Wednesday AM ~ The Front Page Cover

 The Front Page Cover 
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
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Featuring:
Islamist terrorists turn to
less-governed social-media platform
Greg Miller
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"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
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 nObama on ISIL: 'We've Contained Them'  
On Friday morning, Barack nObama peddled his failed Middle East foreign policy of appeasement in an interview with ABC. When asked about the strength of the Islamic State
          nObama responded, "I don't think they're gaining strength. What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them."
          Friday evening in Paris, surrogates of what nObama previously characterized as the "JV Team" undertook a well-coordinated attack and slaughtered more than 129 civilians to the cry of "allah akbar."
          nObama responded to the attack, saying, "I don't want to speculate at this point in terms of who was responsible for this." He continued, "Once again we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians." No, actually this was not an "attempt." They most certainly succeeded.
          nObama declared, "We stand together with the French in the fight against terrorism and extremism." Blinded by his admiration for Islam, nObama just can't bring himself to say "Islamic terrorism" or "Muslim extremism."
          Of course his assertion that "we stand together with the French" is true, in the tragic sense that France's Socialist President Francois Hollande has followed nObama's model of appeasing Islamic Jihad. And for the second time this year, the French are paying a heavy price for such appeasement.  -The Patriot Post
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 The Paris Attacks and the Suicide of the West  
Following the attacks in Paris Friday, French President Francois Hollande issued a statement calling them “a horror” and “an act of war,” vowing to be “merciless” in fighting terrorism. Calling the attacks to be "against us all," the leaders of the European Union issued a joint statement, saying, "We will face this threat together with all necessary means and ruthless determination. Everything that can be done at European level to make France safe will be done. We will do what is necessary to defeat extremism, terrorism and hatred.”
          It will be interesting to see if European leaders indeed keep these promises. Until now, these same leaders have responded to Islamic jihad with calls for tolerance, mutual respect, inclusion and even a level of introspection in order to determine how Western culture is to blame. It has been a policy of intentional weakness and capitulation, even as the Islamic State and other terrorist groups become bolder in their rhetoric, and their attacks more frequent and more violent.
          Despite nObama’s claim in 2011, as he pulled out all American forces from Iraq, that he was leaving behind a “stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq,” the reality is that the Islamic State was born in the aftermath of America’s departure, filling the power void left in our absence. More violent even than al-Qaida, from which it came, the nObama-dubbed “JV team” swept across the region, taking and holding land, easily defeating military units in place to stop their advance, gathering up abandoned guns and combat equipment as they went.  -The Patriot Post
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 Terror's Progressive Accomplices  
Denialism was on full display Friday when Americans learned the first group of what will ultimately amount to 10,000 Syrian and Afghan “refugees” arrived in New Orleans, prior to their dispersal into other areas of Louisiana — and another 180 American communities. New Orleans FBI chief and anti-terrorism expert Jim Bernazzani voiced the obvious: "If I was in charge of ISIL, logistically I'd take advantage of this situation and put my people in, into the United States.” He then assured us the FBI and the joint Terrorism Task Force will thoroughly vet these individuals.
          Really? Then why did FBI Assistant Director Michael Steinbach and DHS Director Matthew Emrich both admit there is no system to reliably screen these individuals? Moreover, what can the nation expect in terms of vetting from an administration so mired in political correctness, the FBI ignored  multiple Russian warnings regarding the radicalization of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
          At least one of the jihadi attackers in France registered as a Syrian refugee. Think that won't happen here? Barack nObama just opened the jihadi pipeline into the U.S.
          nObama saved his most contemptible flight from reality for his speech to the nation as the attacks were unfolding. It was then he told America this cascade of orchestrated killing was "an attack not just on Paris, it's an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universalvalues we share.”  -The Patriot Post
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 Democrats Completely Miss the Real Threat  
What did you miss on Saturday night?
          All three Democrats seeking the nomination — Hilly Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley — are committed to chronicling problems through the lens of an expansive government, and they're offering no actual solutions to any issue at hand: Islamic terrorism, employment, health care, government spending and the deficit, et al.
          With the first hour focusing almost most entirely on national security and foreign policy, the rhetoric from Clinton was sharp and harsh toward the terror caused by jihadists. Contra Barack nObama's foolish and unbelievably ill-timed boast that he had "contained" the Islamic State, Clinton proclaimed, “It cannot be contained. It must be defeated.”
          Past the sweeping statement, however, the former secretary of state stood firm in refusing to use the terminology “radical Islam” when asked specifically. "I don’t think we’re at war with Islam," she insisted. "I don’t think we’re at war with all Muslims. I think we’re at war with jihadists."
          So does she believe there are Christian “jihadists” beheading “infidels” and blowing themselves up with suicide vests?
          More tellingly, Clinton insisted, It cannot be an American fight." Only if Democrats abandon the field of battle.  
          Not one of the three representing Democrats would agree to acknowledge the need to fight and defeat “radical Islam.” In a sane world, such deliberate obfuscation should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to serve as commander in chief.  -The Patriot Post
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 French Citizens Riot, Protest Against Muslims After Paris Attacks  
{Christopher Collins} ~ The morning after ISIS jihadists attacked and murdered innocent people in Paris, French citizens took to the streets and clashed with Muslims, demanding the deportation of all Muslims... The clash between the French citizens and Muslims were hard to make out what each side is shouting at each other, the rise of anger has now risen in France and in western nations, including the United States. The attacks were the deadliest to occur in France since World War II and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.       http://libertyalliance.com/french-citizens-riot-protest-against-muslims-after-paris-attacks/
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 Russia Bombs Isis Territory With Internationally Banned Chemicals  
{godfruits.tv} ~ After the confirmed bombing of a Russian passenger plane done by Isis, Russia has just now retaliated... The following video shows footage of the internationally banned chemical bomb of white phosphorus being dropped on Isis territory. Also known as the Willie Pete, white phosphorus has been banned from its use on people. Nations worldwide feel that the use of white phosphorus on human targets is extremely inhumane and violates chemical weapon treaties.  Upon contact, it creates a smoke screen, leaving its target vulnerable and readily available to be ignited.       http://godfruits.tv/russia-attacks-isis-phosphorus-bomb/?ref=11p
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 The Façade in CAIR's Paris Attacks Condemnation  
{investigativeproject.org} ~ Leaders at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemn Friday's coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris that left an estimated 130 people dead. They really, really condemn it...But if the discussion turns to the terrorists' religious motivations, they'll condemn that, too. Beginning with social media posts and a news conference with leaders of other Muslim organizations Saturday, CAIR is waging a campaign to stifle any reference to the Islamist ideology that drove the Islamic State attack on Paris. If defeating ISIS requires a war of ideas among Muslims to determine how literally to apply the Quran, CAIR wants no part. "Let's not legitimize ISIS and help them in their propaganda by calling them the Islamic State," CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told reporters." They're not Islamic. They're not state. They're anti-Islamic. Let's not call them jihadis. They have nothing to do with jihad. Jihad is a legitimate self-defense in Islam. Let's not give them this legitimizing title. They are brutal killers. They have no legitimacy.        http://www.investigativeproject.org/5032/the-facade-in-cair-paris-attacks-condemnation#
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 nObama: I’m not Interested in “American Leadership, or Winning” 
{Tim Brown} ~ In a clear display of his disdain for the office of the President and the united States as a whole, Barack Hussein nObama, in detailing his lack of strategy for dealing with the Islamic State, said that he was not interested in “pursuing some notion of American leadership or America winning.”... His remarks come just days after the Muslim jihadi attacks on Paris, France that left over one hundred people dead and hundreds more injured at the hands of what the Islamic State has taken responsibility for. nObama has sent thousands of US forces to advise and train Iraqi troops, something that obviously didn’t work after years of that being conducted in Iraq by US troops and clearly demonstrated in the fall of Ramadi to Islamic State forces, which led to the Islamic State acquiring weapons, military vehicles and tanks as those Iraqis who were trained fled the scene as cowards. Each of these troops have been sent to Iraq without any Congressional authority being given to do so, something that is demanded by the Constitution. The President doesn’t have the authority under our Constitution to willy nilly move troops around and put them in situations like that, but a spineless Congress continues to allow. If he felt like that 7 and half years ago, then why didn't he step down? As he should do now.        http://sonsoflibertymedia.com/2015/11/obama-im-not-interested-in-american-leadership-or-america-winning/
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 ISIS Just Released A List Of Cities They Plan On Attacking  
{clashdaily.com} ~ Do you live in one of these cities? You might want to lock and load. The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released... CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. Texas: Abilene, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Wyle, Fort Hood, Bedford, Killeen Indiana: Michigan City, Bolivar Michigan: Dearborn Heights, Lake Orion Connecticut: Barkhamsted, Manchester Nevada: Reno Georgia: Griffin Maryland: Upper Marlboro, Warrensburg, Lexington Park Arizona: Phoenix Louisiana: Shreveport, Bossier City South Carolina: Daniel Island, Charleston North Carolina: Fayetteville, New Bern Virginia: Burke, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Springfield,Norfolk, Chesapeake Colorado: 
Colorado Springs California: Hanford, Solvang, San Ardo, Monterrey, Newberry Park, Carlsbad New Mexico: Farmington North Dakota: Minot South Dakota: Rapid City Florida: Merritt Island, Palm Coast, Saint John, Middleburg, Saint Augustine Washington: Colton, Cheney, Seattle, Spokane, Anacortes Nebraska: Bellevue Illinois: Orland Park Rhode Island: Newport Idaho: Bonners Ferry and they forgot Washington DC.    http://clashdaily.com/2015/11/kill-list-isis-just-released-a-list-of-cities-they-plan-on-attacking/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:9835110&utm_campaign=ISIS%20Just%20Released%20A%20List%20Of%20Cities%20They%20Plan%20On%20Attacking
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 Sessions Demands Congress Oversight Of “Refugee” Program..."  
{rickwells.us} ~ Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) wrote to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, expressing his concerns over the Muslim importation program of Hussein nObama and the associated risk of terrorism... While the regime still insists on lying to the American people, claiming that a vetting capability exists which their own officials and experts have testified does not, continuing with the program ignores these realities and places the American people at serious risk. Sessions is demanding the exercise of common sense and judgment. Those are concepts which are foreign to the nObama regime, as are the protection of the American people and our nation. The regime would never institute any policy which would inhibit their agenda regardless of the motivation, if the sole beneficiary is the American people or our nation. Sessions understands that so he’s urging his Senate colleagues to grow a spine, exercise their constitutionally granted power of the purse and insist on action rather than blind obedience to the nObama dictates.       http://rickwells.us/archives/2234
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 Opinion: A New Approach to Dealing with ISIS  
{Cmdr. Daniel Dolan, USN (Retired)} ~ The desire for some expressive use of military power to release pent-up anger in France and the Western world in response to the latest terrorist attack in Paris is reaching a new level... France responded with strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, ISIL and also called Daesh) targets over the weekend. While tactically effective, this is just more of same type of attack that coalition forces execute every day in this region. Herewith an attempt to objectively examine the strategic risks and rewards for turning up the heat on Daesh. The lens of history, and the timeless truths of strategy, are used as guides. The war theorist Carl Von Clausewitz was a staunch advocate for the concentration of force to defeat the enemy. Clausewitz also advised that in wars where enemies are “of very unequal strength” victory and/or peace can be achieved by first creating “the improbability of victory”; the second condition is establishing the war’s “unacceptable cost.”        http://news.usni.org/2015/11/16/opinion-a-new-approach-to-dealing-with-isis?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=3f9a54e909USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-3f9a54e909-231491269&mc_cid=3f9a54e909&mc_eid=3999f18767
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 Is China a friend of Israel?  
{Dan Blumenthal} ~ The world order created by the United States is under great strain. Russia continues to change the territorial status quo in Europe and now in the Middle East... Iran competes with Islamic State for hegemony in the Persian Gulf; China is busy asserting its sway in East Asia. All of this threatens the sine qua non of American grand strategy: maintaining a favorable balance of power on either side of Eurasia as well as in the Persian Gulf. The consequences for small democratic nations like Israel are profound. “Revisionist” powers are known to alter territorial boundaries, rules of international diplomacy, and political configurations with which they are unhappy. But Russia, Iran, and China are not only nationalist powers. They are also imperial powers, making imperial claims; they are challenging the idea of the nation-state system itself.
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 The Core Beliefs behind Palestinian Public Opinion  
{AMIR TAHERI} ~ No surprises here: that’s the conclusion a reader might draw after making his way through “What Do Palestinians Want?,” Daniel Polisar’s comprehensive essay in Mosaic on Palestinian public opinion... Based on hundreds of polls conducted by different organizations over the years, Polisar’s study confirms, or rather reconfirms, that a large majority of Palestinians think the worst of Israel on all issues related to it. One question worth asking at the outset is to what extent it is possible to know what Palestinians really think about Israel. Is the survey method, initially designed for marketing purposes and later applied to electoral politics in Western democracies, the most productive means of obtaining an accurate picture in a context removed from both commercial considerations and political trends in pluralist societies? In the surveys examined by Polisar, questions are posed and Palestinians respond to them from an already fixed position and with no regard to fact, let alone argument. Why did the 1997 peace negotiations fail? The answer is clear: it was Israel’s fault! Who won the third Gaza war? Also clear: Hamas! Even on questions about personal attitudes rather than particular events, one can guess the answer in advance. Does Israel have a secret plan to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque and replace it with a synagogue? Yes! What is the most violent religion under the sun? Judaism!
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 Ex-CIA Chief Drops Bombshell About nObama and ISIS  
{conservativetribune.com} ~ Less than 48 hours after a terrorist attack in France by Islamic extremists killed at least 129 innocents in Paris, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell excoriated President Barack nObama’s so-called strategy against the Islamic State... “I think it’s now crystal clear to us that our strategy — our policy vis-à-vis ISIS — is not working, and it’s time to look at something else,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Morell added that the Islamic State’s efforts against the West have been growing. First, the group allegedly bombed a Russian airliner, killing all 224 on board. Then the group claimed responsibility for the Paris carnage — “the largest (terrorist attack in Western Europe) since Madrid in 2004,” when a series of train bombings left 191 Spaniards dead.       http://conservativetribune.com/cia-chief-drops-bombshell/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=MailChimp&utm_content=top-story&utm_campaign=DailyEmail11.17.15
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Islamist terrorists turn to
less-governed social-media platform
Greg Miller
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     {jewishworldreview.com} ~ The Islamic State and other terror groups are flocking to a Berlin-based social-media service that imposes few barriers on the distribution of violent content or recruiting propaganda, according to a new report.
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     Thousands of followers have subscribed to Islamic State-related channels on the social-media platform called Telegram in recent weeks, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based organization that tracks online activities of terrorist groups.
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     Founded by a high-profile Russian programmer who fled that country last year, Telegram is designed to protect users' anonymity. Unlike Twitter, Facebook and other established platforms, Telegram has no clear mechanism for law enforcement agencies to track individuals or demand that material aimed at inciting terror attacks be taken down.
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     "Telegram's channels offer no way in to monitor them," the report concludes. Citing the "large number of members" that Islamic State channels are drawing, the report said, Telegram is poised "to become a fertile and secure arena for jihad-related activities."
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     Telegram, which is a nonprofit organization, did not respond to requests for comment.
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     The emergence of Telegram has complicated efforts by the FBI and other agencies to monitor or counter the surging volume of online propaganda from terror groups. The service is still relatively small in scale, but offers an alternative to Twitter, Facebook and other companies that police content more aggressively under pressure from the U.S. government.
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     Telegram was conceived as an encrypted communications tool but last month unveiled a new service enabling users to create "channels" that can disseminate images, videos and other material to thousands of anonymous subscribers.
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     A channel affiliated with the Islamic State supporters called "Nasher" has attracted more than 10,000 members and distributes propaganda in languages including Arabic, English, French and German, according to the report by the research institute, also known as MEMRI.
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     "The whole notion for Telegram users is 'we have a platform that we can use to attract followers and publish our stuff without anyone really stopping us,' " said M. Khayat, the principal author of the study, who asked to be identified by his first initial out of security concerns.
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     Another new channel is devoted to encouraging attacks in Saudi Arabia. Users have posted "repeated calls to carry out lone wolf attacks there" and distributed information on how to train and acquire weapons, according to the report. So far, the channel has only 51 subscribers.
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     Experts said that Telegram is unlikely to supplant more mainstream social-media sites because of their global reach and massive user bases.
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     "Telegram, while it has a growing usage, is not anything on the same scale as Twitter," said Charlie Winter, a senior researcher at the Quilliam Foundation, a research organization in the United Kingdom. Islamist groups "will still need to use Twitter and sites like that to bring new supporters and sympathizers into the echo chamber. But perhaps we can see Telegram become the hub for initial propaganda dissemination."
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     Telegram has gained favor among militants in part because it has not banned the distribution of violent or gruesome images the way that Twitter and Facebook have or created a mechanism for users to report violations of the organization's terms of service, experts said.
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     Khayat said that he had contacted Telegram to ask about these policies and that the organization responded by saying that its channels are the "private territory of their respective participants and we do not process any  requests related to them."
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     Winter said he had recently seen an online posting from an Islamic State follower, declaring that "Twitter can suspend me 1,000 times but I will always be on Telegram."
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     The service was created by Pavel Durov, who has been called Russia's Mark Zuckerberg because of his role in founding the social-networking site VKontakte, which is more popular in that country than Facebook.
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     Durov, 31, gained attention by offering a job to Edward Snowden when the former U.S. intelligence contractor was granted asylum in Russia after exposing massive U.S. eavesdropping operations overseas.
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     But Durov fled Russia himself last year after refusing to comply with Moscow's demands that he turn over account information on Ukrainian protesters. Durov engaged in a stand-off at his St. Petersburg home with a Russian SWAT team, and control of his company was subsequently seized by allies of President Vladimir Putin.
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     In an interview with The New York Times last year, Durov said he is "not a big fan of the idea of countries," and that he had created Telegram to offer better privacy and security than other platforms.
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     Telegram also enables users to message one another directly through encrypted exchanges, a capability that is particularly worrisome to law enforcement agencies. Islamic State operatives have used similar tools to encourage supporters to travel to Syria or carry out attacks.
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     FBI Director James Comey warned last year that law enforcement agencies were at risk of "going dark" because of expanding encryption capabilities. The FBI declined to comment on the Islamic State's use of Telegram.
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