On Tuesday, testifying before a military commission prepared to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM), the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks which killed roughly 3,000 Americans, James Mitchell, the psychologist who supervised the CIA’s interrogation program after September 11 and has been attacked because some of those techniques included waterboarding, defiantly told the commission, “Let me tell you, just so you know: if it were today, I would do it again.”
Mitchell and another psychologist, John “Bruce” Jessen, helped create the interrogation techniques used on the terrorists. Mitchell stated, “I thought of my moral obligation to protect American lives against the temporary discomfort of terrorists who took up arms against America. I decided I would just live with it.”
As the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-21/ksm-guantanamo-911-psychologist">Los Angeles Times</a> noted, “The five men — Mohammed and his nephew, Ammar Baluchi, along with Ramzi bin Shibh, Mustafa Hawsawi and Walid bin Attash — are accused of conspiring to murder almost 3,000 people. They were all captured in either 2002 or 2003 and have been in American custody since.&#8221;
James G. Connell III, lead defense attorney for Baluchi, thanked Mitchell for coming to court. Mitchell fired back, “I actually did it for the victims and families, not for you.” He later stated, “You folks have been saying untrue and malicious things about me and Dr. Jessen for years, so you shouldn’t be surprised that I don’t want to spend a lot of time with you.”
<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8491509/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-CIA-admits-waterboarding-yielded-vital-information.html">The Telegraph</a> reported in 2011, &#8220;American officials have said that one of the crucial clues that led to bin Laden was a piece of information about an al-Qaeda courier that came from September 11th mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or from the so-called 20th hijacker, Mohammad al-Qahtani.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Isiw2doiA">Speaking</a> in a powerful interview with AEI fellow Marc Thiessen in 2016, Mitchell said of KSM, “In the beginning he was like the devil; he was belligerent; he was hostile; he was angry; then after EITs (enhanced interrogation techniques) and we drifted into debriefings, he became charming and more cordial. You know, evil doesn’t always look evil; it’s most powerful when it can get inside your defenses, and KSM is one of those guys, when he turns on the charm, he’s extremely good at it.&#8221;
Mitchell continued, “Interrogation for the CIA was when you were questioning somebody who was actively trying to resist providing you with the information. They’re trying to hide their secrets and wouldn’t engage with the question. So in those particular cases, the enhanced interrogation techniques would be used normally only for a couple of weeks. Usually within about 72 hours, people were beginning to try to find ways to cooperate. When they started to find ways to cooperate, we moved as quickly as we could into debriefing.”
Mitchell explained that the so-called “fireside chats” following the debriefing sometimes yielded information because the individual felt that the official debriefing was over and would relax and talk more freely. Mitchell spoke of how KSM later gave classes to CIA members on various subjects related to terrorism, such as how they got their funding, etc. Mitchell said KSM would say afterward, “Now you should be on the FBI’s most wanted list because you’ve been trained by KSM.”
Mitchell said other individuals spent time playing basketball or other pursuits, but KSM liked to pontificate. Speaking of how KSM could turn on the charm, he said, “It was like Yoda. It was like talking to Yoda. Except that Yoda could sometimes be the devil.”
Mitchell recalled Jessen saying to KSM, “You know I noticed at times that it looked like you wanted to say something, like you had more to say, but then you backed away from it.” Mitchell continued, “KSM looked at me, you know, like I was his errand boy, he looked at me and he said, ‘Go get that lady who takes the notes,’ even though she was the WMD expert and a phenomenal analyst, remember, he’s a terrorist who basically didn’t like women; didn’t really like talking to them. And he said, ‘Go get that lady who takes the notes,’ and then when she came back with me, he described beheading and dismembering Daniel Pearl.”
Mitchell continued, “I did tear up, of course, I tear up a lot; I cry at dog food commercials, but he talked about cutting his throat and dismembering him, and one of us, I can’t remember which one of us it was, said, ‘Was that difficult for you?’ because we found it reprehensible, and he said, ‘Oh, no. I had lots of sharp knives, and I had to keep sharpening them; the only difficult thing was cutting through the neck bone.’ Just that casually. And then he went on to describe, like I said, how he’d dismembered him and buried him in a hole because the ground was too frozen. It was horrible.”
Mitchell recalled that the CIA went back to confirm KSM had actually been the one who beheaded Pearl, and when he was told that it had been confirmed, he said, “Yes. I cut his head off with these blessed hands.” Mitchell said, “And he was mugging for the camera.”
&nbsp;

James Mitchell

Psychologist Who Waterboarded Alleged Mastermind Of 9/11 Attacks: ‘I Would Do It Again’

Terrorism

Christians in Nigeria were violently assaulted by radical Muslims in the small village of Kulben, located in the central area of the country&#8217;s Plateau state Mangu County. At least thirteen civilians were murdered and three more were injured in the attack.
Nigerian outlet <a href="https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2020/01/09/herdsmen-in-another-massacre-in-kulben-village/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PM News</a> reports that the Plateau Police Command confirmed the January 8 attack was suspected to be the work of armed members of the Muslim Fulani herdsmen extremist group, who have used violence in the past to suppress Christian communities in the African nation. 
Police Public Relations Officer DSP Terna Tyopev explained, “In the early hours of today, we received a distress call that gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, attacked Kulben community of Kombun District of Mangu.”
“Immediately we received the information, the commissioner in charge of the command, Mr. Isaac Akinmoyede, directed the DCP in charge of Operations, Mr. Aliyu Tafida to mobilize to the scene,” he continued. “As I speak, our team of detectives and other officers are in the scene of the crime to prevent further attacks.”
Local resident Michael Mutding described the assault in a text message to <a href="https://morningstarnews.org/2020/01/muslim-fulani-herdsmen-kill-13-christians-wound-three-in-central-nigeria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Morning Star News</a>. 
“They were shooting with guns in all directions, forcing the villagers to scamper into surrounding bushes,” he said. “Corpses of those killed have been evacuated by soldiers and police to the mortuary of Mangu Cottage Hospital; and all the victims are members of COCIN.”
According to <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/again-gunmen-kill-13-persons-in-fresh-plateau-attack/">The Guardian</a>, an eyewitness claims that the attack was in retaliation to villagers stopping the heavily armed herdsmen from cattle rustling outside the village of Kerang. 
“It was a tough battle between the youths and the rustlers. At the end, three of them were arrested and some of the cows recovered. The cows and the suspects were handed over to the Police in Kerang,” the eyewitness said. 
The deadly attack prompted swift responses from Nigerian lawmakers. 
Local representative Bala Fwengje said in a statement, “This attack on my people by these herdsmen comes as a rude shock to us, as efforts have been made by security agencies to curtail such incessant attacks on our people.” He added, “It is a sad thing that these attacks are still being carried out by the herdsmen on our people without provocation.”
Plateau state Gov. Simon Bako Lalong echoed those sentiments. “We have toiled to ensure that peace returns to Plateau state, and we will not allow anyone to make nonsense of our efforts,” he said vowing to arrest the suspects. “We are determined to deal decisively and firmly with anybody found culpable in attacking or inciting people to carry out attacks against one another.”
Tyopev confirmed that no arrests have been made. “No arrest is yet to be made, but we are doing everything possible to ensure the criminals are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.”
Local Christian leader Audu Tetmut told Morning Star News that the attack was a surprise, since the village has had no prior discernible tension with the radical group. 
“Our community had lived peacefully with the herdsmen without any issues of dispute with them,” he said. “So we are surprised that they attacked us.”
Radical Muslims have engaged in a campaign to force the growing Christian community out of Nigeria. In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-radical-muslims-suspected-may-attacks-jacob-airey">May 2019</a>, the Fulani herdsmen were suspected in an attack near the city Jos that took thirty civilian lives. This assault was on the heels of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/muslim-extremists-murder-over-30-nigerian-jacob-airey">March 2019</a> attack in Maro where over two dozen were killed. 
The aid group Mercy Corps told the <a href="https://www.gulf-times.com/story/652919/Gunmen-kill-12-in-central-Nigeria-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gulf Times</a> that the extremists’ attacks on villages and farmers have, &#8220;contributed to more than 7,000 deaths in the past five years.”

NIGERIA-UNREST-FULANI

Radical Muslims Kill Thirteen Nigerian Christians

Africa

Christianity

Crime

Islam

Persecution

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

Progressives, never known for their sense of epistemological humility, are often fond of boasting that it is they — and only they — who are on the &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that American progressives, going back at least as far as the depths of the Cold War, have evinced a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bernie-sanders-entire-worldview-grotesquely-josh-hammer">most peculiar obsequiousness</a> toward America&#8217;s totalitarian geopolitical foes.
President Barack Obama, the braggart who taunted then-House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) a mere three days after his first inauguration with, &#8220;<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/08/13/too_bad_obama_didnt_follow_his_own_advice_123650.html">I won</a>,&#8221; was very fond of gloating how it was he — and not his partisan opposition — who was on the &#8220;<a href="https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/69855/right-side-history-according-president-obama">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that Barack Obama, who oversaw a most rancid realignment in the Middle East in favor of the world&#8217;s number one state sponsor of jihad, kowtowed to that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">terrorist regime</a> to the tune of $100–150 billion in funding and $1.7 billion in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-iran-payment-cash-20160907-snap-story.html">cold, hard pallets of cash</a>.
Because nothing apparently says &#8220;progressive&#8221; like a regime that funds murderous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">terrorist proxies</a> the <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/houthis/">world over</a>, brazenly attempts targeted assassinations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/08/iran-behind-two-assassinations-in-netherlands-minister">all</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/france-blames-iran-for-foiled-bomb-attack-near-paris">throughout</a> the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/justice/iran-saudi-plot/index.html">West</a>, publicly <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-publicly-hangs-man-on-homosexuality-charges-578758">hangs homosexuals</a> simply because they are homosexuals, and has been found <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/iran-told-to-pay-10-5-billion-to-sept-11-kin-insurers">liable by a U.S. federal judge</a> for billions of dollars in damages owed to the families of those killed on 9/11.
In a sane world, Barack Obama and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html">failed novelist</a>-centric <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-24/the-secret-history-of-the-iran-deal-echo-chamber">&#8220;echo chamber&#8221;</a> of pro-ayatollah sycophants would be apologizing today to both the American people and the Iranian people. Obama will never actually do so, of course; how very un-&#8220;progressive&#8221; it would be to humbly concede the retrospective error of one&#8217;s ways. As Dennis Prager once <a href="https://www.dennisprager.com/being-on-the-left-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry-part-230/">quipped</a>, perhaps the nicest part of being on the Left is never having to say you&#8217;re sorry.
Instead, it is Donald Trump, recent author of the <a href="https://twitter.com/SGhasseminejad/status/1216131659986325504">most liked tweet</a> in the history of the Farsi language, who has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">boldly defended</a> American interests against the Iranian mullocracy and stood in <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216356280933273600">lockstep solidarity</a> with the repressed Persians <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-iranian-protesters-refuse-to-walk-on-u-s-israel-flags-attack-soleimani-posters">bravely protesting in the streets</a> against their Islamic Revolutionary overlords. The mullahs are once again shooting some of their very own in the streets, but the president of the United States has made it exceedingly clear that the eyes of the world are watching. By <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/03/trumps-strike-on-soleimani-is-about-america-first-not-reckless-interventionism/">knifing the Qassem Soleimani jugular</a>, prudently declaring victory and <a href="https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1216363363510386688">cutting bait</a> at exact right time, and offering moral and rhetorical succor to a subjugated populace, Trump has led by example every step of the way through this most recent flare-up of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-unyielding-iranian-menace">unceasing</a> post-Islamic Revolution <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-dispatch-of-soleimani-and-the-escalation-of-the-war">tumor</a>.
Every step of the way.
It is Donald Trump, and not Barack Obama, who is on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; on the issue of Iran.
You would never know that from our media elites — nor from the other sheltered denizens of our bicoastal <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ruling-Class-Corrupted-America-About/dp/0825305586">ruling class</a> clerisy who barely conceal their dripping disdain for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">rubes and yokels</a> of flyover country. Really, hold aside for a moment the oh-so-predictable pro-Iran apologia of moral midgets like Rep. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ilhan-omar-crippling-sanctions-starve-iran-bds-movement-israel-economic-warfare-measured-response">Ilhan Omar</a> (D-MN). It is our media vanguard, who on cable television and the nation&#8217;s leading broadsheets alike so often take the form — by sheer happenstance, we are assured! — of <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/01/10/the-obama-administrations-guerrilla-war/">Obama administration alumni</a>, that have parroted ludicrous <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dan-gainor-anti-trump-media-attack-him-for-killing-of-soleimani-blame-him-for-iran-shooting-down-plane">Iranian regime talking points</a> in a depraved attempt to deny the dreaded orange man of anything that might be viewed as a political &#8220;victory.&#8221;
Cold War-era Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI) may have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-and-iran-11578262553">once said</a> that &#8220;politics stops at the water&#8217;s edge,&#8221; but for today&#8217;s debased media and political Left (I repeat myself), the mantra might as well be &#8220;shilling for a uniquely evil jihadist regime to own the cons.&#8221;
Thankfully, the Iranian people — who, above all else, are the victims of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 — need not care about the American media&#8217;s temper tantrums and self-immolations; Trump&#8217;s Twitter allows him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-trump-tweets-for-liberty-in-iran">easily speak directly</a> to the American people. The Iranian people need not care about the armchair quarterbacking of those who would question the wisdom of the Soleimani strike. The Iranian people need not care about those who would haphazardly yell &#8220;warmonger!&#8221; at a president who has arguably been the most militarily restrained commander-in-chief since Jimmy Carter. And the Iranian people need not care about an idolatrous political Left that, along with abortion and global warming, has found an additional pagan sacrament in the thuggish Iranian regime.
What the Iranian people quite clearly do care for is Donald Trump&#8217;s Iran policy. The Iranian people, unlike Obama&#8217;s &#8220;echo chamber&#8221; and the leftist/media alliance that has fought so diligently to defend its rotten legacy, know what it means for an American statesman to be on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; when it comes to their country. Barack Obama and his henchmen will never apologize for their sins, but the history books they seem to care so much about will note how it was his successor who righted his own wrongs on Iran.

John Kerry with Javad Zarif

HAMMER: On Iran, Trump Shows Obama The Real &#8216;Right Side Of History&#8217;

Barack Obama

Donald Trump

Foreign Policy

Iran

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Middle East

Nuclear Weapons

Qassem Soleimani

Asia Siddiqui, a 35-year-old woman who was arrested on terrorism-related charges in 2015, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following a trial in New York City.
According to the <a href="https://apnews.com/73efbf179942949cdd1638b7408762da">Associated Press</a>, Siddiqui was “studying how to make bombs for a terrorist attack that prosecutors said would have targeted” U.S. law enforcement officers. Prosecutors also said that Siddiqui “followed and expressed a violent, warped version of Islam which, in their view,&#8221; demanded that she and her co-defendent, Noelle Velentzas, “teach each other and learn how to build a bomb.”
According to the <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/asia-siddiqui">Counter Extremism Project</a>, Siddiqui was born in Saudi Arabia and holds dual U.S. citizenship.
Richard Donoghue, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release that “lives were saved when the defendants’ plot to detonate a bomb in a terrorist attack was thwarted by the tireless efforts of law enforcement,” reports the news agency. “This is precisely the reason why countering terrorism remains the highest priority of the Department of Justice.”
Defense lawyers claim that Siddiqui “would have required the expertise of the fictional MacGuyver” to build a bomb with the materials she had in her basement. Furthermore, they say, the idea that “she was going to independently build her own explosive device is equally fictional.”
Following the 2015 arrest of Siddiqui and Velentzas, the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/wannabe-terrorists-weighed-attack-nypd-funeral-complaint-article-1.2171174">New York Daily News</a> reported that the terrorist duo had considered bombing a funeral for police officers, and expressed to an undercover officer how easy murdering a police officer would be.
<blockquote>Homegrown terrorists Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, were self-proclaimed &#8220;bad bitches&#8221; hoping to &#8220;make history&#8221; with a massive blast and body count from a police funeral or some other major public event, authorities charged Thursday.
&#8220;It&#8217;s war,&#8221; Velentzas, who declared herself an Islamic State citizen, said in a tape-recorded August conversation. &#8220;It&#8217;s f&#8212;ing war.&#8221;
Velentzas, in another of many chats recorded by an undercover investigator, declared that killing a cop was actually easier than grocery shopping.
&#8220;Sometimes one has to wait in line to buy food,&#8221; she was quoted as coolly telling the undercover last December after the executions of NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
The Ramos funeral, which drew 20,000 law enforcement mourners, sparked speculation between the two accused women and the undercover about bombing a subsequent funeral.</blockquote>
A <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/04/02/velentzas-siddiqui-complaint.pdf">criminal complaint</a> filed against Siddiqui and Velentzas in 2015 reveals that Siddiqui also had a soft spot for jihadist literature and poetry, and in 2009 submitted a poem to “Jihad Recollections,” a terrorist magazine. According to the complaint, the poem “calls for its readers to engage in violent jihad and to destroy enemies of Islam.” In a conversation with an undercover officer, Siddiqui also referenced an article she wrote that “referred to having written the poem.”
The New York Daily News previously published an excerpt of the poem, revealing lines that read: “Some of us are born soldiers, battle runs through our blood,” “Hit cloud nine with the smell of turpentine, nations wiped clean of filthy shrines,” and “taste the Truth through fists and slit throats.” The excerpt of the poem concludes as follows: “What can my enemies do to me if Allah has promised me success.”
Velentzas is scheduled for sentencing on March 3, 2020.

Funeral Held For NYPD Officer Brian Mulkeen Shot In Friendly Fire Incident While Apprehending Suspect In Bronx

Jihadist Poet Who Considered Bombing NYPD Funeral Sentenced To Prison

On Tuesday, members of Iran’s parliament, chanting “Death to America,” passed a bill designating all U.S. forces as “terrorists.” Those forces included all U.S. forces and employees of the Pentagon and affiliated organizations, agents and commanders, as <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7859915/Iran-designate-forces-Pentagon-employees-TERRORISTS.html">The Daily Mail</a> reported.
The Parliament stated, “Any aid to these forces, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, service or logistical, will be considered as co-operation in a terrorist act.” In addition, the legislators allotted over $220 million to the Quds Force of the Iranian military.
Iran&#8217;s chief of police Hossein Ashtari called the United States a “state sponsor of terrorists.”
The Fars News Agency <a href="https://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13981017000292">reported</a>, “During the session, a bill previously ratified on April 23, 2019, that designated the US Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization in retaliation for the designation of the IRGC by the US administration as a terrorist entity was corrected and ‘all members of the Pentagon, the affiliated companies and institutes and commanders and those who ordered for the assassination of Lieutenant General martyr Hajj Qassem Soleimani’ were added to the terrorist list.”
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irans-news-parliment-approves-bill-designating-u-s-military-terrorist-organizations-qassem-soleimani/">CBS News</a> reported, “A senior U.S. official told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that Iran&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on American interests in retaliation for the airstrike that killed Soleimani, his top military commander and friend.”
A spokesman for the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades. Mohammed Mohyee, <a href="https://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13981017001117">said</a> that Hezbollah is waiting to see what Iran will do before they decide how to respond to the airstrike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, calling the airstrike “U.S. folly” and stating, &#8220;We are waiting for Iran&#8217;s response to the US folly and after that we will decide about the type and volume of our response.”
Last April, President Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-designation-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-foreign-terrorist-organization/">declared</a> Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, a terrorist entity, stating:
<blockquote>I am formally announcing my Administration’s plan to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Qods Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.  The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.
This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a FTO.  It underscores the fact that Iran’s actions are fundamentally different from those of other governments.  This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.  It makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC.  If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.
This action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences.  We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior.</blockquote>

Ayatollah Yazdi elected Assembly of Experts chairman

Iran’s Parliament Names All U.S. Forces ‘Terrorists’

U.S. Army

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who was infamously the sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against Congress&#8217;s post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, which precipitated the Afghanistan invasion, has now taken to spreading outright fake news.
Yesterday, Lee took to Twitter to spread baseless and unconfirmed innuendo that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now involved in the detention of Iranian-American U.S. citizens. &#8220;People of Iranian descent — including American citizens &amp; green card holders — are reportedly being detained by CBP officials,&#8221; Lee tweeted. &#8220;We can’t let this stand.&#8221; She continued, urging conscientious citizens all over the land to contact her district office: &#8220;If you or someone you know has been targeted or detained by CBP officials, please contact my district office at 510-763-0370.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
People of Iranian descent — including American citizens &amp; green card holders — are reportedly being detained by CBP officials. We can’t let this stand. 
If you or someone you know has been targeted or detained by CBP officials, please contact my district office at 510-763-0370.
&mdash; Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/1213944364575031296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Less than 30 minutes after Lee&#8217;s misleading spreading of fake news, CBP itself responded. &#8220;Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false,&#8221; the agency tweeted. &#8220;Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.
&mdash; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1213951246463328256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Congresswoman Lee was not the only prominent leftist to spread this fake news, as the Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/05/customs-border-iran-detain-order">reported</a>. Other offenders included Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who tweeted on Sunday: &#8220;Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State.&#8221; She continued, similarly urging conscientious citizens to contact her office: &#8220;My office has been working on this all morning. Please contact us with information on directly affected people at WA07PJ_casework@mail.house.gov.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State.
My office has been working on this all morning. Please contact us with information on directly affected people at WA07PJ_casework@mail.house.gov.
&mdash; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1213896795409059840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/border-patrol-denies-reports-by-democrats-that-iranian-americans-were-being-detained">noted</a> by the Washington Examiner, part of the fear-mongering began via the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was infamously an <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/1854/doj-cairs-unindicted-co-conspirator-status-legit">unindicted co-conspirator</a> in the largest terror finance trial in the history of the Department of Justice. CAIR had issued an <a href="https://www.cair.com/breaking_cair_wa_assisting_iranian_americans_detained_u_s_border">alarmist post</a> earlier on Sunday entitled, &#8220;BREAKING: CAIR-WA Assisting Iranian-Americans Detained at U.S. Border.&#8221;
Lee, keeping with her longtime status as an ardent foreign policy dove, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of escalating military tension with the Islamic Republic of Iran. As <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/476862-omar-lee-introduce-house-resolution-directing-trump-to-pull-us-troops-back">reported</a> by The Hill, Lee is teaming up with none other than Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to draft a congressional resolution that would prevent U.S. military action against Iran that is not expressly authorized by Congress:
<blockquote>
The resolution released by the two lawmakers would explicitly tie any military action against Iran to a congressional vote, though the U.S. would not be prevented from responding to an Iranian attack.
&#8220;We in Congress must exercise our Constitutional duty—and do everything in our power to stop another disastrous war,&#8221; Omar said in a statement. &#8220;Following the assassination [of Gen. Qassem Soleimani,] thousands of additional troops were sent to the Middle East in one of the largest rapid deployments seen in decades. This follows years of saber-rattling and threats of war against Iran by President Trump and his accomplices.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s past time for Congress to reassert our Constitutional authority and return to diplomacy with Iran and our allies,&#8221; added Lee, the sole member of Congress to vote against war in Afghanistan in 2001.
</blockquote>

Barbara Lee Women&#8217;s March

Democrat Barbara Lee Spreads False Information About DHS Going After Iranian-Americans

CAIR

Department of Homeland Security

Surveillance

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The January 2 death of Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, has prompted consternation from some press and policymakers. Killed in Baghdad by a U.S. drone strike, Soelimani was <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1212907536833220608" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1212907536833220608&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHpilSf6fYHToY3HKxO7dBDmtZp5g">described</a> by The Washington Post as a “revered military leader” and by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as a mere “<a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/03/ilhan-omar-and-ted-cruz-clash-over-qassem-soleimani-strike/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2020/01/03/ilhan-omar-and-ted-cruz-clash-over-qassem-soleimani-strike/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF5c-YWQiOrhhfuX94tA4Xym2dK6w">foreign official</a>.”
In fact, he was an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/raphael-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-is-a-modern-day-nazi-ss">arch-terrorist</a> responsible for the murders of thousands of people — including hundreds of American servicemen and women, many of who were murdered and maimed by Iranian-created explosive devices.
Pundits and reporters alike have claimed that Soleimani’s death has led to Iran threatening the U.S. But they have it backwards. Tehran has been threatening the U.S. for years — a fact the media have often ignored or obfuscated.
Indeed, in the days prior to his death, Soleimani and the Shiite militias under his command had <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2049534/statement-by-the-department-of-defense/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2049534/statement-by-the-department-of-defense/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHMa9PkrZSmYC2xW8fYZ1vNbQ9jUQ">murdered</a> an American contractor and attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Iranian belligerence long predates the Trump administration.
Ever since its founding in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently called for “death to America.” <a href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/anti-american-statements" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/anti-american-statements&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEEZcg3ZcJ_BHvO4a6GXbjKkZW9QA">Anti-Americanism</a>, like anti-Semitism and imperialism, is a core tenet of the regime’s Islamist <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TAPs_r81AqQC&amp;q=ideology#v=snippet&amp;q=ideology&amp;f=false" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://books.google.com/books?id%3DTAPs_r81AqQC%26q%3Dideology%23v%3Dsnippet%26q%3Dideology%26f%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFH0wn8HiHGON8co_qZTpuMYlgB5g">ideology</a>. For four decades, Iran has sought to make good on its threats, kidnapping and <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-the-cia-killed-imad-mughniyeh" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-the-cia-killed-imad-mughniyeh&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF0l1yNTe6i7IbJDBOyLddUXtGEuA">torturing</a> Americans, bankrolling terrorist groups — Sunni and Shiite <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanDurns/status/1139190702016028672" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/SeanDurns/status/1139190702016028672&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGU6Zm_QmKHPkTTArPeNB3gCvB7Cg">alike</a> — that attack Americans, and murdering <a href="https://taskandpurpose.com/iran-killed-us-troops" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://taskandpurpose.com/iran-killed-us-troops&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx1UBKlC8CMU6EHLKorW4JQceemA">our troops</a>.
Yet Western media have frequently minimized Iran’s open hostility. In December 2015, for example, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/defense/262616-house-panel-supports-bill-to-directly-arm-the-kurdish-peshmerga" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/262616-house-panel-supports-bill-to-directly-arm-the-kurdish-peshmerga&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhsPzIt_VMhKvJstZpG-Q8vfPvCg">noted</a> that “powerful Iran-backed Shiite militias” had “threatened to attack U.S. forces in Iraq in response to U.S. legislation” granting Kurdish forces the means to defend themselves from ISIS. Most major U.S. news outlets <a href="https://blog.camera.org/archives/2015/12/wheres_the_coverage_iran_threa.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blog.camera.org/archives/2015/12/wheres_the_coverage_iran_threa.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHTc8EeHpMz_Vr-OyEIX9PwyMANtw">ignored</a> Iran’s gangster-like behavior.
Similarly, on November 26, 2016, an Iranian ship threatened a U.S. military helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz. The incident was profiled in a brief Reuters report at the time that noted that “a small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard vessel pointed its weapon” at a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter. However, The Washington Post, USA Today, and other prominent newspapers <a href="https://blog.camera.org/2016/12/_iranian_ship_threatens_us_hel.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blog.camera.org/2016/12/_iranian_ship_threatens_us_hel.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE0_4WHsusjl8wTHte1QcPg22dz-A">failed</a> to cover it.
In 2014 and 2015 — while the Obama administration was engaged in negotiations with Iran over its illicit nuclear weapons program — the regime was ramping up its cyber war. As one New York Times report <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/iran-hackers-cyberespionage-state-department-social-media.html?_r=0" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/iran-hackers-cyberespionage-state-department-social-media.html?_r%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFp2L3zAElm6sm6U5J29ebbrNo5Lw">detailed</a>, American officials and private security groups “say they see a surge in sophisticated computer espionage by Iran, culminating in a series of cyber attacks against State Department officials.” The attacks, the Times admitted, were “nothing new, having begun in the latter years of the Bush administration and proceeded since then to target U.S. agencies, banks and citizens.” The report pointed out that Iranian cyber attacks transitioned in 2014 from attempting to disrupt, degrade, and destroy targets to “spear phishing for espionage.”
“Beginning in May 2014,” the report said, “researchers found evidence that Iranian hackers were targeting Iranian dissidents, and later policymakers, senior military personnel and defense contractors in the United States, England, and Israel.”
Perhaps most alarmingly, Iranian terrorists have sleeper cells in the U.S., Canada, and Europe — a fact that many in the press have overlooked. On April 17, 2018, several intelligence officials told Congress that Iranian agents tied to the terror group Hezbollah had been discovered. Hezbollah is a Lebanese-based terrorist organization completely <a href="https://www.camera.org/article/hezbollah-backgrounder-2016/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.camera.org/article/hezbollah-backgrounder-2016/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjhvF0zS7Zt41jYdK4uzRmtUqDKA">funded and controlled</a> by Tehran. Prior to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks by al-Qaeda, Hezbollah had murdered more Americans than any other terrorist entity.
Although the majority of analysts testified that Iranian proxies like Hezbollah pose a threat to the U.S. homeland, many news outlets failed to report their testimony, as the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) <a href="https://blog.camera.org/archives/2018/04/iran_has_sleeper_cells_in_the.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blog.camera.org/archives/2018/04/iran_has_sleeper_cells_in_the.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGQAjDE6ZIZXfOysiC3aF94CQ8Paw">noted</a> at the time.
U.S. law enforcement even arrested two Hezbollah operatives, Samer El Debek and Ali Mohammad Kourani, indicting them in May 2017 for “casing targets for possible future terror attacks.” Both were members of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization (ESO), also known as Unit 910. ESO is tasked with carrying out terrorist attacks and other operations, such as money laundering and drug smuggling, throughout the world. As he later told investigators, Kourani had been recruited into the ESO in January 2008.
The two Hezbollah operatives — both naturalized U.S. citizens — underwent military training in Lebanon and procured explosives, night-vision goggles, and drone technology. El Debek reportedly scoped out potential targets, including New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) and La Guardia International Airports, and the U.S. Armed Forces Career Center in Queens, New York. As the terror analyst Matthew Levitt detailed in a June 14, 2019 Foreign Policy <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut.-its-in-new-york-too" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut.-its-in-new-york-too&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHixgr6xY7xcaKSjhb7wujvP4nm8w">article</a>, before he was convicted, Kourani’s trial showed that Iranian sleeper cells were far more active in the U.S. than previously thought. Yet this revelation, and the trial itself, received little press attention.
In 2007, Iranian proxies <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg85689/html/CHRG-113hhrg85689.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg85689/html/CHRG-113hhrg85689.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHk7Z2JVKGcDEDoxTj36OEqYh53hA">planned</a> to blow up the fuel tanks at JFK International Airport, but were thwarted by authorities. In another foiled plot, Iranian-backed operatives <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-alleged-plot-assassinate-saudi-arabian-ambassador-united-states" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-alleged-plot-assassinate-saudi-arabian-ambassador-united-states&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF1Cfv2ScXLiMfmDDtw32fuLU4avw">planned</a> to blow up a Washington, D.C. restaurant in 2011 in order to murder a Saudi dignitary. Yet these facts were conveniently ignored in numerous reports on the potential fallout from Soleimani’s death.
Iran itself has openly broadcast its ambitions, holding rallies and marches calling for death to both “the Great Satan” (the U.S.) and “the little Satan” (Israel). In 2017, an Iranian filmmaker <a href="https://apnews.com/6343bea57e224da8b6e30f46a994415f" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apnews.com/6343bea57e224da8b6e30f46a994415f&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578428303467000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGnAbpF-sOXW-wLoqVf-iUDgimOag">released</a> a 90-minute movie depicting the destruction of U.S. Naval forces by Tehran. In the film, a character that closely resembles Soleimani leads a single vessel against more than a dozen American warships. When a U.S. commander orders him to surrender or die, he replies: “General, I am not a diplomat, I am a revolutionary!”
But Iran’s threats are no mere fantasy. And the threat posed by the Islamic Republic warrants honest and complete media coverage.
&nbsp;
The writer is a Senior Research Analyst for the Washington D.C. office of CAMERA, the 65,000-member, Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.

Iran map

DURNS: The Media Have Long Ignored Iran&#8217;s Threats

Islamic State (ISIS)

Leftism

Media

Media Bias

Progressivism

On Sunday, an Islamic terror attack by Al-Shabaab on a military base in Kenya where U.S. troops were stationed resulted in the deaths of three Americans.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-islamic-terrorist-group-attacks-base-used-by-u-s-forces-in-africa">attack</a> on the military base in the early morning hours on Sunday comes as U.S. forces are on alert across the world for potential terrorist attacks after the U.S. military killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, which is a designated terrorist organization.
The United States Africa Command <a href="https://www.africom.mil/media-room/pressrelease/32494/update-u-s-statement-on-manda-bay-terrorist-attack">said</a> in statement:
<blockquote>During an attack by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida group in East Africa, earlier today, one (1) U.S. service member and two (2) Department of Defense contractors were killed at a Kenya Defense Force Military Base in Manda Bay, Kenya.
In addition, two (2) Department of Defense members were wounded. The wounded Americans are currently in stable condition and being evacuated. &#8230;
The attack on the compound today involved indirect and small arms fire. After an initial penetration of the perimeter, Kenya Defense Forces and U.S. Africa Command repelled the al-Shabaab attack. Reports indicate that six contractor-operated civilian aircraft were damaged to some degree. Manda Bay Airfield is utilized by U.S. forces whose missions include providing training to our African partners, responding to crises, and protecting U.S. interests in this strategically important area.</blockquote>
U.S. Army General Stephen Townsend, Commander, U.S. Africa Command, said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of our teammates who lost their lives today. As we honor their sacrifice, let’s also harden our resolve. Alongside our African and international partners, we will pursue those responsible for this attack and al-Shabaab who seeks to harm Americans and U.S. interests. We remain committed to preventing al-Shabaab from maintaining a safe haven to plan deadly attacks against the U.S. homeland, East African, and international partners.”
“The work that our U.S. forces are doing in East Africa bolsters partnerships, counters malign influence, and maintains critical pressure on terrorist networks,” Townsend continued. “Our efforts directly contribute to counterterrorism, maritime surveillance, and intelligence sharing missions with our Kenyan partners. This activity enables enhanced security and stability in the region and for America.”
The statement from the U.S. Military out of Africa comes as U.S. personnel in Iraq reportedly came under fire on Sunday at the U.S. Embassy.
&#8220;Three rockets landed inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, home to the US Embassy and the seat of Iraq’s government, city residents said on Sunday,&#8221; The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/3-rockets-hit-near-us-embassy-in-baghdad/">reported</a>. &#8220;Police sources told Reuters that the projectiles were Katyusha rockets. Witnesses told AFP they saw two rockets hit near the US embassy.&#8221;
The attacks come after Iran has vowed to take revenge against the United States for killing Soleimani by striking targets within its reach throughout the Middle East.
U.S. forces killed Soleimani after he conducted a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad last week.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Iran over the weekend that there will be severe consequences if they try to enact revenge as the U.S. military is prepared to strike numerous Iranian targets.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-makes-major-announcement-in-new-threats-toward-iran-iran-signals-readiness-for-war">tweeted</a>, “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, &amp; badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters.”
“He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,” Trump continued. “Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level &amp; important to Iran &amp; the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”

SOMALIA-UNREST-ATTACK

Three Americans Killed In Terror Attack On African Military Base; Rockets Fired At U.S. Embassy In Iraq

Iran has raised the &#8220;red flag&#8221; over the Holy Dome Jamkaran Mosque, warning the United States that it intends to engage in a &#8220;severe battle,&#8221; in the hopes of intimidating President Donald Trump.
<a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1223958/Iran-US-red-flag-Qassem-Soleimani-world-war-3-ww3-Donald-Trump-Jamkaran-Mosque">The British outlet, Express</a>, reports that the Iranian mullahs raised the red flag on Saturday, a traditional warning of a coming holy war. The scarlet flag is embroidered with the message, &#8220;Those who want to avenge the blood of Hussein.&#8221;
The move comes in response to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s brutal Quds Force and the architect behind hundreds of terror attacks on U. S. soldiers in the Middle East. Soleimani was killed in a targeted drone strike late Friday, decimating Iran&#8217;s control over the Iraqi government and exposing Iran&#8217;s behind-the-scenes operations in Iraq, encouraging that country&#8217;s destabilization.
Imam Sayyed, the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran declared, on Friday, that the mullahs would seek &#8220;severe revenge&#8221; on President Donald Trump and the United States for the high profile killing. Trump, in turn, said that the attack &#8220;should have been done a long time ago&#8221; and that Soleimani&#8217;s death marks the pre-emptive end of a war, not the start of a new conflict. Solemani, the president added, was in the process of planning &#8220;imminent and sinister&#8221; attacks against American targets in Iraq and beyond.
So far, the Iranians have backed down from declaring World War III, as many leftists predicted in the wake of Friday&#8217;s strike. Iran&#8217;s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, told media through an adviser that the regime has a list of &#8220;military targets&#8221; that they intend to strike if they are &#8220;further provoked.&#8221;
&#8220;The response for sure will be military and against military sites,” the adviser told CNN according to <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/476810-khamenei-adviser-says-iran-will-target-us">The Hill</a>.
He added that America should simply accept the consequences attendant to killing Soleimani and shy away from responding to any aggressive action on the part of Iran with any further response.
&#8220;It was America that has started the war. Therefore, they should accept appropriate reactions to their actions. The only thing that can end this period of war is for the Americans to receive a blow that is equal to the blow they have inflicted,” the adviser added. “Afterward they should not seek a new cycle.&#8221;
To perhaps no one&#8217;s surprise, Iran&#8217;s pledge to target only military sites does not have an expiration date. &#8220;[F]or sure no American military staff, no American political center, no American military base, no American vessel will be safe. And they are accessible to us,&#8221; Khameini&#8217;s advisor was sure to add at the end of his interview.
Reports on social media also indicate that Iran&#8217;s mullahs have offered a bounty for President Donald Trump, however those reports are as yet unconfirmed.
The chief of terror organization Hezbollah joined in the conflict Sunday morning, as well, declaring that he would assist Iran in expelling the United States from the Middle East, <a href="https://apnews.com/2fd2efad28f41f82f8204d4d3ae05ba6?utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">according to the Associated Press</a>.
“The suicide attackers who forced the Americans to leave from our region in the past are still here and their numbers have increased,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Sunday. The U.S. military, he added, “will pay the price.&#8221;

IRAN-

Iran Raises &#8216;Red Flag&#8217; Over Mosque Warning Of &#8216;Severe Battle,&#8217; Says They Will Attack Military Sites

Iraq

Qasem Soleimani

The word is everywhere: &#8220;Mourn.&#8221;
&#8220;Thousands of people turned out to mourn the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, whose body was returned to Iran after the top military commander was killed in a U.S. drone strike,&#8221; The Hill reported.
&#8220;Thousands of mourners dressed in black marched through the streets of Ahvaz beating their chests in live footage aired on state TV,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-iran/body-of-iranian-commander-killed-by-u-s-strike-in-iraq-returned-to-iran-idUSKBN1Z4038">Reuters</a> News Agency reported.
&#8220;Thousands of mourners in Baghdad chanted &#8216;America is the Great Satan&#8217; during a funeral procession Saturday for Iran’s top general and Iraqi militant leaders, killed in a U.S. airstrike,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/04/mourners-chant-america-is-the-great-satan-over-death-of-soleimani.html">CNBC</a> wrote.
But that&#8217;s just what the U.S. media chose to focus on in the days after President Trump ordered the U.S. military to take out the world&#8217;s No. 1 terrorist.
Elsewhere in the world &#8212; including in Iraq &#8212; there was much celebration for the death of man who had killed thousands in his own country. In fact, some even baked cakes thanking Trump.
&#8220;Iranian regime called for 3 days of mourning, but Iranians are baking cakes and calling for 3 days of celebrations. They’re posting pictures of the cakes and the cookies and giving it out to people with thanks to Trump,&#8221; national security and political warfare expert David Reaboi wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Iranian regime called for 3 days of mourning, but Iranians are baking cakes and calling for 3 days of celebrations. 
They’re posting pictures of the cakes and the cookies and giving it out to people with thanks to Trump. <a href="https://t.co/L2n13NRcnh">pic.twitter.com/L2n13NRcnh</a>
&mdash; David Reaboi (@davereaboi) <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1213212194529304576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He followed that with another post saying, &#8220;More Iranian celebratory cakes!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
More Iranian celebratory cakes! <a href="https://t.co/jtFkZ8OhoJ">pic.twitter.com/jtFkZ8OhoJ</a>
&mdash; David Reaboi (@davereaboi) <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1213216980288909318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Human rights advocate Hassan Mahmoudi joined in. &#8220;Iraqis are celebrating the death of Qasem Soleimani by baking cakes and distributing among the people thanking president trump for eliminating Qassim Suleimani,&#8221; he wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Iraqis are celebrating the death of Qasem Soleimani by baking cakes and distributing among the people thanking president trump for eliminating Qassim Suleimani 
 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iraq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Suleimani?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Suleimani</a> <a href="https://t.co/GVlqAgIcxH">pic.twitter.com/GVlqAgIcxH</a>
&mdash; hassan.mahmoudi (@hassan_mahmou1) <a href="https://twitter.com/hassan_mahmou1/status/1213586173559549957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Soleimani was responsible for the death of many Americans and helped plan the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya in 2012, The Daily Wire reported on Saturday. More recently, Soleimani helped direct the brutal crackdown against anti-government protesters in Iraq. “&#8217;We in Iran know how to deal with protests,&#8217; Soleimani said, according to Iraqi officials at the meeting,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/62642940e3fe4b1b87323decc9487fea">Associated Press</a> reported in October. “This happened in Iran and we got it under control.”
While the U.S. media reported on &#8220;mourning&#8221; Iraqis, others focused on the celebrations taking place around the world after the No. 1 terrorist was taken out.
&#8220;Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more,&#8221; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter, adding a video showing Iraqis celebrating.
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Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more. <a href="https://t.co/huFcae3ap4">pic.twitter.com/huFcae3ap4</a>
&mdash; Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1212955403077767168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Some foreign news agencies focused on the celebrations. “Iraqis who have demonstrated for months against a government they see as beholden to Iran broke into song and dance Friday after a US strike killed a top Iranian commander,” the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/iraq-anti-govt-protesters-sing-dance-after-soleimani-death/">Agence France Presse</a> reported. The AFP added that those who were celebrating chanted, “Oh Qasem Soleimani, this is a divine victory. This is God’s revenge for the blood of those killed.”
Canada&#8217;s Globe and Mail wrote a piece headlined, &#8220;Iranian-Canadians dance, cheer and celebrate death of top general in Iran.&#8221;
It seems as if everyone but the U.S. media &#8212; and liberals &#8212; knew just how bad a man Soleimani was. But the MSM simply can&#8217;t allow Trump to have a single victory.
Just how dangerous was Soleimani?
&#8220;Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London,&#8221; Trump said after the airstrike. &#8220;Today we remember and honor the victims of Soleimani&#8217;s many atrocities and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over. Soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the Middle East for the last 20 years. What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago. A lot of lives would have been saved. Just recently Soleimani led the brutal repression of protesters in Iran, where more than 1,000 innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government.&#8221;
&#8220;We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,&#8221; the president added.
&nbsp;

Studio shot of sparkler atop cupcake, american flag in background

U.S. Media Says Iraqis ‘Mourning’ Death Of Terrorist, But Some Seem To Be Dancing, Baking Cakes In Celebration

Iranians chanted “death to America” as they mourned the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani during a funeral procession on Saturday.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/us-iran-soleimani-tensions-live-intl-01-05-20/h_6a85a53149579c7cedb252b3b616085a">reported</a> that the mourners “wept as they walked alongside the vehicle carrying his coffin down the streets of Baghdad,” while some “carried signs that read, ‘We are all Muhandis and Soleimani.’”
More from CNN:
<blockquote>Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was among the crowd of mourners walking next to the cars carrying the coffins.
Some women carrying flags of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces — the forces al-Muhandis commanded — erupted into tears when the slain commanders were mentioned. Many mourners said the attack strengthened their resolve to expel US forces from Iraq.
&#8220;This strike killed our heroes, but it created a thousand more Hajji Soleimanis and Muhandises,&#8221; said Assifa Abbas, 50, a mother of three PMF fighters. &#8220;If Parliament doesn&#8217;t vote to expel US troops, they will see the true face of the Iraqi street.&#8221;</blockquote>
Along with the mourners, members of Iran’s 290-seat parliament also chanted “death to America” on Sunday, The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/05/iranian-mps-chant-death-america-parliament-overqassem-soleimani/">reported</a>.
&#8220;Mr. Trump. This is the voice of Iranian nation. Listen,&#8221; said Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
Soleimani was killed Friday during a U.S. airstrike as he traveled to Baghdad. A funeral for him has been planned in Tehran and other Iranian cities over the next three days.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-iranian-revolutionary-guard-spokesman-breaks-down-over-soleimanis-death">reported</a>, Soleimani’s death has had a profound effect on the nation, as evidenced by the spokesman for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards breaking down on live TV while announcing the death.
The U.S. Department of Defense released a statement regarding Soleimani’s death late last week:
<blockquote>At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.</blockquote>
Trump made a statement to the country on Friday after the airstrike.
“The United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the #1 terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani,” Trump said. “Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.”
“Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous to terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American: We will find you, we will eliminate you, we will always protect our diplomats, service members, all Americans and our allies,” he continued. “For years the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its ruthless Quds force under Soleimani’s leadership has targeted, injured, and murdered murder hundreds of American civilians and servicemen.”

Iran protest

PREDICTABLE: Iranians Mourning Soleimani Chant ‘Death To America’

Al Shababb, Somalia&#8217;s largest Islamic terrorist organization, launched an attack on a military base in Kenya used by U.S. forces during the early morning hours on Sunday.
A military source <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/01/05/world/africa/05reuters-kenya-security.html">told</a> Reuters, &#8220;They have attacked Manda airstrip in Lamu, which is just next to the military camp that hosts military personnel from many countries including Kenya and the U.S. We are informed that fighting is still ongoing.&#8221;
The U.S. military said in statement, “U.S. Africa Command acknowledges there was an attack at Manda Bay Airfield, Kenya and is monitoring the situation. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the incident. As facts and details emerge, we will provide an update.”
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U.S. Africa Command acknowledges there was an attack at Manda Bay Airfield, Kenya and is monitoring the situation. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the incident. As facts and details emerge, we will provide an update.
&mdash; US AFRICOM (@USAfricaCommand) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAfricaCommand/status/1213728693748674560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Reuters&#8217; source said that the terrorists were trying to get to the military base by going through the airstrip.
The report from Reuters also included the following statement from the terrorist organization:
<blockquote>An elite group of soldiers from Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen’s ‘Martyrdom Brigade’ launched a daring dawn raid on a U.S. naval base known as ‘Camp Simba’ in Lamu County, Kenya. &#8230; the base is home to hundreds of U.S.military personnel and Kenyan soldiers and serves as one of the many launch pads for the American crusade against Islam in the region.</blockquote>
The attacks comes as U.S. forces are on high alert for possible attacks after President Donald Trump authorized an airstrike late last week that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, which is a designated terrorist organization.
An Iranian official indicated that it was considering some 35 different U.S. targets to strike in response to the U.S. killing its top terrorist leader.
Trump responded via Twitter late on Saturday night, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-makes-major-announcement-in-new-threats-toward-iran-iran-signals-readiness-for-war">writing</a>, “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, &amp; badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters.”
“He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,” Trump continued. “Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level &amp; important to Iran &amp; the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”
The U.S. State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/DSG-Statistical-Annex-2018.pdf">reported</a> in October 2019 that the most recent terrorism statistics available indicated that Al-Shabaab was the third deadliest terrorist organization in 2018 as it conducted 535 attacks in Somalia and Kenya that resulted in the 2,062 deaths and 1,278 injuries.
The fact that the terrorist group, according to Reuters, had accepted responsibility for the attack appears to be out of the ordinary given how Al-Shabaab reportedly operates. The State Department said that Al-Shabaab has &#8220;a known policy of not claiming responsibility for incidents outside Somalia even though they are active in neighboring countries.&#8221;
The State Department further noted that of the 306 assassinations that happened in 40 countries around the world in 2018, Somalia accounted for 60 of them and Al-Shabaab was responsible for 51. Al-Shabaab also deployed the use of IEDs more frequently than any other terrorist organization.
The Counter Extremism Project <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/al-shabab">reported</a> that Al-Shabaab has reportedly received funding from the government of Iran.
Journalists posted the following videos and images of the purported attack on Twitter:
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Al-Shabaab has attacked a US military base in Lamu, Kenya. No news on casualties etc as gunfire exchange continues <a href="https://t.co/6KPPRUoacK">pic.twitter.com/6KPPRUoacK</a>
&mdash; Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) <a href="https://twitter.com/samirasawlani/status/1213704152578220032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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BREAKING: Reports from Kenya say Al-Shabaab militants have launched a dawn attack on Kenya military base in Lamu County. A suicide car bomb reportedly breached the entry to Camp Simba, Manda Bay. The explosion sent plume of dark smoke into the sky, photos purportedly show. <a href="https://t.co/OxL8H1Qvgs">pic.twitter.com/OxL8H1Qvgs</a>
&mdash; Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/1213694162907873283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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JUST IN &#8211; Alshabab Fighters claim responsibility &#8211; A Military Base in Manda Bay ,Lamu was attacked this morning . Gunshots can still be heard . <a href="https://t.co/YI19ZvxeNG">pic.twitter.com/YI19ZvxeNG</a>
&mdash; Hussein Mohammed (@huseinmoha) <a href="https://twitter.com/huseinmoha/status/1213693580843323392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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BREAKING: Al-Shabaab militants attack U.S./Kenyan military base in Lamu; reports of casualties <a href="https://t.co/WMhDwo3MDS">pic.twitter.com/WMhDwo3MDS</a>
&mdash; BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1213698424069148674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Al-Qaeda linked al-shabab recruits walk

Islamic Terrorist Group Attacks Military Base Used By U.S. Forces In Africa

Al-Shabaab

President Donald Trump dropped the hammer Saturday on Iran in a new series of threats aimed at the world&#8217;s leading state sponsor of terrorism, warning them that the United States military has pre-targeted 52 Iranian sites.
Trump tweeted, &#8220;Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, &amp; badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters.&#8221;
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Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, &amp; badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently&#8230;.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593965838163968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level &amp; important to Iran &amp; the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!&#8221;
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&#8230;.targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level &amp; important to Iran &amp; the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The remarks from Trump come as reports surfaced on Saturday that Iran had identified &#8220;at least 35 U.S. targets &#8230; for retaliatory strikes after the country’s president chillingly vowed to exact revenge for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani,” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7851623/Iranian-identifies-35-targets-retaliatory-strikes-General-Soleimanis-death.html">reported</a>.
&#8220;Iranians today raised the blood-red &#8216;flags of revenge&#8217;, vowing to retaliate after the US killed general Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike in Baghdad,&#8221; The Daily Mail reported. &#8220;Iranian state TV broadcast the flag being hoisted over the minarets at the revered Jamkaran Mosque in the holy city of Qom on Saturday.&#8221;
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Very very unusual to see a red flag flying over holy mosque of Jamkaran in Qom, Iran‘s holiest city. It’s is almost always blue. The red flag symbolises revenge. <a href="https://t.co/0VeWvUY37L">pic.twitter.com/0VeWvUY37L</a>
&mdash; Ali Arouzi (@aliarouzi) <a href="https://twitter.com/aliarouzi/status/1213482050994483208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Late this week, U.S. forces killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, which is a designated terrorist organization. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-missiles-hit-base-where-u-s-troops-stationed-in-iraq-and-near-u-s-embassy-reports-say">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Soleimani was killed along with top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who headed the Iranian-linked Popular Mobilization Forces, when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone targeted a convoy carrying the two men as they left Baghdad International Airport.</blockquote>
Soleimani was killed after the U.S. intelligence community obtained information that Soleimani was planning serious attacks on Americans throughout the region.
“There was an attack that was imminent that could have killed dozens or hundreds of Americans. We found an opportunity, and we delivered,&#8221; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-pompeo-reveals-what-iranian-terrorist-qasem-soleimani-was-planning-that-led-to-strike">told</a> Fox News on Friday. &#8220;He was traveling the region when he landed in Baghdad. The travels before that put him in places all around the region which were aimed solely at building out what they were referring to as ‘the big attack.’ They were aiming to take down significant amounts of Americans.”
“It would have undoubtedly killed locals, too, Iraqis, Lebanese, Syrians, perhaps, people all throughout the region,” Pompeo continued. “This was an attack that would have been to some scale. We can’t talk much about the details, but suffice [it] to say, the American people can know that the decision that President Trump made to take Qasem Soleimani down saved American lives.”
The Department of Defense confirmed Pompeo&#8217;s remarks in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-responds-to-u-s-military-killing-2-top-iranian-military-leaders-involved-in-terrorists">statement</a>: “General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months &#8212; including the attack on December 27th &#8212; culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.”
&nbsp;

Trump Campaign Launches &#8220;Evangelicals For Trump&#8221; Coalition In Miami

Trump Makes Major Announcement In New Threats Toward Iran; Iran Signals Readiness For War

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham called out the media and Democratic Party on Friday over the way that they responded to the Trump-approved airstrike that killed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani, leader of Iran&#8217;s Quds Force, which is a designated terrorist organization, was killed on Thursday in an airstrike as he was traveling in an convoy as it was leaving Baghdad International Airport.
Grisham, who made the remarks on Fox Business Network’s &#8220;Lou Dobbs Tonight&#8221; with host Lou Dobbs, called out The Washington Post and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
WATCH:
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a>: &quot;The media and the Democrats aren&#39;t happy along with the rest of this country that our president [<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>] took the bold action to kill a murderer. We should all be very proud today, and we should all be very happy that American lives were saved.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/jZBSHr9WzM">pic.twitter.com/jZBSHr9WzM</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1213278033089585152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Transcript from White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham&#8217;s interview:
Dobbs: Good to have you with us. The president is to be congratulated, the administration, and the national security team in particular for taking out a man who is responsible for hundreds and hundreds of American lives being lost in Iraq and the spread of state-sponsored terrorism from Iran. Your thoughts tonight, the mood in the White House and within the administration.
Grisham: Well, certainly it&#8217;s a great day for our country, because of the president&#8217;s decisive action thousands more American lives and other lives will be saved. This man, this terrorist was brutal, and not only was he responsible for hundreds of deaths of Americans, but thousands of horrible injuries to Americans and others. He wasn&#8217;t going to stop targeting Americans. That&#8217;s something to think about. The president, you know, he knew there was imminent danger. We had good Intel that there was imminent danger and that Americans were going to be killed and so he took the bold and often times hard action that he had to as president knowing that he was going to save lives and save lives then and in the future too.
Dobbs: And to hear the Democrats, at least many of them, tell it, this was an imposition on a stable world order in the middle East that only President Trump seems to be able to affect. I mean, it&#8217;s outrageous what I have heard today in the course of the morning, earlier, from the Democratic leadership. It&#8217;s as if they are completely unhinged.
Grisham: Well, they are. You know, I continue to be so disappointed by these Democrats. No matter what this president does, it is not good enough. The Democrats should be happy along with the rest of this country that American lives were saved, and instead they were complaining that they weren&#8217;t notified. You know, time is of the essence when things like this are going down and the president does have constitutional authority to protect Americans when they are in danger. Also, I would say that, you know, Schumer was complaining that he wasn&#8217;t briefed, and then when he got briefed today, he was complaining that it wasn&#8217;t good enough and he still had questions.
Dobbs: I think Chuck Schumer was born complaining and I wouldn&#8217;t expect any quick change in his behavior. It is also I think a good case could be built, it would be utterly irrational of the Trump Administration to brief the very people who are trying to unseat him, remove him from power, to overthrow his presidency and to have done everything in their power to do so. I mean, I just can&#8217;t understand why a neutral voice in this &#8212; say in the national media &#8212; isn&#8217;t saying what are the Democrats talking about? And why would they expect anything other than to be found untrustworthy by the president of the United States?
Grisham: Well, I&#8217;m going to say because there is no mutual voice in the media right now. You know, the Washington Post talked about Soleimani as the most revered military leader. Again, we&#8217;re getting into, you know, he was a terrorist. He was a murderer. Watching cable news today, it was like they were hoping for retaliation. You know, they are like scaring the American public for ratings. I don&#8217;t understand why, again, the media and the Democrats aren&#8217;t happy along with the rest of this country that our president took the bold action to kill a murderer. We should all be very proud today, and we should all be very happy that American lives were saved.

Stephanie Grisham

Stephanie Grisham Slams Media, Democrats For Their Response To Trump Killing Terrorists

Democrats

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised U.S. military forces on Friday during a speech on the Senate floor for killing Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
McConnell highlighted some of the horrific acts of terrorism that Soleimani was responsible for around the world, including the deaths of hundreds of U.S. service members.
Soleimani was killed on Thursday along with top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who headed the Iranian-linked Popular Mobilization Forces, when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone targeted a convoy that were carrying the two terrorist leaders as they left Baghdad International Airport.
WATCH:
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This morning, Iran’s master terrorist is dead. The architect and chief engineer for the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battlefield at the hand of the United States military. <a href="https://t.co/EfERQOYThW">pic.twitter.com/EfERQOYThW</a>
&mdash; Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) <a href="https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1213162509743640581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Transcript provided via Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell&#8217;s office:
This morning, Iran’s master terrorist is dead.
The architect and chief engineer for the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battlefield at the hand of the United States military.
No man alive was more directly responsible for the deaths of more American servicemembers than Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Soleimani’s schemes and his agents killed hundreds of American servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He personally oversaw the state-sponsored terrorism that Iran used to kill our sons and daughters.
And as we’ve seen in recent days and weeks, he and his terrorists posed an ongoing and growing threat to American lives and American interests.
Soleimani made it his life’s work to take the Iranian revolutionary call for “death to America” and “death to Israel” and turn them into action.
But this terrorist mastermind was not just a threat to the United States and Israel. For more than a decade he masterminded Iran’s malevolent and destabilizing work throughout the entire Middle East. He created, sustained, and directed terrorist proxies everywhere from Yemen to Iraq to Syria to Lebanon.
Innocents were killed. These sovereign countries were destabilized.
In Syria, this leading terrorist and his agents acted as strategists, enablers, and accomplices to Bashar al-Assad’s brutal repression and slaughter of the Syrian people.
In Iraq, his violence expanded Iran’s influence at the expense of Iraqis themselves. His dark, sectarian vision disenfranchised countless Sunni Arabs and paved the way for the rise of ISIS.
And with ISIS largely defeated, Soleimani and his agents again turned their sights on controlling the Iraqi people, who through massive protests are rejecting not only a corrupt government but also Iran’s influence over it. And once again, there were Iran and its proxies, facilitating violence against these peaceful protesters.
For too long, this evil man operated without constraint, and countless innocents have suffered for it. Now his terrorist leadership has been ended.
Now – predictably enough, in this political environment – the operation that led to Soleimani’s death may prove controversial or divisive.
Although I anticipate and welcome a debate about America’s interests and foreign policy in the Middle East, I recommend that all senators wait to review the facts and hear from the administration before passing much public judgment on this operation and its potential consequences.
The administration will be briefing staff today on the situation in Iraq. We are working to arrange a classified briefing for all senators early next week.
For my part, I have spoken to the Secretary of Defense and I am encouraged by the steps the U.S. military is taking to defend American personnel and interests from a growing Iranian threat.
I know I speak for the entire Senate when I say that my prayers are with all American diplomats, personnel, and brave servicemembers serving in Iraq and the Middle East.
I am grateful for their courageous service to protect our nation.
Right from the outset of this new year, it is already clear that 2020 will require the Senate and our whole nation to redouble our resolve to keep America safe in this troubled world.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaking at a

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: ‘Iran’s Master Terrorist Is Dead’

Mitch McConnell

Airstrikes late on Friday night reportedly took out more top Iranian-backed terrorist leaders in northern Baghdad.
The Associated Press reported: &#8220;Iraqi official says airstrike hits cars carrying Iran-backed militia north of Baghdad.&#8221;
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BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi official says airstrike hits cars carrying Iran-backed militia north of Baghdad.
&mdash; Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1213241616842014725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In the early morning hours on Saturday in Iraq, OIR Spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III, official military Spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), reported that the International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve did not have anything to do with the airstrikes.
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FACT: The Coalition <a href="https://twitter.com/CJTFOIR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CJTFOIR</a> did NOT conduct airstrikes near Camp Taji (north of Baghdad) in recent days.
&mdash; OIR Spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III (@OIRSpox) <a href="https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/1213326370572587008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Air strikes targeting Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shi’ite militias near camp Taji north of Baghdad have killed six people and critically wounded three, an Iraqi army source said late on Friday,&#8221; Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-blast-taji/air-strikes-targeting-iraqi-militia-kill-six-army-source-idUSKBN1Z229P">reported</a>. &#8220;Two of the three vehicles making up a militia convoy were found burned, the source said, as well as six burned corpses. The strikes took place at 1:12 am local time, he said.&#8221;
The strike comes only one day after a strike that was authorized by President Donald Trump took out Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The strike that killed Soleimani also killed top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the head of the Iranian-linked Popular Mobilization Forces.
The two were killed when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone targeted a convoy that the two men were riding in that was leaving Baghdad International Airport.
Soleimani was responsible for killing hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq dating back to the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
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State Department says Iran responsible for killing 608 U.S. troops during Iraq War. 
Qasem Soleimani led all Iranian and Iranian-backed forces in those operations. 
17% of U.S. troops killed in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 orchestrated by Iran, State Dept. says
&mdash; Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1212922686575382529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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On Friday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-delivers-powerful-remarks-on-killing-terrorist-at-press-conference">said</a> that he ordered the military to take out Soleimani because he &#8220;was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.&#8221;
&#8220;For years the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its ruthless Quds force under Soleimani’s leadership has targeted, injured, and murdered murder hundreds of American civilians and servicemen,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far as way as New Delhi and London. … Recently Soleimani led the brutal representation of protesters in Iran where more than 1,000 innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government.&#8221;
The Department of Defense <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-responds-to-u-s-military-killing-2-top-iranian-military-leaders-involved-in-terrorists">said</a>: “General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.”
The Department of State <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ilhan-omar-im-outraged-trump-killed-iranian-terrorist-who-killed-hundreds-of-americans">said</a>: “We can confirm that in the past several days, General Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members. These threats were highly credible and the intelligence is sound. General Soleimani’s travel also violated the ban imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Recent orders given by General Soleimani dramatically escalated Iran’s campaign of violence and terrorism against Americans and American interests in the Middle East. He orchestrated a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq in the past several months, culminating in the rocket attack on December 27, 2019, which resulted in the death of an American citizen, wounded four American service members, and threatened the lives of many more American personnel. General Soleimani also ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. General Soleimani continued to command Iranian supported proxies in Iraq, which posed an escalating threat to the lives of Americans.”
This report has been updated.

IRAQ-POLITICS-DEMO-UNREST

Airstrikes Kill More Top Iranian-Backed Terrorist Leaders In Airstrikes, Reports Say

Military

One of the main arguments against the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">strike that killed Qassem Soleimani</a> is that targeted killings of terror leaders are ineffective: They invite escalation and reprisals, and the removal of senior terrorists doesn’t degrade the effectiveness of the groups they lead because they can be quickly replaced.
But this argument doesn’t hold up to the experience of recent history. Take two examples of targeted killing campaigns against terrorist groups in the past 20 years: Israel during the Second Intifada, and the Obama administration campaign against al-Qaeda.
In both campaigns, Israel and the U.S. combined precise intelligence with precision-guided munitions to systematically eliminate the leadership and top operatives of dangerous terrorist groups. The key to these campaigns was that they weren’t one-offs — they were sustained over the course of years.
During that time, in places like Gaza, Afghanistan, and the tribal regions of Pakistan, targeted killings did much more than symbolically remove terror leaders from the battlefield. They helped cripple the effectiveness of terror groups by forcing them to shift from offense to defense.
Instead of recruiting followers and planning attacks, they had to spend time and energy worrying about security. The sophisticated intelligence employed by the U.S. and Israel raised suspicions of informants. Distrust grew. The ability of operatives to propagandize, communicate, plan, and move freely was undermined as every phone call and meeting raised the specter of surveillance or a missile strike. As leaders were killed off and replaced, only for the replacements themselves to be killed, morale suffered.
As much as jihadists boast about their lust for death, few genuinely want to be killed. And much of the ardor of the foot soldiers owes to the belief that they have joined the winning side — but it’s hard to maintain enthusiasm when a promotion means likely death.
Meanwhile, as anyone who has worked in an organization knows, few people have the genuine talent or experience for leadership. It’s simply not true that operatives who have spent decades working their way up the ranks of an organization can be easily replaced with people of equal ability. Terrorist groups, like any company, organization, or cause, need talent at the top.
Targeted killings, of course, weren’t the only reason why Israel prevailed against the Palestinian-Arab suicide bombing campaign of the early 2000s or why the Obama administration was able to turn al-Qaeda into a has-been — but they were a key component, and this success could be replicated by forcing Iranian terror masters to grow far more worried about their safety than they have recently been. In recent years, Soleimani was so confident of his impunity that he traveled the Middle East almost openly, meeting with political leaders and visiting the front lines of the various battles Iranian-sponsored militias and terrorists were fighting in order to pose for selfies with his troops.
Killing him creates a major opportunity for the U.S. to reset its tolerance for Iran’s strategy of arming and training of proxy terrorist forces in the Middle East. Soleimani was the chief architect of this strategy, and it has succeeded largely due to the willingness of countries such as the U.S. to observe the distinction without a difference between Iran and the militia groups it builds in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and elsewhere. By killing Soleimani, the U.S. and its allies can put a bookend on this Iranian game. And the way the U.S. can enforce this new policy is through targeted killings of any Iranian terrorist leaders who attempt to replicate Soleimani’s success. We need only look to Israel and the Obama administration for guidance.
&nbsp;
Noah Pollak is a political consultant and contributor to The Washington Free Beacon. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/NoahPollak">@NoahPollak</a>.

Panoramic view of Wadi Rum, Jordan

POLLAK: Yes, Targeted Killings Work

Al Qaeda

A suspected terrorist reportedly wearing a &#8220;fake explosive vest&#8221; was shot dead by French police Friday after stabbing multiple people, one of whom died from the wounds. Witnesses said they heard the attacker cry &#8220;Allahu Akbar&#8221; during the rampage, reports say. Video has since emerged of police confronting the attacker.
The attack, which began at around 2 p.m. Friday at the Hautes-Bruyères park in Villejuif, about 5 miles south of Paris, involved at least <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50986028">four victims</a>, one of whom died and two of whom were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment after suffering serious injuries. Police say they chased the man toward a nearby shopping center, where they shot him several times, believing he was wearing an explosive vest and ultimately &#8220;neutralizing&#8221; the threat.
While authorities have not yet specified the motives of the attacker, witnesses say he was wearing a mock suicide vest and yelled &#8220;Allahu Akbar&#8221; during the violent rampage, the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7848923/Terrorist-kinifeman-wearing-explosive-vest-shot-dead-Paris-stabbing-four-people.html">Daily Mail</a> reports. Police say the attacker appears to have picked his victims at random, a police union source describing him as &#8220;lashing out at anyone he could.&#8221;
&#8220;Four people were attacked by an individual in the Hautes-Bruyères park, near a supermarket. The attacker was armed with a knife and was lashing out at anyone he could,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The attacker appeared to be wearing an explosives vest but was not wearing any shoes when he carried out the attacks. Victims were falling down around him, while others raised the alarm &#8230; Members of the anti-criminal brigade were first on the scene, and shot a number of rounds at the man. He was declared dead at the scene.&#8221;
No explosives were found at the scene, officials say.
&#8220;In his murderous journey, the suspect tried to attack other victims who managed to avoid it,&#8221; Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the press shortly after the alarming incident.
L&#8217;Haÿ-les-Roses Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun told a local television station that after going on the rampage in the park, the attacker made his way to the shopping center, &#8220;where he seemingly intended to continue his attack,&#8221; <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200103-suspect-neutralised-after-stabbing-several-passers-by-outside-paris-police-say">France 24</a> reports.
&#8220;Luckily the police were quickly alerted and made their way rapidly to the scene where they neutralised him by killing him,&#8221; said the mayor.
Police union official Yves Lefebvre revealed that officers &#8220;fired repeatedly because they feared the man was wearing an explosive belt and might blow himself up,&#8221; France 24 reports.
Video reportedly showing the police descending on the attacker is circulating online:
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>
At least one person died in a stabbing attack near <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/France?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#France</a>&#39;s capital <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris</a>
The assailant was neutralized by security forces<a href="https://t.co/uOiGAF0tfn">pic.twitter.com/uOiGAF0tfn</a>
&mdash; EHA News (@eha_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/eha_news/status/1213112878368247813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The police response to the attack was praised by France&#8217;s Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who described their confrontation and elimination of the threat as &#8220;extremely courageous.&#8221;
The victim who died from the attack is a 56-year-old man from Villejuif who was stabbed while trying to protect his wife. According to Villejuif Mayor Franck Le Bohellec, the deceased victim was walking through the park with his wife when the attacker approached. &#8220;He wanted to protect his wife,&#8221; the mayor told <a class="class" href="http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/villejuif-un-homme-poignarde-trois-personnes-dont-une-mortellement-03-01-2020-8228229.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Le Parisen</a>, &#8220;and it was he who took this stab.&#8221;
Two other victims, who were taken to Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital, are reportedly in &#8220;critical condition,&#8221; according to the Daily Mail
&#8220;French counter-terrorism prosecutors said they were assessing the scene and authorities were trying to identify the attacker,&#8221; <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50986028">BBC</a> reports.

Paris Stabbing

WATCH: Police Confront Suspected Terrorist In France; ‘Neutralized’ After Stabbing Multiple People, Wore ‘Fake Explosive Vest’

France

On Tuesday morning, Americans woke up to the news that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was physically <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-thousands-of-terrorist-supporters-storm-u-s-embassy-in-baghdad-after-u-s-strikes-kill-dozens-of-terrorists">assaulted and besieged</a> — not by anodyne &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1212173561856757760">mourners</a>,&#8221; as the fine folks at The New York Times would have us believe, but by Iranian regime-supporting radical jihadists. The terrorists&#8217; physical storming of the embassy was allegedly in direct retaliation for U.S. airstrikes conducted against Kataib Hezbollah, which is the Iraqi proxy for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">broader Hezbollah terrorist group</a> — itself a wholly owned and operated Shiite Islamist outfit of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">jihadist</a> Iranian regime. In many respects, Iraq is increasingly a mere Iranian satrapy.
Debate about how best to deal with the Iranian regime, which has been in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-unyielding-iranian-menace">ceaseless state of war</a> with the West since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, continues to percolate throughout American conservative discourse. Paleoconservative-leaning Buchananites, led by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, came out swinging hard against retaliatory American military action after the mullahs <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-iran-shoots-down-huge-american-drone-trump-hank-berrien">downed an American unmanned aerial vehicle</a> (UAV) in June. In September, the debate rekindled after Iran and its proxies launched an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-us-must-side-saudi-arabia-against-iranian-josh-hammer">unprecedented attack</a> against Saudi Arabian oil facilities. That Iranian attack against Saudi Arabia took place roughly a week after Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bad-trump-presidents-dismissal-john-bolton-josh-hammer">dismissal of then-National Security John Bolton</a>, who is famously hawkish on Iran.
The attack upon the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, much like the downing of the American UAV in June and the attack against Saudi oil facilities in September, ought to be viewed as the exhausted gasps of a regime that is truly hurting. Iranian <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/inflation-rampant-in-tehran-as-iran-struggles-to-stem-rising-food-prices.html">inflation is increasingly off the charts</a> and its entire macroeconomy is in a <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/13/irans-economy-is-crumbling-but-collapse-is-a-long-way-off-jcpoa-waivers-sanctions/">state of near-free fall</a>, as the panoply of U.S.-imposed sanctions following President Donald Trump&#8217;s removal of the U.S. from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-trump-just-shredded-iran-deal-here-are-5-ben-shapiro">catastrophic</a> Iran nuclear deal continue to hit the mullahs hard.
Many of those on the Left, such as Ben Rhodes — perhaps the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html">single most emphatically unqualified person</a> in the whole world to purport to talk credibly about the perils of the Iranian regime — would have us believe that Iran&#8217;s various attempts to lash out in frustration are the fault of the U.S. In peddling such utter tomfoolery, these capitulatory appeasers on the Left have found no shortage of allies among the ascendant forces of the isolationist Right.
It is important that conservatives get the issue of Iran right. And it is imperative that conservatives continue to properly view the Iranian regime as a uniquely evil geopolitical foe whose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-irans-imperial-overreach">regional hegemonic ambitions</a> and would-be nuclear program alike must be thwarted at every turn.
To be sure, it is long overdue for conservatives to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-never-forget-911-we-need-rethink-how-we-josh-hammer">soberly re-assess</a> the inherently non-conservative intellectual hubris that undergirded much of Bush administration-era &#8220;neoconservative&#8221; foreign policy. But there is a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-ted-cruzs-non-interventionist-hawk-foreign-josh-hammer">very prudent middle ground to be attained</a>, and the risk is increasingly greater than conservatives might overly recalibrate far too much toward the extreme isolationist end of the pendulum. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has called this hardened realism version of anti-Islamist hawkishness that of a &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-ted-cruzs-non-interventionist-hawk-foreign-josh-hammer">non-interventionist hawk</a>,&#8221; and his approach is correct.
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Friendly foreign policy 101 reminder:
Closely calibrated, narrowly targeted elimination of strategically threatening jihadist actors = GOOD.
Attempts to remake backwater third-world sharia hellscapes into Madisonian republics = BAD.
&mdash; Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1212062312275861504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
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There are a myriad ways that the U.S. could complement its crippling sanctions against Iran with closely targeted military actions in such a way as to be consistent with this thesis. Again, it is impossible to overstate just how pernicious the Iranian regime&#8217;s tentacles actually are. Over the past four decades, Iran has had its hands in <a href="https://mosaicmagazine.com/response/jewish-world/2019/08/the-men-responsible-for-the-amia-bombing-are-known-and-still-at-large/">more jihad</a> committed <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/08/iran-hired-dutch-criminals-assassinate-iranian-dissidents-netherlands/">against the West</a> — by far — than has any other nation. The specific means by which the U.S. can, or should, push back militarily against Iranian aggression ought to be debated. But as famed Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/19042/should-israel-invade-gaza">once said</a>: First decide on one&#8217;s policy, then one&#8217;s strategy, and only then one&#8217;s tactics.
That was, is, and will always be sound foreign policy advice.
And it is crucial that an overarching policy of deterrence of Iran — by both financial and, if need be, closely targeted military means — remain the ultimate goal of American conservatives.

ayatollah Iran street art

HAMMER: Now Is Not The Time To Go Soft On Iran

Ted Cruz

On Monday, a Russian court ordered the detention of two men arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack during the New Year holidays in St. Petersburg. Russian authorities made the arrests Friday after getting tipped off about the planned attack by the U.S.
&#8220;The Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency, said in a statement that the suspects detained on Friday confessed to plotting the attacks. It added that it also seized materials proving their guilt,&#8221; <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-court-jails-terrorism-suspects-arrested-us-tip-67989106">ABC News</a> reports. &#8220;The FSB didn&#8217;t elaborate on their alleged motives or targets, but Russia&#8217;s state television reported that the suspects had recorded a video swearing their allegiance to the Islamic State group.&#8221;
The FSB says the suspects &#8220;intended to carry out terrorist acts in crowded places in St. Petersburg during the New Year holidays,&#8221; as reported by the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7836799/Putin-thanks-Trump-intelligence-helped-Russia-foil-New-Years-terror-attack.html">Daily Mail</a>. &#8220;Evidence proving preparations for staging the terror attacks has been seized from the detained persons,&#8221; the agency said.
Russian officials credited information provided by their &#8220;American partners&#8221; for the uncovering of the plot and the arrest of the two alleged ISIS terrorists.
The two suspects have been identified as Nikita Semyonov and Georgy Chernyshev. On Monday, a court in St. Petersburg ordered that they should remain in custody until their trial.
Video footage published by the Daily Mail appears to show the dramatic moment that armed FSB agents arrested the two suspects, uncovering what appear to be knives and shotgun shells. &#8220;The men appeared to resist arrest but later the FSB said that they had started &#8216;confessing&#8217; to plotting terrorism attacks,&#8221; the outlet reports.
On Tuesday, Trump posted a statement on social media noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him to thank him and the U.S. for helping prevent the attack and celebrating the &#8220;important coordination&#8221; between the U.S. and Russian intelligence agencies.
&#8220;President Putin of Russia called to thank me and the U.S. for informing them of a planned terrorist attack in the very beautiful city of Saint Petersburg,&#8221; Trump tweeted. &#8220;They were able to quickly apprehend the suspects, with many lives being saved. Great &amp; important coordination!&#8221;
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President Putin of Russia called to thank me and the U.S. for informing them of a planned terrorist attack in the very beautiful city of Saint Petersburg. They were able to quickly apprehend the suspects, with many lives being saved. Great &amp; important coordination!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1212012065440894976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
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A spokesman for the Kremlin says Putin called Trump Sunday to thank him for intelligence &#8220;transmitted through the special services that helped prevent terrorist attacks in Russia,&#8221; as reported by ABC. The spokesman pointed to the sharing of the information as &#8220;vivid proof of the efficiency&#8221; of the two countries&#8217; counter-terrorism coordination.
&#8220;The Kremlin said Putin passed on his gratitude to Trump for the tip from US special services during a phone call on Sunday. It gave no further details,&#8221;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/29/putin-thanks-trump-for-tip-russia-says-foiled-terror-attacks"> The Guardian</a> reports, noting: &#8220;Diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow are fraught over disagreements concerning Ukraine and Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the US presidential election, but Trump and Putin have kept personal lines of communication open.&#8221;
The White House  has since <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/30/white-house-confirms-trump-phone-call-with-putin-that-foiled-terror-plot/">confirmed</a> the Kremlin&#8217;s report on the call between the two leaders; Trump first addressed the call about the foiled plot in his tweet Tuesday.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-iran-behind-attack-on-u-s-embassy-in-baghdad-will-pay">Trump Threatens Action Against Iran After Attack On U.S. Embassy In Baghdad</a>

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