Tag: Terrorist Attack

Terror Adverted?

An American soldier has been arrested for the possible terror attacks he was planning and assisting others to carry out.

Federal authorities said Monday that they charged a US Army soldier with sharing bomb-making instructions online, and that he discussed bombing an unidentified media organization and killing left-leaning activists. Jarrett William Smith, 24, a private first class from South Carolina stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, was arrested Saturday, the AP reports. A criminal complaint says Smith discussed killing “antifa” activists and how to build a bomb that could be triggered by calling a cellphone. He listed Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke as a possible target, officials say. They accuse him of posting on Facebook that he was interested in fighting with a paramilitary group in Ukraine known as Azov Batallion. In an online chat group, Smith said he was looking for more “radicals” like himself, the complaint alleges, adding that he talked about destroying cell towers or a local news station.

In an interview before his arrest, Smith told investigators that he knows how to make improvised explosives devices and that he routinely provides instruction on building them. He stated he did this to cause “chaos.” In an exchange Friday on the encrypted messaging service Telegram, an undercover FBI agent asked Smith if there was anyone in Texas who would be a good fit for “fire, destruction and death.” Smith reportedly replied: “Outside of Beto? I don’t know enough people that would be relevant enough to cause a change if they died.” O’Rourke is a member of Congress from Texas. Smith was in court Monday, per NBC, and was ordered held until he appears in court Thursday in Topeka. If convicted, Smith could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000

Yet another “Lone Wolf” arrested and stopped before he could do any damage if the charges are found to be true.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

9/11 Never Happened!

This is NOT some lame ass conspiracy…it is a ‘what if’……so it should be ‘what if 9/11 never happened”?

Today is the day when we take a few minutes to observe a silence for those people that perished in the attacks….

I do like to look at history and thinking of some sort of alternative…..9/11 is no different…..

How different would the world be today if there had been no 9/11? What if the attacks had been foiled or bungled? One obvious answer is that Americans would probably care a lot less than they do about the rest of the world.

Back on the eve of destruction, in early September 2001, only 13 percent of Americans believed that the U.S. should be “the single world leader.” And fewer than a third favored higher defense spending. Now those figures are naturally much higher. Right?

Wrong. According to the most recent surveys, just 12 percent of Americans today think the U.S. should be the sole superpower—almost exactly the same proportion as on the eve of the 9/11 attacks. The share of Americans who want to see higher spending on national security is actually down to 26 percent. Paradoxically, Americans today seem less interested in the wider world than they were before the Twin Towers were felled.

https://www.newsweek.com/what-if-911-had-never-happened-67373

What would the news have been if the attack had not happened?

Everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they did on 9/11.

But what do you remember about the day before — or the news the early-morning of?

Not much, we’re guessing.

Nothing that happened the day before 9/11 — and nothing that was set to make news before 8:47 a.m. on 9/11 — seemed remotely relevant in the aftermath.

If the attacks had never happened, here’s what you would have been talking about on 9/11.

https://www.businessinsider.com/september-11-2001-2011-9

Now that was interesting…….. the crap that would have made the morning news if the 9/11 attacks had been canceled or thwarted….

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Aftermath Of 9/11

Today we set about remembering the deadly attacks on 9/11…..

We always try to remember those that have perished in the dastardly attacks on 9/11 and we seldom think about those that have been ass deep in fighting since that day.

You could say that we have a Veterans Day to remember our vets but that is for ALL vets and the vets from the War on Terror have few that remember their sacrifices….with the exception of the families that have to pay for the damage these wars have done.

Those who went to war after Sept. 1, 2001, are different than the generations of veterans who went before them, and are “more likely to bear the scars of battle,” both physical and mental.

“Their collective experiences — from deployment to combat to the transition back to civilian life — are markedly different from those who served in previous eras,” according to a unique survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, released Tuesday on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“Roughly half of post-9/11 veterans (49%) have had combat experience, compared with 24% of veterans who served only before 9/11,” the survey found.

The survey of more than 1,200 veterans and, separately, more than 1,000 adult civilians examined the veterans’ own assessments of what they experienced in battle and the transition out of uniform, contrasting that with the civilians’ views of the returning service members.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/09/10/post-9-11-vets-bear-more-mental-physical-battle-scars-prior-generations-pew-study.html

Sadly the American people will remember the attacks but little thought for those people that are fighting these endless wars.

The soldiers that fight these wars should have their say….

An important new consensus is forming against America’s endless wars, shaped by an important constituency: the military veterans who have sacrificed so much to fight them. A Pew Research poll of veterans released contained results that contradict the cherished talking points of the bipartisan Washington foreign policy blob that sees “leadership” and “engagement” as being synonymous with bombing and regime change.

Sixty-four percent of veterans said the war in Iraq was not worth fighting when the costs to America are weighed against the ostensible benefits to the region and our national security. Just 33 percent concluded that George W. Bush’s Baghdad democracy adventure was worthwhile in retrospect.

That’s not much different than the prevailing view among the American public, where 62 percent said the Iraq war wasn’t worth it versus 32 percent who still think it should have been fought. Perhaps more surprisingly, 58 percent of veterans believe the Afghanistan war—now America’s longest, despite two consecutive presidents of both parties advocating retrenchment—wasn’t worth fighting. That’s only a point behind the 59 percent of Americans as a whole who say the same.

Veterans Reach Their Tipping Point Against Our Post-9/11 Wars

If you are going to remember the attacks and the deaths on 9/11 then please take a few moments to think about those brave souls that have been fighting and dying for 18 years because of those attacks.

And we fight on….and on……

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/10/another-unhappy-september-11-anniversary/

They say (whoever they are) that 9/11 changed everything…..but is that accurate?

America’s news media have focused for days and more on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The dominant, inevitable, yet misleading theme of the coverage: 9/11 “changed everything.”

“When Everything Changed,” the Washington Post declares on its front page today.

“The Day Everything Changed,” says the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth, Texas.

“A Decade of Change,” declares the Press of Atlantic City.

“Forever changed?” asks the lead headline in today’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.

That interrogative is inadvertently perceptive, suggesting as it does an important if largely ignored counter-narrative about 9/11:

It is striking how little, fundamentally, has changed in American life because of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in lower Manhattan, at the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

A counter-narrative: 9/11 did not ‘change everything’

A few weeks ago Congress finally passed a bill that benefited the first responders…sadly just in time for some political advantage…..think not?

Then why did it take so long to do the right thing?

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Call It “Domestic Terrorism”!

The last round of mass shootings and the media has once again gone to great lengths to try and label them as “Domestic Terrorist” acts.  (Another in the news as I ready this for post)

The media is all over this terminology…..pundits are spending countless hours making the case for it.

The problem is there is NO unified definition of what a domestic terrorist act details.

A good place to start is here…..

The number of bereaved families and friends of those massacred by white terrorists in the United States tragically continues to expand. Within the last year alone bodies riddled with the bullets of military-style weapons lay strewn on the streets of large cities like Pittsburgh and El Paso to small towns like Poway and Gilroy. Fueled by anti-Semitic and anti-Hispanic rhetoric, the paranoid projections and racist rhetoric of white nationalism and white supremacy have been weaponized into white terrorism.

Yet white terrorism also stalks those seeking refuge at our southern border. Imagine a distraught mother, reeling from the murder of her child. With other young children at risk, she decides to begin a perilous journey to escape any further violence. Because she hopes to prevent being attacked on the long trek, she joins with others, equally at risk. Having only a vague hope of joining distant relatives once she arrives at her destination, she and her children withstand the many deprivations over the long haul. Finally, arriving at what she has been told is a land of refuge, her children are ripped from her care. She, in turn, is taken to an overcrowded caged facility where she finds hundreds of others languishing in deplorable conditions.

White Terrorism

That said….why is this act of terrorism so difficult?

The best is from the Patriot Act…..remember that?

Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover “”domestic,”” as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act “dangerous to human life” that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Additionally, the acts have to occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and if they do not, may be regarded as international terrorism.

Section 802 does not create a new crime of domestic terrorism. However, it does expand the type of conduct that the government can investigate when it is investigating “terrorism.” The USA PATRIOT Act expanded governmental powers to investigate terrorism, and some of these powers are applicable to domestic terrorism.

The definition of domestic terrorism is broad enough to encompass the activities of several prominent activist campaigns and organizations. Greenpeace, Operation Rescue, Vieques Island and WTO protesters and the Environmental Liberation Front have all recently engaged in activities that could subject them to being investigated as engaging in domestic terrorism.

Do not mistake my words for some sort of opposition….I want these low life slugs punished but there is the chance that unless we are careful then we could allow the government to go too far….as they have done on so many other issues.

Let me give my readers a couple of things to think about in the dealing with “Domestic Terrorism”…..

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/there-no-law-covers-domestic-terrorism-what-would-one-look-n1040386

Beware Calls in US for Domestic ‘Terrorism’ Laws

As usual the debate and discussion will go on and on…..and the shooting deaths will go on and on……

At least one GOPer has some courage…..Sen. McSally of Arizona….

“For too long we have allowed those who commit heinous acts of domestic terrorism to be charged with related crimes that don’t portray the full scope of their hateful actions,” says GOP Sen. Martha McSally. And so on Wednesday she revealed she plans to do something about it. The Arizona senator released a discussion draft of a new bill that would make domestic terrorism a distinct federal crime—and CBS News explains why that would be necessary: “Domestic terrorism is defined in the US legal code but it is not codified as a law that can be prosecuted.” As such, federal authorities end up charging those suspected of domestic terrorism with other offenses, like hate crimes or weapons possession.

McSally explained the ramifications of that to CBS: It “makes it more difficult to track acts of domestic terror and reduces uniformity in charging and sentencing.” The Arizona Republic reports she’ll introduce the bill once the Senate’s summer recess ends. Politico sees her move as a sign that Republicans are “getting serious” about responding to the recent wave of mass shootings with legislation. It offers context for McSally, too: She’s going head to head with Mark Kelly in the state’s 2020 special election for John McCain’s seat, “a contest in which firearms and fighting crime will loom large.”

How far will this go in a do nothing Senate controlled by cowards and spineless toads?

This is a problem in search of a solution and all concerned are looking in the wrong direction.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Remember The USS Liberty!

Today my Saturday will be in remembrance of the American deaths from the bastards that attacked the US Naval ship, the USS Liberty…..since I am giving so much information for my reader to digest this will be my only post today.

Image result for USS Liberty

Every year on the day of the attack, 08 June, I do a post on the USS Liberty in honor of those killed and wounded by the cowardly attack by Israel on a US Naval ship….There are many articles and papers written about this attack and I try to give my reader a library of work on the situation…..so they can better understand what happened on that fateful day.

And yes it was a fateful day…34 American sailors were murdered by a supposed ally, Israel and the US allowed the cowardly attack to go unanswered.

Source: Remembering the U.S.S. Liberty – The Unz Review

Source: Infamy at Sea: Israel’s Attack on the USS Liberty 50 Years Later

Source: The Day Israel Attacked America – Al Jazeera English

Source: USS Liberty crew member recalls fatal ’67 US-Israeli skirmish – News – Stripes

Source: 50 Years Ago: NSA’s Deadliest Day | Observer

Source: The USS Liberty Must Not Be Forgotten – The Unz Review

https://lobotero.com/2015/07/09/still-waiting-for-uss-libertys-truth-by-ray-mcgovern-antiwar-com/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/uss-liberty-end-of-the-day/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/leaving-the-uss-liberty-crew-behind-by-ray-mcgovern-antiwar-com-2/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/the-case-of-the-uss-liberty-anatomy-of-an-israeli-provocation-world-socialist-web-site/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/uss-liberty-israeli-pilot-speaks-up/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/dead-in-the-water-the-sinking-of-the-uss-liberty-must-watch-uprootedpalestinianss-blog/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/08/uss-liberty-incident-in-saner-thought/

https://lobotero.com/2013/06/08/uss-liberty-incident-2/

Source: Two important lessons from Israeli attack on the USS Liberty – In Saner Thought

Source: USS Liberty Veterans Association | Letter to Bibi – In Saner Thought

Source: Liberty Survivors Say US Still Downplays Israel’s Attack on Ship – In Saner Thought

As they say….it’s a small world…..look at how all these situations are intertwine…..

And we have been protecting Israel from paying for their crimes and the list is substantial ever since that attack.

These Americans should NEVER have been forgotten….and they have for most of the society….I hopefully can help their memory endure.

For those that need visuals……

Please help a country remember their dead…..sailors they have mostly forgotten.

REMEMBER THE LIBERTY!

Please Pass it On!

Learn Stuff!

Allow me to reiterate…..That is a lot of information to be digested so this will be my only post for the day……..

Have a good start to the weekend and may your day be filled with joy and love…..

Peace Out!

When Is It Terrorism?

Let me ask…..if the FBI arrested a guy named Ali with lots of weapons and a manifesto to kill politicians and media personalities would and should he be charged with terrorism?

If your answer is yes then I say rightly so…….

Then why was this d/bag not a terorist?

A federal magistrate has agreed to the pre-trial release of a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of being a domestic terrorist, the AP reports. US Magistrate Judge Paul Day noted on Thursday that 50-year-old Christopher Hasson hasn’t been charged with any terrorism related offenses. Hasson was arrested Feb. 15 and is awaiting trial on firearms and drug charges. Prosecutors say he created a hit list of prominent Democrats, two Supreme Court justices, network TV journalists, and social media company executives. Day says he still has “grave concerns” about Hasson based on information prosecutors have presented. The magistrate says Hasson is “going to have to have a whole lot of supervision.” Day planned to order home confinement and electronic monitoring for Hasson. It’s not clear where Hasson will be confined or when he’ll be released. (Hasson reportedly once wrote that he was “dreaming of a way to kill every last person on earth.”)

Why is this person not sent to Gitmo and held with the rest of the terrorists that wanted to do harm to this country?

Once again a domestic terrorist gets the “benefit of the doubt”……somehting not many others get to claim……

Does that mean a white dude that wants to kill our political leaders and media personalities is not a terrorist….but a guy named Ali with the same intentions is a terrorists.

Can we call this situation an example of “white privilege”?

That Terrorist Threat

The US has not had an organized terrorist attack in months even years…that is good to see that our counter terrorist dynamics is working so well.

As a wonk for international situations, for conflict management and for security issues I read a lot of papers and reports and I see through my readings that there could possibly be a new batch of terrorist in the wings.

We took care of AQ and in the process of dealing the fatal blow to ISIS…so where could the danger be?

The way Westerners think about Islamist terrorism has grown dangerously outdated. For decades, officials have focused on attacks launched by Middle Easterners. Today, however, the real threat increasingly comes from further east. In the former Soviet states and beyond, militants who once harbored mostly local grievances are turning their attention to the West. They will be the menace to watch in 2019.

The threat posed by Middle Eastern terrorists has been shrinking for some time. Even during the war against the Islamic State, Russian speakers from former Soviet countries were already committing many of the major attacks in the West. Those included relatively simple lone-wolf events, such as the 2017 truck strikes on pedestrians in New York and Stockholm—both conducted by Uzbeks—but also more complicated operations, such as the 2016 suicide bombing of Istanbul’s airport—which was allegedly organized by a Russian national—and the 2017 attack on a nightclub in the same city, led by an Uzbek.

The New Face of Terrorism in 2019

Central Asia has been a hotbed for terrorists in the past….and the outlook is not very good for the future….

Central Asian countries’ reputation as exporters of radicalized extremists appears to be giving way to one marked by a growing threat of terrorism domestically. A number of incidents in Tajikistan over the last year highlight the problem of increasing militant activity that targets both foreign and national interests. Several factors—the Islamic State’s shift in focus toward Afghanistan following losses in Iraq and Syria; growing Chinese influence in Central Asia; and ongoing repression by authoritarian governments—point toward a more widespread threat, however, that is likely to affect the region as a whole.

https://jamestown.org/program/terror-threat-turns-inward-on-central-asia/

The predictions are not good….and the overall chances of a Central Asian terrorist attack gets better this year…..

In the past two years, Central Asians have been involved in terrorist attacks in Istanbul, New York, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm. While we have seen more attacks by Central Asians outside the region than within it, in August four tourists were killed in an Islamic State-inspired attack in southern Tajikistan. This was the first attack credibly linked to IS in the region. Some have been quick to label Central Asia as a growing “hotbed” of Islamic extremism and exporter of terrorism. Returning fighters from Syria and Iraq, spillovers from Afghanistan, and “homegrown” terrorists are all framed as threats to the region. Yet assessing the threat remains difficult, due in no small part to the way the governments of the region manipulate it in order to consolidate their power.

http://voicesoncentralasia.org/assessing-the-terrorist-threat-in-and-from-central-asia/

This situation needs constant monitoring…..for we do not want to be caught with our pants down again.

Those 9/11 Conspiracies

Closing Thought–10Jan19

May I see a show of hands….how many have heard the 9/11 conspiracies ………does not matter which one just the conspiracies in general.

Do you believe any of the conspiracies?

In case you have not heard the theories (I would find that hard to believe…but hey anything is possible)…..I can help you with the search….

The 11 Most Compelling 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Surely you have heard or read one or two of these theories….I mean unless you have been locked away with an iron mask…..

The hackers of Dark Overlord have done a bit of hacking and have found some “truth” about the attacks…..

A hacking collective known as The Dark Overlord announced on New Year’s Eve that it had broken into the computer systems of a law firm and obtained files related to the September 11 attacks – threatening to publicly release a large cache of internal files unless a hefty ransom was paid, according to Motherboard.

Dark Overlord’s demands targeted several insurers and legal firms, including Lloyds of London, Silverstein Properties and Hiscox Syndicates. It is unclear what exact files were stolen by the group, however the hacking collective tweeted “We’ll be providing many answers about 9.11 conspiracies through our 18.000 secret documents leak from @HiscoxComms and others.”

https://theantimedia.com/dark-overlord/

There will always be something “new” about the 9/11 attacks….and a wealth of answers to unasked questions.

Anything new that you have read or heard?

Time to put my mind in neutral for awhile…..TTFN!

Make Mine Dirty!

I wish I was talking about a martini….but something a bit more potentate……..

I am always looking at the news from around the world trying to see what could be the next ‘big’ attack from a group of deranged terrorists…..to me I believe it is going to be a dirty bomb of some fashion….

A few of my posts on the subject of a dirty bomb….

https://lobotero.com/2016/03/07/in-search-of-a-poor-mans-nuke/

https://lobotero.com/2016/02/22/nuke-material-update/

Over the weekend when I was reading my correspondence I found another piece about the subject of a dirty bomb this time in Southeast Asia….

In August 2018, Malaysian authorities reported the disappearance of an industrial device containing radioactive material. The device was lost while being transported from Negri Sembilan to Selangor by two technicians employed at a company that provides testing, calibration and inspection services to heavy industries. There are concerns that the unknown amount of radioactive iridium contained in the device could cause radiation exposure or be used as a weapon, otherwise known as a ‘dirty bomb’. The incident was a reminder that nuclear security demands attention in Southeast Asia.

While nuclear security is often understood to be about securing nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons, it is also very much about the security of radioactive materials that are under the state’s regulatory, export and licensing control. As defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), nuclear security is ‘the prevention and detection of, and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear material, other radioactive substances or their associated facilities’. Although there are no nuclear power plants in Southeast Asia, radioactive sources are widely used for civilian application in medical, industrial, agricultural and scientific research fields. For instance, radioactive sources are present in 17 hospitals in Thailand and seven hospitals in the Philippines.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/12/04/stopping-dirty-bombs-in-southeast-asia/

These types of devices are a poor man’s nuke…..Hell one can make a dirty bomb out of smoke detectors…..we need to be ever vigil for it is only a matter of time before some knuckle-head gives this a try.

Niger Attack Update

Closing Thought–10Dec18

Back in 2017 a US Special Ops team was attacked and 4 members were killed in the West African nation of Niger…..an investigation has been on-going and in May the press was informed…..https://lobotero.com/2018/07/10/niger-update-3/

This is the press briefing……

The results of the Niger ambush investigation was briefed to members of the press on Thursday, May 10, 2018. The Pentagon aired the one-hour long briefing and question and answer period video online. The three briefers were Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser (commander of U.S. Africa Command), Army Major General Roger Cloutier (AFRICOM’s Chief of Staff and investigating officer), and Robert S. Karem (Assistant Secretary of Defense International Security Affairs).

The investigation on the deaths of the four Soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group killed in Niger was conducted under Army Regulation 15-6. Defense Secretary James Mattis concurred with its conclusions. The SECDEF has directed the appropriate commands to change doctrine, training, and procedures where necessary.

http://www.sof.news/special-forces/niger-ambush-investigation/

The SecDef Mattis erupted violently when he heard about the inquiry into the deaths……

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was livid last month when he summoned top military officials to a video conference at the Pentagon to press them about an investigation into a 2017 ambush in Niger that killed four Americans on a Green Beret team. His anger, Pentagon officials said, came from seeing news reports that junior officers were being reprimanded for the botched Niger mission while the officers directly above them were not.

Days later, a senior officer who had largely escaped punishment was told he would be reprimanded. Another senior officer’s actions before and around the time of the mission were also under new scrutiny.

This is not the only investigation that is a pile of steaming manure….CYA all around.