Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From Russia Today
Armed to the teeth: Amnesty slams US & allies for weapons falling into ISIS’ hands
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 10:42
Islamic State’s campaign of terror in Iraq and Syria is being aided by the weapons indirectly supplied by the very countries trying to fight them, with the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 giving the terrorist group access to “a large and lethal arsenal.”
The claims were made in a study by Amnesty International, entitled ‘Taking Stock: The arming of Islamic State,’ which was released on Tuesday. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) acquired most of its munitions by raiding weapons depots of the Iraqi government army. However, the capture of weapons on the battlefield, defections and an illicit trade have helped to keep their supplies well-stocked.
The report states how, after capturing Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014, IS terrorists were able to acquire “a windfall of internationally manufactured arms from Iraqi stockpiles, including US-manufactured weapons and military vehicles.” The terrorist group was quick to show off the captured loot as they paraded the hardware on social media.
“Decades of free-flowing arms into Iraq meant that when IS took control of these areas, they were like children in a sweetshop. The fact that countries including the UK have ended up inadvertently arming IS should give us pause over current weapons deals,” said Amnesty UK’s arms program director, Oliver Sprague.
“Risks need to be far more carefully calculated, and we shouldn’t wait for this worst case scenario to happen before acting to prevent sales of arms which could fuel atrocities.”
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish mayor says Trump not welcome in his Florida city
“I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps,” Rick Kriseman, a Democrat, said Monday on Twitter.
Kriseman was playing on the statement earlier in the day by the real estate billionaire and reality show star. Trump is leading in polls of Republicans.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Republican presidential hopefuls make their pitch to GOP Jews
Many of the speeches at the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum, held Dec. 3 at the Ronald Reagan Building downtown, focused on the threat of “radical Islamic terror,” emphasized their disapproval for the recently negotiated nuclear deal with Iran, and took direct aim at Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.
READ: 9 questions GOP Jews want answered
For decades, the Republican Jewish Coalition has had as its mission bridging the divide between an increasingly conservative party and a moderate constituency, U.S. Jews. Since the late 1990s, when casino magnate Sheldon Adelson reputedly became the group’s most generous funder, it has emphasized the passions it shares with Adelson — for instance, embracing a hawkish pro-Israel stance.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Iraq calls on NATO to pressure Turkey into withdrawing troops
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on NATO to pressure Turkey into recalling its troops from the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.
According to a statement released by the Iraqi government on Tuesday, Abadi made the request during a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“NATO must use its authority to urge Turkey to withdraw immediately from Iraqi territory,” read the statement issued after a 48-hour deadline for the troops’ removal expired.
Despite Iraq’s ultimatum, Ankara still has some 150 heavily-armed soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province.
Turkey refuses to recall its troops claiming they are stationed there to train Iraqi forces battling the Daesh Takfiri militants.
During a press conference in the Ankara on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that further troops deployment will be halted but those already stationed will not be withdrawn.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
31k foreigners have joined militants in Syria: Ex-UK spy chief
The number of foreigners joining the ranks of Takfiri militant groups in Syria has more than doubled over the past months, a former British spy chief says.
As many as 31,000 foreigners have traveled to Syria to fight alongside the militant groups operating inside the Arab country during the past 18 months, Richard Barrett, a former head of global counter-terrorism at the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, said in a report.
He added that Daesh has been one of the most appealing terror groups for foreign militants, describing other extremist groups in comparison with Daesh as “conventional and even old-fashioned.”
Barrett, who is now senior vice president of a New York intelligence consultancy, named the Soufan Group, noted that the number of foreigners joining Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq “has doubled, despite the effort to prevent them [from] doing so.”
Foreign militants are from across 86 different states ranging from Norway to Uzbekistan with most of them coming from Middle East and African countries
A large number of militants are nationals of Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the former Soviet Union, while about 5,000 have flocked into Syria from the European Union.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Turkey urges training so-called moderate militants in Syria
Turkey has called for the swift implementation of its proposals concerning the ongoing crisis in Syria, among them training and equipping the so-called moderate militants operating against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“We insist on creation of safe zones liberated from terror and implementation of proposals to train and equip moderate opposition,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a Tuesday speech to a group of neighborhood officials in Ankara while his comments were broadcast live on television.
The Turkish president put forward the proposals two months ago as the key to stopping the influx of refugees.
“If we would like to resolve the refugee issue, there are three things we have to do,” Erdogan said in early October, “One is to focus on training and equipment. The second one is to declare a safe zone that would be protected from terrorism and the third is a no-fly zone.”
In order to continue their support for the militants fighting to topple the Syrian government in the face of the undeniable atrocities committed by terrorists like Daesh Takfiris, the Western governments and their regional allies have classified the militants into “extremists” and “moderates.”
In an interview with the British Sunday Times newspaper published on the website of Syria’s official SANA news agency this week, the Syrian president said since the beginning of the conflict in the country, there has been no such thing as moderate militants in the Arab country.
The enemies “always talk about: moderate groups in Syria. This is a farce based on offering the public factoids instead of facts,” he added.
Yet ‘premature’ to hold new Syria talks
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Downed Su-24’s black box to reveal truth about Turkey’s treacherous strike – Putin
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 22:46
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu meet in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence. The parametric recorder of the Russian SU-24 combat aircraft downed by the Turkish Air Force was found and shown to the Russian President by the Defense Minister. © Michael Klimentyev / Sputnik
The flight recorder of the Russian Su-24 recently downed by Turkey in Syria has been recovered and presented to President Putin, who said it must be opened in the presence of international experts to reveal truth about the treacherous “stab in the back.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu provided Russian President Vladimir Putin with the recovered flight recorder on Tuesday during their meeting in Moscow. Shoigu said that Russia has been actively conducting operations on Syrian territory, where the Russian Su-24 pilot was “gunned down” by Turkmen militants after he had ejected from the plane.
“As a result of this work, these territories were liberated by the special operations forces and the Syrian army’s special force tasked with the crew search. Surveying the area, the Syrian military found the plane’s crash site,” he said.
The militants, who “actively” fled the area, had no chance to dismantle anything which was among the debris from the plane, the minister added.
The Russian leader emphasized that the parametric flight recorder should be opened and decoded only in the presence of international experts who are genuinely interested in finding out the truth about the incident.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Right-wing Norway govt paying asylum seekers to leave country
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 18:22
Refugees and migrants gather near a check point on the Russian-Norwegian border outside Nickel (Nikel) settlement in Murmansk region, Russia, October 30, 2015. © Fyodor Porokhin / Reuters
The conservative coalition currently running Norway is advancing its anti-immigrant platform by offering vulnerable refugees nearly US$10,000 and free flights home.
900 people so far have applied to take advantage of the offer, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI).
Long wait times for family reunification, barriers to finding work, and lack of access to education are leading more asylum seekers to express an interest in leaving Norway, according to TheLocal.no.
A family with two children can receive upwards of 80,000 kr (US$9,300), as well as have their airline tickets bought by the state.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Russia hits Daesh positions in Syria for first time from submarine
Russia says it has for the first time struck targets of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Syria with “Calibre” cruise missiles fired from a submarine in the Mediterranean.
Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu made the announcement on Tuesday during a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin, RT reported.
The missiles “targeted two major terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqah. We can say with absolute confidence that significant damage has been inflicted upon ammunition warehouses and a mine production plant, as well as the oil infrastructure,” Shoygu said.
According to the defense minister, the missiles were fired from the Kilo-class diesel-electric Rostov-on-Don (B-237) submarine.
The 52-crew sub, believed to be one of the quietest in the world, can remain undetected under the water for long periods of time. It weighs 4,000 tons and can dive to a depth of 300 meters (985 feet). NATO has nicknamed it “Blackhole”.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
‘Stabbing attacks in Israel are not terrorism’ – Swedish PM
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 23:00
Stabbing attacks in Israel are not terrorism, Swedish Prime Minister Stefen Lofven said amid growing tensions between Sweden and Israel over recent statements by the Swedish foreign minister.
“No, it [stabbing attacks] is not classified as that [terrorism]. There is an international classification when it is, or is not. What I know is not classified as terrorism,” Lofven told Sweden’s TT news agency on Monday.
Later on Monday the Prime Minister contacted the agency, wanting to clarify his message in order to avoid a misunderstanding.
“I was referring to the fact it is not clear whether these knife attacks have been organized by some classified terrorist organization,” he said as cited by Ynetnews. “But organized attacks are precisely acts of terrorism,” he added.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Biden urges Ukraine to fight ‘cancer-like’ corruption or lose international financial aid
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 18:49
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden addresses deputies at the parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, December 8, 2015. © Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
Kiev must do more in fighting corruption which “eats Ukraine like cancer.” US Vice President Joe Biden said in a speech delivered in Ukrainian parliament. If there is no control of corruption in Ukraine, financial help is out of the question, he warned.
US Vice President Joe Biden, who is on a two-day visit to Ukraine, has urged Kiev to conduct painful yet crucial reforms to battle corruption. Biden’s emotional speech in Ukrainian parliament could as well become the last warning for country’s political elites unwilling to embrace escalated reforms.
“Corruption siphons off resources. We know this. You know this,” Biden told Ukrainian MPs.
From Russia Today
EU in danger, return to nation-based thinking will be fatal – EU Parliament President
Published time: 9 Dec, 2015 00:20
European Parliament President Martin Schulz / Reuters The European Union is tangling with forces that are trying to disintegrate it from the inside, believes EU Parliament President Martin Schulz. He insists the fall of the EU and return to nation-based thinking will become a disaster for Europe.
“The European Union is in danger. No one can say whether the EU will still exist in this form in 10 years,” Schulz told die Welt, adding that there are forces in the EU which want to drive the EU states apart.
“We must prevent this because the consequences would be dramatic,” Schulz said.
He admitted that the EU is not the only possible model for Europe but the alternative is a “Europe of nationalism, a Europe of borders and walls” – a formula which led Europe to disaster in the past.
From Russia Today
Thousands demand Facebook ban Israeli settlement ads
Published time: 8 Dec, 2015 13:26
A man works on a roof in Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem November 17, 2015. © Ronen Zvulun / Reuters
A petition calling on billionaire Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ban ads from Israeli settlement homes on his social network is close to reaching its goal of 40,000 signatures.
The Avaaz campaign expresses the surprise most users feel when they discover Facebook is profiting from land forcibly taken from Palestinians.
The petitioners signed the message to Mark Zuckerberg reading: “We were shocked to see ads for illegal Israeli settlements on Facebook. The establishment and expansion of settlements is considered a war crime. Settlements are a main cause of violence and discrimination in the region. Facebook’s advertising guidelines state that ‘Ads may not constitute, facilitate or promote illegal activity.’ We therefore call upon you to ban all advertisements for settlement homes or settlement based products from showing on Facebook”.
For many Palestinian Facebook users, the sponsored advertisements were an unwelcome reminder that they are often not allowed to build on their own land.
Click here for the full story
