RUTHFULLY YOURS

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.

In President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s view, Belarus is decent and peaceful, but Western Europe is not. Merely because Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to open a mosque to lure some Turkish investment.

Back in Turkey, things look very Belarusian — even worse — rather than Western European, a culture Erdogan despises.

President Erdogan’s crackdown on dissent goes at full speed. Asli Erdogan, a peace activist and novelist, worked for Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper. She has remained in prison since her August arrest. The prosecutors demand an aggravated life sentence plus 17.5 years in jail for her. How did Asli Erdogan, the novelist, “support terror”? This is from the indictment: “… in an understanding of a novelist [the accused] portrayed terrorists as citizens in her columns.”

“In the history of the program, there has never been such an extraordinary situation where I think we can say that a democracy is threatening to turn itself into a dictatorship.” — Frank Schwabe, German Social Democratic lawmaker and human rights expert.

Europe’s unpleasant game with Turkey should end at once, with Brussels and Ankara admitting that the planned marriage was an awfully bad idea from the beginning.

Reading his public speeches, one may think that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must be joking; that he is a celebrity stand-up comedian, the best in his profession. In reality, he is not joking. He believes in what he says. And he does not want to make people laugh. He is just an Islamist strongman.

Visiting Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in the first week of November for the opening of a mosque in a dictatorial country where there are 100,000 Muslims, Erdogan accused Western Europe for “intolerance that spreads like the plague.”

Erdogan described Belarus, which Western countries describe as a dictatorship, as “a country in which people with different roots live in peace.” In Erdogan’s view Belarus is decent and peaceful, but Western Europe is not. Merely because Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to open a mosque to lure some Turkish investment.

Missed in all the media bias is the rejoicing in Hungary, Tel Aviv and in Egyptian President Al Sisi’s government.

He isn’t making with the gags himself, but Donald Trump is boosting global merriment by inspiring his critics to make monumental jokes of themselves. They simper, they sob, they pack suitcases and, most of all, they sneer non-stop at voters deemed so less intelligent than their precious selves.
If US President-elect Donald Trump achieves nothing during his four years in the White House, he has at least given us days of laughter following his election. In this grim world of ours there is often little to laugh about, so thank you, Mr. President-elect, for the hilarity following your election. Observing the mainstream media scrutinizing the tea leaves (and their own entrails) has been side-splitting.

Take the ostentatiously virtuous Peter van Onselen, columnist for The Australian, who wants to tear up his US passport because of the Trump triumph. Perhaps he could tear up his Australian passport as well — just so long as he doesn’t litter our streets with its debris, as angry Clinton supporters have been doing in ‘blue” states in the US.

You see, van Onselen says he could not look his daughters in the eye if he did not protest Trump’s stated intention to see Roe v Wade overturned and, more generally, because of Trump’s attitude to women. Well how does Professor van Onselen look his daughters in the eye while babies in China and India are being aborted purely because they are female? And why didn’t he tear up his US passport when President Bill Clinton seduced an intern in the Oval Office, lied about it and plunged the US into years of hearings and impeachment proceedings? Or when Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy parked a one-night girlfriend in a pond, left her to drown and did not report the accident until the following day? And has Professor van Onselen told his daughters about all John F. Kennedy’s affairs, including his fling with a mafiosi’s mistress?

With red ink engulfing welfare-heavy national budgets, identity politics has become the last, desperate gambit to mine the pockets of the productive, hence the alliance of the Islam and the left. The president-elect’s genius was to recognise those being milked are themselves a marginalized group.
When reason guides the minds of men and women, free-market capitalism and prosperity follow. Reason can either be beaten down or, alternatively, elevated by cultural norms. Islamic cultural norms provide an example of the former; Christian norms an example of the latter. Reason is the enemy of progressive politics. That is why Islamists and the Left find common cause.

Progressive policies are disastrous. They produce human misery: debt, dependency, and division. Debt emerges pari passu with unfillable promises of free stuff. Dependency emerges as regulatory obstacles are put in the way of full employment and the unemployed and the dispossessed are seduced with baubles. Division emerges as sets of citizens are pitted against each other in desperate acts of vote-buying.

But surely progressives aren’t bad people? I will leave the question open. It is an open question when supposed good intentions are not informed by bad experience after bad experience. Okay I have gone too far. They are not bad people. I will settle for deluded or self-serving.

Left-wing prescriptions have a use by date. The use by date transpires when, as Margaret Thatcher so aptly put it, “you run out of other people’s money.” What the heck do progressives do then? In the best of all worlds they convert to conservatism, as I did, or at least take their bat and ball, go home and sulk. We don’t live in this world so, for the most part, progressives double down.

Their difficulty is that their rationale of the past, representing working people seeking a better deal, no longer holds water. Working people have long since got the better deal. Capitalism has given it to them. Result: constituency gone. The conclusion: target and build up other, motley constituencies of special interests.

These constituencies are those serially dependent on taxpayer support; those who value the habitat of yakka skinks over people’s livelihoods; those who hold the wellbeing of refugees higher than those of citizens; and those who form ethnic minorities. Who is left behind? Those left behind are the white working class; those who in former days formed the left’s core constituency. But it’s worse than that. Policies which benefit special interests almost always damage and marginalize the interests of the white working class.

Enter Donald Trump, brazenly appealing to the newly marginalized. Seven out of ten whites without college degrees voted for Trump according to exit polling (Edison Research). This was roughly the same proportion as Latino women voting for Hillary Clinton. And by the way, white women overall (53%) voted for Trump. Those misogyny charges didn’t cut it.

One of the frustrations of the coverage of the US elections was the overwhelming focus on the candidates’ personalities rather than on their policies. Expect no change in future US elections. The press is in the pocket of the Democrats and the Democrats have no credible policies. Ergo, the press will continue to focus on digging dirt on Republicans. The Washington Post had twenty reporters gunning for Trump. It is a wonder they found so little on a flamboyant rich guy when you think about it.

No left-wing parties across the globe have credible policies. They are out of other people’s money to spend. A claim of inequality is their last desperate economic cause du jour. But it is a blind alley for the left. The only way to produce less inequality without devastating the economy is to adopt conservative policies of less government and less regulation. Inequality rises when economies struggle and falls when they are buoyant, as competition for labour drives up wages.

It’s offical — Nicholas Sarkozy is out of the running to regain the office he once held:

Fance’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy conceded defeat Sunday in the race to choose the conservative nominee for next year’s presidential election. With more than 3.2 million votes counted from about 80 percent of polling stations, former prime minister Francois Fillon had 44 percent, former prime minister Alain Juppe had 28.1 and Sarkozy had 21.1 percent.

The two candidates confirmed as winning the most votes advance to the Nov. 27 runoff.

In a speech from his campaign headquarters in Paris on Sunday, Sarkozy called on his supporters to vote for Fillon in the second round. “I did not succeed in convincing a majority of voters. I do respect and understand the will of those (voters) who have chosen for the future other political leaders than me,” Sarkozy said.

Fillon may win the nomination of Les Républicains, but his path to the Palais de l’Élysée is likely to be blocked by “far-right” candidate Marine le Pen, who seeks to ride the same anti-establishment wave that saw Britain ankle the EU and Trump put paid to Hillary Clinton’s girlish presidential fantasy.

The conservative nominee is expected to have strong chances of winning the April-May presidential election, because traditional rivals on the left have been weakened by Socialist Francois Hollande’s troubled presidency.

The conservative candidate’s main challenger may turn out to be far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is hoping anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-establishment sentiment can propel her to the presidency. Le Pen, official candidate of her once-pariah National Front party, did not take part in the conservative primary.

The conservatives’ campaign has focused on immigration and security concerns following recent attacks by Islamic extremists.

Islam is, of course, le Pen’s strong suit — meaning she’s against its encroachment into Christian Europe, as is every patriotic Frenchmen and responsible European. Polls had already shown le Pen clobbering Sarkozy and she’s like to be able to defeat Fillon as well. Juppe had been tipped as le Pen’s strongest rival, but his second-place finish (which ensures him a runoff against Fillon) doesn’t bode well.

Front National leader Marine Le Pen has taken a sizeable lead over Nicolas Sarkozy in a new French presidential election poll. The far-right leader had 29 per cent of the vote when pitted against Les Républicains’ former president, who was eight points behind, and held a 15-point lead over the Parti de Gauche’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the poll released by Ipsos.

Now that Sarkozy is out of the race, French intellectuals are waking up to the real possibility that le Pen will defeat the “conservative” candidate, whether Fillon or Juppe, and trounce incumbent socialist Francois Hollande, should he choose to run again. CONTINUE AT SITE