Islam, Realism, and the Church

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William Kilpatrick: Church leaders continue to insist that Islam is not a threat, despite the fact that an abundance of facts shows Muslim hostility to Catholicism.

In comments last year, Marcello Pera, a prominent Italian intellectual and non-believer, criticized Pope Francis for “openly going against tradition, doctrine, and introducing inexplicable innovations, behaviors and gestures.”

A philosopher of science, former president of the Italian Senate, and close friend of Pope Benedict XVI, Pera asserted that Francis had turned Catholicism into “a Church so outgoing that it can no longer be found anywhere.”

In an earlier 2017 interview with Il Mattino, Pera was even more outspoken.  In answer to a question about “indiscriminate” welcoming of migrants to Europe, he replied: “Frankly, I do not get this pope, whatever he says is beyond any rational understanding.  It’s evident to all that an indiscriminate welcoming is not possible:  there is a critical point that can’t be reached.”

He continued: “If the pope. . . insists in a massive and total welcoming, I ask myself:  why does he say it?. . .Why does he lack a minimum of realism, that very little that is requested of anyone?  The answer I can give myself is only one:  The Pope does it because he hates the West, he aspires to destroy it. . . .As he aspires to destroy the Christian tradition.”

Two years ago, most Catholics would have found that hard to swallow.  But now, the idea that Pope Francis hates the West is beginning to seem plausible.  It would explain much of what he says and does – his criticism of capitalism and colonialism, Amazonian initiative and, above all, encouragement of mass Muslim migration into Europe.

Does he also aspire to destroy the Christian tradition?  Well, he rarely misses an opportunity to criticize traditional Catholics.  At the same time, he seems intent on introducing exotic and decidedly non-traditional practices into the life of the Church.

The key word, of course, is “aspires.”  Does Francis consciously desire to “destroy” the West and traditional Christianity (aka Christianity).  Or is he simply a well-intentioned do-gooder who doesn’t understand the consequences of his experiments?

That’s a serious question, but it’s unnecessary to know the answer in order to raise a related question:  Whatever the intention, do his policies and programs actually tend toward the destruction of the West and of Christianity?

I would say, “Yes, they do.” And I would argue, as Professor Pera does, that they “lack a minimum of realism.”  Future historians may well look back upon our era as the Age of Unreality.  And many in the Church have embraced this unreality as though it were a newly revealed Gospel.

Some Church leaders have been flirting with the idea of same-sex marriage, and some seem willing to believe that females can transition to males and males to females.  Others, including the pope himself, seem to believe in the fantasy idea that the lot of the poor can be improved by getting rid of fossil-fuels – which may be the reason that they have also revived the fantasy of the Noble Savage.  Because, minus the benefits of electric power, much of the world will be quickly reduced to a primitive level.  In which case, we may all find ourselves praying to Pachamama and the rain gods for a good harvest.

The most dangerous fantasy, however, is the one that Church leaders have created about Islam.  We are told that it’s a religion of peace, that it shares much common ground with Christianity, that Muslims venerate Jesus just as Catholics do, that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam, and that the slaughter of Christians by Muslims can be attributed to a tiny minority who “misunderstand” their religion.

At the same time, we are taught that “Islamophobia” – an irrational fear of Islam – is a far greater danger than Islamic aggression.

Pera’s point is that these supposedly “irrational” fears are actually quite reasonable.  He is mainly concerned with the fantasy that Europe can successfully absorb millions of Muslim migrants who don’t want to assimilate.  But as one can see, there is a whole basketful of other fantasies that Catholic leaders believe about Islam.

Where does the fantasy come from?  Some attribute it to the influence of Louis Massignon (1883-19620, a French Catholic scholar of Islam whose work had a profound effect on Catholic thinking.  Yet Massignon’s main interest was in the Sufi mystical tradition within Islam, which is only a sliver of the whole.  In short, Massignon and his followers seem to have confused Islam with a relatively small sect of Islam – one that is unrepresentative of mainstream beliefs and practices.  Indeed, many Muslims look upon the Sufis as heretics.

Massignon’s magnum opus was published almost 100 years ago, yet many Catholics still take his idiosyncratic view of Islam to be the “true” and “authentic” Islam.  Ever since the publication of Nostra Aetate in 1965, this woefully inadequate view of Islam has been handed down to successive generations of Catholics, and it’s well past time to challenge it.

Over against the fantasies, there stands an abundance of facts about Islam that are not friendly to the current Catholic narrative.  Catholics need to acquaint themselves with these facts lest they be lured into a deadly complacency.

Let’s start with one rather large and longstanding fact:  All of North Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East were once Catholic.  In fact, for many centuries they were the great centers of Catholic culture.  Now, however, these regions are over 90 percent Muslim.

Fast forward a millennium and it looks like the same thing is happening again.  Lebanon was 62 percent Christian in 1970, but by 2010 the Christian population was only 36 percent.  In Iraq, the Christian population has declined by more than 90 percent just since 2003.  Meanwhile, Christians are being slaughtered in the name of Islam all over the world – in Nigeria, Syria, Kenya, Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.

It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s a much more accurate one than that painted by the Church’s current cadre of whitewashers, and one that those of us possessing even “a minimum of realism” need to take very seriously.

COLUMN BY

William Kilpatrick

William Kilpatrick is the author of Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West, and a new book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For more on his work and writings, visit his website, The Turning Point Project.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. Copyright 2020 The Catholic Thing. All Rights Reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Islam’s Contributions to Iran

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Islam, “the religion of peace,” has contributed to Iran Absolutely nothing, except misery, servitude, hatred, backwardness, hypocrisy, ignorance, superstition and more. From the moment, the Arab barbarians stamped into Iran with the sword of Allah, imposing their desert ideology onto the sophisticated Persian culture, Iranian people haven’t been able to find peace.

Throughout the years, this barbaric ideology brought intolerance, fatalism, institutionalized slavery, injustice, jihadism, oppression of women and non-Muslims, celebration of death, lack of respect for individualism, rejection of freedom and democracy, belief in the theocracy of Allah as ministered by the self-serving clergy who are not accountable to the people, stifling of questioning and inquiry, disallowing all legitimate forms of freedom, hatred of others, blind servitude, and superstitious.

They say history repeats itself. What the hordes of Arabs, did to Iran 1400 years ago, today, the children of these savages, the Islamic Republic and their proxies are doing the exact same thing to the people of Iran. Just take a quick look at Islam’s history as well as what is happening today in the Islamic lands. Islam is not a religion of peace and it has never been. Islam is violent, oppressive, racist, and irrational at its very core. It is treachery for people to present it as otherwise, either out of ignorance or because of their own personal reasons.

In most other lands conquered by Islam, the conquered peoples have lost their own identity and heritage and embraced the ways of their new rulers, under an “Arab” identity. Conversely, in Iran a band of indigenous victims, “infected” by Islam, have mindlessly turned on their Iranian compatriots and tried to rob them of their remaining ancient heritage.

It is exactly this savage minority that has established an oppressive tyrannical rule and wields power against the Iranian people. Yet, even under the rule of the Mullahs, the overwhelming majority of Iranians of various ethnicities and religions remain faithful to their ancient creed – Zoroastrianism.

Today, Iran is under the occupation of the most savage form of the Islamic butchers. These are the descendants of the same Islamic butchers who conquered Persia 1400 years ago with the sword of Islam. These are the same creatures that plundered and burned Iran and took Iranian women as slaves to the desert of Arabia. Even now the Islamic Republic is selling the Iranian women in Dubai and other Persian Gulf kingdoms

In its savage crusade against others, Islam sanctioned slavery, condemned women to a cast of inferior, and summarily sentenced to death any and all people who rejected its yoke of bigotry.

Crimes committed by this cult of savagery are too many to fully enumerate here. Sallying out of the Arabian dessert with the sword of avarice, Muslims attacked civilized people in search of booty. Their early success enflamed their lust and propelled them in their march of death and destruction.

Islamic clergy, the parasitic prime beneficiaries of Islam, are master practitioners of the carrot-and stick-strategy. By drawing heavily from the Quran and the Hadith, the conniving mullahs and imams have assembled a potent arsenal of threats and promises to keep the faithful in line.

They had little trouble in so doing, since Islamic scripture is replete with graphic horrific punishment awaiting the wayward and the unbelievers, while the rewards for the obedient docile, if he is male, are described as endless variety of sensual pleasures.

Anyone daring to leave the corral of Islam is apostate and automatically condemned to death. And that’s just for starters. The punishment awaiting the ungrateful deserter of the one and only true path, Islam threatens, is a raft of horrific eternal torment in Allah’s hell.

The Islamdom is at a crossroads. Millions in Iran, a hugely important force of sustaining and fanning the Islamic fire, have already turned and are turning against Islam. They and the rest of the world need to hear the voices of secular decent people who are in league with them. I am sure you want to play your part in this honorable endeavor and lend your help to put Islam, the very spawning swamp of the deadly virus that makes for jihadists, out of business.

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INTEL REPORT: More Sulaimani Reactions and Key Developments in Libya

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IRAQ

The Saudi owned site alarabiya.net is reporting that in the southern (Shi’a) city of al-Basra, members of the Iraqi Hizbollah, which is one of the heshd sha’bi (popular mobilization) units directed by the late Qaseem Sulaimani and his Iraqi deputy al-Muhandess, drove pick-ups into a crowed of anti-Iranian protestors, in an attempt to break up the protests.  Later the protestors burned one of the trucks belonging to the Hizbollah group.

In Nasriyyah, another southern Iraqi Shi’a city, Iraqi Hizbollah units fired live rounds against anti-Iranian protestors when the protestors refused to engage in even “symbolic” mourning for al-Muhandess.  The protestors then burned the local Hizbollah HQ.

Alarabiya is also reporting that an IRGC asset, who had worked directly under Solaimani in the failiq al-quds brigade, was killed in Yemen.  The report, which came originally from Iranian sources, did not mention where he was killed, or how.

Alarabiya.net is also reporting this morning that the leaders of the Iraqi popular mobilization units have told their people to avoid public appearances and to change their phone numbers, in the wake of the Solaimani killing.

U.S. news sources are reporting that the Somali al-Qaeda franchise, al-shabaab attacked an airfield in Kenya where U.S. troops were training Kenyan troops.  One U.S. serviceman and two U.S. contractors were killed, before Kenyan security forces could react and kill five of the attackers while driving the rest of them off.

COMMENT:  Since al-Qaeda is closely allied to Iran (as well as Qatar and Turkey), it is tempting to see this attack as Iran’s first counter-punch for the Solaimani killing.

IRAQ/LEBANON

On a lighter note, Sarah Dhamdhawi, who hosts a show on al-arabiyya TV called tafaalkom and in which she talks about what is currently lighting up the Arabic social media accounts, commented on the after affects of the Solaimani killing saying that the vehicle bearing the bodies of Solaimani and al-Muhandess through the streets of Bagdad, after the killing, was the subject of lots of sarcasm on twitter.  This is because the vehicle  bearing their bodies was a Chevy, an American-made vehicle.

She also reported on the photos of Solaimani that the Lebanese Hizbollah distributed around Beirut in hopes of eliciting sympathy, instead it became also the subjects of sarcasm, though she didn’t say why.

LIBYA

Both al-arabiyya TV and alarabiya.net are reporting this morning Erdogan’s stooge, Fayez Sirraaj (head of the “government” in Tripoli), along with the Turkish Foreign Minister, visited Algiers in hopes of inducing Algeria to also intervene on behalf of the Sirraaj Government.  So far, no go on that account.

Also this morning alarabiya.net is reporting that General Haftar’s Libyan National Army now has complete control of the city of Sirte, which was one of the only two major cities still allied to the Tripoli faction.  The LNA then announced that they will move on Misratta next (which is the other city allied to Tripoli).

The capture of Sirte was later confirmed by al-arabiyya TV.  The Libyan source interviewed by the TV news anchor said that the LNA entered the city from five different directions and it took them only four hours to put down all opposition and establish complete control of the city.

COMMENT:

Sirte and Misratta are both located on Libya’s Mediterranean coast on the far west side of the country, near Tripoli.  When the LNA’s battle for Tripoli began last Spring, I thought that they had made a huge strategic mistake by trying to go after Tripoli first before taking out Tripoli’s smaller allies first.

My fears proved well founded as during the summer and fall, whenever the LNA began to make progress in Tripoli, fighters from Misratta would come out and hit them in the flanks forcing a retreat.  Also, Turkey alternately used the ports of Sirte and Misratta for landing supplies and terrorists from other countries which would then be slipped into Tripoli to aid the Sirraaj government.

This shift in strategy by the LNA to do what they should have done in the first place, might be traced to the influence of their Russian “advisors” from the Wagner company.

Erdogan’s plans to step-up Turkey’s involvement with regular Turkish troops may have also convinced the LNA of the need to take out Sirte and Misratta.

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MIDDLE EAST INTEL REPORT: Getting Wild

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Recent evens in Iraq and Libya have dominated virtually all Arabic TV news programs and internet sites this weekend, as events and reactions continue to unfold.

EGYPTIAN REACTION

Popular Egyptian talk show host ‘Amru Adeeb, on his show al-hakaya (the story) which airs every weekend on MBS-Egypt, opened his coverage of America’s killing of Qaseem Solaimani with the words:  “Trump just won re-election!”  He repeated the phrase several times, with pauses in between for dramatic effect.

“Nobody’s talking about impeachment now,” he said.  “Trump’s got four more years.”

He went on to say that Trump is “strange.  Perhaps the strangest president America’s ever had, but he made the strong decision.  And the whole world is astonished!”

He added that Qaseem Solaimani has left a “river of blood” all across the Middle East.  The protestors in Iraq, the hundreds that have been killed . . . “that’s on Qaseem Solaimani.”

He noted how Iran had attacked oil tankers, and America did nothing.  Iran had hit Aramco, and America did nothing.  And, the Iranians thought that Trump was a weak president, that he couldn’t do anything until after the elections.  But, then, Iran kills one American . . . “just one!  and Trump takes out Solaimani and al-Muhandess.”

Regarding America’s follow-up attack on installations of the Iraqi Hizbollah (one of the heshd sha’abi (Iranian operated Iraqi Shi’a militias), ‘Amru Adeeb said that it was because Trump wanted to take out those who had attacked the American embassy.

He added that “America is no longer reacting.  America is acting!”

COMMENT:

‘Amru Adeeb is close to the as-Sisi regime, and has connections with the upper echelons of Egyptian General Intelligence (EGI), so his views generally reflect those of the current Egyptian government.

U.S. intelligence is saying that Iran had been planning to stage a coup in Iraq.  Why they would want to do that might be a mystery to some, given that the current Iraqi government is virtually subservient to Iran as it is.  But, perhaps submission is not enough, what the Iranians would want is a clone of themselves in Iraq, so the coup would be to replace the current submissive government with a full Shi’a Islamic Republic.

This coup, had it occurred, would have been spearheaded by the all of the heshd sha’abi (popular militias) and directed by Solaimani.  Therefore,  just taking out Solaimani was not enough.  The Americans had to also take out elements that were to play a key role in the proposed coup.

OTHER REACTIONS

In Iran’s capital city of Tehran, the regime called out tens of thousands of their supporters to protest the killing of Solaimani, whom many thought was a future president of Iran.  However, elsewhere in Iran, there were equally large outpourings of demonstrators expressing their joy over Solaimani’s death.

In Iraq, a similar situation.  In the capital, Baghdad, there were demonstrations by the pro-Iranian crowd against the killing of Solaimani, and chants of “America is the great Satan.”  But elsewhere there were even larger outpourings of people (including shi’a) dancing in the streets, and celebrating Solaimani’s death.  “No more Solaimani” they chanted.

The Saudi-owned www.alarabiya.net is reporting that the Iraqi government has placed additional “restrictions” on the American forces in Iraq after the killing of Solaimani.  Many Iraqis have expressed their fear that their country will become the battle ground for a war between Iran and America.

Most of the guests interviewed by the anchors on the sister Saudi-owned TV channel of al-arabiyya TV were pleased with the take down of Solaimani.  The regular news casts on al-arabiyya TV have reported that Iranian newspapers are reporting that Iran’s revenge will come via their militias, meaning that militias in countries other than Iran will do the dirty work leaving Iran’s hands theoretically clean.

In Lebanon, folks also feared that their country would suffer from Iran’s anger.  In Lebanon, the largest and most powerful “political party” is Iran’s puppet terrorist militia, the heavily armed Hizbollah.  So, the fear is that they might trigger a war with Israel, which would hurt all of Lebanon, and/or attack western embassies and other western interests in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, our great, loyal NATO ally, Erdogan, is crying tears over Solaimani’s death, calling him a great martyr.

LIBYA

The UN SEC GEN Gutierez warned Turkey against intervening in Libya.  This is noteworthy because it is the UN that made the mistake of granting international recognition to the Turkey-supported Sirraaj government in the first place.

U.S. President Trump has also advised Turkey to not intervene in Libya.  Yet, the U.S., like most other countries, still maintains an Embassy in militia-controlled Tripoli.

Libyan General Hafter said they will teach Turkey a severe, and historical lesson if they try to intervene in Libya.

Nonetheless, Erdogan seems poised at this point to follow through with his plan to send Turkish troops to Libya.  He is talking about only 250-300 at this point.  However, French intelligence has reported that four civilian airliners carrying fighters from Syria has landed near Tripoli, courtesy of Erdogan.  An article in today’s www.alarabiya.net talks about 1,000 Syrian “mercenaries” that Turkey has trained and shipped to Libya.

These Syrian “mercenaries” are the al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Muslim Brotherhood types whose goals match that of the Turkish regime.

COMMENTS: 

During the above-mentioned al-hakaya program by popular Egyptian talk show host ‘Amru Adeeb, he touched on the Libya situation as well as Iraq.  While condemning Erdogan’s moves, he commented that in his view the Trump administration was okay with Turkey moving into Libya because the Russians were supporting the other side.  At the time, I tended to agree with that comment based on previous statements by the administration.  However, Trump’s more recent comment advising against Turkish intervention has to be seen as a positive development.  It is far better that the U.S. remain neutral on the Libya situation than to offer moral, diplomatic, or any other sort of support to the wrong side (which happens to be the side that Turkey supports).

While ‘Amru Adeeb was ranting about Erdogan’s Libya moves, a split screen was showing scenes from the below-mentioned Egyptian military exercises.  The Saudi-owned al-arabiya TV did the same thing during their coverage of the Libya situation.

I believe that these military exercises by Egypt were not just to make sure the troops were ready in the event they should be needed, but it was also a message sent to Turkey.  Likewise, the TV coverage of these exercises in conjunction with the news coverage on the Libyan situation made it clear that this is a specific warning to Turkey

I doubt that the Libyan National Army by itself could do much against a full scale Turkish invasion.  Their air force consists of about two or three ancient MIGS left over from the Soviet era, and a handful of helicopters.  The mechanized portion of their army appears to be primarily Japanese pick-up trucks with machine guns, artillery, and anti-aircraft guns converted to artillery mounted in the back.  Maybe two or three ancient Soviet tanks.  However, were Egypt to enter the Libyan war in earnest, they would hand the Turks their rear-ends and send them packing.  Some comments coming out of Egypt now indicate that they just might do that.

While previous comments coming out of the Egyptian regime have stressed that Egypt’s army is just for defending Egypt’s soil, and Egypt’s borders.  Period.  Comments coming out this weekend include the importance of defending Egypt’s national security, and a stable Libya (i.e. free of terrorists and Turks) as being in the interest of Egypt’s national security.  There have also been comments to the effect that Egypt is prepared “to defend its coastlines and the coastlines of its neighbors” (i.e. Libya).

Coincidentally, or not, the Egyptian military on Saturday morning 04 January 2020 staged a huge naval exercise and practice marine landing on one of its Mediterranean beaches west of Alexandria.  Participating in this exercise were landing craft for unloading Humvees, tanks, and other heavy equipment, a helicopter “aircraft carrier” and the ‘copters it bore, Apaches and Shinooks, submarines, and anti-submarine aircraft and naval craft, F-16s, and special forces.

In comparing the militaries of Turkey and Egypt, Turkey has the larger and more powerful navy, as Erdogan has been spending billions on his navy in preparation for ruling the entire Mediterranean as in the Ottoman days of old.  But Egypt likely has adequate submarine forces (including the latest German models), and anti-submarine air craft to take out any Turkish ships approaching Libya that it wants to.

In terms of air power, Egypt wins hands down.  Both countries are equipped with substantial numbers of F-15s and F-16s, and NATO helicopters, but Erdogan purged most of his pilots in the wake of the failed coup attempt of 2016, and they as yet do not have adequate replacements.

While the Turkish army could probably muster close to the same amount of manpower, given the respective populations of the two countries (80 million for Turkey, 100 million for Egypt) as Egypt, they would have the logistical problem of transporting them across the sea, and then problems of supply.  Whereas Egypt would have the advantage fighting close to their home soil.  The Turkish army also has command and control, and chain of command problems thanks to Erdogan’s numerous purges of the army beginning in 2009, and continuing through 2016.

Then there is the matter of Egypt’s huge, modern tank force, and the flat, easily traversed terrain between Cairo and Tripoli.

Stay tuned.  Things just might get exciting.

SUNDAY 05 MAY

The Iraqi parliament met to vote on expelling U.S. forces from Iraq in the wake of the killing of Solaimani and a number of his stooges.  Significantly, the Sunni Arabs and the Kurds boycotted the meeting, leaving the Iranian stooges, including the Prime Minister, totally in charge.

After the vote by the Iran-subservient Iraqi parliament, protests broke out in Baghdad against the decision according www.alarabiya.net.  Other protesters in the Shi’a holy city of Karbala protested the parliament’s decision by blocking the road to Karbala, and burning tires.

Iraqi Shi’a leader Muqtada Sadr has recommended that Iraq close down the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and pass a law criminalizing any contacts of any sort with any and all Americans.  An article in www.alarabiya.net says that Muqtadi Sadr, whom they call a “proxy” of Iran, has also called for the formation of an “international militia.”

Another alarabiya.net article hints that Iran and its proxies may go after European targets.

The Leader of Iran’s puppet Lebanese Shi’a Hizbollah, Nasrallah, has stated that the killing of Solaimani launched a “brand new era in the Middle East.”  The implication of his words were rather ominous.

ANALYSIS:

Judging from the reactions and comments coming out of the Iranian leadership, and from their client terrorist entities around the Middle East, such as Hizbollah and Hamas, Iran will try to unleash a broader reign of terror throughout all of the Arab countries using its proxies to do the dirty work.

Iran’s analysis being that by using their proxies to do their dirty work (including killing American citizens, attacking embassies, consulates, and private businesses) in other countries, that any response by the U.S. will take place in the countries where the attacks take place, causing those countries also to want to sever ties with the U.S. as Iraq is doing.

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime is under increasing pressure, not only economically from Trump’s embargoes, but internally from their own population’s disgust with the regime’s behavior and domestic policies.

BOTTOM LINE:  As things escalate throughout the Middle East, and assuming that the U.S. responses will increase in severity as well, the Iranian Mullah’s may well reach the conclusion that “if we’re going down anyway, we’re going to set the entire Middle East on fire and let Allah sort it out later.”

VIDEO: 2019 Focus on White Supremacist Violence Doesn’t Explain NYC Attacks

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In 2019, both authorities and a rising number of organizations shifted focus to the threat of white supremacist violence. The shift was necessary, considering both the El Paso attack at a Walmart that killed 22 and Poway synagogue shooting (which followed the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018).

As reported by NPR, here are some steps being taken:

  • Congressional committees held at least four hearings on hate crimes and white nationalism, calling on counterterrorism officials to treat Far-Right militants as seriously as they do jihadists
  • Two U.S. senators, one Republican and one Democratic, introduced bills that would give federal authorities tools similar to those used to combat Islamist extremists to combat white supremacist violence. The issue remains controversial because of questions of free speech and other concerns.
  • The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a strategic plan that pledged more resources for fighting Far-Right extremism – a surprise from an agency that previously focused almost exclusively on Islamist militancy. The introduction to the document stated, “As the threats evolve, we must do so as well”
  • Academics across the United States who study the Far Right formed the Consortium on Hate and Political Extremism, saying they felt compelled to help teach the public about the evolving threat. It’s modeled after Europe’s Center for Research on Extremism, known as C-REX

Yet the recent string of attacks against New York City’s Jewish population isn’t from white supremacists; it’s from members of the city’s Black-American population.

Since attacks surged, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) announced the launch of a unit focused on racially and ethnically motivated extremism, called by the same name (acronym REME) to understand and counter this phenomenon.

What Did We Miss?

I think the problem lies in the fact that we’ve been so focused on white supremacy, that we’ve ignored the larger monster in the room. The larger monster is the thing that is allowing the pattern of racial/ethnic violence to duplicate.

Anti-Semitism is the oldest hate in history. Fortunately, this scourge has been relatively dormant since the establishment of our nation, which was founded to a large degree on the idea of rights for all individuals and faiths.

Now we must ask: What is it about this hate that it is suddenly re-emerging? For better insight into the problem, I talked with former extremists who, at one point in their lives, embraced hate before they decided to walk away from it.

A common theme is the increasing polarization of our society leading to an emergence of extremism on both sides of the political spectrum, creating an environment which makes Jews vulnerable from all angles.

Former Extremists Weigh In

Jeff Schoep, former leader of the National Socialist Movement, speaks about America’s increasingly polarized landscape:

Extremism and radicalization can come from many different sources, the Far Right, Far Left, white nationalists, Black nationalists, religious extremists, the list goes on. In 2019, polarization between Americans of all various political and societal differences has risen to such extremes that people who were once considered moderate are lumped into one extreme or another.

For example, Trump supporters increasingly were being called racists and Nazis, while Democrats were being called communists. Both sides are increasingly intolerant of each other which, in some cases, is leading to violence.

As Americans we need to unite and come together and not divide ourselves over petty differences. We need to learn to love each other and accept that just because someone has a different opinion than someone else, it does not give anyone the right to act upon or against those opinions with violence and hate.

Jesse Morton, a former recruiter for Al-Qaeda, calls on us to see the relationship between different forms of extremism that we see emerging on the U.S. scene:

What Can Change . . . Today?

I personally feel the problem is significantly rooted in language. We’re using the proverbial “master’s tools” to dismantle the master’s house — meaning, we’re using language based on the mistaken idea that human beings can be reduced to generic color blocks to talk about the problem.

By using labels that speak to color, we’re reaffirming the myth of difference and invoking the language on which that myth is dependent.

Saying a white supremacist did this, or a Black person did that, we’re seeing the behavior through myth of the group. We’re not seeing the individual, which is necessary if we’re going to understand the behavior that drives these individuals.

It’s also necessary if we hope to take power away from the offending “group.” In order for white supremacists, for example, to exist, we need to see and reaffirm them as a group: white. Take away the coded language, and you’ve dismantled, in part, a significant factor that group needs to exist.

These and other ideas need to be explored if this problem is going to be tackled in the upcoming year.

Meanwhile, one group is taking to the streets and tackling the problem. Watch the following video about New York’s Guardian Angels patrolling the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, where anti-Semitic crimes have been rampant in the last weeks. The citizen’s patrol group was started in 1979 by Curtis Sliwa (featured in the video) as a response to the out-of-control crime in the New York City subway. The group now has branches in over 130 cities and 13 countries worldwide. Older Jewish residents of Crown Heights remembered the Guardian Angels’ presence during the 1991 Crown Heights riots, when the police largely let widespread violence against Jews go unanswered:

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EDITORS NOTE: This Clarion Project column with video is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Qassem Soleimani — Inside the twisted, terrible reign of Iran’s top general

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The killing of Iranian terror-meister Qassem Soleimani in a targeted US air strike in Baghdad on Thursday will have a dramatic impact on the stability of the Iranian regime and its ability to conduct oversea terrorist operations.

Soleimani was, in many ways, the irreplaceable man. Known as a charismatic leader — indeed, the only charismatic leader in Iran’s military today — he has no parallel among contemporary Iranian commanders.

Wherever Iran has sent its expeditionary Quds Force to war — in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen — there you would find Soleimani.

During the early years of the US occupation of Iraq, he became the puppet master of successive Iraqi governments. Not only did he select presidents and prime ministers, but over the years he placed his minions in key positions in every Iraqi government ministry where they controlled personnel and finance decisions.

He also set up a far-flung financial empire, reportedly taking a percentage of the float on all foreign currency exchange from Iraqi banks, netting close to $1 billion per month in black money to finance his terror empire.

While he was serving as Barack Obama’s CIA director, Gen. David Petraeus liked to tell a story about a text message he received from Soleimani at the peak of the surge in 2008.

After the death of General Qassim Soleimani, people throughout Iran and the city of Rasht mourned him on the streets.

“Dear General Petraeus, you should know that I, Qassim Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds Force member. The individual who’s going to replace him is a Quds Force member.”

Staff Sergeant Robert Bartlett was one of several thousand US soldiers wounded by “explosively made penetrators,” a particularly deadly form of IED, in Iraq. They were designed to kill American troops, and were built and shipped to Iraqi terror groups by Soleimani. In just a two-year period, from 2005-2007, they claimed the lives of an estimated 600 US servicemen in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.

The force of the projectile “cut me in half from the left corner of my temple down to my jaw, and took my gunner’s legs off. Because of this Iranian bomb, I died three times in five days. Only my faith kept me alive,” Sgt. Bartlett told me in a videotaped interview. The US never retaliated for these attacks.

In 2011, Soleimani and his men recruited a down-and-out drug dealer named Manssor Arbabsiar, to try to assassinate then-Saudi ambassador to Washington, DC, Adel al-Jubeir, who had angered the Iranian regime by publicly calling out their terror ties.

Video shows moment Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani is blown away.

According to federal court documents, Arbabsiar traveled repeatedly to Tehran to meet with an associate of Soleimani’s to receive orders and money and ultimately recruited a Mexican drug dealer to carry out the barbarous plot the Iranians proposed: to kill al-Jubeir while he was lunching at the upscale restaurant at the Watergate Hotel.

If successful, the bombing could have killed more than a hundred people in the heart of the US capitol, but Soleimani reportedly wasn’t worried about the collateral damage. As I wrote at the time, the only reason the plot failed was very good luck (as far as the FBI was concerned). Arbabsiar chose the wrong Mexican to carry out the hit, one who happened to be an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In recent years, Soleimani has traveled repeatedly to Syria to supervise the construction of a network of military and intelligence bases Iran planned to use to expand its presence on Israel’s borders. Israeli fighter jets reportedly narrowly missed him during a 2015 strike on an Iranian base in Aleppo province. Shortly after that attack, he told an Iranian Internet news service, “Martyrdom is what I seek in mountains and valleys but isn’t granted yet.”

Former Iranian intelligence officers told me about Soleimani’s direct involvement in planning, financing and directing the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on US diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were killed.

At the time, writing in these pages, I called him the “Wizard of Oz of Iranian terror.”

His goals in attacking us in Benghazi were to shut down the US arms pipeline from that city to the anti-regime jihadi groups in Syria and ultimately to drive the United States out of Libya entirely, both of which he accomplished.

His many brushes with death and his outrageous terror rap sheet, which is longer than bin Laden’s, led Soleimani and his supporters to consider him invincible. His demise at the hands of US forces on Thursday not only shows that is not the case but that the aura of invincibility of the regime itself is over.

I believe the Iranian people will draw the obvious conclusion that this once powerful regime has feet of clay. Expect bigger anti-regime protests inside Iran in the coming weeks and popular revolts against Iranian interference in Lebanon and Iraq as well.

To me, the biggest question remains: Is President Trump ready for the revolution he has unleashed? With this single act, the United States has set in motion big historical forces for positive change. We must be prepared to help the forces of freedom against tyranny and oppression.

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Things to Know About Top Iranian General Killed by US Airstrike

EDITORS NOTE: This New York Post column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Iraq: MPs scream “Allahu akbar” after voting to expel US forces from the country

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This vote was a foregone conclusion, since Iraq has had a weak Shi’ite government dominated by the Islamic Republic of Iran ever since the toppling of Saddam Hussein. And the MPs are right: we should leave Iraq and everywhere our troops are without any defined mission or goal.

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“An Entire World Will Avenge You”: Pro-Soleimani rally in Molenbeek, Muslim area of Brussels

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

DECADENT DEMOCRATS: The Enemies of America are Our Best Friends Forever

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“Last night, at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani.” – President Donald J. Trump on January 3, 2020.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” – Robert K. Hudnut, A Sensitive Man and the Christ, 1971

It has become clear there are those in the Democrat Party, the media and in Hollywood who take exception to the termination of Iranian al Quds General Qasem Soleimani. Some members of Congress, like Nancy Pelosi, are upset that they were not notified prior to the termination of this “number-one terrorist.” Others have shouted that this termination is tantamount to an act of war against Iran.

It seems like the Democrats are tripping over themselves to undermine our national security.

Iran, Democrats Best Friends Forever

Let’s look at a few Twitter posts to understand how the enemies of America are the Democrats best friends forever.

First Rose McGowen, NYT bestselling author of #BRAVE Amazon.

Here is Max Blumenthal the Editor, the @GrayzoneProject, , Co-host of Moderate Rebels, @moderate_rebels  Author, The Management of Savagery. Note Blumenthal is at the White House standing shoulder to shoulder with Code Pink, Answer Coalition and Pop Resistance.

MSNBC Iran’s BFF

The big lie from Susan Rice on speaking to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC stating that during the entire eight years of the Obama administration wasn’t “presented an opportunity” to terminate Soleimani.

Representative Ilhan Omar Iran’s BFF

President Trump stated in his announcement of the termination of Qasem Soleimani:

We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.

This statement was not good enough for Ilhan Omar (D-MI). She has made this a campaign issue and is using it to raise funds for her reelection.

Omar and war crimes.

Iran’s new Quds Force Commander Ismael Qaani.

CONCLUSION:

In a TownHall.com column titled There Is Something Fundamentally Wrong With Democrats Derek Hunter writes:

It’s odd how the political left cheers America’s shortcomings and mourns its victories.

[ … ]

Weirdly, the people who use the word “justice” most often saw no justice in the death of a man who’s been killing innocent people for their whole lives. Ilhan Omar reacted the way someone would when their childhood hero passes away, then tried to fundraise off of it because anti-Americanism translates into cash on the left.

Rashida Tlaib warned about a “lawless President recklessly moves us closer to yet another unnecessary war that puts innocent lives at risk.” She expressed no concerns for the innocent lives Soleimani had taken over his career.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez whined that “the President engaged in what is widely being recognized as an act of war against Iran, one that now risks the lives of millions of innocent people.”

Democrats and their supporters support Iran. They have, since President Trump withdrew from the Iranian Nuclear Deal, tried to undermine him and his foreign policy in the Middle East.

© All rights reserved.

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The Left Will Resist President Trump at All Costs, Even for Terrorists

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Iran’s Supreme Leader vows jihad for Qassem Soleimani’s killing

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Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened the United States with ‘jihad’ after an American drone strike killed Qassem Soleimani, the chief of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

“All Enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war,” Khamenei said in a televised statement.

In his Friday’s sermon, Khamenei vowed revenge for the slain terrorist, saying, “this is the time to clear the region from these insidious beasts.” The chants of “Death to America” followed the weekly Islamic prayer.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran-backed terrorist group Hizbollah, which operates in Lebanon, also joined in the Iranian call to jihad, urging “all resistance fighters worldwide” to avenge the killing of the top Iranian commander.

Soleimani, considered to be one of the most powerful figures in the Iranian regime, was the chief architect of Iran’s network of terrorist groups across the Middle East. The head of Quds Force, the elite wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was responsible for the killing of hundreds of American servicemen and women in Iraq, the U.S. Defense Department confirmed. At the time of the attack, he was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” the Pentagon disclosed.

Soleimani’s Quds Force is tasked with carrying out terrorist operations beyond Iran’s borders, propping up pro-Iran regimes, and building proxy terrorist militia. For two decades, he was in charge of Iran’s foreign intelligence and terrorist operations. “The killing of Qassim Soleimani is one of the biggest developments in the Middle East for decades – it far eclipses the deaths of Bin Laden or Baghdadi in terms of strategic significance and implications,” the UK newspaper Telegraph noted.

Iran’s allies, Russian and China, condemned the U.S. anti-terror operation, calling all sides to exercise restraint, “especially the United States.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry offered glowing praise for the slain terrorist: “Soleimani served the cause of protecting Iran’s national interests with devotion. We express our sincere condolences to the Iranian people.” His killing “was an adventurist step that will increase tensions throughout the region,” the Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported citing Foreign Ministry sources.

The response from the EU and European leaders was muted, with Germany and France calling for “easing” of the tensions and “deescalating” the situation.

The French TV channel EuroNews reported the European response the U.S. counter-terrorism strike:

The first European country to react to the killing of Soleimani is France. The country’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Amelie de Montchalin said on RTL radio, “we are waking up to a more dangerous world. Military escalations are always dangerous.” She added that “escalation is underway.”

Montchalin indicated that urgent reconciliation efforts are being launched behind the scenes. French President Emmanuel Macron and his foreign minister were reaching out to “all the actors in the region,” she said.

The British government is urging caution, saying “further conflict is in none of our interests.””

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stated that the UK has “always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani.“

The statement does not explicitly endorse or condemn the actions of the U.S., a major British ally.

Germany says the situation in the Middle East has reached ” “a dangerous escalation point” and that conflicts in the region can only be resolved diplomatically.

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer characterised the U.S. move as “a reaction to a “whole series of military provocations for which Iran bears responsibility,” pointing to attacks on tankers and a Saudi oil facility.

The drone strike that killed Soleimani also took out Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. The terrorist group was behind the storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Sunday. The terror outfit also carried out a recent rocket attack at a U.S. military base in northern Iraq, killing one American civilian contractor and injuring several soldiers.

Hours after the strike, Iran was busy regrouping its terrorist network in the region. Iranian leader Khamenei appointed Esmail Qaani (Ghaani) as commander of Quds force to replace the slain terrorist.

Cross-posted from Legal Insurrection.

COLUMN BY

Vijeta Uniyal

Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian journalist based in Germany. He is Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

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RELATED VIDEO: Muslims rally in Times Square calling for an Intifada in America

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Iran at the Flash Point

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To fully grasp Iran’s current situation, we need to be reminded of the Islamic revolution of 1979. Many Iranians have compared the 1979 Islamic revolution to the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD when Arab conquerors forced the Persians to convert to Islam and started to demolish Zoroastrian temples. Those who refused to convert, a special tax was imposed known as jizya (poll tax), and acquired the status of dhimmis.

Ibn Kathir (Commenting on Quran 2:256 in the unabridged version of his tafsir) – “Therefore all people of the world should be called to Islam. If anyone of them refuses to do so, or refuses to pay the jizya, they should be fought till they are killed.”

The 1979 Islamic revolution was a plague upon the Iranian people. Most people are under the impression that Iranians voluntarily chose an Islamic government. Nothing could be further from the truth. On March 30, 1979, the new and unstable Islamic leadership conducted a referendum asking all Iranians over the age of 16 a simple yes or no question: should Iran be an Islamic republic?  Michael Axworthy states “there may have been some irregularities in the referendum.” According to many people, it was a complete sham. Those who marked no, faced severe consequences.

To give legitimacy to the illegitimate government they closely monitored the voting process. For forty years, the Iranian people have tolerated this brutal regime. They gradually developed Stockholm syndrome.  If Iran were to hold a referendum on the Islamic Republic today, over 80% would clearly oppose it—The 1979 brief post-revolutionary excitement and sense of freedom quickly gave way to the new rulers’ systemic Islamization of state and society.

Since the beginning of the Islamic revolution, the regime has used coercion, co-optation, and persuasion to try to change the cultural values of the Iranian people. They purged all traces of the Persian monarchy and renamed every street in Iran. They closed universities for three years (1980–1983) and after reopening, banned many books and purged thousands of students and lecturers from the schools. In the end, it failed miserably.

From 1981 until 1985, almost 8,000 people were executed, and similar numbers were killed during the so-called “great massacre” in the final year of the 1980–88 war with Iraq. The Islamic Republic became one of the most oppressive regimes in the world and presently holds the world’s highest execution rate.

Since the 2009 Green Revolution, the situation in Iran has become more tense and unstable. Sporadic protests have intensified. Within 48 hours, protests were trembling at least 80 cities, and the refrains of the demonstrators had catapulted from economic grievances to explicit denunciations of the system and the entirety of its leadership. In fact, it directly aimed at the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei who called the crackdown a justified response to a plot by Iran’s enemies at home and abroad and towards Velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist).

The recent uprising by millions of people throughout Iran is a clear indication that the Islamic theocracy is in irreversible collapse. The overwhelming majority of the people are determined to establish a fully secular democracy with complete separation of mosque and state. Iranians want nothing less than regime change.

The supreme leader Ali Khamenei is in a state of panic. He has ordered his security forces to do whatever it takes to crack down on the protesters. The regime realizes the current protests are much different and much larger than the 2009 Green Movement. The recent protests show the working class and lower middle class Iranians in small towns and medium-sized cities across Iran calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Many have chanted in support of exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi. For many demonstrators, the miserable state of the Iranian economy and corruption provided the perfect vehicle for pent-up expressions of Persian nationalism.

The call of the opposition has been resoundingly answered by President Trump and some of his cabinet members. Iranian leaders are despised by all segments of the Iranian population. It is just a matter of time for the regime to fall. The main concern however now is how to ensure a smooth transition from a theocracy to a secular democracy and to ensure Iran’s territorial integrity.

In short: The people of Iran wish nothing less than a complete regime change through the democratic process of a free referendum. They believe it is the surest, safest and the fastest way to achieve a democratic Iran and end the world’s nightmare of nuclear holocaust that is currently confronting us all.

© All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Evangelicals for Trump Rally in Kendall, Florida

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Global News published the below video and commentary on the Evangelicals for Trump rally:

U.S. President Donald Trump attended an “Evangelicals for Trump” rally in West Kendall, Florida a day after authorizing the targeting killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

Trump stated that Soleimani was “plotting attacks against Americans” and that his execution was a “warning to terrorists.” The overnight attack was a dramatic escalation in a “shadow war” in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.

© All rights reserved.

President Trump Ordered Military Hits on Islamic Terrorists to Deter Further Aggression

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“The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home – which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order.” –  Donald J. Trump

“To defeat Islamic extremist terrorism, we must put them on defense. If they are at war against us – which they have declared – we must commit ourselves to unconditional victory against them.” – Rudy Giuliani

“Every year, the State Department declares Iran to be the world’s primary supporter of terror. And within the government, within the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, you have practically eliminated any training or any use of the term ‘radical Islam.’ That’s what we’re facing.” – Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn (RET)

“But there’s one thing we must all be clear about: terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate goals by some sort of illegitimate means. Whatever the murderers may be trying to achieve, creating a better world certainly isn’t one of their goals. Instead they are out to murder innocent people.” – Salman Rushdie

In his book, Field of Fight, Lt. General Michael T. Flynn stated, “We’re in a world war, but very few Americans recognize it, and fewer still have any idea how to win.  I’ve been fighting for more than thirty-three years, much of the time at the top levels of U.S. military intelligence. I have some strong feelings about the war, about our ‘field of fight.’  The three-word title comes from the ancient Greek epic poet Homer, writing in The Iliad about a battle involving both men and gods.  Our most fanatical contemporary enemies think they are in a similar battle with us.  Most of them believe their cause is blessed and supported by the Almighty.  We must prove them wrong.”

Oh, that this brilliant Army intelligence officer who gave 33 years in service to our country was still President Donald J. Trump’s National Security Advisor.  I’d feel so much safer.  Our President has learned so much from his first National Security Advisor, and he ordered our military to eliminate two leaders of Islamic terrorism who desired America’s destruction.

Islamic Terrorists

If it’s ISIS, you take out global terrorist and Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi; if it’s Iran, you take out the top military terrorist commander, Qasem Soleimani. President Trump ordered both hits and our military carried them out with precision.

Within 24 hours of the attack on our Iraq embassy, the number two Iranian, was eliminated.  Soleimani had been planning further attacks on American diplomats and military personnel and had approved the attacks on the American embassy in Baghdad on New Year’s Eve.

The Pentagon on January 2, 2020 confirmed a strike killed Soleimani, who as head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force became the architect of Tehran’s proxy conflicts in the Middle East.  The IRGC is an arm of the Iranian government, and the Quds Force conducts clandestine and overt military operations outside of Iran on its behalf.  It has been a designated terror group since 2007, and is estimated to be 20,000 strong. Considered one of the most powerful men in Iran, Soleimani routinely was referred to as its “shadow commander” or “spymaster.”

Hours after the attack was announced, President Trump tweeted a simple image of the American flag.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1212924762827046918

In April 2019, the State Department announced Iran was responsible for killing 608 U.S. troops during the Iraq War. Soleimani was the head of the Iranian and Iranian-backed forces carrying out those operations killing American troops. According to the State Department, 17 percent of all deaths of U.S. personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 were orchestrated by Soleimani.

In this short video, President Trump speaks to America about the attack on Soleimani.

Soleimani was the military mastermind whom Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had deemed equally as dangerous as Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In October 2019, Baghdadi killed himself during a U.S. raid on a compound in northwest Syria, seven months after the so-called ISIS “caliphate” crumbled as the terrorist group lost its final swath of Syrian territory in March of 2019.

Baghdadi led the genocide of more than 10,000 Yazidis because of their ethnic, racial, and religious identities. (The Yazīdī religion includes elements of ancient Iranian religions as well as elements of Judaism, Nestorian Christianity and Islam.)  He blew up playgrounds full of children. He and his organization ordered and/or praised the slaughter of LGBTQ individuals, including those in a Florida nightclub. Other human rights atrocities directly linked to Baghdadi include widespread sex slavery, gang rape, executions, beheadings, floggings, and brutal premeditated terrorist attacks.  Link

Baghdadi repeatedly raped and tortured American Kayla Mueller, a young woman held by Baghdadi for her Christian faith and refusal to denounce Jesus Christ.  Her parents praised President Trump for pulling off the daring raid that killed al-Baghdadi.

Congress and Media Angered

Despite all this, much of the mainstream national press turned Baghdadi’s death into a story of Trump declining to inform Democratic leaders in Congress about the planned attack. They downplayed the significance of Baghdadi’s death, looking for angles to disparage Trump’s foreign policy and the relevance of Baghdadi.

The Washington Post called Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi an “austere religious scholar” in an initial headline for his obituary.  He was never a talented celebrity. He was a vicious, racist, murderous thug. As mainstream media downplayed his death, they further alienated grassroots Americans and proved the point of Trump’s most ardent fans.

Trump has learned to tell the Democratic controlled house absolutely nothing. They leak like sieves to the enemy, to their colleagues and allies in mainstream media. Their desire is the destruction of this President who longs to return America to her greatness and to protect her citizens from both foreign and domestic enemies, many of whom are in our Congress.

With the exception of Israel, world leaders who publicly reacted to the killing of Soleimani called on the United States to show “restraint” with many calling the U.S. actions cowardly, destabilizing, and provoking.  Our own Democratic socialists have vilified the attack on Soleimani stating it is a march to war with Iran, but it is just the opposite.  President Trump warned Iran and he is not a neo-con war monger like former National Security Advisor, John Bolton.

President Trump’s Resolve

The President and his staff remain firm in their resolve to defend American interests and the American people.

Former FBI Agent, John Guandolo of Understanding the Threat writes,

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are at the center of driving the Global Islamic Movement. All are parties to the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) which is the largest voting bloc in the United Nations and is made up of 57 member states, including the Head of State of every Muslim nation on earth.

The OIC officially states they relate to the non-Muslim world only through the lens of “Allah’s divine law”/sharia.  All authoritatively published sharia mandates total war against the non-Muslim world (“jihad”) until sharia is the law of the land over every person on the planet.

The Muslim armies can only stop waging jihad when they are incapable of doing so. For those engaged in war with the Islamic powers, this means they need to feel utterly defeated in order to cease waging jihad.

President Trump demonstrated a willingness to do what no other President in recent history has done – do what it takes to defeat the enemy and win this war.

To actually do this, however, will require a strategy that includes defeating Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as waging economic warfare – and possibly military war – against Qatar which funds Al Qaeda, Islamic State, et al.

It will also mean dismantling and destroying the U.S. jihadi network which includes the most prominent Islamic organizations in America – USCMO, CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, Muslim Advocates, MPAC, MAS, MSA, et al – whose objective is the same as Iran, Al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic State.

To do this, the U.S. government must dismantle the U.S. Marxist Counter-State which is driving/supporting the U.S. Islamic Counter-State.

Can Mr. Trump lead his cabinet members through this war and do what needs to be done?

I believe he can and will, especially if we regain the House from the Democratic Socialists.

Conclusion

We have seen the results of Islamic hatred against Jews, Christians and Kafirs/infidels.  Jews in France must have armed guards over their synagogues and homes. Simon Wiesenthal warned Jews about the dangers of travel to Paris, France over three decades ago.  Germany is much the same, and now even Spain, England and Italy are feeling the barbaric hatred of Islamists against Jews and Christians.

America is now seeing the growth of hatred against our Jewish brethren, attacks on synagogues, rabbi’s homes, and Jewish folks in the streets of New York and across America.  President Trump knows the dangers and he is working to protect all of us.

Anti-communist Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a venerable servant of God and he loved all of God’s people.  In a novena by the Bishop, he stated these words,

Protestants, Jews and Catholics have God, morality, and religion in common. In the name of God, let us – Jews, Protestants, and Catholics – do two things: 1. Realize that an attack upon one is an attack upon all, since we are all one in God; it is not tolerance we need, but charity; not forbearance but love. 2. Begin doing something about religion, and the least we can do is say our prayers; to implore God’s blessings upon the world and our country; to thank Him for His blessings; and to become illumined in the fullness of His truth.

Pray for our President, his family and administration.  He loves this country, and wants to keep all of us safe from harm.

© All rights reserved.

VIDEO: President Trump Statement on Soleimani

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TRANSCRIPT:

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP ON THE KILLING OF QASEM SOLEIMANI

Mar-a-Lago
Palm Beach, Florida
January 3, 2020
3:13 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:

Hello, everybody. Well, thank you very much. And good afternoon.

As President, my highest and most solemn duty is the defense of our nation and its citizens.

Last night, at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.

Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous: To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you; we will eliminate you. We will always protect our diplomats, service members, all Americans, and our allies.

For years, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its ruthless Quds Force — under Soleimani’s leadership — has targeted, injured, and murdered hundreds of American civilians and servicemen.

The recent attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, including rocket strikes that killed an American and injured four American servicemen very badly, as well as a violent assault on our embassy in Baghdad, were carried out at the direction of Soleimani.

Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London.

Today we remember and honor the victims of Soleimani’s many atrocities, and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over.

Soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the Middle East for the last 20 years. What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago. A lot of lives would have been saved.

Just recently, Soleimani led the brutal repression of protestors in Iran, where more than a thousand innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government.

We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.

I have deep respect for the Iranian people. They are a remarkable people, with an incredible heritage and unlimited potential. We do not seek regime change. However, the Iranian regime’s aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors, must end, and it must end now.

The future belongs to the people of Iran — those who seek peaceful coexistence and cooperation — not the terrorist warlords who plunder their nation to finance bloodshed abroad.

The United States has the best military by far, anywhere in the world. We have best intelligence in the world. If Americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified, and I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. And that, in particular, refers to Iran.

Under my leadership, we have destroyed the ISIS territorial caliphate, and recently, American Special Operations Forces killed the terrorist leader known as al-Baghdadi. The world is a safer place without these monsters.

America will always pursue the interests of good people, great people, great souls, while seeking peace, harmony, and friendship with all of the nations of the world.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless our great military. And God bless the United States of America.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

© All rights reserved.

SECOND U.S. Airstrike North of Baghdad – Three Vehicle Convoy of Iran-backed Shia Militia Leaders . . .

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From the Conservative Treehouse:

Reports of new late-night U.S. airstrikes north of Baghdad are starting to be confirmed.  According to developing reports a convoy of two or three vehicles carrying Iran-back Shia Militia leaders was targeted near Taji in Northern Baghdad.

From Citizen Free Press

Trump Does It Again – Second Terrorist Convoy Carrying High-Value Targets Just Obliterated In Iraq…

Shibl al-Zaydi, leader of the PMU has been confirmed dead after the US conducted another air strike targeting his convoy in Taji. Two vehicles hit. Story is developing.

6 killed in airstrike north of Baghdad targeting convoy carrying Shia militia members – report

A convoy carrying members of the Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, was hit by an airstrike while traveling in Baghdad, media report.

The three-car convoy was struck in the northern outskirts of the Iraqi capital in the district of al-Taji, according to an Iraqi military source cited by Reuters. Six militiamen were reported killed in the attack, with three others critically injured. It remains unclear who carried out the strike.

The six killed in the strike have yet to be named, but early reports suggesting they hit two paramilitary commanders – Shibl al-Zaydi, secretary general of the Kataib al-Imam militia, as well as Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq – were refuted by the PMF in a statement.

The U.S. unofficially denies this strike.

EDITORS NOTE: This Vlad Tepes Blog column with video posted by Eeyore is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Iranians, Iraqis celebrate Soleimani’s death, thank Trump #TnxPOTUS4Soleimani

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https://twitter.com/Shivar44045709/status/1213058230668189696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1213058230668189696&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jihadwatch.org%2F2020%2F01%2Firanians-iraqis-celebrate-soleimanis-death-thank-trump-tnxpotus4soleimani

CNN is reporting about demonstrators in Iran mourning Soleimani and vowing revenge. CNN doesn’t tell you about the other Iranians, as well as Iraqis, who are celebrating the death of the man who was responsible for destroying the lives of so many of their people. See the hashtag #TnxPOTUS4Soleimani on Twitter.

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RELATED VIDEO: Greenfield, “Thank You President Trump For Eradicating Suleymani.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.