Islamic Insanity > 4 Islamic extremists arrested in Sweden; Houthis attack USNavy Destroyers; Gaza aid airdrops kill 5 kids, injure 10 others

 

Swedish police arrest four suspected of

'Islamist extremism'

By Ehren Wynder

March 7 (UPI) -- Swedish police forces said Thursday they arrested four people connected to "violent Islamist extremism" in the Stockholm area.

According to a statement, Sweden's Security Police and the Swedish Police Agency suspect the four people of "preparation for terrorist offenses and serious weapons offenses."

The Security Police said it also suspects connections to "serious organized crime."

The Swedish government last August raised its terror threat level from "elevated" to "high" due to an increased "threat of attacks from actors within violent Islamism" over the past year.

"High" is the fourth level threat on a five-level scale. This was the first time it had reached that level since 2016.

The new terror threat level is based on a strategic assessment of terrorist actors' "intention and ability to commit terrorist attacks against Sweden," government officials said.

The adjustment follows tensions caused by Swedish demonstrators burning or otherwise desecrating the Koran. The incidents led to Iraq last summer expelling Sweden's ambassador and accusing the Swedish government of "repeated permission for burning the Koran, insulting Islam and burning the Iraqi flag."

On Thursday, Sweden officially became the 32nd member of NATO. The country asked for admittance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the process was stalled in part by Turkey, which was concerned by the Swedish government's response to Islamophobic demonstrations in the country.

Sweden is a big piece in the puzzle of surrounding Russia on their western and southern borders, for NATO. It is madness, of course, but it sells a lot of munitions - NATO's new raison d'être.

Houthis escalate Red Sea attacks;

target Singapore-flagged commercial vessel

By Mike Heuer

The Pentagon says U.S. Navy ships on patrol in the Red Sea on Friday conducted a 'self-defense' strike against two truck-mounted anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Photo courtesy U.S. Central Command/X

March 9 (UPI) -- Houthis rebels in Yemen claimed on Saturday to have attacked a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel and U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea as their assaults against maritime traffic escalated.

The Houthis fired "several suitable naval missiles" against the M/V Propel Fortune as well as launching 37 drones targeting several U.S. Navy destroyers in a separate action, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

The U.S. Central Command confirmed the rebels fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the Propel Fortune but did not strike the ship, while adding in a update that its forces launched defensive strikes against two truck-mounted anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen.

The Propel Fortune is a Singapore-flagged vessel that is owned and operated by Singapore entities. It was located about 50 nautical miles southeast of Aden when attacked.

It was built in Japan in 2012 and formerly was a U.S.-flagged vessel named Trans Oceanic before its recent transfer to the current owner and operator in Singapore.

The attacks were done in separate operations by the Houthi militants and "successfully achieved their goals," Saree said, adding that the drones "successfully hit" targeted U.S. Navy destroyers.

Later on Saturday CENTCOM announced it had shot down a total of 28 Houthi drones during a "large-scale attack" launched by the Houthis against targets in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from 4 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. Sanaa time Friday.

The Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels are in support of Hamas in Gaza and will continue, Saree said during a weekly rally held Friday in Sanaa, Yemen.

The attacks are escalating, and more than 100 have been reported targeting commercial and naval shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, The Maritime Executive reported.

The solution here is to isolate Yemen from all shipping and air transport. That way, Iran will not be able to supply the Houthis with weapons, and as food runs out, Yemenis will turn against the Houthis and drive them out. That's my theory anyway.

At least 5 killed in Gaza after airdrop aid

parachutes fail to deploy

By Staff  Reuters

Posted March 9, 2024 8:32 am

 Updated March 9, 2024 6:41 pm

 1 min read

At least five people (all of them children according to another source) were killed and 10 others injured when airdropped aid packages fell on them in the Al Shati camp west of Gaza City, according to Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Footages posted on social media showed a large cluster of aid parcels suspended from parachutes drifting through the sky but appearing to get tangled before one, with its chute deployed but not fully opened, dropped much more quickly than the rest.

The people were in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, and the incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. local time.

1:46

Aid ship headed for Gaza from Cypress

The U.S., Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium dropped aid over Gaza on Friday in an attempt to get supplies, including desperately needed food, to residents amid an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis there.

View image in full screen

United States Air Force drops humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) denied in a statement that the fatalities were not caused by U.S. airdrops.

“We are aware of reports of civilians killed as a result of humanitarian airdrops. We express sympathies to the families of those who were killed. Contrary to some reports, this was not the result of U.S. airdrops,” CENTCOM said.

Astonishing Admittance from Former Iranian Cultural Attache > All weapons against Israel come from Iran

 

All the rockets fired against Israel anywhere are made 

in Iran or the product of Iranian training - Iranian official

FEB 3, 2024 5:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

This is essentially an open admission of the obvious fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is waging a proxy war against Israel by means of Hamas and the Houthis.

Not to mention Hezbollah and Palestine Islamic Jihad, and probably other groups we haven't heard of yet.

Former Iranian Cultural Attaché To Lebanon Mohammad Mehdi Shariatmadar: "Every Bullet, Rocket, UAV Fired Against Israel From Any Place Was Either Made In Iran Or Is The Product Of Iranian Training"

MEMRI, January 26, 2024:

Former Iranian cultural attaché to Lebanon Mohammad Mehdi Shariatmadar said on a January 26, 2024 show on Asharq News TV (Saudi Arabia) that all the bullets, rockets, and UAVs fired against Israel from anywhere, such as south Lebanon or Palestine, were “either made in Iran or the product of Iranian training.” He said that no one else gave a single bullet to the “Palestinian resistance movements.”

Mohammad Mehdi Shariatmadar: “All the bullets, all the rockets, and all the UAVs that are fired or launched against the Israeli entity anywhere – where in south Lebanon – in Palestine, or anywhere – are either made in Iran or the product of Iranian training. All the weapons. You cannot see anyone [else] in the world who gave a single bullet to the Palestinian resistance movements against the Israeli entity.

“From where would the [Qods] Force come to confront the Zionist entity? Will Jordan allow this? Will Syria allow the Iranian fighters to pass through so they can fight in the occupied lands? What is the difference between fighters who have a different nationality, and who are supported by Iran in the confrontation, and sending [actual Iranian] fighters? Obviously, Iran did do this. Iran sent forces in the past to South Lebanon and to Syria. Today, if Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, or Lebanon allow for a direct Iranian military presence…I believe that as part of Iran’s plan, and in line with its strategic patience – which has not been properly understood so far – there will be a confrontation. In any case, the confrontation is ongoing. It is not limited to the borders of the Goland Heights, Jordan, Palestine, or Syria, and so on.”

Perhaps, it is time to ask Iranians if this is in keeping with their character? If this is just the mania of the government, or if all the people agree?  

This astonishing admittance should result in complete isolation for Iran, with blanket sanctions smothering their ability to produce a single bullet.

This is Islamic madness in full bloom! Let's starve the plant and not continue to water it.

The Long History of Islam's Houthis

 

Houthis disrupting Red Sea shipping 

have 1,000-year history

By Mike Heuer

Images released by Yemen's Houthi group on November 20 show Houthi militants as they hijack a cargo ship reportedly owned by an Israeli businessman near Yemen in the southern Red Sea the day before. File Photo courtesy of Houthi Group Press Service | License Photo

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Who are the Houthis who are targeting commercial shipping near the Yemeni coast of the Red Sea? The short answer is a dedicated group of religious zealots -- dubbed terrorists by the United Nations Security Council -- who want to control Yemen.

The long answer goes back more than 1,000 years and lays the groundwork for the fanatical group based in the mountainous region of northern Yemen. The Houthis have existed in one form or another since about 790 and have controlled the same mountainous area of northern Yemen for centuries.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, the Houthis have attacked civilian infrastructure in Israel and vessels traversing the Red Sea, which accounts for 15% of global trade. On Wednesday, a coalition of 13 nations, including the United States, pledged to hold the Houthis accountable for the attacks.

The Houthis are Zaydi Shiite Muslims who have been at war with the Yemeni government since 2004. The Houthis captured Yemen's capital city of Sanaa in 2014 and have controlled most of northern Yemen since 2016.

Iran is considered the primary supporter of the Houthis, which other Sunni states and Yemeni officials say is trained, armed and financially supported by Iran and Hezbollah.

According to the Wilson Center, the United States and Saudi Arabia have provided evidence showing Iran transfers arms to the Houthis. The evidence includes missiles and other arms used by Houthi militants in Yemen and Afghanistan.

Historic legacy

Shiite Muslims are a minority within the Muslim religion when compared to the Sunni Muslims, and the Zayadi Shiite Muslims are a minority within the Shiite version of the Muslim religion. The Zayadi Shiites also go by Zadiyyah, which is from Zayd bin Ali, who was the great-grandson of Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin. Zayd bin Ali in 740 led a revolt against the Umayyed Empire, which was the first Muslim dynastic empire and ruled from Damascus.

Zayd died leading the revolt, and legend suggests his head is buried in a shrine to him in Kerak, Jordan. Zayd is remembered for opposing what the Shiites consider to have been a corrupt Umayyed regime, according to the Brookings Institution. Today's Houthis likewise consider themselves to be at war with corrupt nations and governments, starting with Yemen.

The Houthis have had a significant presence in the mountainous region of northern Yemen since the ninth century and fought against the Ottoman and Wahhabis in the 18th and 19th centuries. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the conclusion of World War I, the Zaydis established a monarchy in the mountains of northern Yemen called the Mutawakkilite Kingdom. The kingdom's capital was in Taiz, and the kingdom was led by an imam who served as a spiritual and secular leader.

The Mutawakkilite Kingdom fought Saudi Arabia during the 1930s and lost some of its territory to the Saudis. Despite the setback, the kingdom endured until 1962, when a military cabal supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union overthrew the Mutawakkilite king and established a nationalist Arab government based in Sanaa.

The Mutawakkilite royalists fled to the mountains of northern Yemen near the Saudi border and continued to fight the newly established government in Yemen. According to Brookings, Saudi Arabia and Israel supported the royalists in their fight against the Egyptian-influenced republican forces, but the Saudis lost interest in the region and made peace with Egypt after losing the 1967 war with Israel.

A series of coups soon followed and continued until 1978, when republican Gen. Ali Abdullah Saleh gained power and ruled over Yemen for the next 33 years. Saleh united northern and southern Yemen in 1990 and generally supported Iraq during the 1991 war in Kuwait. Saleh maintained control despite a 1994 civil war in southern Yemen and became loosely aligned with Saudi Arabia and the United States against al-Qaida.

Houthi radicalization

The Houthis arose in the 1990s to oppose Saleh and his corrupt government, according to Brookings. The Houthis were led by Hussein al Houthi, which is where the Zaydi resistance obtained its name. The Houthis accused Saleh of stealing the wealth of the poorest nation in the Arab world and using it to enrich his family. The Houthis also criticized the United States and Saudi Arabia for supporting Saleh's dictatorship.

The Houthis became especially radicalized against the United States upon its invasion of Iraq in 2003. Brookings said the Houthis then created the slogan: "God is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory for Islam."

The Houthis crossed into Saudi Arabia in 2009, but the Saudis deployed their army and struck the Houthis from the air while also fighting in limited engagements on the ground. Another round of fighting between the Houthis and Saudis occurred in March 2015. This time, the United Arab Emirates allied with Saudi Arabia to launch airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

Saleh and the Houthis became loosely allied in 2015, which the Wilson Center said enabled the Houthis to gain control of most of northern Yemen. Despite the loose alliance, the Houthis killed one of the top advisers to Saleh in August 2015, which caused Saleh to end his support for the Houthis on Dec. 2, 2015. Two days later, the Houthis assassinated Saleh during a roadside ambush, the Wilson Center said.

The struggle with Saudi Arabia continued, and the Houthis claimed responsibility for launching a ballistic missile at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, 2017. The Saudis said the missile was Iranian in origin and launched by Hezbollah, but the Saudi's air defense system neutralized the missile.

The Houthis continued launching missiles against Saudi Arabia in 2018 while Yemen's population descended into what the United Nations called the "world's worst humanitarian crisis." The Houthis claimed credit for drone attacks on two Saudi oil installations in 2019, but U.S. officials said the strikes came from Iran and not Yemen.

The Wilson Center said the Houthis targeted the UAE with missiles and drones in 2022, but the UAE and the U.S. military intercepted two ballistic missiles that targeted Abu Dhabi on Jan. 24 that year. Officials in Iran have expressed their support for the Houthis, which they compare to Hezbollah, but they continue to deny providing arms, training and financial support to the Houthis.

Shortly before leaving office, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Jan. 10, 2021, declared the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization and said Iran's Revolutionary Guards provide the Houthis with drones, missiles and training to use them. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration removed the Houthis from the foreign terrorist organization designation a month after taking office in early 2021.

Military Madness > The Red Sea's Houthi Pirates are not very bright

 

After an agreement was made by several countries to protect the Red Sea from Houthi pirates, they committed virtual Hari Kari by continuing their assaults on freighters in the presence of two American warships. How stupid can they be? Where was Allah when their boats were being blown to Hell?

US forces sink 3 boats, kill gunmen after attack

by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in Red Sea

By 

Social Links forAmanda Woods

Published Dec. 31, 2023

 Updated Dec. 31, 2023, 11:58 a.m. ET

The US military fired on and sank three boats operated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels – killing their crews – after the militants tried to attack a Maersk container vessel in the Red Sea early Sunday, officials said.

Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely warships opened fire on “four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats,” sinking three of them, while responding to an SOS from the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou around 6:30 a.m. local time, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM). Ten Houthi rebels were killed, according to Haaretz.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later insisted that the US is not looking to expand the conflict and that the boats were sunk in self-defense — while warning America will strike preemptively if needed to protect its interests.

“We’ve got significant national security interests in the region just on our own, the United States, and we’re going to put the kind of forces we need in the region to protect those interests, and we’re going to act in self-defense going forward,” Kirby told ABC News.

“We don’t seek a conflict wider in the region, and we’re not looking for a conflict with the Houthis. The best outcome here would be for the Houthis to stop these attacks, as we have made clear over and over again,” he said.

Asked whether the US might fire a pre-emptive strike, Kirby replied, “We’re not ruling anything in or out, but we have made it clear publicly to the Houthis and privately to our allies and partners in the region we take these threats seriously, and we’re going to make the right decisions going forward.”

USS Gravely

The fourth boat escaped the attack, which officials say was launched in self-defense.

The operators of the boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, opened fire at the Maersk Hangzhou and intended to board it, coming as close as 65 feet, CENTCOM said.

The incident marked the second time in less than 24 hours that the Maersk vessel came under attack, according to CENTCOM.

Late Saturday, the USS Gravely shot down two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen while responding to a missile strike on the same ship, which was navigating the southern Red Sea, CENTCOM said.

There were no reported injuries during that encounter.

The Iran-backed Houthis have claimed responsibility for attacks on ships that they say are either linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports.

They have said their goal is to end Israel’s air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ Oct. 7 sneak attack on Israel.

The Houthi attacks have disrupted world trade, as the Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal – the route for about 12% of world trade, which is essential for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.

Major shipping companies have opted to take a longer and more expensive route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid the conflict.

In an effort to put an end to the disruption and safeguard ships traversing the Red Sea near Yemen, the US Pentagon launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on Dec. 19. 

The multinational operation is designed to protect ships during the war.

Since then, 1,200 merchant ships have traveled through the Red Sea region, and none have been hit by drone or missile strikes, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview Saturday.

Maersk, one of the world’s major cargo shippers, opted on Dec. 24 to resume its sailings through the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Houthi rebels have shown no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, according to Cooper, the top commander of US naval forces in the Middle East.

“We are clear-eyed that the Houthi reckless attacks will likely continue,” Cooper said.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced Sunday that he had spoken with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and urged him in their call that his country should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their long-standing support to the Houthis,” Cameron posted on X, adding that the attacks “threaten innocent lives and the global economy.”

With Post wires