[FDD's Long War Journal] The Tunisian government deployed over 2,000 troops this week as protests over increased taxes spread. Government officials indicated the army will be protecting government installations, following an incident in which protesters burned a security headquarters near the Algerian border, prompting police to flee.
Over the weekend, several opposition activists were arrested in the capital of Tunis after protesting a new government taxation on basic goods. The wave of protests comes on the heels of the seven-year anniversary of the death of Mohammad Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire in protest of the government’s policies. Bouazizi’s death on Jan. 4, 2011 – which helped spark protests that spread across the Middle East – is a highly emotive date for Tunisians.
The government’s response has been heavy-handed. The arrests sparked widespread condemnation and rallies across Tunisia. In response, the government deployed the military to several major towns and arrested hundreds of activists. Tunisian leaders insist the new taxes are necessary to satisfy international lenders and stabilize the economy; Tunisians have pointed to the new taxes as emblematic of a failed and oppressive government.
The army has deployed to at least four towns: Thala, Sousse, Bizerte, and Kebili. Protests are ongoing in the capital, as well as Sfax, Ettadhamen, Béja, Siliana, Mahdia, and Nabeul.
Protests are concentrated on the coast, but have also worryingly spread to Tunisia’s western border with Algeria, where the Islamic State has strong support. The Islamic State group has been known to recruit heavily in Kasserine, one of the western towns where protests have erupted. Tunisia, particularly areas near Kasserine, produced more Islamic State fighters than any other country, according to UN data cited by the Washington Post. Many could return home as other fronts quiet.
Protests in areas near Kasserine have already turned violent. In nearby Thala, security forces withdrew after protesters set a headquarters on fire.
Protests may intensify in the coming days, as Jan. 14 marks the anniversary of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 2011 ouster.
Posted by: 3dc ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[AlAhram] Militant Islamist group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... released a video on Monday purportedly showing some of the remaining girls who were kidnapped from the northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... n town of Chibok in 2014.
A group of around 12 girls are seen in the 21-minute video. "We are the Chibok girls. We are the ones you are crying about for us to come back. By the grace of Allah, we are never coming back," said one of the girls.
Around 270 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their school in April 2014.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)
[Al Jazeera] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... has said that the US is working to form a "terror army" on his country's southern border by training a new force in Syria that includes Kurdish fighters.
"What we are supposed to do is to drown this terror army before in comes into being," he said in an address in the capital, Ankara, on Monday, calling the Kurdish fighters "back-stabbers" who will point their weapons to the US in the future.
His comments came after reports revealed Washington's plan to establish a 30,000-strong new border security force with the involvement of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
According to media reports quoting US officials, the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) gang will recruit around half of the new force from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the People's Protection Units (YPG).
YPG is considered by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... to be a "terrorist group" with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long fight inside the country.
PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. More than 40,000 people in Turkey have been killed since the 1980s after the PKK launched its rebellion.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
I wonder when someone in turkey will arrange a meeting between this assclown and a high-velocity piece of metal? Thats something that will eventually happen.
Although Obama coddled him, you Turks created this monster, you Turks need to fix it, before that idiot starts the US on attacking you and your country as it descends into a third world Islamic shithole.
[FoxNews] An alleged scissor attack targeting a hijab-wearing Toronto schoolgirl that drew condemnation from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau never happened, police revealed Monday.
Khawlah Noman, 11, reported to police on Friday that she was heading to the Pauline Johnson Junior Public School when she was approached from behind by a man who pulled off the hood of her jacket and then cut her hijab with a pair of scissors before fleeing.
“After a detailed investigation, police have determined that the events described in the original news release did not happen,” Toronto Police said in a statement. “The investigation is concluded.”
Authorities had described the imaginary suspect as an Asian male wearing a black hooded sweater, black pants and brown gloves, and asked business owners to review security footage in the area of the alleged incident.
“My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning’s cowardly attack on her in Toronto,” Trudeau posted on Twitter on Friday, before police announced the attack was fake. “Canada is an open and welcoming country, and incidents like this cannot be tolerated.”
Police told CBC News that Noman won’t be charged.
"These allegations were extremely serious and not surprisingly, they received national and international attention," said police spokesman Mark Pugash, who added he hoped the false tale doesn’t discourage others from coming forward to report alleged hate crimes.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists
The effect, the scare that goes out throughout the community is the same if the crime is real or not so the hoaxer should be prosecuted as if they committed the crime.
One item from Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) publication of Fusion GPS CEO Glenn Simpson’s Aug. 2017 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that has not gotten too much attention is the part where the spy responsible for producing the Trump-Russia collusion dossier, Christopher Steele, tipped off the FBI in early July 2016.
According to Simpson, "I believe it was ... [the] first week of July..." citing public sources.
Well, that was before George Papadopoulos reportedly entered the picture. According to the New York Times’ report published on Dec. 30, 2017, "when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role."
The Democratic National Committee emails began appearing on Wikileaks on July 22, 2016.
Meaning, by the time the Australian diplomat had tipped off the FBI about George Papadopoulos ‐ who apparently was bragging in a bar in May 2016 that the Russians had emails that would make Hillary Clinton look bad ‐ Steele had already told the FBI about his first memo dated June 20, 2016, that alleged the Russians had Donald Trump on tape with prostitutes at a hotel in Moscow.
Now, whether it was Steele’s contact with the FBI in early July or the Australian diplomat later that compelled the FBI to open its investigation, per Simpson’s testimony, by mid-September, the agency wanted everything Steele had. Steele most certainly played a role in the agency’s investigation.
Continues at link.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
01/16/2018 16:07 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In other words, the mainstream media attempting to sell this as an "external" tipoff by a diplomat is horseshit. Fake News, just to fit their narrative. And you want to bet the reversal of it NEVER makes the same placing and repitition of the initial "news"?
I swear, if "the revolution" ever comes, Im putting press editors and reporters on the "kill on sight" list for their role in the collapse of the republic.
#2
"It seems like it had to have been one or the other," Roberts told the Washington Examiner. "Just a complete botched operation where they [the FBI] don't want the attack to actually take place, or, it's something where they need the attack to take place in order for this guy [the agent] to advance in the world of ISIS."
#4
The FBI is notorious for prolonging undercover operations long after their original intent had been met.
Clearly, this is another example of the FBI putting the public at risk for an operation that ultimately may not gather enough intel to justify it OR wind up just being another blood stained feather in the cap of some FBI assistant director somewhere.
[GEO.TV] Over 1,800 Ulema from different schools of thoughts have issued a Fatwa (Islamic ruling) declaring suicide kabooms in Pakistain to be Haram (forbidden).
Details of the Fatwa signed by 1829 holy mans in Pakistain emerged on Monday. The ruling states that those who commit suicide attacks, those who order such attacks, those who train such people are all considered rebels against the true spirit of Islam.
The ruling further states that the State of Pakistain is in the right to act against such people.
It outlined clearly that the act of waging war and bloodshed in the name of Jihad can only be initiated by the State. Those who impose their viewpoints on by force are responsible for spreading mischief on earth (Fasad fil Arz).
The ruling also states that in Pakistain, armed conflict in the name of Islamic Law (Shariyat) is forbidden (Haram).
Speaking to Geo News, senior analyst Saleem Safi said that after the Constitution of Pakistain the Fatwa a sacrosanct document that provides answers to the questions faced by Pakistain and the Islamic world in light of the Holdy Koran and the Sunaat.
The document, signed by the holy mans from all schools of thought, will be presented under the title Peghaam-e-Pakistain at a ceremony which will be held at the Presidency on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[AnNahar] With the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group all but vanquished from its self-proclaimed "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, the U.S.-led coalition that has been fighting the jihadists for more than three years is transforming its mission.
Eager to avoid a repeat of 2011, when America completed its troop withdrawal from Iraq only to watch in horror as IS later overran swathes of the country, the coalition is focusing on what it must do to stop a jihadi re-emergence.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/16/2018 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Ynet] Customs agents at the Ashdod port uncovered a container destined for Gazoo, which was filled with military gear including thousands of military vests, boots and camouflaged thermal coats.
The shipment from China was ordered by a Gazoo importer who was to receive the container at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
[The Jamestown Foundation]
Party for Free Life in Kurdistan: The PKK’s Iranian Wing Bides Its Time
In response to Iraqi Kurdistan’s referendum on independence in early October, members of Iran’s Kurdish minority—an estimated population of six to eight million people—held widespread public celebrations, including in the mainly Kurdish Iranian cities of Baneh, Mahabad and Sanandaj (Kurdistan24, September 25). The Iranian government largely avoided a direct crackdown on this uncommon public demonstration of pan-Kurdish feeling, likely for fear of aggravating the situation. However, in a rare display of unity between President Hassan Rouhani and hardliners, Iran backed the Iraqi government’s diplomatic and military move against Iraqi Kurdistan. This led to the Iraq army and IRGC-backed Shia militias rapidly recapturing most territories gained by Iraq’s Kurds since 2003. Iraqi Kurdish leaders subsequently agreed to significant and humiliating curbs on their autonomy, dealing a dramatic blow to Kurdish separatist aspirations across the region, including in Iran. This action by Tehran —as intended—rapidly deflated Iranian Kurds, and pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Iran quickly tailed off.
These developments—in early January, the Kurdish demonstrations have since been followed by economically triggered protests in Persian areas of Iran that spread into Kurdish districts—reflect Tehran’s enduring concern that Iranian Kurds, who make up around 10 percent of the country’s population, could demand greater autonomy for themselves. Kurdish nationalism in Iran has in recent decades been subdued in comparison to Iraq, Syria and Turkey. This is partially due to demographics. Kurds in Iran represent a relatively smaller part of the total population, which mitigates against a successful insurgency.
However, some indicators suggest that, despite Tehran’s recent success in containing Kurdish separatist feeling to date, Iran’s Kurdish community may become more restive in the coming years. Key potential accelerants include rising Kurdish national feeling across the region, especially given the high-profile success of People’s Protection Units (YPG) in carving out a self-governing region in northeastern Syria. Wider developments, such as the rise of social media activism—in Iranian Kurdistan, as elsewhere, this has allowed isolated activists to transcend national boundaries and evade the state’s attempts to control information—has given life to the formerly abstract idea of a transnational Kurdish identity. In this context, the recent trajectory of the largest and most capable Kurdish militant group in Iran, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), requires a detailed examination.
The article at the link addresses: Structure, Militant Wing, Political Wing, Future Strategy
#1
If we had a CIA worth a damn, they would have been working a long time to already turn these folks away from Red Star to Red White and Blue like their cousins over in Iraq. And fund/arm the hell out of them after they commit.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[FDD's Long War Journal] The Tunisian government deployed over 2,000 troops this week as protests over increased taxes spread. Government officials indicated the army will be protecting government installations, following an incident in which protesters burned a security headquarters near the Algerian border, prompting police to flee.
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
One item from Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) publication of Fusion GPS CEO Glenn Simpson’s Aug. 2017 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that has not gotten too much attention is the part where the spy responsible for producing the Trump-Russia collusion dossier, Christopher Steele, tipped off the FBI in early July 2016.
The project is terminated when we say it is terminated. 
[The Jamestown Foundation]
