Military Madness - CIA roasted after bragging about arming Afghan Mujahideen,
aka the Taliban
6 Apr, 2021 17:59
FILE PHOTO: Taliban militants use US-made Stinger missiles to hijack an Indian Airlines plane in Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 30, 1999 © Reuters
The fact that the CIA armed the same Afghan militants who now kill US troops is not a conspiracy theory, and the agency was roasted after it took to Twitter to boast about its covert 1980s arms shipments to jihadists.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday, the CIA proudly displayed a shoulder-fired FIM-92 Stinger missile launcher. The launcher, the post read, “supplied by the United States gave Afghan guerrillas, generally known as the Mujahideen, the ability to destroy the dreaded Mi-24D helicopter gunships deployed by the Soviets to enforce their control over Afghanistan.”
Operation Cyclone was one of the CIA’s longest and most expensive covert operations, and saw the agency covertly funnel arms and money to Afghan Mujahideen fighters, who in the early 1980s were waging a guerilla campaign against invading Soviet forces. The program continued through the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, as the US insisted the Mujahideen were “freedom fighters.”
These “freedom fighters,” who counted Osama Bin Laden as an ally, would eventually morph into the Taliban, a group the US has now been fighting against in Afghanistan for nearly two decades. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton admitted in 2010 that “the people we are fighting today, we funded 20 years ago,” adding that arming jihadists sounded “like a good idea” at the time.
Of course, the CIA opted not to include this information in their self-congratulatory tweet. Instead, commenters pointed it out for them, mocking the agency along the way. “This is why you should believe nearly everything the CIA is accused of around the world,” one wrote. “Because 20 years later they'll just admit to it.”
Operation Cyclone wrapped up in 1989, although money was still flowing to the Mujahideen throughout the 1989-1992 Afghan Civil War, which led straight into another brutal inter-jihadist conflict that only ended with a Taliban victory in 1996. The CIA program was one of more than 80 attempts worldwide at regime change by the US government during the 20th century.
One wonders whether the US’ current meddling will one day be commemorated on Twitter. Perhaps the Department of Defense will one day post a picture of a TOW missile used by Al-Nusra jihadists to take on Syrian Army tanks. Maybe former State Department number two Victoria Nuland will one day look back fondly on the time she helped engineer a coup in Ukraine.
However, they might just take a look at how the CIA’s tweet went down and decide to keep quiet.
It's never about winning! That's obvious by the fact that regional wars last for decades! It's about moving the inventory and nothing else. That the USA ends up supplying and funding both sides of a war quite frequently, seems to have no effect on their conscience. The oligarchs get richer every day a war runs; body counts mean nothing to them.
2 Yemeni men on FBI’s terrorism watchlist arrested near US-Mexico border after entering country illegally
6 Apr, 2021 05:53
Two Yemeni men arrested at the US border with Mexico are seen in photos released by the Customs and Border Protection agency on April 5, 2021.
Border Patrol agents say they have apprehended two Yemeni men on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist in recent weeks, both arrested near a border crossing in California after illicitly entering the US.
The two men, aged 33 and 26, were picked up by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers between January and March, the agency said in a statement on Monday. While it declined to name either Yemeni, CBP said they both are on the FBI’s terrorism list, as well as a separate no-fly registry.
“Part of the Border Patrol’s mission states we will protect the country from terrorists,” CBP Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said, adding that the arrests show “the importance of our mission and how we can never stop being vigilant in our everyday mission to protect this great country.”
Another official cited by the LA Times also noted that “encounters of known and suspected terrorists at our borders are very uncommon.”
Arrested on January 29 after entering the US unlawfully, the 33-year-old suspect was picked up roughly three miles from the Calexico Port of Entry, which connects California to Mexico. Officers determined he was on the FBI’s terrorism blacklist after a criminal records check, while the CBP also noted a cell phone SIM card was found concealed in the sole of his shoe. The agency offered no details about its contents, however. The man has since been transferred and is now being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The second man, 26, was nabbed several weeks later, on March 30, also not far from the Calexico border crossing. He awaits deportation and is in federal custody, CBP said.
The terrorism watchlist is a “single database that contains sensitive national security and law enforcement information” about anybody “known or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities,” according to the FBI.
The CBP announcement follows claims from House Republicans that suspected terrorists had been apprehended at the border recently. Following a tour of the border area in El Paso, Texas last month, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) told reporters that people “on the terrorism watchlist” hailing from Yemen, Iran, and Turkey had attempted to cross into the US illegally, though it is unclear if he referred to the same Yemenis mentioned by the border agency on Monday.
News of the arrests coincides with a major surge in immigration at the US’ southern border, where tens of thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied minors, have attempted to enter the country in recent months. Last week, CBP officials who spoke with the Washington Post said the US is seeing more new arrivals than at any point in the last 20 years, echoing a similar warning from President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, last month.
Muslim Convert Possessed, Shared Islamist Terrorist Material
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 11: Ibrahim Anderson arrives at The Old Bailey on January 11, 2016 in London, England. Anderson along with Shah Jahan Kahn are currently facing charges for handing out Pro ISIS literature on Oxford Street. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images
VICTORIA FRIEDMAN, Breitbart
7 Apr 2021
Convicted terrorist Ibrahim Anderson has pleaded guilty to sharing extremist material and possessing Islamic State-related publications.
The 44-year-old Muslim convert from Luton, Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty via video link from Wandsworth prison to London’s Old Bailey on Wednesday to several charges committed between the Summer and Autumn 2020.
Anderson pleaded guilty to four charges of possessing material related to ISIS, ten charges of disseminating terrorist publications, and one charge of breaching notification orders to tell authorities about an email address he used, according to the Evening Standard.
The BBC had reported last year on the content of the material, which appeared to be violent films produced by Islamic State. Anderson was said to have used a fake name to create a Facebook account and posted two Islamic State videos, and sent a further eight on the encrypted messenger app Telegram in July.
Lawyer Patrick Harte claimed that in sharing the material, his client “did not intend his act to encourage terrorism”.
Mr Anderson will be remanded in custody until another hearing on April 30th.
This is not the first time that the Muslim convert, known for his distinctive ginger beard, has been in front of a court for disseminating extremist material.
In 2016, Anderson and 63-year-old Shah Jahan Khan, also from Luton, were found guilty of terrorism offences, when in August 2014, they set up a stall on Oxford Street in London, handing out leaflets encouraging people to join Islamic State.
The Times had reported it was the first time that legislation banning the promotion of a proscribed group had resulted in a conviction.
Anderson was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Following his 2016 conviction, the Daily Mail reported images taken by Anderson of his three young children posing in front of an Islamist flag.
In two separate photographs, his eight- and six-year-old sons are seen holding swords, and in another, his toddler daughter is wearing a pink headscarf.
Investigators had found the images in October 2014 and were shown to the trial jury.
The newspaper added that Ibrahim Anderson, born Andrew Anderson, had converted to Islam in prison whilst serving three years in prison for robbing a petrol station in the late 1990s.
Sin is progressive!
Amid a crackdown on 'Islamist separatism', the French Senate has voted to ban the hijab for Muslims under 18
A man holds a placard in support of France's Muslim community during a protest against the 'anti-separatism' bill in Paris on February 14, 2021 Source: AFP
The French Senate has passed a contentious "anti-separatism" bill, which includes a ban on people under 18 years of age wearing a hijab in public.
BY EVAN YOUNG
Late last month, the French Senate voted to ban the wearing of the hijab in public places for anyone under 18 years old.
The provision, which is part of a wider 'anti-separatism' bill, would also reportedly stop hijab-wearing mothers from accompanying children on school field trips and prevent the wearing of burkinis at public swimming pools.
The hijab ban is not law yet – the bill needs to go back to France’s lower house for final approval – but it has drawn scorn from critics, including in Australia.
Those who oppose the hijab ban say it is the latest erosion of religious freedoms against Muslims in the country and across Europe, where other nations have introduced bans covering Islamic garments in recent years.
France banned wearing a full-face veil in public in 2011, and last month a referendum instigated by a far-right group to ban facial coverings in Switzerland won a narrow victory.
Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have also implemented full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in recent years.
UN warns Tanzania against rejecting people fleeing
Islamist violence in Mozambique
April 7, 2021
Voters queue to cast their votes in Maputo, Mozambique, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 in the country's presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections. Polling stations opened across the country with 13 million voters registered to cast ballots in elections seen as key to consolidating peace in the southern African nation. (AP Photo/Ferhat Momade)
Johannesburg – United Nations teams have received “worrying” reports that Tanzania has rejected over 1 000 people seeking refuge from an Islamic State-claimed attack on a town in northern Mozambique, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
The March 24 attack on the town of Palma, adjacent to gas developments worth $60 billion, sent the town’s residents scattering in all directions, with some fleeing into dense forest while others escaped by boat.
Some headed north towards Tanzania, aid workers said.
“UNHCR teams… have received worrying reports from displaced populations that over 1 000 people fleeing Mozambique and trying to enter Tanzania were not allowed to cross the border to seek asylum,” its statement said.
It called on Mozambique’s neighbours to provide access to those seeking protection.
The UNHCR had earlier told Reuters it does not have access to the border or affected areas, without giving a reason. Two other aid workers said Tanzania had refused their organizations access, while the Mozambique side of the border was considered too dangerous.
National and local Tanzanian officials either did not respond to Reuters’ calls or declined comment.
Last week a boat with 45 fleeing Mozambicans on board docked in Tanzania, where a local community leader said they had been given food and shelter.
FORCED RETURNS
Hundreds of others, meanwhile, had crossed into Tanzania by land, only to be sent back later via a different border post, according to one of the aid workers and a security consultant who works with a number of humanitarian agencies.
One Palma resident, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said he was allowed into Tanzania but was then driven six hours and handed over to the Mozambican military in the border village of Negomano. There was no food or shelter there, he said, so he continued to the district capital.
Armindo Ngunga, secretary of state for Mozambique’s northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, said many people who had fled to Tanzania were coming back via Negomano, and authorities would take care of them. He did not provide numbers.
The military said on Sunday that Palma was now “completely safe”, while local media that visited the town said some citizens had started to return.
The full extent of the casualties and displacement from the attack remain unclear.
FATAH: Being allies in the fight against Islamist extremism
Author of the article:Tarek Fatah
Publishing date: Apr 07, 2021
Toronto Sun
Hamas flag on flagpole textile cloth fabric waving on the top sunrise mist fog. FILE PHOTO /Getty Images
There is a saying in the Indian subcontinent about the thief, who instead of showing remorse, berates the judge. There are those within the Muslim community leadership throughout North America who fit this description, where instead of admitting wrongdoing — even if it’s unintentional — and changing course so that they can be allies in the fight against Islamist extremism, they play the victim card.
While the rest of the world was focused on anti-Asian racism and the George Floyd murder trial, it seems some Muslim activists in Canada got worried they were losing visibility as victims of big bad Canada.
Last week, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) published a report titled “Under Layered Suspicion”, authored by University of Toronto professor Anver M. Emon and Nadia Z. Hasan from NCCM.
The report argues on behalf of Islamic groups with charitable status who were audited by the Canada Revenue Agency on suspicions they have ties to extremist groups such as Hamas.
The report claims that “the targeting of Muslim-led charities not only undermines the critical work these organizations do to combat racism and discrimination in society, but also calls into question Canada’s commitment to inclusive multiculturalism.”
The irony is the report was published using funds from the Canadian government’s own Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
One of the groups the report focused on was IRFAN-Canada, which was listed as a terrorist entity in 2014.
The 2014 announcement stated that between 2005 and 2009, IRFAN-Canada transferred approximately $14.6 million worth of resources to various organizations associated with Hamas.
But last week’s NCCM report simply portrays IRFAN-Canada as a victim and takes issue with the way Hamas itself has been designated a terrorist entity in Canada, noting: “While policy and academic researchers recognize that Hamas has social and political/military wings, the Government of Canada does not recognize that distinction as it relates to anti-terrorism financing.”
The report makes no mention of the many actions taken by Islamist extremists that have led to a fear of terror in the hearts of most Canadians and Americans.
If only NCCM had used the taxpayer-funded report to at least in part reject and condemn the mission of the Muslim Brotherhood, one would be tempted to give greater weight to its contents.
The NCCM report also took up the case of the Ottawa Islamic Centre, which was organized, as they describe it, for “purposes of advancing religion, such as offering spaces for congregational prayer and religious services, and hosting lectures and classes on Islam, among other things.”
The CRA had previously said that the organization didn’t devote all of its resources to charity and “allowed its resources to be used for activities that promote hate and intolerance,” causing it to fail the CRA’s public benefit test.
The CRA listed speeches at the mosque from a number of years ago by, among others, one Abu Usamah at-Thahabi, who in a Channel 4 UK documentary, “Undercover Mosque”, repeatedly mocked the “kuffar” (non-Muslims). He said: “No one loves the kuffar, no one loves the kuffar, not a single person here from the Muslims loves the kuffar, whether those kuffars are from the UK or from the US.”
Though there is no record of what this cleric said in Ottawa, the NCCM writes in their report that he once provocatively declared: “I don’t agree with those individuals [Muslim terrorists], but at the same time they are closer to me than those criminals of the kufr [Jews, Christians and Hindus].”
If I were a non-Muslim, I would take deep offence to such a speaker appearing at places that receive support from the Canadian taxpayer.
My appeal to the NCCM and others in Canada’s Muslim leadership is to stop playing the victim card and instead do more to address the challenges Canada faces at the hands of Islamist extremism.
