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HOMELAND SECURITY

L.A. Skyscraper Shown Exploding in New ISIS ‘Promise Fulfilled’ Threat By Bridget Johnson

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/l-a-skyscraper-shown-exploding-in-new-isis-promise-fulfilled-threat/

An ISIS-supporting group posted an image online depicting an explosion at the top of the third-tallest office tower in downtown Los Angeles.

Though ISIS backers operating under a number of media alliances regularly craft and circulate threats and recruitment propaganda in the form of posters and video, Los Angeles is rarely featured as a target. The online jihadists trend toward threatening New York, Washington, Las Vegas, and large European cities.

The new image shows a camouflage-clad jihadist holding an ISIS flag with the evening L.A. skyline in the background and the glow of flames photoshopped coming from the hillside beneath his feet. An explosion is photoshopped onto the top of the Aon Center, the 62-story tower at 707 Wilshire Blvd. in the city’s financial district. The original photo used appears to be from Shutterstock.

The words above the image: “Our promise will soon be fulfilled.”

The city of Los Angeles routinely reminds residents that landmarks and transportation hubs — such as Los Angeles International Airport, targeted in a foiled 2000 al-Qaeda plot — are potential terrorist targets. Terror groups have always routinely complained about products from Hollywood making their way into popular culture in Muslim-majority nations.

Former Air Force Intel Agent Indicted for Sharing Secrets with Iran By Jack Crowe

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/former-air-force-intel-agent-indicted-for-sharing-secret-information-with-iran/

A former Air Force counterintelligence agent has been indicted by a grand jury on espionage charges after she defected to Iran to work on behalf of its intelligence services, Department of Justice officials announced Wednesday.

Monica Elfriede Witt provided the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a branch of the country’s armed forces, with information related to her work on a secret Pentagon program, according to the indictment released publicly Wednesday.

In August 2013, Witt reached out to an individual with ties to Iranian intelligence offering her services. Weeks later, she moved to Iran and began compiling the personal information of her former colleagues into “target packages,” which the IRGC used to target American intelligence agents.

Military on the Border: Appropriate Response to a Crisis How does a house stand without walls? Michael Cutler

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272778/military-border-appropriate-response-crisis-michael-cutler

On February 3, 2019 ABC News posted an AP (Associated Press) report, “Pentagon sending another 3,750 troops to Southwest border.”

The ABC/AP report noted that the Trump administration was sending those members of the armed forces to the U.S./Mexican border to bring the total number of active-duty troops to 4,350. The Pentagon said that the soldiers would be installing 150 miles of concertina barbed wire and assist with surveilling the border, but not have direct contact with any illegal aliens or aid in their arrest by the Border Patrol. Reportedly, however, the soldiers will be able to help defend Border Patrol agents who come under fire.

The news report included this excerpt:

The announcement is in line with what Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan had said on Tuesday when he provided estimates for the next phase of a military mission that has grown in size and length. Critics have derided it as a political ploy by the White House as President Donald Trump seeks billions to build a border wall.

It is astonishing that anyone would actually believe that protecting America and Americans from the entry of uninspected aliens and cargo is a “political ploy.”

Is the oath of office the President, Vice President or members of Congress take a political ploy?

In point of fact, the political foes of the border wall are playing politics with national security, public safety, public health and the livelihoods of American and lawful immigrant workers.

Even though prior administrations, including those of George W. Bush and Barak Obama, have sent military units to back up the Border Patrol, the fact that President Trump would take this action incites the knee-jerk deprecatory reactions of his foes.

Chinese Aggression Against the U.S.A. Far more than trade is involved. Michael Cutler

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272763/chinese-aggression-against-usa-michael-cutler

My previous article for FrontPage Magazine focused on specific threats to the United States that were linked to border security issues raised in the January 29, 2019 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats that was itself predicated on the Intelligence Community’s just-released World-Wide Threat Assessment.

I used the information disclosed at the hearing and contained in that threat assessment report about the dangers to America created by transnational criminal organizations and translational gangs such as MS-13 and the drug cartels in Mexico, as well as the crimes and activities of human traffickers that support the Trump administration’s demands for a border wall, a wall that unbelievably, the leaders of the Democratic Party adamantly oppose.

However, the report included much more material about other global threats that confront the United States and its interests. Simply stated, the world is a dangerous place.

Among the other threats addressed in the report were those posed by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Today we will take a hard look at China and how its aggressive and relentless pursuit of global dominance threatens America.

Before we go any further, we must remember that China is led by a totalitarian Communist regime that is not an ally but rather a serious adversary of the United States.

Missile Defense Alert As global threats grow, the U.S. needs space-based sensors.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/missile-defense-alert-11549233033

There is nothing inevitable about the U.S. winning wars, and on that point the Pentagon’s new missile defense review is alarming. Russia and China are ramping up investments in sophisticated technologies while America is spending less on defending itself. One urgent priority: A constellation of space sensors that could shore up U.S. missile defenses.

More than 20 nations have offensive missile technology, the Defense Department notes in its review released last month. China can already threaten the U.S. with some 125 nuclear missiles. Iran’s medium-range missiles threaten Israel and Europe, and the report notes that Iran “has transferred missile systems to terrorist organizations,” which use them on U.S. allies. Russia is violating the 1987 INF nuclear-missile treaty.

China has been increasing its medium- and intermediate-range missile stocks. “This includes sophisticated anti-ship missiles that pose a direct threat to U.S. aircraft carriers,” the report says. The U.S. has dominated the seas for decades with aircraft carriers, yet Chinese missiles could keep carrier strike groups from operating in the Western Pacific.

Who Do Our Intelligence Agencies Think They Work For? By Sebastian Gorka

https://amgreatness.com/2019/02/01/who

It was a mistake to disband the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1945, just months after we had won World War II.

Within just two years, President Truman realized he had to have a permanent intelligence capability and so in 1947 he signed the National Security Act, which, in addition to creating the National Security Council as the highest national security policymaking body in the U.S. government, created the Central Intelligence Agency out of the ashes of the OSS.

Since 1947, the U.S. Intelligence Community has grown and grown. Originally it was given the task of collecting intelligence on our Cold War adversaries. After the September 11 attacks, it was expanded and reorganized to include today’s 17 agencies.

But whether it was just the OSS during the war, or the 17 federal agencies we have today, the mission of the American intelligence was always the same: to provide its sole client with raw intelligence and analysis so that he can make his decisions on how best to secure America and her citizens. That end-user, of course, is the incumbent president.

This week’s “Fake News” swirling around the Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI) testimony before Congress on his annual “National Worldwide Threat Assessment” isn’t simply dishonest. It is dangerous.

Time To Reconsider CAIR’s Non-Profit Status (Again) By Samantha Rose Mandeles and Daniel Krygier

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/time-to-reconsider-cairs-non-profit-status-again/

In an era of increasing anti-Muslim attacks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) markets itself as a mainstream Muslim civil liberties organization fighting tirelessly for the rights of immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, and on behalf of religious freedom. To support its efforts, CAIR, like most other American non-profit organizations, solicits public tax-deductible donations from concerned citizens all over the country. Unlike most other non-profits, however, questions about what CAIR does with its donations have dogged the organization for years — with good reason.

Founded in 1994, CAIR’s officials have long nurtured ties to extremism and funding overseas terrorism. Indeed, in 2009, the FBI banned its offices from cooperating with CAIR after federal prosecutors named the Islamist group an unindicted co-conspirator during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial. Despite its subsequent designation as a terrorist organization in the UAE, CAIR has so far avoided such a designation in the United States. However, as the Middle East Forum has uncovered, CAIR’s activity in the months leading up to this November’s midterm elections could land the group in hot water for other funding-related issues.

Every American non-profit organization is subject to IRS rules that make it eligible for a federal exemption from payment of tax. One of the requirements for a registered charity’s tax-exemption is that it may not be an action organization, meaning that it “may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” Non-profits are also prohibited from “directly or indirectly participating in …voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates.”

In the months prior to the midterm elections, CAIR stepped up its political activism nationwide. Multiple chapters published ”voting guides” — documents that summarize the platforms of the main candidates, the issues up for a vote, and that explain American election processes. Other chapters have held candidate forums, enabling local constituents to connect directly with candidates and ask questions. While this all sounds helpful and benign, some CAIR chapters’ political “education” has been decidedly partisan. CONTINUE AT SITE

Al-Qaeda’s Little Sister Aidah Shukrijumah mourns brother Adnan’s death, while exhibiting his extremist DNA. Joe Kaufman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272693/al-qaedas-little-sister-joe-kaufman

Four years ago this past December, Saudi-born al-Qaeda senior member Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah (Shukri Jumah) lost his life during a Pakistani Special Forces pre-dawn raid in South Waziristan. Last month, Adnan’s sister Aidah took to Facebook to mourn the anniversary of his passing. Few can fault the sister for mourning her brother’s death, but many can and should question her for the extremism that she herself has exhibited.

Adnan Shukrijumah was a top-ranking al-Qaeda commander and chief of al-Qaeda’s global operations. At one point, he was said to be second-in-command of the terrorist group.

In May 2001, Shukrijumah left his family home in Miramar, Florida and disappeared from the United States. Reports show he had taken flight training with 9/11 hijackers, and information gathered from top-tier al-Qaeda operatives, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, would paint Shukrijumah as the next Mohamed Atta and leading a future 9/11-style strike against the US.

In July 2010, Shukrijumah was charged by the US government with overseeing a bomb plot to attack three New York City subway lines and a related plot to blow up a shopping center in Manchester, England. In the subway plot, he had recruited three young men for the attack. Prior to that, he had allegedly been involved in a plot to blow up high-rise apartment buildings.

Aidah el-Shukri a.k.a. Umm Taibah (Mother of Taibah) was one of Adnan’s younger sisters and is currently an oncology nurse advocate at Cardinal Health, located in Lewisville, Texas.

On December 8th, Aidah, along with photos of her now-deceased brother, wrote on her Facebook, “Can’t believe it’s been 4 years. Until we meet again my brother. Inshallah.” The photos had been reposted from a previous post she had made, on December 8, 2014, the date that the Taliban had confirmed Adnan’s death and two days following the Pakistani government’s South Waziristan raid.

3 From Michigan Charged With Planning to Aid Islamic State Federal prosecutors say three Michigan residents have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/michigan/articles/2019-01-22/lansing-residents-charged-with-planning-to-aid-islamic-state

Federal prosecutors say three Michigan residents have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

They say FBI agents arrested Muse Abdikadir Muse, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Mohamed Salat Haji on Monday, and prosecutors charged the Lansing residents in a complaint filed Tuesday.

Prosecutors say all three defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Kenya. It wasn’t immediately clear if Muse Abdikadir Muse and Mohamud Abdikadir Muse are related.

Boca Terrorist Homecoming 20 years of ties to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda. January 17, 2019 Joe Kaufman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272577/boca-terrorist-homecoming-joe-kaufman

This past November, the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR) held its 20th Anniversary celebration, and with it came a number of Muslim extremist faces from the past. Honored was ICBR co-founder and former web designer for Hamas, Syed Ahmad. Attending, along with Ahmad, who should have been barred from entering the US, were his fellow co-founders, who were and are no less dangerous. It was a reunion of terror.

The notice found on ICBR’s website read: “Please join us for a special event to honor Br. Syed Khawer Ahmad a founding member of ICBR who relocated to UK in 2001. We will also take this opportunity to celebrate ICBR 20th Anniversary with the presence of all 5 founding members including Imam Ibrahim Dremali.”

ICBR was established by those involved in the Muslim Student Organization at Florida Atlantic University (MSO at FAU), including then-MSO advisor Khalid Hamza. The three founding directors of the ICBR corporation were FAU graduate Syed Ahmad, travel agency owner Khalid Qureshi, and FAU professor Bassem Alhalabi. The founding imam was Ibrahim Dremali.

Of the founders, only Alhalabi is still active in ICBR. He is the President of the mosque.

Prior to arriving at FAU, Alhalabi was located in Tampa at the University of South Florida (USF), working as an assistant to USF professor Sami al-Arian. This, while al-Arian was actively creating an American infrastructure for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In May 2006, al-Arian would plead guilty to providing services to PIJ. Alhalabi co-authored publications with al-Arian and, when applying to FAU, he used al-Arian as a reference.