RUTHFULLY YOURS

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department, per direction of Secretary James Mattis, is reviewing whether to ban cell phones or other electronic devices from the Pentagon and other U.S. military installations after reports that apps were revealing sensitive locations of U.S. service members.

Data from users of fitness trackers such as Fitbit was published in a global heat map by Strava, on which fellow runners can share routes. This also ended up highlighting locations of covert military installations and intelligence outposts, as the only runners using the fitness apps in many remote locations are foreigners.

The November 2017 map highlighted routes accumulated from more than 3 trillion individual GPS data points, according to the Guardian report. As U.S. personnel turn on their fitness apps for daily runs, this has ended up clearly identifying mappable outposts from Syria to Djibouti to Afghanistan.

Today at the Pentagon, spokeswoman Dana White confirmed that a review is underway to determine whether smart phones will be allowed in the building.

“It’s important to know that the secretary’s primary focus is the protection of civilians, of service members and their families,” she said. “So the Strava heat maps provided an opportunity for us to see a possible vulnerability. So he’s thinking about the totality of the DoD enterprise, so not just this building. We always are thinking about how do we enhance and adapt our security procedures. And that’s what’s happening now.”

On concerns that Pentagon staffers wouldn’t be able to stay in touch with families without a mobile phone, White clarified “it’s not just about cell phones.”

“This is a comprehensive look at technology. Technology’s very dynamic. It is important that we always adapt our security procedures,” she said.

“With respect to the workforce, the secretary’s primary interest is to ensure that we are all safe and we are all secure. Operational security is his priority. This recent incident, and others, has allowed him to take a bigger look at, what are we doing and how are we doing it?”

White said that “all of those things will be considered in his calculus, but you have to understand that the secretary sees everything within that prism of, how do I protect the civilians, the service members, their families? And so that’s how he will make his decision.”

The review is also “not just about the Pentagon,” but will take into account electronics rules “across the DoD enterprise.” CONTINUE AT SITE

On Monday a federal court in Sacramento will hold an evidentiary hearing on Hamid Hayat, 35, currently serving a 24-year sentence on terrorism charges. Hayat’s legal team will attempt to vacate the 2006 conviction, with support from the northern California division of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

“We welcome the court’s decision to hear new evidence in this case and hope that Mr. Hayat will be given a fair chance to present his appeal,” said CAIR executive director Basim Elkarra in a statement. “With Mr. Hayat’s case, there are legitimate concerns that he did not receive a fair trial.”

The Muslim Legal Fund of America “began funding the expenses for this case in 2014 because representatives were deeply concerned over growing evidence that Hayat was convicted largely on the basis of his religious identity rather than any evidence of wrongdoing.” According to MLFA executive director Khalil Meek, “Hayat was essentially convicted for possessing a prayer written on paper that asked God for protection. Imagine what impact this will have on everyone’s First Amendment rights if this conviction stands.”

Hayat’s lawyer Dennis Riordan, one of the top appeal attorneys in the nation, told the MLFA, “We believe that this is the most important legal case involving Muslim interests currently in courts of this country. This motion to vacate Hayat’s conviction is currently the best vehicle for exposing the harmful effects of anti-Muslim bias in American courtrooms.” Last June, Riordan told the Intercept, “It’s going to be obvious that, not only should he have prevailed at trial, but that he’s factually innocent.”

The January 29 hearing was ordered by federal judge Deborah Barnes, a relative newcomer to California’s Eastern District bench and a veteran of the California attorney general’s office. So Hayat’s CAIR and MFLA-backed legal team had done some judge shopping and it paid off. Barnes’ June 7, 2017 order raised “serious questions concerning the competency of the defense.”

March for Justice Chairman and Muslim Brotherhood operative Nidal Sakr has been living in the United States since he escaped Egypt, in March 2014, days before he was sentenced to death for the murder of an Egyptian police officer. While in the US, Sakr has repeatedly called for President Donald Trump’s execution, something that is punishable by US law. Whether serving his Egyptian sentence or his potential US sentence for his threats, he needs to be located so that he could be brought to justice.

Nidal Mohamed Sakr was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He describes himself as “US born from Palestinian origin.” In a videotaped lecture Sakr gave, in October 2012, he claimed that his mother is Egyptian and enlisted in the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) at an early age, carrying weapons and ammunition for the group. He stated, “Let me be very clear about this. I was born into Ikhwan, and my mother actually is from the first generation of Ikhwan.”

Around 1970, Sakr joined a Brotherhood terrorist cell in Jordan that was conducting paramilitary operations against Israel. According to Sakr, the individual who recruited him into the cell was Abdullah Azzam, the future mentor of Osama bin Laden and co-founder of al-Qaeda. Also according to Sakr, he personally knew bin Laden. He stated, “Osama bin Laden, himself, was a student of Abdullah Azzam at King Abdul Aziz University. I know him personally. I know his brothers. I know his family.”

Years later, during the Arab Spring, Sakr and his convert wife, Sara Rae Bokker, were living in Egypt. According to Bokker’s Facebook page, which is packed with morbid graphics about death, she had arrived in Egypt in December 2003 and worked at the Jana Dan International School in Cairo from 2007 to 2014, first as a kindergarten teacher and then headmistress. While in Egypt, Sakr organized rallies for the Muslim Brotherhood and advised Brotherhood leadership. He, as well, served on the International Islamic Council for Dawah and Relief in Cairo, beginning in 2007.

Following the July 2013 coup against the government of newly elected Egyptian President and Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi, by then-head of Egypt’s military and current Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Brotherhood immediately became a target. On Facebook, Sakr describes an incident where he was shot at by the new government. He writes: “Can you Imagine How Horrendous to Be in the Crowd Fired At? I CAN. I Was Fired At by Sisi n RABAA [Square in Cairo] for 12 Hours NON STOP…”

The Islamic State issued a new video today calling on “brothers in Europe, America, Russia, Australia and elsewhere” to “kill them all” as “it is now time to rise.”

The English-language nasheed, inspirational songs frequently released by terror groups, shows scenes of Western terrorists’ handiwork — including the March 2017 Westminster Bridge attack and the ISIS pledge video recorded by Berlin Christmas market terrorist Anis Amri — mingled with ISIS battlefield scenes and beheadings in Syria.

The video from ISIS’ official Al-Hayat Media Center was distributed widely on YouTube and social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, along with being posted on file-sharing sites.

“Your brothers in your lands have absolved themselves of blame, so leap onto their tracks and take an example from their actions and know that jannah [paradise] is beneath the shadows of swords,” a narrator says before the nasheed starts.

“Go answer the call, don’t spare none, kill them all, it is now time to rise, slit their throats, watch them die,” goes the nasheed. “The Islamic State stands, and it stands and demands, that you worship the one, whom besides there is none.”

“We’re the grandsons of men, who gave all that they can, to rule all of the lands, with the law of Islam,” the nasheed continued. “Holding up the flag high, and seeking paradise, o my brothers stay strong, victory won’t be long.”

“Together we will stand up, once filled with iman [faith], men who answered the call, terrorizing the world.” CONTINUE AT SITE

An ISIS-supporting media group threatened another Vegas-style massacre in a new propaganda image, yet zeroed in on a Strip hotel other than the Mandalay Bay.

“The disbeliever west will see our power through the jihad of sincere people and the sacrifice of monotheists. We will be generous in shedding your dirty blood unless you embrace Islam or give the jizyah,” states the message, referencing a tax paid by non-Muslims. “However, Las Vegas’ massacre is not far from you.”

The poster distributed online includes a shadowy backdrop of masked jihadists carrying an ISIS flag, hovering over a photo from the Vegas strip. The words “Las Vegas,” crosshairs and flames are positioned over the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

An ISIS-supporting media group threatened another Vegas-style massacre in a new propaganda image, yet zeroed in on a Strip hotel other than the Mandalay Bay.

“The disbeliever west will see our power through the jihad of sincere people and the sacrifice of monotheists. We will be generous in shedding your dirty blood unless you embrace Islam or give the jizyah,” states the message, referencing a tax paid by non-Muslims. “However, Las Vegas’ massacre is not far from you.”

The poster distributed online includes a shadowy backdrop of masked jihadists carrying an ISIS flag, hovering over a photo from the Vegas strip. The words “Las Vegas,” crosshairs and flames are positioned over the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.CONTINUE AT SITE

While the report reveals that approximately 46% of those convicted of international terrorism-related offenses from 9/11 through the end of 2016 (254 out of 549 individuals) were not U.S. citizens, it does not identify the number and nature of offenses they committed, their manner of entry, countries of origin, religion, or other related information.

The report presents illustrative examples of foreign nationals convicted of international terrorism-related offenses. All are Muslims — based on their being connected to Islamist groups recognized as terrorist organizations. Yet the report does not mention this. Moreover, a search of the report for the words “Muslim” or “Islam” produces only two matches: one in relation to ISIS’s goal of establishing an “Islamic caliphate,” and the other in reference to the “Islamic State in Iraq.”

The report also fails to include — or flatly ignores — significant findings to raise awareness of the threat to Americans’ safety. Among these are, not surprisingly, evaluating how effective or ineffective the US government’s policies and procedures are in screening and vetting people hoping to come to the United States.

The recently released report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) on the threat of international terrorism — a requirement of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorists Entry into the United States — falls sadly short.

The Executive Order requires information regarding:

the number of foreign nationals in the U.S. who have been charged, convicted, or removed from the U.S. based on terrorism-related activity;
the number of foreign nationals in the U.S. who have been radicalized in the U.S. and engaged in terrorism-related acts; and
the gender-based violence against women in the U.S. by foreign nationals.

Yet the current report does not provide any numbers for those or a lot else.

Recent Department of Defense (DoD) actions indicate that the DoD is considering making Amazon the DoD’s sole online cloud provider, the Washington Examiner notes. Such a deal entails numerous disadvantages, not least of which is threats of espionage arising from Amazon’s compromising relationship with China.

On October 30, the DoD made a “Request for Information” (RFI) soliciting private-sector advice about modernizing DoD cloud services. The RFI specifications suggest that the DoD is seeking a single global cloud-provider. Amazon would most likely be the contract recipient, given several past multimillion-dollar cloud contracts with multiple national security agencies.

I.T. contractors and several trade groups have made “stern warnings about the potential effects of choosing just one cloud provider.” The “[DoD]’s diverse needs and mission requirements” argue against an “approach that could eliminate the potential for multiple cloud services providers.” As one trade group analogizes, “almost all Fortune 500 counterparts have established multi-cloud architectures because no singular cloud solution meets all of their mission and business application requirements.”

Innovation and cost-cutting also favor multiple suppliers, the trade groups and contractors note. “A Department cloud [comprising] multiple interoperable offerings would ensure that the Department obtains the benefits of competition to achieve best value.” The “diversified solutions from the commercial market will facilitate a culture of experimentation, adaption, and risk-taking and increase the speed of technology development and procurement.” By contrast, “selecting only one cloud[-]provider drastically impairs competition in the future, effectively leaving [DoD] captive to one provider.”