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Posts Tagged ‘Iraq’

Truth in Media: Origin of ISIS

March 5, 2015 Comments off

http://benswann.com/contribute
In this episode of Truth in Media, Ben Swann explores the origin of ISIS that has already been long forgotten by American media. Swann takes on the central issue of whether or not ISIS was created by “inaction” by the United States government or by “direct” action.

Categories: Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

U.S. suspects escaped prisoners may be aiding Al Qaeda in attack on Yemen

August 9, 2013 Comments off

truthdive.com

Tom Coghlan and Annabel Symington

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that several prisoners, who escaped in recent jail breakouts in the Middle East, might be aiding Al Qaeda terror group in conducting a terror strike on the American Embassy in Yemen.

Nasir al Wuhayshi, who runs the most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda, is believed to be behind the plot that involves explosive-laden truck bombs targeting U.S. missions, ABC News reports.

He is also suspected to be the mastermind behind the underwear bomb plan to bring down a U.S. aircraft.

The report further added that al Wuhayshi might get help from a large number of Al Qaeda prisoners, who have been freed from several prisons in the Middle East in past few weeks with the help of heavily armed militants.

Interpol reports there have been at least nine major prison breaks in the last month.

In Iraq, 500 jail inmates were freed, including 50 Al Qaeda militants.

In Libya, more than 1,000 prisoners were freed from a jail in Benghazi.

Another Taliban jailbreak in Pakistan freed nearly 250 convicts.

Michael Chertoff, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said that the prisoners could possibly be suicide bombers or become combatants with bomb-making capabilities.

After the State Department ordered the evacuation of all non-essential personnel from Yemen because of an increased terror threat, a U.S. military cargo plane helped evacuate staff from the U.S. Embassy.

The U.S. Air Force airlifted almost all of the personnel with the help of a C-17 aircraft to Germany, leaving behind only the most essential employees. (ANI)

Categories: Middle East Tags: , , , , ,

Report: US Building Secret Drone Bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula

September 21, 2011 Comments off

voanews

The United States is reported to be expanding a secret drone program in east Africa and the Arabian peninsula in order to gather intelligence and strike al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia and Yemen.

Citing U.S. defense officials, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. is building a new military installation to host the unmanned aircraft in Ethiopia, where drones can more easily attack members of the militant group al-Shabab that is fighting for control of neighboring Somalia.

The report also said the U.S. has re-opened a drone base in the Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, where a small Read more…

Categories: United States Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Religious violence, abuse growing: world study

August 10, 2011 Comments off

afp

WASHINGTON — Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private US study released Tuesday.

“Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent),” said the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life study.

In 2009, governments in 101 nations, more than half the globe, used at least some measure of force against religious groups. A year earlier only 91 nations had done so, the report said.

As of 2009, more than 2.2 billion people, or nearly a third of the world’s population of 6.9 billion, lived in countries where religious restrictions had risen substantially since Read more…

Categories: Religon, World Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Riyadh will build nuclear weapons if Iran gets them, Saudi prince warns

June 30, 2011 1 comment

guardian

Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador

Prince Turki al-Faisal: he said that if Iran came close to developing nuclear weapons Riyadh would not stand idly by. Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images

A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat and member of the ruling royal family has raised the spectre of nuclear conflict in the Middle East if Iran comes close to developing a nuclear weapon.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, warned senior Nato military officials that the existence of such a device “would compel Saudi Arabia … to pursue policies which could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences”.

He did not state explicitly what these policies would be, but a senior official in Riyadh who is close to the prince said yesterday his message was clear.

“We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don’t. It’s as simple as Read more…

Categories: Iran, Saudi Arabia, WMD Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Iran launches home-made satellite into orbit

June 17, 2011 Comments off

telegraph

Iran has launched a satellite into earth orbit in a feat that is likely to raise concerns among those who fear Iran’s intentions and nuclear development program.

“Our glorious scientists successfully put Iran’s first image-collecting satellite into orbit,” the TV report said.

Iran has made a series of claims about advances in its ambitious space program in recent years, which has Western powers worried about the possibility of its military applications.

Last year, Iran announced it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a mouse, turtle and worms into space.

Iran’s space program has expressed a goal of putting a man in orbit within 10 years, despite the Read more…

Categories: Iran, Technology Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Gates: Cutting Defense Means More ‘Risk,’ Fewer Missions

May 25, 2011 Comments off

wired

Robert Gates’ final defense policy speech in Washington turned out to be a challenge to his boss. President Obama has a goal of cutting $400 billion out of the Pentagon budget over the next 12 years. To do that, Gates says, the armed forces are going to have to stop taking on certain roles — and the country is going to have to accept the “additional risk” that comes from a pared-back military.

You see, Gates already killed the Army’s gazillion-dollar Future Combat Systems and the Marines’ “swimming tank” troop transporter. He stopped the production lines for the F-22 Raptor stealth jets. Then he and the services wrang out another $78 billion over four years for future spending.

The result? All the “low hanging fruit” in the defense budget have “not only been plucked, they Read more…

Categories: military, United States Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Cleric: Jihad coming to ‘heart of America

May 3, 2011 1 comment

wnd.com

The death of Osama bin Laden will bring a “new era of jihad,” predicted British extremist cleric Anjem Choudary.

Warning there are motivated jihadists “in the heart of America,” Choudary said al-Qaida will likely carry out revenge operations with “meticulous accuracy” and “devastating affect” comparable to that of the 9/11 attacks.

Choudary is the founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under anti-terror legislation.

Speaking today in an interview with “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” of New York’s WABC Radio, Choudary said that while bin Laden was a “lion of Islam … there are many lions waiting to take his place.”

“I do believe that the death of Sheikh Osama will bring in a new era of jihad,” Choudary told Klein.

“Post-Osama bin Laden, I believe the mujahedeen around the world will have something to prove, that the jihad is not about an individual.”

Choudary said instability for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan “will be a complete nightmare Read more…

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Global Press Freedom at Lowest Level in More Than Decade

May 3, 2011 Comments off

voanews

Photo: Reuters
Journalists and activists participate in a rally calling for press freedom in central Ankara, Turkey, March 19, 2011 (file photo)

Freedom House, a U.S.-based group that monitors human rights around the world says the number of people with access to free and independent media has declined to its lowest level in more than a decade.  In its newly released annual survey, the group says several key countries saw significant declines last year and that only one-in-six people live in countries with a press designated as free.

In this year’s annual index of global media freedom of 196 countries and territories, Freedom House says it rated 68 as “free” and the remaining two thirds as “partly free” or “not free.”

Freedom House Senior Editor Karin Karlekar says this is roughly an even breakdown, but a closer look reveals a different picture. “If you look at the population statistics, they are much bleaker, only Read more…

Categories: Rights, world Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Iraq Grapples With Water Shortages, Pollution

April 12, 2011 Comments off

www.rferl.org

“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” Revelation 16:12

The low level of water in the Euphrates river is cause for concern.
The low level of water in the Euphrates river is cause for concern.

 

United Nations officials say an inadequate supply of water and pollution in Iraq have led to severe health problems, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. 

Salam Abdel Munim, the spokesman for UNICEF in Iraq, told RFI on March 22 that as a consequence of the water shortage “some 500,000 Iraqi children access their water from a river or stream, and another 500,000 access their water from open wells.” Read more…

Categories: Iraq Tags: , , , , ,