Friday, July 29, 2016

White House Won't Repeat Biden’s ‘Dictator’ Term for Putin, But Doesn’t Dispute Its Accuracy

Neither the White House nor State Department on Thursday would repeat Vice President Joe Biden’s description of President Vladimir Putin as a “dictator,” but White House press secretary Josh Earnest pointed to a State Department assessment that Russia “has a highly centralized authoritarian political system dominated by President Vladimir Putin.” Read

DNI Clapper: Russia Tries to Influence Politics in Neighboring Countries, Why Not in US?

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday the intelligence community was not ready to blame Moscow publicly for the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails, although he noted Russia’s interference in the politics of countries in its neighborhood, and said it was not unlikely it would try to do the same in the United States. Read

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Report Published Last Month Claimed Russia Might Release Hacked Clinton Emails

The Russian government may soon release texts of emails hacked from Hillary Clinton’s private server during her time as secretary of state, a respected geopolitical affairs publication reported last month, citing Western intelligence sources. Read

‘Homegrown Demagogues’: Obama Accuses Trump of Threatening American Values

In a term evidently aimed at Donald Trump, President Obama said Wednesday night that “homegrown demagogues” – along with fascists, communists and jihadists – threaten American values but would ultimately fail. Read

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

US, Israeli Flags Burn Near DNC Venue: ‘Death to the U.S. Empire!’

Video posted on social media on Tuesday night showed a protestor on the streets around the Democratic National Convention venue in Philadelphia setting fire to an American flag. Read

Attack on French Church Puts Focus on ISIS’ Anti-Christian Hatred

French President Francois Hollande was due to hold emergency talks with religious leaders on Wednesday as France grapples with how to protect places of worship after Islamic terrorists took hostages in a Catholic church in Normandy during morning Mass and murdered an elderly priest. Read

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

On Eve of Kerry Visit, Philippine President Announces Unilateral Ceasefire With Communist Rebels Who Killed US Soldiers

Secretary of State John Kerry was due to arrive in Manila Tuesday, a day after the Philippines’ new socialist president declared a unilateral ceasefire with a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for the murder of U.S. soldiers in the 1980s. Read

Monday, July 25, 2016

Int’l Olympic Committee Slammed for Backing Down Over Russia Rio Ban

The International Olympic Committee’s decision Sunday not to ban the entire Russian team from the games in Rio – setting strict eligibility criteria in place instead – is sending shockwaves around the sporting world. Read

'Syrian Refugee’ Kills Himself in Apparent Attempt to Bomb Music Festival in Germany

A Syrian man whose application for asylum was denied a year ago was killed Sunday night when a bomb he was carrying in a backpack exploded outside the venue of a music festival in a small German city that is home to a U.S. Army base. Read

6,726 Syrian Refugees Admitted to U.S. So Far in FY16--But Only 23 Are Christians

With ten weeks to go until the end of the fiscal year, the Obama administration continues to admit Syrian refugees at an accelerated pace, and has now exceeded two-thirds of President Obama’s target of 10,000 by September 30. Read

Friday, July 22, 2016

State Dep’t Withholds Criticism of Mass Detentions, Suspensions in Turkey – But Denies Its Response Is Muted

State Department spokesman John Kirby declined Thursday to say whether Turkey’s post-coup attempt crackdown is excessive, saying he was “not going to litigate from the podium every decision that they’re making.” Read

Thursday, July 21, 2016

‘We Are Sleepwalking Through History,” Gingrich Warns, Recalling 37 Days of Radical Islamist Carnage

Listing terrorist atrocities around the world over “just the past 37 days” since the Orlando attack, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Republican National Convention Wednesday night that America was “at war with radical Islamists.” Read

One Year After US-Cuba Ties Restored, ‘Human Rights Dialogue’ Yet to Take Place

One year since the U.S. re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba and four months since President Obama traveled to Havana, the two sides have yet to hold a dialogue on human rights that was announced during the historic visit. Read

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Newly Revealed Document Indicates Obama’s Words on Iran Nuke Deal Were Not So 'Muddled'

When President Obama 15 months ago appeared to concede that under the nuclear deal Iran would, after 13 or so years, be able to build a nuclear bomb relatively quickly if it decided to do so, the State Department asserted that his words had been “a little muddled” and misconstrued. Read

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

U.S. Unhappy That Iran’s Complaints Were Included in UN Report on Nuclear Deal

Six months after the Iran nuclear deal began taking effect, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon provided the U.N. Security Council Monday with a report on the implementation of the resolution that endorsed the deal – and annoyed the U.S. by including in it Iranian complaints about sanctions relief. Read

UN Human Rights Bodies Silent on Turkey’s Massive Crackdown

A crackdown following the Turkish coup attempt has seen thousands detained or suspended, but the United Nations’ human rights apparatus remains silent even as the Obama administration continues to voice its public support for Turkey’s “democratically elected government.” Read

Monday, July 18, 2016

Kerry: Congress Has Shown 'Absolutely Zero Willingness' to Support Ground Troops in Syria

The Obama administration has declared repeatedly that there will be no U.S. “boots on the ground” in Syria, but on Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Congress for showing “absolutely zero willingness” to vote for troops to be deployed. Read

Don’t Make Claims of US Involvement in Coup Plot, Kerry Warns Turks

Amid a crackdown on soldiers and judges following an abortive weekend coup, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his supporters Sunday to take to the city’s public squares in the coming days in an ongoing show of solidarity and in opposition to a group led by an influential U.S.-based cleric he accuses of responsibility for the plot to unseat him. Read

Friday, July 15, 2016

Jihadist Advice For Vehicle Terror: ‘To Achieve Maximum Carnage, You Need to Pick Up As Much Speed As You Can’

The tactic of vehicle ramming in terrorist attacks, used to such deadly effect in Nice on Thursday night, has become more prevalent with Islamic jihadists in recent years, actively encouraged in terrorist groups’ online propaganda as a simple yet effective way to kill people. Read

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Britain’s New Foreign Secretary: No Fan of Trump; Compared Hillary Clinton to ‘Sadistic Nurse in a Mental Hospital’

If Donald Trump is viewed as often indiscreet in his public statements, the politician named Wednesday as the top diplomat of Washington’s closest transatlantic ally could give him a run for his money. Read

Iran’s Prospective Boeing Customer Has Suspected Links to North Korea’s Missile Program

Iran Air, which wants to buy U.S.-made aircraft under a deal blessed by the Obama administration, has been sanctioned in the past for nefarious activity in the Middle East – but it has suspected links to North Korea’s illicit ballistic missile program as well. Read

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

State Dep’t Silent on Key Finding of Inquiry Into US-Funded Anti-Netanyahu NGO

State Department spokesman John Kirby noted Tuesday that a congressional investigation into a U.S.-funded Israeli NGO found no evidence that the group had used the funds to influence the tightly-contested 2015 Israeli election. Read

Kerry: We Will Meet Obama's Goal of Admitting 10,000 Syrian Refugees by Sept. 30

The Obama administration will meet its target of settling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States by the time fiscal year 2016 ends on September 30, Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Tuesday night. Read

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

State Dept. on Increasing Troops in Iraq: ‘It Ain’t Mission Creep if the Mission Ain’t Changing’

State Department spokesman John Kirby on Monday rejected the notion that the further expansion of the U.S. troop footprint in Iraq amounts to “mission creep,” saying that the unchanged mission of the troops deployed there is training, advising and assisting Iraqi forces. Read

UN Invites ‘Black Lives Matter’ to Event; UN Rights Expert Cites ‘Structural and Institutional Racism’ in US

The United Nations has invited a Black Lives Matter activist to participate in a high-level debate in New York on human rights, with a particular focus on “combatting discrimination and inequalities.” Read

Monday, July 11, 2016

Philippines’ Controversial President: ‘America Imported Terrorism’

The controversial new president of the Philippines has accused the United States of “importing terrorism” from the Middle East through its policies in the region. Read

Boeing: If We Can’t Sell Planes to Iran, Neither Should Other Companies Be Able To

Under fire in Congress over plans to sell commercial aircraft to Iran, Boeing vice-chairman Ray Conner said Sunday that if the company was prevented from going ahead with the multi-billion dollar deal, then so too should other aircraft manufacturers. Read

Friday, July 08, 2016

North Korea Reacts to US Sanctions Against Kim: Like ‘a New-Born Puppy Knowing no Fear of a Tiger’

Stung by the first-ever imposition of U.S. sanctions against its top leadership including Kim Jong-un, the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang called the move an act of war, threatening “the toughest countermeasures” and warning that the U.S. will rue its “foolish and reckless” deed. Read

Lawmaker Says Iran ‘Uses Commercial Aircraft to Spread Death, Destruction and Mayhem’

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved two measures taking aim at a proposed multi-billion dollar deal to sell Boeing planes to Iran’s national carrier – an airline that has been used to ship arms and supplies to terrorists and Syria’s Assad regime. Read

Thursday, July 07, 2016

Expert: 10% of Palestinian Authority Budget Paid to Families of Jailed and ‘Martyred’ Terrorists

The Palestinian Authority dedicates an estimated ten percent of its budget to pay the families of Palestinian terrorists, including those killed during attacks and those in prison, the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard Wednesday. Read

House Panel Takes Aim at Boeing Deal: ‘Weaponizing the Iranian Regime’

Lawmakers critical of the Boeing Corporation’s plan to sell and lease aircraft to Iran’s national carrier – and critical of the administration’s support for the multi-billion dollar transaction – will debate legislation Thursday designed to stymie the deal. Read

Wednesday, July 06, 2016

State Official Blasted After Quoting Iranian Foreign Minister on Terrorism

The State Department’s Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Rick Stengel, raised eyebrows and ire on Twitter after quoting Iran’s foreign minister voicing Muslim solidarity after terror attacks in Saudi Arabia. Read

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

Syrian Refugees Admitted to U.S. More Than Doubled in June; 0.3 Percent Were Christians

The “surge” of Syrian refugee admissions first announced by the State Department last spring hit a new peak during June – 2,381 refugees, or more than double the number permitted to resettle in the United States in May. Read

Like Many Islamic Terrorists, Bangladesh Attackers Well-Educated, Well-Off

In the aftermath of a deadly terrorist attack on a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital’s diplomatic quarter, the country is struggling to come to terms with the fact that most of the perpetrators were well-educated and wealthy – far from the stereotype of the impoverished and embittered jihadi recruit. Read

Friday, July 01, 2016

Abbas’ PLO Faction Calls Killer of 13-Year-Old American-Israeli Girl a ‘Martyr’

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization on Thursday declared a “martyr” a Palestinian who stabbed to death a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl in her bed. Read

One Year After Nuclear Deal, Senior US Figures to Attend Paris Rally For a ‘Free Iran’

A group of prominent American figures, Republican and Democrat, are planning to make their way to Paris next weekend for what has become an annual show of strength for a major – and controversial – movement dedicated to the downfall of the regime in Tehran. Read