Obama became president in January 2009.

The primary cause of the global disorder is the lack of American leadership — leading from behind — at home and abroad.

A series of feckless decisions by Obama to reduce American military influence abroad have created geopolitical power vacuums that are being filled by countries and ideologies that are innately hostile to Western interests and values. China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and radical Islam — among many others — have all been emboldened to challenge the United States and its allies with impunity.

After the presidential elections, the mainstream media have ignored reporting on recent attacks, insults, accusations and threats from leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the American people and Donald Trump.

The agenda behind this is to hide the truth from the American public so that Tehran-Washington ties will be maintained and the White House appeasement policies towards Iran will continue.

According to DW Farsi, Ayatollah Ahmad Alam Al Hoda, one of Iran’s prominent Imams and the key representative of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insulted the American people, saying that Americans are totally ignorant people who have taken an un-Islamic path leading to loss.

In addition, the Imam of Tehran threatened Trump that if the president-elect continues the path of other Republican Presidents, he will deeply regret it.

Addressing a large group of people on Tehran University campus on Friday, the notorious Ayatollah said, “[Trump,] be careful to not give the lion’s tail [referring to Iran} another twist; I hope you will hear these words and realize that the Islamic Iran has a manner and a motto and that is: we will resist until our last breadth.”

This is a hardball tactic that Iranian leaders are playing. They played it with President Obama and it paid off well. Iran received billion of dollars, it did not have to dismantle any of its nuclear facilities, and will be legally allowed to develop nuclear weapons after the nuclear deal expires. In addition, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are freely operating in various countries and harassing US navy ships.

Iranian leaders are hoping that Trump will give in to Iran’s threats and that he will abandon his previous promises and statements.