Friday, February 8, 2019

These Marines Were Falsely Accused of War Crimes. Twelve Years Later, They Have Vindication - Andrew deGrandpre (Washington Post)  In 2007, a group of elite Marines were removed from Afghanistan when unproven allegations of war crimes surfaced. The allegations, a fabrication by local Taliban members, claimed that the Marines had massacred innocent bystanders during an ambush. Though they were cleared one year later, the soldiers have spent years fighting the lies.

Egypt to Keep Gaza Border Crossing Open (Middle East Monitor-UK)

ISIS Smuggler: Sleeper Cells and ‘Undead’ Suicide Bombers Have Infiltrated Europe - Anne Speckhard,  Ardian Shajkovci (Daily Beast) Jailed jihadis are being released, others are returning to Europe to face prison time, and still others have never been known to police and wait to be mobilized.  

European Council Statement on Iran (European Council) The EU said on Monday it was gravely concerned by Iran's ballistic missile launches and tests
Iran Has Teamed Up with the Taliban - Jackson Richman (JNS)
 
World Ignores Plight of Palestinians in Lebanon - Bassam Tawil (Gatestone Institute) A Palestinian who tries to bring a bag of cement or other construction materials into a refugee camp to build a house is subjected to arrest, interrogation, trial by military court and a fine. Is this happening in the West Bank? No. In Lebanon. Palestinians in Lebanon are also banned by law from working in professions including medicine, engineering, nursing, accounting, pharmaceuticals and teaching. Palestinians are also barred from owning, selling or bequeathing property. 

Fatah's official Facebook page in 2018: A platform for glorifying murder and promoting terror - Itamar Marcus, Nan Jacques Zilberdik, and Yona Silverman (PMW)

In Yemen, Jihadists and Iran Are Getting U.S. Weapons - Nima Elbagir (CNN)  Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al-Qaeda-linked fighters and Salafi militias in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the U.S., a CNN investigation has found.  The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels, exposing sensitive American military technology to Tehran. The revelations raise fresh questions about whether Saudi Arabia is responsible enough to be allowed to continue buying sophisticated U.S. hardware.



I've included this quote from President Trump's State of the Union address because it seems everything else except this part of his speech was discussed in the press.
Trump: "We Must Never Ignore the Vile Poison of Anti-Semitism"  (White House) In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Trump said: "One of the most complex set of challenges we face is in the Middle East. Our approach is based on principled realism - not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my Administration recognized the true capital of Israel - and proudly opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem."
    "My administration has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regime in Iran. To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country."
    "We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people. We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs." 

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