Al Qaeda Chief in Gitmo: Use of Female Guard Denies me Justice, Violates my Muslim Rights.

Al Qaeda Chief in Gitmo: Use of Female Guard Denies me Justice, Violates my Muslim Rights. HT: JudicialWatch.

An Al Qaeda leader and close associate of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) accused the U.S. government of denying him justice because a female guard escorted him to a recent court hearing in violation of his Islamic religious beliefs.

His name is Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, one of 17 high-value prisoners at the U.S. military compound in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and he’s being tried for running Al Qaeda’s army in Afghanistan, ordering attacks against American and coalition forces and civilians.

During a recent arraignment in Gitmo, Hadi refused to be transferred to the courtroom by a group of guards that included a female because being touched by a strange woman violates his religious beliefs. His attorneys asked the military judge to replace the female guard with a man, but the judge refused. No criminal justice system in the world allows the defendant to decide the rules of the court. Furthermore, sidelining a woman at the request of the defendant goes against any moves the military has made to treat men and women equally. Hmmm.....I thought Islam treats women and men equally? Read the full story here.

Omar Khadr's sister Zaynab Khadr detained in Turkey.

Omar Khadr's sister Zaynab Khadr detained in Turkey. (TheStar).

Zaynab Khadr, the outspoken sister of former Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr, is in custody in Turkey, the Star has learned.

It isn’t known whether she has been charged or is just being held.

Khadr had moved to Turkey around the time her younger brother Omar was transferred from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Canada in September 2012. She reportedly remarried and had two young children.

In 2005, Zaynab Khadr was under investigation for terrorism offences by the RCMP, but never charged.
 
It is not known if the Canadian-born Khadr is being held in Turkey for a criminal or immigration matter. Read the full story here.


Related: The Khadrs, Canada's First Family of Terrorism, in the News. by Daniel Pipes.

Daughter Zaynab, 23, was engaged to one terrorist and married, with Osama bin Laden himself present at the nuptials, a Qaeda member in 1999. Zaynab endorses the 9/11 atrocities and hopes her infant daughter will die fighting Americans.

FBI has almost 1,000 active ISIS investigations taking place inside the borders of the U.S.

FBI has almost 1,000 active ISIS investigations taking place inside the borders of the U.S. HT: JudicialWatch.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has nearly 1,000 active probes involving the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inside the United States, dozens of law enforcement officials disclose in a letter to President Obama.

The officials are elected sheriffs in Colorado making a case against the administration’s plan to transfer terrorists held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to facilities in the state.

Colorado is striking back for making the Pentagon’s shortlist. In their letter to the White House, the state’s sheriffs say the ill-conceived plan to transfer dangerous foreign enemy combatants to civilian prisons puts their citizens at risk. “We recently learned that the FBI has almost 1,000 active ISIS investigations taking place inside the borders of the United States,” the letter states.

We believe it would be dangerously naive not to recognize that a civilian prison with an untold number of enemy combatant inmates, located in our state, would provide a very tempting target for anyone wishing to either free these detainees or simply wishing to make a political statement.”

The cops cite repeated examples around the globe of coordinated, violent attacks against prisons holding radical Islamic militants. “We strongly protest actions that might well add our sate to the list of locations where such deadly attacks have occurred,” they write. Read the full story here.

“ISIS is a threat, no doubt about that. Should we fear it? No. The Canadian population should have full confidence in all the security services to keep us safe.”

334 Saudi militants have rejoined terrorist groups after being released, among them 24 Gitmo guests.

334 Saudi militants have rejoined terrorist groups after being released from Jeddah counseling center. (Yahoo).


A total of 334 Saudi militants have rejoined terrorist groups after they were released from prisons or passed out from Prince Mohammed bin Naif Counseling Center in Jeddah, an official source said.

As many as 1,696 individuals have benefited from the center's 112 courses that encourage militants to mend their ways and become good citizens.

"Among the Guantanamo Bay returnees, 120 have benefited from the center's programs," said the source, adding that nearly 20 percent of them have returned back to militancy. The center's courses include lessons in English, economics, history, politics, psychological and social matters, and art. "Inmates are allowed to read selected books," the source said.

"Books of certain authors have been banned because of their extremist content," he said. Capacity building programs would enable the center's graduates to lead a normal life, he added.

White House Denies Overriding Congressional Ban on Guantanamo

White House Denies Overriding Congressional Ban on Guantanamo. (RN).

The White House continues to call on the Congress to enable the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, however, denies the media reports about Barack Obama's plans to do it by an executive order, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told RIA Novosti.

"It remains true that we continue to object to Congressional restrictions, as we've made clear many times, including in our Statement of Administration Policy on the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act," White House National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said.

"The Administration will also continue to call on members of both parties to work together to ensure that Congress lifts the remaining restrictions and enables the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," she vowed.

The Wall Street Journal cited a senior administration officials as saying Thursday that the administration was drafting options that would allow Obama to close the detention facility by overriding a congressional ban on bringing prisoners to the United States.

"We do not know what new press reports are referring to when they say the Administration is "drafting options" intended to "override a congressional ban," Hayden said.

She also emphasized that the President has been clear about the Administration's strategy with respect to Guantanamo Bay.

"To the greatest extent possible and consistent with our national security interests, detainees will be repatriated or resettled, or prosecuted in Federal courts or military commission proceedings," Hayden explained, adding that the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process will review whether certain detainees designated for law of war detention continue to pose a significant threat to the security of the United States.

"The President's Special Envoys for the Departments of State and Defense will continue actively working with foreign governments to negotiate potential detainee transfers," she concluded.

Since it was established in 2002, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has been the target of criticism by human rights activists and many international government officials, who have condemned its controversial interrogation methods and the dubious legality of holding prisoners indefinitely without charging them with crimes. Hmmmm.......He wouldn't act without Congress...would he? If there's nobody left in Guantanamo Bay why keep it open?




“So we’re acting despite Congress. But imagine what we could do with a Congress that operated on some common sense. Imagine that. Imagine what we could do not just on any particular issue ‒ although it would make a huge difference for us right away to be able to pass comprehensive immigration reform, or to pass a minimum wage law, or pass a fair pay law ‒ but just in terms of the mood of the country; in terms of people believing that once again we can do something in common,” Obama said. “Believing that we can rise above narrow, ideological interests. Believing that we can match the decency and common sense of the American people with our politics.”

Related: 

Obama could use controversial executive order to shut down Gitmo – report

Bahraini prince, who's also a former Guantanamo bay detainee joins 'Syrian fighters'

Bahraini prince, who's also a former Guantanamo bay detainee joins 'Syrian fighters'.(Presstv).

A member of Bahrain's royal family, who is also a former Guantanamo bay detainee, has reportedly joined the foreign-backed militants fighting against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Sheikh Salman Ebrahim Mohamed Ali Al Khalifa was "alienated" from his family following his transfer from Guantanamo to Bahrain in 2005, according to a report published by Bahrain Mirror on December 27, 2013.

Sheikh Salman studied at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University in Riyadh from September 1999 until April 2000, the report said, describing the university as “the capital of Salafi extremism in Saudi Arabia."

Military officials and analysts at the Guantanamo assess that Sheikh Salman has ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda militant groups, according to a leaked threat assessment by Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay dated May 13, 2005.

Sheikh Salman "is a prince in the Bahraini royal family" and "related to the current ruler of Bahrain, through a shared great-grandfather," the assessment file said.

From Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Salman traveled first to Malaysia and then Egypt, where he decided to join the Taliban group in Afghanistan.

Salman's father then "wired him" $5,000 so that he could make the trip, the file added.

According to a Bahraini source in the Guantanamo file, the money was used to give the Bahrain royal unlimited use of a transit house and access to the front line.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

Gitmo Policy Change: Only Leftist Groups Get Access.

Gitmo Policy Change: Only Leftist Groups Get Access.HT: JudicialWatch.

In a startling about-face, the Obama administration is restricting exclusive access to Military Commission hearings in Guantanamo Bay to five leftist human rights groups that openly advocate for the terrorist defendants.

The abrupt policy change was delivered a few weeks ago to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)—like Judicial Watch—that have repeatedly traveled to the U.S. Naval base in southeastern Cuba to observe the commission proceedings. In the name of transparency, the Department of Defense (DOD) years ago opened the legal proceedings of the world’s most dangerous terrorists to a wide spectrum of observers.

Since 2008 Judicial Watch, the only right-of-center organization to regularly monitor Gitmo proceedings, has sent representatives to Cuba 12 times. JW was present for the 2008 arraignment of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the 2011 arraignment of USS Cole bomber Bad al-Rahim al-Nassir and a number of KSM motion hearings in 2012 and 2013.

Under the new policy only five NGOs, selected by the Pentagon, will be guaranteed a seat at the commission hearings. They include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Bar Association. A memo issued by the Office of the Secretary of Defense blames “logistical limitations” for the sudden move.

Judicial Watch appealed the decision but the Pentagon is not backing down from its new policy giving permanent observer seats at Gitmo to nonprofits that advocate for terrorists. “These groups represent a narrow, extreme ideological view on terrorist detainee issues,” JW President Tom Fitton writes in a letter to the DOD official in charge of the Military Commissions. “As you may well know, in some instances, persons affiliated with the five NGOs have served as legal counsel or political advocates for the terrorist detainees held at GTMO.”

The appeal letter further says that the group of permanent observers should reflect a full range of views in the debate on terrorist detainee issue. “Your proposed system could have the effect of freezing out any alternative voices from the NGO community, specifically those voices that have not served as legal and political advocates for terrorist detainees.”

The Military Commission chief of staff, Michael Quinn, responded by explaining that the five NGOs “were selected due to their ability to reach an international audience, their experience with international human rights in criminal trials and their stated mission to advance human rights through advocacy and respect for the law.” He ends by expressing appreciation for “Judicial Watch’s interest in the conduct of military commissions” and invites JW to watch proceedings on closed-circuit television at Fort Meade, Maryland.  

Obama Released Taliban Prisoners in July from Gitmo to Encourage ‘Peace’ Talks.

Obama Released Taliban Prisoners in July from Gitmo to Encourage ‘Peace’ Talks.HT: TheJewishPress.By Lori Lowenthal Marcus.

In late July five Taliban members who were held in the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were released. As a good will gesture. Or to show they have no will?

“If the U.S. president thinks it’s such a good idea for Israel to release convicted murderers, why doesn’t he release some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay?” is the response we’ve been hearing to news stories about the United States pressuring Israel to release convicted murderers merely as a door prize for the Arab Palestinians for coming to the table to talk – no concessions, no commitments, nothing at all required of them.
It is unlikely to make the people who were asking the question feel better, but the answer is: He already did.
That’s right, somehow, in a story that seems to have flown below the radar, five members of the Taliban who had been detained at the U.S.’s Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba have been freed by the U.S.
It happened at the end of July.
But don’t worry, those five prisoners were released under a very strict condition: they had to agree that they would not engage in any violent activity. No word on whether the prisoners agreed to a serious pinky swear or if anyone checked to see if they were crossing their fingers when they promised not to hurt anybody ever again.
And the reason for the release?  To show the Taliban that the United States is serious about engaging in peace talks. Sound familiar?
But the U.S. drives a much tougher bargain than does Israel.  The U.S. was going to exchange the five Taliban terrorists for one American, U.S. Army Spc. Bowe Bergdahl, who disappeared in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009.

On the other hand, Bergdahl was not released, even though the Gitmo prisoners were.  Some tough bargainers.Read the full story here.

Update: Carl In Jerusalem posted last week about this 'release':  http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/im-apologizing-to-president-obama-and.html


Related: Jan 11 -2012: Report: U.S. to Release Three Taliban Leaders from Guantanamo Bay, as in Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi plan.

March 11 -2012: "Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar. 
June 30 - 2012: Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar

Dec 28, 2011: Report: Radical Sheikh a Key Mediator in U.S.-Taliban Talks

U.S. Set to Release Key Taliban Figure in 9/11 Attacks

Video - This Man is A Terrorist.

Video - Ezra Levant - The Fallout Of 'Blind Justice'.

Dr. Jeffrey Addicott addresses the risk of releasing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay and the fallout of the potential transfer of the Blind Sheik to Egypt.

Related: 

• Jan 11 -2012: Report: U.S. to Release Three Taliban Leaders from Guantanamo Bay, as in Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi plan.
• March 11 -2012: "Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar.
• June 30 - 2012: Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar
• U.S. Set to Release Key Taliban Figure in 9/11 Attacks
• Report: Radical Sheikh a Key Mediator in U.S.-Taliban Talks

Video: Taliban Welcomes Rogue Afghan Who Shot US Soldiers as a Hero.

The video, released by the Taliban's media propaganda wing, shows the
soldier returning to a Taliban village in Ghaziabad in Kunar province,
with dozens of Taliban men lined up to greet him. The soldier, wearing
an Afghan Army uniform, identifies himself as Ghazi Mahmood, or "Warrior
Mahmood."

Men with white Taliban flags, some with their faces covered, others
carrying rocket propelled grenade launchers, throng around him, parading
him through the village as insurgents shower him with flower garlands
and chant "Long Live Mahmood."

"I opened fire on three Americans who were sitting together," the man
explains calmly in the video. "The reason I killed them is because they
have occupied our country. They are enemies of our religion and they
kill our innocent people."

In another scene, the rogue soldier is seated outside a wooden
structure, surrounded by armed insurgents, some of whose faces are
blurred. Standing in a row in front are dozens of young madrassa
students, who pump their fists into the air cheering "Jihad, Jihad" and
"Long Live the warrior."

Don't worry guys Obama will release your buddies from Gitmo and transfer them to Muslim Brotherhood 'headquarters' Qatar.

Video - Returning To Terrorism - How Guantanamo Bay prisoners return to terrorism.

Bulgaria - Suicide bomber Mehdi Ghezali is ex Gitmo inmate

Bulgaria - Suicide bomber Mehdi Ghezali is ex Gitmo inmate.(TOI).Bulgarian media on Thursday named the suicide bomber who blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing five Israelis and a local bus driver, in the Black Sea resort of Burgas on Wednesday as Mehdi Ghezali. There was no independent confirmation of the veracity of the information. The reports surfaced soon after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly accused Hezbollah, directed by Iran, of responsibility for the bombing. The Prime Minister’s Office made no comment on the reports. The Bulgarian reports, rapidly picked up by Hebrew media, posited various versions of how the bomber had detonated the bomb, including the suggestion that the bomber had not intended to die in the blast, but may have wanted to place the bomb on the bus and flee. Ghezali was reportedly a Swedish citizen, with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the US’s Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He was also reportedly among 12 foreigners captured trying to cross into Afghanistan in 2009. Earlier on Thursday the Bulgarian police released a brief video clip that claimed to show the suicide bomber, responsible for Wednesday’s terror attack on a tour bus full of Israeli citizens, walking around shortly before the blast at Burgas International Airport.The Bulgarian news agency Sofia reported that the bomber was carrying an American passport and Michigan driver’s license, both believed to be forgeries. Sofia also reported that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry managed to recover the fingerprints of the bomber, which they submitted to the FBI in the United States and the international police organization Interpol. The FBI and CIA joined Israeli and Bulgarian officials in investigating the attack.Hmmm......Remember"The War On Terror Is Over"!Read the full story here.

Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar.

Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar.(Fox).The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan that would send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials told The Associated Press. Under the proposal, some Taliban fighters or affiliates captured in the early days of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and later sent to Guantanamo under the label of enemy combatants would be transferred out of full U.S. control but not released. It's a leap of faith on the U.S. side that the men will not become threats to U.S. forces once back on Afghan soil. But it is meant to show more moderate elements of the Taliban insurgency that the U.S. is still interested in cutting a deal for peace. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have said that while negotiations with the Taliban are distasteful, they are the best way to settle the prolonged war. The new compromise is intended to boost the credibility of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials are trying to draw the Taliban back to negotiations toward a peace deal between the national Afghan government and the Pashtun-based insurgency that would end a war U.S. commanders have said cannot be won with military power alone.  The Obama administration has set a 2014 deadline to withdraw forces and is trying to frame talks among the Afghans beforehand. Under the new proposal, Guantanamo prisoners would go to a detention facility adjacent to Bagram air field, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, officials of both governments said. The prison is inside the security perimeter established by the U.S. military, and is effectively under U.S. control for now. It is scheduled for transfer to full Afghan control in September. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta would have to sign off on the transfer and certify that the men did not pose a danger. He would not confirm details of the new proposal at a Pentagon news conference Friday, but he said discussions continue to try to promote a peace deal. "There are no specific commitments that have been made with regard to prisoner exchanges at this point," he said. "One thing I will assure you is that any prisoner exchanges that I have to certify are going to abide by the law and require that those individuals do not return back into the battle." Any such transfer is unlikely to include the five most senior Taliban figures held at Guantanamo, the subjects of separate negotiations with the Taliban that have stalled, a senior U.S. official said. Afghan officials and other diplomats said it is not yet clear whether the new proposal could include those five, but said it has not been ruled out. Republicans in Congress bitterly opposed the plan to send those men to house arrest in Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has emerged as a key broker with the Muslim Taliban. The opponents feared the men would be set free and endanger the U.S. "The possibility is strong," for a transfer to Afghanistan that includes the five top figures, said Ismail Qasemyar, international relations adviser for the Afghan High Peace Council. Afghans involved in the discussions were still angling to get all 17 prisoners, including the five most senior men, released or transferred. The Taliban has demanded release of all the Guantanamo detainees as a condition for talks.Hmmmm........Perhaps they should throw in some arms shipments as well?Read the full story here.

Flashback 11 Th March 2012 - MFS - The Other News:"Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar.
The Taliban detainees are seen by some U.S. officials as among the most dangerous inmates at Guantanamo.
Their possible transfer has drawn attack from U.S. politicians from both parties even before the administration formally begins a required congressional notification process.
Among the prisoners who may be sent to Qatar is Mohammed Fazl, a “high-risk” detainee alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of minority Shi’ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.Karzai has complained the United States has repeatedly sidelined his government in a process that is supposed to be “Afghan-led” after it emerged that U.S. officials had established contacts with the Taliban in Qatar.
But his worries seem to have eased, and there are signs that the Kabul government is prepared to extend greater support to the Qatar process, even though it wants Saudi Arabia and Turkey to facilitate talks as well.Hmmmm.....As Muslim Brotherhood Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi 'arranged' with the Obama 'administration'.

Obama Admin drops charges against Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo.

Obama Admin drops charges against Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo.(AA).The Pentagon dropped war crimes charges against a Kuwaiti prisoner at Guantanamo on Friday amid reports the United States and Kuwait were in talks to repatriate the last two Kuwaitis held there. Kuwait is a U.S. ally and the Gulf state’s parliament has condemned the continued detention of its citizens, Faiz al Kandari and Fawazi al Odah, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military base in Cuba, where both have been held for more than a decade. The state news agency KUNA reported on Friday that a Kuwaiti delegation had held talks with U.S. officials seeking their return. It quoted Kuwait’s ambassador to Washington, Salem Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah, as saying more talks were expected in the upcoming weeks. Guantanamo prosecutors charged Kandari in 2008 with conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism. They alleged he was an adviser to Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, that he made al Qaeda recruiting tapes, and that he was an instructor at a training camp in Afghanistan from June to December 2001. The charges were never referred for trial. The Pentagon appointee overseeing the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, Retired Vice Admiral Bruce MacDonald, dismissed them on Friday without explanation. A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale, said the charges were filed under a 2006 law that was amended in 2009. “Because of the changes to the applicable law, it is important that the prosecutors re-evaluate the case. At some future time, prosecutors may decide to re-charge him under the 2009 Act,” he said.Odah, 35, whose name appears in some Guantanamo documents as Fouzi al Awda, has never been charged with a crime. U.S. military documents allege he was an al Qaeda and Taliban associate who carried an AK-47 and was captured by Pakistani authorities while trying to leave Afghanistan through the Tora Bora mountains in November 2001. He told a Guantanamo review panel that he never knew anyone associated with al Qaeda, never fought against anyone and could never kill anyone because he was a “chicken.”Hmmmm........"Anyone interested in a bridge for sale"?Read the full story here.

ISNA to Host Tunisian Islamist Rachid Ghannouchi

                                             A man is known by the 'company' he keeps.




ISNA to Host Tunisian Islamist Rachid Ghannouchi.(TIP).By Daniel E. Rogell.A major American Islamist organization close to the Obama administration will host Tunisian Islamist Rachid Ghannouchi at its national conference in late August. The invitation is one of the Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) most visible engagements with Islamist politics taking charge in the Middle East.
Despite ISNA's insistence that Ghannouchi is "an advocate of religious tolerance and freedom, women's rights, [and] non-violent leadership," the chief of Tunisia's Ennahda party has an extremist record.
Ghannouchi was denied a visa to the United States in the 1990s and much of this decade for a series of violently anti-American comments. He was only admitted into the country last year for a whirlwind tour, which included the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and several think tanks, after his party won power in Tunisian elections.
Since then, the Ennahda party won a plurality in Tunisian parliamentary elections, and Ghannouchi has hosted a visit by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and advocated for the repatriation of Tunisian al-Qaida members from prisons overseas.
He has also voiced support for Palestinian terrorism and the political legitimization of Hamas. The Arab Spring "will achieve positive results on the path to the Palestinian cause and threaten the extinction of Israel," he said in a May 2011 interview with the Al Arab Qatari website. "The liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation represents the biggest challenge facing the Umma [Muslim nation] and the Umma cannot have existence in light of the Israeli occupation."
In 2009 he stirred up controversy with calls to "strike terror" into the hearts of Israelis with Qassam rockets. In June 2001, he appeared in an al-Jazeerah panel discussion in which he blessed the mothers of Palestinian suicide bombers:

"I would like to send my blessings to the mothers of those youth, those men who succeeded in creating a new balance of power…I bless the mothers who planted in the blessed land of Palestine the amazing seeds of these youths, who taught the international system and the Israel [sic] arrogance, supported by the US, an important lesson. The Palestinian woman, mother of the Shahids (martyrs), is a martyr herself, and she has created a new model of woman."

This week, Ghannouchi plays host to radical cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is influential with the Muslim Brotherhood and has expressed a desire to kill a Jew, hailing Qaradawi as "Sheikh of the revolutionaries" for support of Arab Spring uprisings.Hmmmm.....Yes the same Yusuf al-Qaradawi who's the go between the Obama Admin and the Taliban , proposing to release the Guantanamo prisoners.Read the full story here.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman militants will ``publicly slaughter'' drivers ferrying NATO supplies.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman militants will ``publicly slaughter'' drivers ferrying NATO supplies.(Emirates24/7).The Taliban on Sunday threatened to attack Pakistani lawmakers and their families if they support allowing NATO to resume shipping supplies through the country to troops in neighboring Afghanistan.Pakistan closed its Afghan border crossings to NATO in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan's parliament is scheduled to begin debate Monday on a revised relationship with the U.S. that could lead to the border being reopened.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan accused Pakistani officials of acting like slaves for the U.S. and said allowing NATO supplies to resume would be ``shameful and unacceptable.''
``These parliamentarians must know that in such case, none of them will be safe in their homes,'' Ahsan told The Associated Press. ``We will start attacking all the parliamentarians and their families.''Ahsan also said militants would ``publicly slaughter'' drivers ferrying NATO supplies.
The U.S. is eager to get the supplies moving again because it has had to spend much more money shipping goods by an alternative route that runs through Central Asia.
The supply line through Pakistan will also be key to trucking out equipment as the U.S. seeks to withdraw most of its combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Pakistan would also benefit from patching up relations because it needs U.S. assistance to help keep its struggling economy afloat. The U.S. has given Pakistan billions of dollars in aid since 2001 to enlist its support in fighting Islamist militants, but the relationship has been plagued by mistrust.
A Pakistani parliamentary commission tasked with proposing new guidelines for the relationship between the two countries last week demanded an end to American drone attacks and an apology for the airstrikes that killed Pakistani troops.
The commission also recommended that the Pakistani government charge NATO more for shipments through the country if it allows them to resume. The parliament is scheduled to begin debate on these points Monday.
Washington has expressed regret for the border incident but avoided a formal apology. U.S. officials were reportedly preparing to apologize last month but had to postpone the plan after U.S. soldiers burned copies of the Quran in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama apologized for that, bring criticism from political opponents.
The Pakistani army, and to a lesser extent the civilian government, will ultimately decide whether to restore ties with the U.S., but parliament could influence the decision. Analysts say placing the issue before lawmakers is an attempt to give the government and the army some political cover, so they can claim support of the country before quietly reopening the supply route.
Opposition lawmakers have indicated they may not back the proposed new terms with the U.S.
``If the government wants the parliament to provide guidance on certain issues and situations, then we are ready to, but the government has to convince us, because its track record regarding two previous resolutions proved to be very bad,'' Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of the opposition in parliament, said Saturday.
Parliament passed a resolution last May recommending Pakistan cut off NATO supplies if the U.S. didn't stop drone strikes in the country. The missile attacks continued, as did the NATO supplies.
The drone strikes are unpopular among Pakistanis and have long been publicly opposed by the Pakistani army and government as a violation of the country's sovereignty. They also maintain that the attacks fan support for militancy even as they kill insurgents.
The issue is muddied by the fact that in private, the army has approved at least some of the strikes and provided intelligence on them, raising questions over whether they technically violate the sovereignty of the country. American officials rarely talk about the program in public.Hmmmm.......V.P. Biden:" Taliban is not America's enemy". Read the full story here.

Taliban says it has no faith in trial of U.S. soldier behind Afghan massacre.

Taliban says it has no faith in trial of U.S. soldier behind Afghan massacre.(AlArabia).Afghanistan’s Taliban said on Friday it had no faith in any court proceedings against a U.S. soldier who was charged in connection with a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages that shocked Americans back home and further roiled U.S.-Afghan relations.
A U.S. official said on Thursday U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with other charges.
“This was a planned activity and we will certainly take revenge on all American forces in Afghanistan and don’t trust such trials,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Bales will be read the charges on Friday at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he has been held since being flown from Afghanistan last week, a U.S. official said, according to AP.
The lawyer representing Bales said U.S. authorities lack proof of what happened during the March 11 shooting spree in southern Panjwai district.
The Taliban’s Mujahid reiterated claims held by many Afghans that there must have been more than one soldier involved in the massacre, claims U.S. authorities have consistently denied.
“Now America tries to deceive the people and tries to blame the act on one soldier. This is a crime by the American government. Using such cleverness and deception is a huge crime,” Mujahid said.
The slaughter of Afghan villagers was yet another blow to U.S-Afghan relations, following a series of missteps, including the mistaken burning of Qurans, which prompted violent protests and revenge killings of American troops in the war zone.Hmmmmm.........What interests me is: "Were the Gitmo Taliban prisoners transferred by the Obama administration to Quatar"?Read the full story here.

video - Former Guantanamo Prisoner Adel Al-Gazzar Complains About Cornflakes and Yogurt Breakfasts in prison.

Former Prisoner Adel Al-Gazzar Complains About Cornflakes and Yogurt Breakfasts At Guantanamo, Concludes: 'The U.S. Soldier... Is No Rambo'
In an interview on Egypt's Al-Rahma TV, former Guantanamo prisoner Adel Al-Gazzar mocked U.S. soldiers, saying they have the "body of a mule and the dreams of a bird," and that despite his "awesome" body, "the U.S. soldier... is no Rambo."

Al-Gazzar, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Slovakia by the Obama administration, voluntarily returned to his native Egypt in June 2011 and was immediately arrested, according to his lawyers.
In 2002, during his incarceration at Guantanamo, he had been convicted in absentia of plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government and sentenced to three years in prison, in what his advocates have called a sham trial. He had not been repatriated to Egypt by the U.S., although he was cleared for transfer by both the Bush administration and an inter-agency task force set up by the Obama administration, because U.S. officials and his lawyers feared he would be persecuted or tortured upon his return.
Interviewer: You said that some American soldiers in Guantanamo would cry and send letters to their mommies and girlfriends…

Adel Al-Gazzar: Right.

Interviewer: The American soldier looks strong, but is he really that strong?

Adel Al-Gazzar: Like the poet said, he has the body of a mule and the dreams of a bird. Some brothers even wrote a poem that goes: "This American, the real idiot. He resembles a donkey, in body and in stupidity." This is just one part. This poem had many stanzas. He is a real idiot, and he resembles a donkey in his body and stupidity. Indeed, they have awesome bodies. They practice sports, and have muscles out to here, like Rambo. The US soldier thinks he's a Rambo. The cinema has made him believe that. But the truth is that he is no Rambo. 
The US soldier cannot fight at all. During the first Gulf War, the Egyptian and the Syrian armies moved in, and the Americans stayed behind. When it was all over and all the "dispensable" soldiers killed or wounded, the Americans would come and take pictures. 
They would serve us breakfast that does not suit our nature. They would give you cornflakes and yogurt. People, we want falafel and broad beans… That stuff doesn't cut it for us. It would never fill us. Source Memri.

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• Ron Paul, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton in agreement over Apology for Qur'an Burning.(BN).Ron Paul is really courting that Muslim vote. I no sooner posted the link to the Big Peace article in which his campaign volunteers posted a flyer in Arabic that touted him as the candidate who would cut-off aid to Israel, when I noticed this.He is in agreement with the apology Obama issued to Hamid Karzai over the Qur'an burnings. He expressed this sentiment while questioning Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.Via the National Journal:  Bringing up the scandal provoked by a viral video depicting American Marines urinating on Taliban corpses, Paul voiced his overall opposition to the war that created thousands of refugees in the country."Does it ever get to the point where apologizing about the Koran is rather minor, considering some of the other problems we have created in [Afghanistan]?" Paul asked.Clinton said she appreciated Paul's measured comments about Obama and other presidents offering apologies "when we are deeply sorry for unfortunate incidents that occur, that were not intentional, and which we know have emotional resonance with people."The premise a vast majority of the Pauliens operate from is one that says the U.S. Government (not Islamic terrorists) is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. As such, the inclination is to believe that the former is a greater threat than the latter. By their own admission, the Pauliens will tell you that the Islamic threat is overrated.Again, the only way these comments by Paul are not viewed as out of bounds is if you believe the government is worse than the terrorists.The 9/11 Truth crowd has found that the springboard for its conspiratorial beliefs is placing them in the camp of America's true enemies.Apparently, as an added bonus, the more Paul talks like this, the more he garners Muslim / anti-Semitic votes.Read the full story here.

• Judicial Watch Files Brief with U.S. Supreme Court Challenging Constitutionality of Obamacare.(BG).On February 13, 2012, Judicial Watch filed an amicus curiae brief with the High Court challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, specifically the “individual mandate.” The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for the Obamacare case on March 26, 27, and 28, 2012.The brief maintains that the “individual mandate” provision of Obamacare, which requires every American citizen to purchase health care insurance or pay a penalty, is unconstitutional – whether considered under Congress’ commerce power or taxing power: Petitioners are trying to defend a provision in an act passed by Congress that exceeds its enumerated powers. Though Congress enacted this provision under the Commerce Clause, Congress’ power under the clause is not broad enough to compel Americans to engage in commerce by purchasing a particular product. Though Petitioners try to rescue the provision by arguing that it is valid under Congress’ taxing power even if it is invalid under Congress’ commerce power, a provision of an act that is not a tax may not be construed as a tax merely to save it from being declared unconstitutional.Judicial Watch lawyers point out that if the Supreme Court affirms the constitutionality of the individual mandate, “it must be willing to hold that Congress’ powers under the Commerce clause are plenary and unlimited, for there remains no principled way to limit Congress’ power if it is stretched as far as Petitioners [the Obama administration] ask.”Florida federal district judge Roger Vinson perhaps put it more colorfully when he struck down the law in its entirety last year. If the government can force American taxpayers to buy health insurance, it can also force them to decide “whether and when (or not) to buy a house, a car, a television, a dinner or even a morning cup of coffee.”The Judicial Watch amicus was filed in support of a challenge to Obamacare by Florida and 25 other states.Demonstrating the importance of the legal battle over Obamacare, the Supreme Court will hear five-and-a-half hours of oral argument, a rare allotment of time in the court’s modern era. (The standard is one hour.) The Supreme Court’s scrutiny will focus on the constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate. However, the court will also consider whether other components of Obamacare could take effect even if the individual mandate is ruled unconstitutional, among other issues.In a December 14, 2010, editorial published in The Washington Post, Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius argued that the individual mandate is essential to Obamacare: “Without an individual responsibility provision (or mandate), controlling costs and ending discrimination against people with preexisting conditions doesn’t work.”In other words, not even the Obama administration itself believes the law can survive if the individual mandate is struck down.Judicial Watch has been extremely active in the Obamacare debate right from the beginning. It has fought for transparency over the Obamacare waivers, ultimately discovering that Big Labor was taking in a disproportionate haul. It has exposed the Obama administration’s taxpayer-funded, multi-media propaganda campaign featuring television actor Andy Griffith.Judicial Watch has also fought for records detailing Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in any Obamacare defense discussions when she served as Obama’s Solicitor General. (It uncovered documents that raised questions about her role, causing a national uproar about her continued involvement in the High Court’s Obamacare deliberations.)The time has come for the Supreme Court to put an end to Obamacare once and for all. The President’s socialist healthcare overhaul is an affront to the U.S. Constitution’s provisions for limited government and, as you can see with the anti-religion Obamacare contraception mandate, a fundamental threat to our God-given freedoms.Read the full story here.

• Obama Slashes Soldiers’ Benefits to Pay Back Healthcare Industry Donors,(BG).The Tea Party hit its stride in the summer of 2009 when concerned citizens showed up to town halls across the United States to protest the healthcare takeover law being considered in Congress. The people rightly felt that the bill’s labyrinthine and onerous regulations were corrupt and designed to increase the power of the government, line the pockets of shortsighted insurance companies, and squeeze as much blood from the country’s taxpayer turnip as possible.Just when America believed the US government health scandal couldn’t get worse, President Obama’s handlers go one step further—increasing service members’ and veterans’ medical premiums. This move is designed to push service members and veterans to opt out of Tricare and find a new insurance provider.President Obama’s new medical proposal seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget and $12.9 billion by 2017, the latter amount adding up to 0.99% of the $1.3 trillion deficit for a single year built into Obama’s proposed budget. To accomplish this spending reduction, service members should expect a 30% to 78% increase in Tricare annual premiums for the first year. In five years, service members will expect an increase ranging from 94% to 345%.The average annual salary for a four year single enlistee is approximately $34k. If that service member were married with dependents, the salary increases to approximately $42k. Are those numbers enough to make any sane person want to enlist today, knowing they will likely ship off to some foreign land to fight a losing war like that in Afghanistan? Are those numbers enough to justify risking one’s life–enough to afford an increased medical premium that could be raised by 78% just this year or 345% by the time their initial enlistment is over?Make no mistake; the President is downsizing our military, and this new military medical initiative is one sure way he will see volunteers leave the military knowing their benefits are jeopardized. At a time when Iran threatens the free world, Afghanistan’s violence is on a rise, and North Korea remains unstable, is now the time to play with our service members’ well-being?President Obama has taken an unprecedented action, crippling the livelihoods of our most worthy federal employees–our troops. And it’s easy to see who’s pushing for this change–the very elements that pushed for Obamacare and the recent contraception scandal, the political donors who represent America’s health industry.Our service members should never have to worry about their benefits, but today they do. They selflessly volunteer to place themselves in harm’s way believing in service before self. America must stand up for these warriors and vehemently oppose President Obama and his health industry puppet masters. They have finally crossed the line.Read the full story here.

• Obama Cedes Terror Cases to Civilian Law Enforcement.(BP).From the Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama issued an order Tuesday giving civilian investigators broad power to handle the cases of U.S. terrorism suspects despite a law passed late last year favoring military custody.The decision is likely to raise hackles among lawmakers who included the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, and it could provide an election-year issue for Republicans.Mr. Obama signed the bill under protest Dec. 31 and attached a statement saying he intended to disregard portions interfering with his presidential powers.The law requires military detention for non-U.S. citizens accused of planning or carrying out an attack for al Qaeda and associated groups. At the White House’s insistence, it included discretion for the president to waive the requirement if necessary to avoid disrupting terrorism probes led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Tuesday’s order takes advantage of that discretion to the fullest, preserving for the FBI and other civilian authorities the leading role in handling terrorism arrests in the U.S. Military detention would be an option in limited cases, largely at the discretion of the attorney general and federal investigators.Mr. Obama’s interpretation of the waiver authority is likely to clash with the wishes of the bipartisan group of lawmakers who pushed the military-custody provision.Republican proponents of the military-detention provision said they would hold a Senate hearing, because they believe the president’s order might violate the spirit of the law. Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire issued a statement saying they were “concerned that some of these regulations may contradict the intent of the detainee provisions” in the defense bill.Mr. Obama has also come under fire from civil libertarians who said the law could pave the way for the indefinite military detention without trial of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. Such criticism came both from right-leaning tea-party supporters and groups on the left.Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the president should have vetoed the law, as signing it “turns the practice of indefinite military detention into a permanent part of American law.”Read the full story here.

• 'Missiles on Israel preferable to nuclear Iran'.(YNet).The mathematics of war: A missile salvo on the greater Tel Aviv area, thousand of rockets fired at northern Israel, terror attacks against Israeli targets overseas, scores of Israeli casualties and countless others in bomb shelters – that is how a former top Israeli official described Iran's possible reaction to an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities. According to a Thursday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the former official – speaking anonymously with the New York Times – detailed the formula by which Israel assessed the magnitude of Tehran's response: "1991 + 2006 + Buenos Aires, times three-to-five."In other words: The combined result of Saddam Hussein's missile attack on Israel in 1991, Hezbollah's missiles attacks on Israel during the 2006 Second Lebanon War and the terror attacks in Argentina's capital in the early 1990s – times three.These attacks claimed the lives of hundreds of Israelis and Jews and the damage to the Israeli economy amounted to billions of dollars. "Forty missiles fired at Israel are no small matter – but it's better that a nuclear Iran," he said. The New York Times said that the assessment is based on the premise that while Iran would aspire to meet any strike with force, it would prefer not to ignite a regional war. US defense experts, however, qualified the statement, saying the West's ability to accurately predict Iran's moves was limited. Washington, the report said, believes that a strike on the Islamic Republic would result in a missile barrage on Israel; but it also believes that Iran would try to somehow disguise its connection to such a counter-attack, possibly by promoting terror attacks on nations who support Israel. The Americans also believe it is likely Iran will use any such strike as a pretext to close off the Strait of Hormuz. US defense sources said that Tehran is likely to try and avoid a direct attack on American interests, because the regime knows that an American military strike will inflict significant damage. Washington does, however, think Iran will opt for an indirect assault against its interests worldwide, or against oil production facilities in the Persian Gulf.US President Barack Obama is set to speak at the next AIPAC conventions in Washington, where he is expected to detail the US' "red lines" on Iran.Hmmmm.........Rumor has it he's colorblind.Read the full story here.

• Ten injured in blast near AKP building in Istanbul.(HD).Istanbul police chief Hüseyin Çapkın said ten people were injured in a blast in Istanbul this morning.Çapkın said the explosion was caused by a bomb that was remotely detonated. A blast shook Istanbul’s Sütlüce district this morning, as at least five police officers were wounded, according to news agencies. The blast took place near a midibus carrying police officers, on the İmrahor Street in a district near the Golden Horn.The location is also very near the Istanbul district office of the governing Justice and Development Party, and the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD). The five were on duty at a building belonging to the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD), which is close to the AKP branch on İmrahor Street in Beyoğlu district’s Sütlüce neighborhood.Read the full story here.

• Egypt Christian man jailed for insulting Prophet.(BM).CAIRO: Egypt has jailed a Christian man for 6 years on charges of showing contempt of religion and insulting the Prophet Mohamed, the country’s state-owned al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday.The court, in the southern Egyptian province of Assiut, said that Makram Diab, a school employee, had made offensive remarks against Islam’s prophet, according to the report.The remarks infuriated Diab’s Muslim colleagues, who went on strike until he was arrested and prosecuted.The sentencing comes after a Cairo court earlier this week dismissed a lawsuit against the Christian business tycoon, Naguib Sawiris, who was accused of insulting Islam by tweeting images of Mickey Mouse with a beard and his counterpart Minnie wearing a veil.Sawiris faces two other lawsuits over the same images.Recent parliamentary elections have produced a strong showing for Islamists in Egypt, sparking concerns over freedom among liberals and Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the country’s 80 million population.The ruling has left the Coptic community angered over what a number of Christian activists told Bikyamasr.com was an “attempt to create divisions” between Muslims and Christians in the country.Noha, a political studies student at Cairo University and activist who regularly participates in demonstrations for Coptic rights, argued that the government is “continuing the policy of Mubarak by jailing and even putting these people in front of a court. It is unacceptable for a country where we hoped for free speech.”The Christian community has struggled to figure out the direction of transitional Egypt in the post-uprising atmosphere.In October, a pro-Coptic rights march ended in a bloodbath after the armed forces opened fire on the thousands of protesters and run them over with armored vehicles, leaving at least 27 dead.The ruling military junta said a “third-party” was responsible for opening fire, leaving many Christians questioning if they would receive justice after decades of animosity towards their minority community.Hmmmm......Egypt.....holyday destination?Yeah whatevah.Read the full story here.

• ‘U.S., Iran, Brotherhood’ trio of ‘direct threat’ to Gulf says chief of Dubai’s police.(AA).Chief of Dubai Police Force and Lieutenant General, Dahi Khalfan, warned that the United States, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are a threat to the security of the Gulf region, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Dahi, who was in charge of the investigation of the group suspected of killing a high-ranking Hamas official in Dubai, said in an interview published by the Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Nahar, that the ultimate goal of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists in the region is to be in power. “The Brotherhood does not want the current Gulf regimes to stay,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.Warning of another ‘Sykes–Picot’ in reference to the 1916 agreement that divided the Arab World between France and Britain, the Lieutenant General said that “there is a plan to spread chaos in the region including the GCC region. “Security in the Gulf won’t be achieved only through an agreement between GCC and Iran … Iranian officials have to stop creating political storms from time to time.”The police chief who advised Gulf States to create a confederation of unity to achieve security in the Gulf countries and in the region, showed skepticism over the Arab Spring, saying that it turned into “autumn” and has led to chaos citing Egypt as an example.Hmmmm.......Wait till it turns in to 'Nuclear Winter'.Read the full story here.