Tag: Terrorist Attack

Sixteen Years After 9/11, How Does Terrorism End?

Sixteen and counting…….it was a Tuesday morn about 10 when the world change in a matter of moments.

War was declared and we have been fighting ever since.

AS we look back on that fateful day…..there is a question the lurks deep in the mind……will this ever end?

The current spasm of international terrorism, an age-old tactic of warfare, is often traced to a bomb mailed from New York by the anti-Castro group El Poder Cubano, or Cuban Power, that exploded in a Havana post office, on January 9, 1968. Five people were seriously injured. Since then, almost four hundred thousand people have died in terrorist attacks worldwide, on airplanes and trains, in shopping malls, schools, embassies, cinemas, apartment blocks, government offices, and businesses, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. The deadliest remains the 9/11 attack, sixteen years ago this week, which killed almost three thousand people—and in turn triggered a war that has become America’s longest.

I’ve covered dozens of these terrorist attacks on four continents over that half century. After the Barcelona attack and the U.S. decision to send more troops to fight the Taliban, I began to wonder how terrorism ends—or how militant groups evolve. In her landmark study of more than four hundred and fifty terrorist groups, Audrey Kurth Cronin found that the average life span of an extremist movement is about eight years. Cuban Power c

Source: Sixteen Years After 9/11, How Does Terrorism End? | The New Yorker

Take a few moments and say a silent prayer for the families that have been effected by this horrendous act.

9/11 Anniversary–2017

Today we recognize that 16 years ago a handful of whacked out turds flew planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania….the worse case of terrorism to ever hit the shores of America.

This is an op-ed written for the Washington Times……a look at what has become of the society since that fateful day…..(I do not totally agree with some of their assumptions but a pretty good piece all around)…….

The approach of an anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 always concentrates my mind. It was, astonishingly, 16 Septembers ago that a team of foreign terrorists hijacked three American passenger planes and used them as weapons of mass destruction. Can anyone forget the images of people leaping to their deaths to avoid being consumed by fire and smoke, the twin towers collapsing, the ashes rising, children struggling to come to terms with the fact that they’d never see their mothers and fathers again?

Actually, some people can. The tiki-torch Nazis and the black-shirted anarcho-communist Antifa have moved on. What excites them and, frankly, too many others, is pitting Americans against Americans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender — whatever. As though we hadn’t an enemy in the world.

Source: 9/11 anniversary shows some things remain the same – Washington Times

Take a moment to remember those that gave their lives on that day and pray for their families…..

Another History Lesson

(gasp…choke…cough….)

By now the usual posts have hit the internet about the attack in Barcelona……everyone has the same opinion…a dastardly deed committed by barbaric cowards.

And then our president had his say so about the attack as well……

President Trump’s first public reaction to the Barcelona van attack was to tweet a response: “The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!” His second public reaction was to spread a rumor that’s been debunked, CNN reports. “Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught,” he tweeted. “There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!” CNN says Trump was probably talking about the rumor that Gen. John J. Pershing shot Muslims with bullets dipped in pig’s blood, or buried them with pigs’ bodies, during the Philippine-American War as a deterrent to insurgents. It’s a rumor that multiple media outlets, Fox News included, are pointing out has no evidence supporting it.

Trump definitively referred to that rumor during the presidential campaign, telling the audience at a rally that Pershing’s forces lined up 50 Muslim prisoners, shot 49 of them with pig’s-blood-dipped bullets, and told the last person, “‘You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years, there wasn’t a problem.” But both Snopes and Politifact have deemed this rumor to be false. Pershing did write about another commanding officer in the war who supposedly buried Muslims with pigs, but, per Politifact: “There is no evidence that Pershing himself committed these acts … and most important, there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that this tactic was effective in stopping violence.” Not to mention, as a religious expert told Huffington Post in 2013, there is no penalty in Islam for simply coming into contact with pork products.

That is right…this NEVER happened!  Just more of the “real” news that some like to report.

If I am not mistaken the incident in the Philippines that Trump mentioned ended with Pershing sitting down with the rebels and reading from the Quran and praying with them….and a dispute was avoided. (If  could remember where I read that piece of info I would give you a link…old age and brain farts prevent me from doing so)

I can appreciate it when someone uses a little historical context when making a point….but at least they could do is get it right.  At least he could have shown a little more compassion and actual concern.

Closing Thought–09Aug17

Another Soul Finds Its Way Home!

We will soon find ourselves on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in NYC and the Pentagon.

Many Americans were killed on the fateful day….some still have not been identified….but there is some good news to report (if anything can be said to be good after that attack)……

Almost 16 years after the 9/11 attacks, another family has been given the news that the remains of their loved one have been identified. New York City’s medical examiner said Monday that the man has been identified as the 1,641st person killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, PIX11 reports. The medical examiner’s office says the man’s name is being withheld by request of his family. This is the first time another victim has been identified since March 2015, when Matthew David Yarnell, a 26-year-old who worked on the 97th floor of the South Tower, was identified with the help of DNA, the New York Daily News reports.

The 1,641th victim was identified through DNA retesting of remains recovered from the site, reports NBC News. Out of the 2,753 people killed in the New York attacks, 1,112, or around 40%, are still unidentified, but the medical examiner’s office says it plans to keep using the most modern methods to identify as many as possible. The medical examiner’s office says it has been retesting remains found during the original recovery operation at Ground Zero.

May the spirit now rest in peace and the family can have the closure that they have needed for these long years.

Time for me to call it a day……I have a couple of buffalo steaks for the grill and a bottle of good Spanish red wine…..now that is how you end the day….with a perfect meal.

Tomorrow my friends……chuq

Make It Dirty!

Geez!  The title could lead this post down some interesting and even disgusting paths…..but no this time……

But the big story was who won the British Open golf classic…..seriously?  That is the best the media can do?

For years I have writing about the different occasions where nuke material was found or missing from some inventory and I said that it would be only a matter of time before some nut job terrorist got their hands on the material and would make and use a dirty bomb.

A report has come out of Iraq……the battle for Mosul to be exact……

The Washington Post has a scoop on a terrifying near-miss in Mosul, Iraq. When the Islamic State seized Iraq’s second-largest city in June 2014 it came into possession of two caches of cobalt-60, one of the key ingredients for making “dirty bombs,” the paper reports. At the time, Western intelligence agencies were aware of the cobalt-60, a substance with deadly levels of radiation that, in peaceful hands, can be used to destroy cancer cells. What they weren’t sure of is whether ISIS knew about them. Those agencies, along with independent nuclear experts, appraised the potential damage the two caches could cause and reported to the US government and the Iraqi military about them, but otherwise kept their reports private in case ISIS didn’t know what they had in their possession.

Earlier this year, when Iraqi military soldiers entered the college campus storage room where the cobalt was last seen, they found it untouched. Experts says they don’t know why ISIS didn’t use the substance to make dirty bombs but speculate that they didn’t have the knowledge to dismantle the machines holding it without exposing themselves to radiation. And while the two caches are now safe in Iraqi government hands, officials warn that similar caches exist in hundreds of cities around the world, some of them in conflict areas. The Post reports that it learned of the cobalt-60 in Mosul last year but agreed to a US government request not to report on it until Mosul was retaken.

Any sane person this report would give you a shiver…..to think that ISIS was that close to a dirty bomb……

Now my question is….if they had the material for a dirty bomb why then did they not use it?

What gave them pause after all their barbarity knows no bounds….why the hesitation?

Oh By The Way——remember the deceased leader of ISIS, al-Baghdadi?

Well he may not be as dead as everyone thought……

Defense Secretary James Mattis today said he continues to believe that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is still alive, and that he will assume Baghdadi is alive until he sees confirmation that the US has killed him.

The US, of course, has claimed to have killed Baghdadi several times. His most recent death was at the hands of Russia, which had US officials particularly skeptical. There were multiple “confirmations” that he was likely dead again, though recently the indications have been that he is alive.

Gotta love the games these people play.

Is Trump Fighting Terrorism?

Or is he just tweeting about it, while making it worse?

I recall during the election there were promises made about the elimination of terrorism made by then candidate Trump.  Does anyone else recall this?

Well we have had yet another terrorist attack in the UK and Donald has gone back to his thumbs and started Tweeting again about the death of terrorism…..

But is he going about removing terrorism the right way?

So far he is using the same tactics as the last two presidents and they also promised to end this rein of terror….so I say again….is Trump fighting terrorism?

Donald Trump came to the presidency on a wave of overheated rhetoric about the terrorist threat, the failures of his predecessors, and promises, as he said in his inaugural address, to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.” Four months into his term, and on the heels of Saturday’s terrorist attack in London, which killed seven and injured dozens in the third attack in Britain in three months, it’s worth asking: Is Trump actually delivering decisive counterterrorism?

Let’s break it down. Yes, he’s been decisive and even dramatic, from the issuance of his initial travel ban a week after being inaugurated to his May trip to Riyadh, where he tried to galvanize the Muslim world against terror. But it isn’t serious counterterrorism—that is, policy that will diminish the terrorist threat—that he is producing. Instead, Trump’s steps so far seem to be designed to exacerbate the danger and lengthen the life expectancy of jihadism.

Source: Is Trump Fighting Terrorism? – POLITICO Magazine

So far it is the same stale tactics as before….did not work then….will it work now?

Here’s a thought…..since ISIS et al are Sunni extremism then maybe a better tactic would be to align ourselves with Iran, who are Shia…….

In the past quarter century, the United States and its Western allies have suffered much from terrorism, mostly perpetrated by Sunni extremists. America has spent billions of dollars fighting al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups and more recently the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) with little to show for it. Washington has forged new counterterrorism alignments with several Sunni leaders—Arab and non-Arab—across the greater Middle East to contain the threat of terrorism, again to no avail. President Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia and his meetings with the mostly Sunni heads of Arab and Muslim countries are the latest examples of Washington’s feverish pursuit of alliances to fight radicalism and extremism.

Source: Aligning with Iran Necessary to Combat Sunni Extremism « LobeLog

Just a thought…….

Not going yo be a popular idea in some circles…but think about it….who better to take on extreme Sunnis than the Shia?

So far our president has given us promises……promises in 140 characters.

USS Liberty–The 50th Year

This day’s posts are dedicated to the memory of 34 US sailors that died at the hands of a betraying ally……

Today, 08 June, is the 50th anniversary of the cowardly attack by Israel on a naval vessel, USS Liberty, in 1967…the attack killed 34 American sailors and wounded 170 others.

Below is an archive of all the posts I have done over the years about this attack….please take the time and learn about this event….I know it is a lot to take in but 34 dead Americans would appreciate your time……

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

To this day Israel has NOT been held accountable…..to this day Americans still think Israel is some sort of ally and friend…..to this day these brave Americans go not avenged…..

To me these attackers are despicable cowards and in NO way deserve our friendship or our help…..let alone any respect. Period!

Not Remembering the USS Liberty

I will be dedicating today’s posts to the attack on 08Jun1967…..

It is June and everywhere there are celebrations of the victory in the 6 Day War….nowhere in all this is there ever much mention of the deadly attack by Israel on a US naval vessel, USS Liberty, and the death and injuries that it caused.

If Trump were this “America First” dude then why did he NOT bring up this attack that the world knows about but the US and Israel choose to forget?  Why?

It is safe to assume that when President Donald Trump lands in Israel Monday, he will not have been briefed on the irrefutable evidence that, nearly 50 years ago – on June 8, 1967 – Israel deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in international waters, killing 34 U.S. sailors and wounding more than 170 other crew. All of Trump’s predecessors – Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama – have refused to address the ugly reality and/or covered up the attack on the Liberty.

Source: Not Remembering the USS Liberty by — Antiwar.com

Every American should be outraged at this dismal of American deaths….the US should sack up and confront Israel over this betrayal…instead of cowering to them like well beaten mutts…..only COWARDS allow this to go unanswered……

Then we remember the day……

There has been a lot of media coverage mostly written by Israelis or American Jews regarding Israel’s “victory” fifty years ago during the so-called Six Days War directed against its Arab neighbors but I have yet to see an account that mentions the fate of the U.S.S. Liberty. Nevertheless, the Liberty is not forgotten. This Thursday at noon at Arlington National Cemetery there will be a small gathering for the annual coming together with the survivors and friends of the most decorated ship in the history of the U.S. Navy, a victim of a particularly brutal and unprovoked attack by Israel that has been covered up for half a century by the powers that be in Washington. The moving service will include reminiscences by surviving crew members plus the ringing of a ship’s bell for each one of the thirty-four American sailors, Marines and civilians that were killed in the deliberate Israeli air and sea onslaught that sought to sink the intelligence gathering ship and kill all its crew. Present will be a number of veterans like myself and other Americans who are committed to ensuring that the story of the Liberty will not die in hopes that someday the United States government will have the courage to acknowledge what actually happened on that fateful day.

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

Iran: ISIS Attacks

It is a busy day here on IST…..attacks, hearings, Qatar and USS Liberty…..I will try to be short and sweet…whenever possible….and thanx everyone for the visits……

I have waited a few days before posting on this situation to see how the tale shakes out…..

A couple of days ago ISIS hit the capital of Iran…..killing and injuring many…. first time Iran has tasted the likes of ISIS and its tactics……

Terror in Tehran: Several attackers stormed into Iran’s parliament and a second group of attackers including a suicide bomber targeted the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Wednesday. At least 12 people were killed and 42 people were wounded in the twin attacks, reports the AP. ISIS claimed responsibility, marking the first time it has taken responsibility for an assault in Iran, the AP reports. The Sunni extremist group is fighting Iran-backed forces in Syria and Iraq.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry says security forces were able to thwart a third terrorist attack in the country’s capital. In one image in state media, a man was seen lowering a young boy from the parliament building. Authorities say a woman was arrested at the scene of the shrine attack. The attack on the tomb of Khomeini was symbolically stunning, the AP notes. As Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Khomeini is a towering figure in the country and was its revolutionary leader in the 1979 ouster of the shah.

Just like all these types of attacks the rhetoric is on-going…..out of Iran a reason for the attack is being spread…….

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia for twin attacks on Iran’s parliament and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini on Wednesday morning which left 12 people dead.

The attacks, which took place a few kilometres south of the capital, were the first in the country to be claimed by the Islamic State group.

“This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the US president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists,” said the IRGC in a statement, published by Iranian media.

Source: Iranian Revolutionary Guard blames Saudi Arabia for Tehran attack | Middle East Eye

They could have a point…..

Closing Thought–07Jun17

The news the Right wing seems to always miss!

After the London attacks there has been vile and disgusting “facts” tumbling around the Right wing blogs……they demonize a whole sector of society and NEVER admit when they are wrong…..

The condemnation that most say is never uttered….

Here is a msg from Muslim community to terrorists. You have lost your chances of asking for forgiveness in this life & hereafter.

And the hate of the Right wing will not let them look for what is actually been said and done….they prefer to stick to lies and deception…..

My day has been exhausting….time to kick back and relax until the morrow…..be well be safe….TTFN….chuq