Green Beret Who Tackled Afghan Child Rapist Won’t Have to Leave Army
The U.S. Army has reversed a decision to expel a decorated Green Beret for beating up an Afghan military officer who repeatedly raped a boy he kept chained to his bed. Read
scribbling on the state of the planet
The U.S. Army has reversed a decision to expel a decorated Green Beret for beating up an Afghan military officer who repeatedly raped a boy he kept chained to his bed. Read
In its efforts to prop up its ally in Damascus, the Iranian regime has deployed its own military advisers, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units and Shi’a fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan – and now it appears to be recruiting its own children. Read
The State Department says it’s not obliged to cut off funding for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in response to its admission of the “State of Palestine,” since the UNFCCC is “a treaty,” not an international organization. Read
The U. N. Security Council, U. S. government and others are giving no ground on a decades-old dispute over Israeli control of the Golan Heights, despite the civil war in Syria, the country’s fragmentation and influx of Sunni and Shi’ite terrorists into the area. Read
Religion does not necessarily play a role in radicalization of Muslims, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday night, citing political repression and denial of rights as relevant factors, along with the lure of “regular meals [and] companionship.” Read
Muslims are radicalized not because of Islamophobia, poverty or foreign policy grievances, but because of an ideology and theology that must be uprooted if the growing problem is to be addressed, a former radical Islamist said at the European Parliament on Tuesday. Read
Iran says it will take the United States to the International Court of Justice if almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds are used to pay out the families of victims of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Read
The administration’s decision to deploy another 250 troops to Syria – where 50 special forces operators have been stationed since late last year – does not constitute “boots on the ground” in the accepted colloquial sense of a conventional ground combat mission, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday. Read
Three years ago, President Obama said he did not “foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground in Syria would not only be good for America, but also would be good for Syria.” Read
President Obama, speaking in Germany on Monday, announced that he plans to send another 250 troops to Syria, the latest in a series of incremental deployments of forces over the past two years to help in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL). Read
The number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States continues to grow--including 220 admitted over the past two weeks--but the proportion of Christians among those refugees remains well below one percent. Read
A newly-emerged, declassified document written by a pair of investigators involved in two official inquiries into 9/11 sheds new light on some of the questions relating to alleged high-level Saudi involvement in the terror plot. Read
President Obama has kicked off his visit to Britain with a public appeal for the country to remain in the European Union, an intervention that is drawing strong criticism from prominent supporters of the campaign to leave the E.U. Read
President Obama stayed overnight in Riyadh Wednesday but without First Lady Michelle Obama, who made waves on a previous visit to the Wahhabist-ruled kingdom when she did not cover her hair – and was ignored by some of the host dignitaries in a receiving line. Read
In some of his harshest rhetoric yet aimed at Saudi Arabia, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday described the Sunni kingdom as a “corrupt, sycophantic, hollow regime,” and declared, “to hell with it.” Read
Taking aim at one of Secretary of State John Kerry’s most cherished causes, a group of Republican senators is warning him that the administration will violate U.S. law if it does not cut off funding to the U.N.’s climate change agency and affiliated entities in response to its recent admission of the “State of Palestine.” Read
Amid stepped-up efforts to get the administration to declassify documents that could highlight links between prominent Saudis and 9/11, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday debating the question of who was responsible for the 2001 terror attacks was “a fool’s errand.” Read
Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday night that Iran has reaped just $3 billion so far as a result of the nuclear deal, despite critics’ claims that it would get more than $100 billion in frozen assets. Read
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority spilled over into the U.N. Security Council on Monday, in a rare slanging match at the world body’s top table over incitement and terrorism. Read
For a record 14th year in a row, the State Department has overruled the advice of an independent statutory watchdog and decided not to blacklist Pakistan for religious freedom abuses. Read
The tenor of elements of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign has drawn sharp criticism from the top United Nations human rights official, who cited “bigotry” and the “demonizing” of minorities and targeted Donald Trump – without naming him – for comments supportive of waterboarding terror suspects. Read
A summit of Islamic countries made headlines for its criticism of Iran for supporting terror, but little attention was paid to the gathering’s indirect reaffirmation of a controversial stance that the fight against “foreign occupation” does not constitute terrorism. Read
Any attempt by Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program would jeopardize international unity, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said Wednesday. Read
It was the deadliest attack sustained by the CIA in 26 years, and according to a just-declassified U.S. intelligence cable, Pakistan’s military intelligence agency paid a notorious Islamist terror group $200,000 to carry it out. Read
Tensions between a Saudi-led Sunni bloc and Shi’ite Iran could spill over during an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit beginning in Istanbul on Thursday, despite organizers’ attempts to focus on more traditional unifying subjects, topped by the Palestinian issue. Read
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) is urging its followers to kill identified Muslim figures in the West, saying they are “obligatory” targets unless they “openly repent from kufr [disbelief] before they are apprehended.” Read
Just days before President Obama is due to visit Saudi Arabia, a retired senator who is pushing for the administration to declassify documents that could highlight links between prominent Saudis and the 9/11 terror attacks said Tuesday a White House official informs him its review could be completed soon. Read
The Obama administration’s fast-tracking of Syrian refugee applications is “a threat to our national security,” Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said on Tuesday. Read
After becoming the most senior U.S. administration figure yet to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Monday “everyone” should visit the site, and that he hopes that one day that will include the president of the United States. Read
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the fact that perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks in Europe were European nationals proves that the West, especially the United States, is not serious about fighting against terrorism, according to a report on his official website. Read
Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday became the most senior American official yet to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a shrine to the first ever-use of an atomic bomb in war. President Obama has expressed interest in visiting Hiroshima before the end of his presidency. Read
As the administration pushes ahead with a “surge” of Syrian refugee processing aimed at reaching its target of 10,000 this fiscal year, the proportion of Christians among those admitted remains smaller than one percent of the total. Read
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif hit back Sunday at his erstwhile nuclear negotiation partner Secretary of State John Kerry for suggesting that Iran may consider negotiating an end to its ballistic missile program. Read
The State Department on Thursday rejected allegations – by Russian President Vladimir Putin or anyone else – that the U.S. government had a hand in the leak of the so-called Panama Papers, millions of documents revealing the offshore holdings of politicians, businesspeople, and celebrities. Read
Secretary of State John Kerry appealed to Iran on Thursday to work constructively to help end the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, holding out the prospect of some form of new regional security “arrangement” should Tehran choose to cooperate. Read
In a blow to Iranian-backed terrorism, Egypt’s satellite operator has stopped beaming Hezbollah’s television station into millions of households across the region. Hezbollah complained that the decision serves the goals of its bitter foe, Israel. Read
As the Obama administration institutes a “surge” aimed at meeting its goal – currently way off-target – of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year, the Associated Press has cited an official at the U.S. Embassy in Amman as saying that the time taken to process each admission is being cut to three months. Read
A senior State Department official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that in his view Iran’s recent ballistic missile launches “violated the intent of” a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council last July. Read
A senior State Department official testifying on Capitol Hill Tuesday cautioned against congressional measures in response to Iran’s ballistic missile launches that would impact on the nuclear deal or give the regime “any excuse to walk away from table.” Read
Air France management agreed Monday that any female crew member not wanting to comply with Islamic dress code once the airline resumes long-suspended services to Iran this month may opt out of working on the route. Read
The watering down of language in a U.N. Security Council resolution last July relating to Iran’s missile activity is raising awkward questions for the Obama administration as lawmakers seek answers about what they view as its “delayed and weak” response to a series of ballistic missile launches. Read
One of America’s best-known rabbis, Shmuley Boteach, has called on Hillary Clinton to “repudiate” comments reportedly by anti-Israel writer Max Blumenthal – the son of her close confidante Sidney Blumenthal – referring to the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist group in complementary terms. Read
The French women’s rights minister, already under fire for provocative comments relating to Islamic dress for women, is now caught between Air France management and unions in a row over a requirement that air hostesses wear headscarves when the airline renews flights to Iran this month. Read
The White House reiterated Thursday that Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear deal, stressing that its ballistic missile launches are a “separate” issue. Read