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Scene above:  Constitution Island, where Revolutionary War forts still exist, as photographed from Trophy Point, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York
 

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SECOND SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE – 2014 – WEEK TWO

The first week of our new subscription drive went quite well.  In fact, it was one of the best first weeks of a subscription drive that we've had at Urgent Agenda.  Thank you to new subscribers and to our old reliables.  But this is just the start.  More is needed.  Please help keep Urgent Agenda running by subscribing or donating.

Last week we began our second subscription drive of 2014.  This is a critical year for Urgent Agenda – perhaps the most important midterm election year in America's recent history.  But maintaining our daily, day and night, coverage of this year is costly.  It is subscribers and donators who keep us going.

Like all political sites, we face increasing competition each week as more bloggers join the internet.  As a site in our sixth year, we face the reality that some subscribers will drop out, and some will pass.  We've had several sad moments in the last few months.  Our retention rate is still spectacularly high, but there will still be a certain amount of slippage.

Please consider subscribing or donating by going to the right-hand column of this page, under SUBSCRIPTIONS.  You can subscribe through PayPal, or use several other methods that are listed.  If you wish to use regular mail, just let me know at service@urgentagenda.com, and I'll give you a traditional brick-and-mortar address.

Subscribers and donators receive our Angel's Corner twice a week by e-mail.  Any subscriber can tell you how spirited it is.  Where else do you get to write at any length, on any subject, and see your work published?

But the main purpose of subscribing or donating is supporting our work.  If you like what you're reading, please consider joining us.

 

 

Note to readers:  I recently dropped posting times to see if the cleaner look might appeal to readers.  It didn't.  Posting times are back.  (Actually, they're the times I write the final draft of the post.)

 

 

JULY 1,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

(Thank you, readers, for your kind messages regarding my medical "event.") 

BUT STILL STRUGGLING – From Business Insider:  "...but just how much has Clinton earned in the years since her husband, former President Bill Clinton, left the White House? Financial disclosures filed by Clinton when she served as New York's junior senator and as secretary of state in the Obama administration show her family earned more than $163 million from 2001 until 2012. The disclosures also detailed the taxes paid by the Clintons and how much they gave to charity during those years.   During Clinton's years in the Senate the disclosures, which were published by OpenSecrets.org, included full tax returns filed by her and her husband. These returns detailed the Clintons' total income, charitable gifts they made, and their total taxes paid from 2001 through 2007. For those seven years, the Clintons earned total income of $108,817,646, the vast majority of which came from Bill Clinton's speaking fees. They paid over $33 million in federal income taxes for an effective tax rate of about 31%. The Clintons also gave more than $10 million to charity from 2001 through 2007, which is about 9% of their total income from this period."  This exploitation of public office for profit will not go down well with the American people.

SOCCER IS FOR LIBS! – Well, at least that's what a poll shows.  From the Washington Examiner:  "Partisan politics seems to be everywhere, even when watching soccer and this year's World Cup.  And according to YouGov.com poll published hours before the U.S. played Belgium on Tuesday, liberals and moderates are tuning in far more than conservatives.  YouGov reports that 35 percent of liberals, 34 percent of moderates and just 27 percent of self-described conservatives are watching the World Cup.  As for soccer viewing when the World Cup is not being played, 24 percent of liberals, 21 percent of moderates and a tiny 14 percent of conservatives watch the sport.  Overall, 28 percent of the nation considers the sport the 'most boring to watch.'  Strip politics out of the equation, and just 30 percent of the nation is paying attention to the World Cup, with 70 percent watching it 'not closely' or 'not at at all.'"  I did watch a few matches.  It can be exciting at time, but soccer just doesn't seem to appeal to most Americans, the way football or baseball do.  Why?  I think our favorite sports involve much more strategy.  Just my theory.

WEIRD – There is little that is easy or logical about the Mideast.  From AFP:  "French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that jihadists spearheading a militant offensive in Iraq have sold oil from captured areas to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  Fabius said the sale was evidence of the 'confusing' nature of the escalating conflict in the Middle East in which Assad and the jihadists are in theory on opposing sides.  The rebels, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), declared a 'caliphate," or Islamist state, straddling Iraq and Syria at the weekend.  'We have proofs that when ISIL has taken over oil it has sold oil to the (Assad) regime,' Fabius told a news conference in New Delhi, without elaborating."  Trading with the enemy is a felony here.  I guess in the Mideast it's a pastime.

NEW RELIGIOUS DISCOVERY – From The Politico:  "Rep. Luis Gutiérrez said Tuesday that President Barack Obama has the power to 'heal' undocumented immigrants.  'If [Republicans] want to come back and discuss [reform], fine,' the Illinois Democrat said on MSNBC. 'But in the interim period, I believe the president of the United States has already in statute, in the law, the ability to heal and put in a safe harbor millions of undocumented immigrants while the Congress of the United States finally decides it’s going to take action.'"  Next, Obama walks on water.  After that, maybe Thursday, he converts water to wine.  Check it out.

July 1, 2014       Permalink

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ADVANTAGE TO THE CRAZIES – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  The jihadists in Iraq and Syria have a new supply of weapons.  From the Los Angeles Times:

Six months ago, Sunni Arab militants faced a daunting firepower imbalance in their uprising against the U.S.-equipped Iraqi army west of Baghdad.

But once their campaign for the city of Fallouja was launched in January, their lethal capabilities were bolstered from the stockpiles of the Iraqi armed forces.

Many soldiers fled, throwing down their weapons, which were picked up by the insurgents. Police stations and security posts overrun by Sunni militants yielded more martial booty to be turned against the forces of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shiite Muslim-led government.

"Praise God, we soon had enough weapons to fight for one or two years," said Ahmad Dabaash, spokesman for the Islamic Army, a Sunni rebel faction, who spoke in a hotel lobby here in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region. "And now? Don't even ask!"

By "now," he was referring to the current ground assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, the Al Qaeda breakaway group that in the last two weeks has seized large swaths of northern and western Iraq, including Mosul, Iraq's second-most populous city. Fighting alongside ISIS formations are other Iraqi Sunni Arab factions such as the Islamic Army, which rose against the U.S. occupation a decade ago.

As the Iraqi government mobilizes to halt the insurgents' advance toward Baghdad, the capital, there is no full accounting of the stocks of plundered arms, ordnance and gear. But experts agree that the haul is massive, with implications for the merging wars in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

COMMENT:  More and more, President Obama's decision to get completely out of Iraq, without leaving an American stabilization force of the kind we have In Korea, has come back to haunt us.  Yes, yes, the Obamans say that they wanted that arrangement, but couldn't negotiate a Status of Forces agreement with the Iraqis, which would have provided legal protections for American troops. 

We have those agreements with many nations.  It's no secret that many of them are bought and paid for.  It wouldn't have been that difficult had the administration actually cared. 

A small number of American troops is entering Iraq to train government soldiers.  I wouldn't be shocked to learn that many of the weapons now possessed by the government's enemies are American-made.

July 1, 2014       Permalink

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MS. HILLARY AND THE END OF INEVITABILITY – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  Wes Pruden defines "crusty" in journalism.  He is blunt, he says what's on his mind, he is rare.  Now, in the Washington Times, he takes on Ms. Hillary and her predicaments (many).

Hillary Clinton needs a conscience transplant, and she needs it now. Her book tour is in a shambles, the fate of her $14 million advance from her publisher is marooned somewhere in limbo. She’s under 50 percent approval for the first time in the presidential polling for 2016, and, scariest of all, she’s having to call on Bubba for help. She knows better than to become merely “a wife of,” but 2014 is beginning to smell like 2008, and she’s Miss Inevitability once more. This is deja vu all over again.
Some of the learned pundits, who only yesterday were writing about “the five reasons why Hillary is a lock for the White House,” are writing now about “five reasons why Hillary won’t run.” The budding consensus is that (1) she’s just not very good at politics; (2) there’s no “fire in the tummy”; (3) who wants to clean up after Barack Obama, anyway; (4) the country wants real change; and (5) another round of “Clinton, Bush, Clinton” with children of both families waiting in the wings, is thrilling nobody.

The pollsters, consultants and campaign wizards who are paid to know all the answers are puzzled by Hillary’s flopping around like a hen suddenly beheaded by events she was expected to control. “Even more than her dwindling leads over Republican contenders is that while she is pretty much running against herself, in a very high-profile book tour, she is losing ground,” says pollster John Zogby. “Her biggest problem is the inevitably factor. It helped do her in in 2007-2008, and right now it looks to be her major nemesis. She has this whole playing field to herself and is declining in the polls.” That’s definitely not good.

A poll taken in 2014 is gossamer, as substantial as a cloud in a summer sky, and isn’t worth much as a projection of who can actually win an election in 2016. It can tell a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of a prospective campaigner. Since every voter already knows what he thinks of her, Mr. Zogby tells columnist Paul Bedard, there isn’t much she can do, even with Bubba at her side, to broaden her support. Her numbers should be going up, and they’re definitely going down.

COMMENT:  It's been my experience the most consistent defect that candidates and cause groups have is the inability to understand the passage of time, and what it does to political issues.  I suspect Hillary has that defective gene.  She sounds like someone right out of the 1960s, someone from another era. 

Pruden is right.  Everyone already knows Hillary.  There's very little upside left.  And people who don't know all that much about her won't be convinced by her campaign thus far.  She needs to modernize, talk about problems confronting young boys as well as girls, and show that she's learned something over the years.  She's got to show independence from Obama, and has got to stop depending on mink-coat feminists for her core of support.

Can she do it?  Depends on who runs against her.

July 1, 2014       Permalink

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KERRY ON IRAN – AT 9:38 A.M. ET:  July 20th is the target date to complete a nuclear-arms agreement with Iran.  That's three weeks away.  Now Secretary of State John Kerry is warning Iran that it must make the necessary agreements.  But how much clout does a John Kerry warning have? From Kerry's own piece in WaPo: 

July 20, the deadline to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, is fast approaching.

All along, these negotiations have been about a choice for Iran’s leaders. They can agree to the steps necessary to assure the world that their country’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful and not be used to build a weapon, or they can squander a historic opportunity to end Iran’s economic and diplomatic isolation and improve the lives of their people.

Diplomacy and leadership are marked by tough calls. This shouldn’t be one of them.

Iranian officials have stated repeatedly and unambiguously that they have no intention of building a nuclear weapon and that their nuclear activities are designed solely to fulfill civilian needs. Assuming that’s true, it’s not a hard proposition to prove.

The United States and our partners have demonstrated to Iran how serious we are. During the negotiations to reach the Joint Plan of Action, we extended our hand to the Iranians and met with them directly to understand what Iran wanted from its nuclear program. Along with our international partners, we helped chart a path that would allow Iran to have a domestic program for exclusively peaceful purposes. We proved that we were flexible in offering financial relief.

Throughout these talks, Iran’s negotiators have been serious. Iran has also defied the expectations of some by meeting its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action, which has allowed time and space for the comprehensive negotiations to proceed. Specifically, Iran has been eliminating its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium, limited its enrichment capability by not installing or starting up additional centrifuges, refrained from making further advances at its enrichment facilities and heavy-water reactor, and allowed new and more frequent inspections. In exchange, the European Union and the P5+1 have provided limited financial relief to Iran, even as the architecture of international sanctions and the vast majority of sanctions themselves remained firmly in place.

Oh, come on, John.  The issue here involves how much we actually know about Iran's nuclear program.  What is being hidden from us?  From international inspectors?  Nothing?  Are you sure?  Would you bet the lives of millions on our intelligence information?

Now Iran must choose. During the comprehensive negotiations, the world has sought nothing more than for Iran to back up its words with concrete and verifiable actions. We have, over the past several months, proposed a series of reasonable, verifiable and easily achievable measures that would ensure Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and that its program is limited to peaceful purposes. In return, Iran would be granted phased relief from nuclear-related sanctions.

What will Iran choose? Despite many months of discussion, we don’t know yet. We do know that substantial gaps still exist between what Iran’s negotiators say they are willing to do and what they must do to achieve a comprehensive agreement. We also know that their public optimism about the potential outcome of these negotiations has not been matched, to date, by the positions they have articulated behind closed doors.

COMMENT:  All good words, but don't forget that Kerry's boss is Field Marshal Barack (where do I go to surrender?) Obama.  Obama is no man of action, and he has the spine of a jellyfish. 

Maybe Iran will be the exception.  We can hope, but don't expect.

July 1, 2014       Permalink

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CONTRITION – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:   I think it's admirable when journalists admit a major mistake.  Journalism is a rather arrogant profession, filled with self-love.  But the editors of the Billings (Montana) Gazette have engaged in a notable act of contrition regarding Barack Obama: 

Sometimes, you have to admit you're wrong.

And, we were wrong.

We said that things couldn't get much worse after the sub par presidency of George W. Bush.

But, President Barack Obama's administration has us yearning for the good ol' days when we were at least winning battles in Iraq.

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal polls show that Americans are giving Obama lower marks than in 2006 when Iraq was going poorly for Bush and a tepid response to Hurricane Katrina sunk Bush's ratings.

It's not that popularity polling should be the final or even best measure of a president. There is that old saw that points out there's a difference between doing what is right and what is popular.

For us, though, it's the number of bungled or blown policies in the Obama administration which lead us to believe Obama has earned every bit of an abysmal approval rating.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  There's a bill of particulars, and any of us could add to it.  More and more, we see people coming to the same conclusion – that they'd backed the wrong horse in 2008.  But don't expect any apologies from The New York Times, or organizations in that league.  They rarely apologize for the big mistakes.  Little mistakes are easy.

July 1,  2014     Permalink

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JUNE 30,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE

Excuses, excuses:  Just returned from a wonderful trip to central Virginia, where my older daughter lives.  When we drove down Thursday I published SHORT TAKES rather late, and explained that we had just completed a long road trip.  Same excuse tonight, with an asterisk.  We were returning from Virginia, and I encountered a non-life-threatening but extremely uncomfortable medical "issue," requiring a visit to an emergency room.  I'm all repaired now, thanks to the fine folks at Union Hospital in Elkton, Maryland.   But obviously we were substantially delayed.

I also wish to thank my wife, who finally convinced me to go to a hospital rather than to my computer.

It's 1:36 a.m. hereI'll try to get a few posts up in a little bit, but excuse me if I have to be brief.

 

GOVERNMENT MOTORS...AGAIN – You see all those cars on the road, and you wonder how many of them have serious flaws.  In fact, it's quite a few.  From Fox:  "General Motors (GM) on Monday announced six new recalls covering 7.55 million vehicles in the U.S., as the automaker continues to address safety issues.  After calling back 2.6 million compact cars for a defective ignition switch, GM has unveiled a slew of additional recalls in recent months. The company now expects to take a second-quarter charge of $1.2 billion, up from a previous estimate of $700 million.  GM’s latest batch of recalls ranges from model-years 1997 to 2014. The company said it is aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities. The fatal crashes are connected to the largest recall, which covers 6.8 million older model full-size sedans for inadvertent ignition key rotation."   We wonder how defects can exist year after year without manufacturers taking action.  If we believe in free enterprise, we must hold the captains of free enterprise responsible for poor oversight of their corporations.

ACCURATE?  – We get the sense that Hillary is stumbling.  One poll now shows her below 50%.  From the Washington Examiner:  "Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's fumbles and bumbles in the rollout of her latest memoir, Hard Choices, has knocked the wind out if her easy sail to the White House and put her support in key 2016 presidential election matchups below 50 percent for the first time.  At a time when she should be padding her lead over the top Republican contenders, her underwhelming effort has cut her numbers, said pollster John Zogby.  In his latest Zogby Analytics survey taken June 27-29, for example, her commanding leads over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have shrunk greatly, and she doesn't even receive 50 percent of the vote. Worse, her support among married and wealthy voters has plummeted."  The question is whether Zogby's poll is accurate.  It doesn't have the greatest reputation.  But let's see what other polls say in the coming weeks.  If Hillary starts slipping across the board, we'll know she's in trouble.  We'll also know that if her new book starts selling for a dollar, less at Stop-and-Shop.

NEW MIDEAST TENSIONS – Three Israeli teenagers kidnapped several weeks ago have been found dead, and buried in shallow graves.  The kidnappings attracted international attention.  Now there are calls in Israel for military retaliation against those found responsible for the despicable act.  Tensions have rarely been higher.  From WaPo:  "JERUSALEM — The Israeli army confirmed Monday evening that search teams found the bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Islamist militant group Hamas, which it accuses of the abductions, will pay a heavy price.  Speaking at the start of a meeting of his security cabinet following the grisly discovery, Netanyahu said, 'Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.' He said the three 'were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts.' The teenagers were abducted June 12 as they made their way home from their religious school in the ­Israeli-occupied West Bank."  There is war and upheaval all around Israel.  All it will take is a spark like these murders to start another Arab-Israeli war. 

June 30, 2014     Permalink

 

THE SUPREMES WILL SING – The Supreme Court is about to hand down a decision that could have serious implications in the battle between religious liberty and the implied right to health-care coverage.  From National Journal:

The Supreme Court won't strike down Obamacare's contraception mandate, but a ruling for the law's challengers could still render the policy toothless for millions of women.

The justices are set to rule any day now in a challenge to the birth-control mandate, and any decision against the policy would have ripple effects far beyond the two companies that filed this lawsuit. Just how far, however, depends on how broadly the Court rules—and it has plenty of options.

No matter what happens, the Court won't strike down the entire mandate. The two companies that brought their challenge to the Supreme Court—Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties—haven't asked the justices to ax the entire policy.

The most sweeping option is a broad First Amendment proclamation that all corporations have a fundamental right to exercise religion, in this case by refusing to cover birth control in their employees' health care plans. This outcome would be almost a sequel to the Citizens United case on campaign finance laws and free speech. It would probably open the door for any company to challenge a slew of state or federal regulations, and would allow any corporation to avoid the contraception mandate—potentially affecting millions of women.

(Many employers, however, particularly large companies, probably wouldn't want to cut contraception coverage. It's a popular benefit and far cheaper than covering a pregnancy or a baby.)

But a sweeping First Amendment ruling might not be the most likely option, based on the questions Justice Anthony Kennedy asked during oral arguments and Chief Justice John Roberts's general preference for narrower decisions. The Court could easily go smaller if it sides with Hobby Lobby.

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  It's a very good analysis.  This is a very complicated issue, with merit on both sides, and plenty of demagogues on both sides as well.  I'd imagine the Court will look for a way to permit free exercise of religious conscience by those who do not wish to cover certain procedures, but at the same time insist that women receive this coverage, if they wish it, in some manner.  Not easy stuff.

June 30, 2014       Permalink

 

CHANGING TIMES – The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which is becoming less liberal under new ownership, has become the latest voice to call for a special prosecutor to probe the IRS scandals.  This is a major story, not only because Americans are demanding the truth, but because an investigation could hobble a Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.  From The Hill: 

President Obama’s administration should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS’s improper scrutiny of Tea Party groups, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune said Sunday.

The IRS said this month that former agency official Lois Lerner’s computer crashed in 2011, leaving them unable to recover an untold number of her emails over a two-year period.

That loss of emails, the Star-Tribune said, was “eye-rollingly convenient,” and showed that Attorney General Eric Holder should appoint a special prosecutor.

“The IRS expects Americans to hold onto receipts and other documents for years,” the paper’s editorial said, echoing an argument from House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

“The agency’s lackadaisical data management suggests a higher bar for the public than agency officials. That the IRS dallied in telling Congress about the lost e-mails raises further questions about what happened.”

Congressional investigations into the IRS have intensified in the two weeks since the IRS told lawmakers about Lerner’s missing emails. Lerner, the former chief of an IRS division overseeing tax-exempt groups, is the central figure in the controversy.

Republicans have increasingly called for a special prosecutor in recent months. Top lawmakers in the party were skeptical of a special counsel was needed shortly after the controversy broke in May, 2013, in no small part because Holder is charged with appointing the prosecutor.

COMMENT:  Of course, that is clearly a problem.  Holder might well appoint a "special prosecutor" who is in the vest pocket of the Obama administration.  Or, he might "study" the matter for two years. 

However, it is also possible that a special prosecutor, once appointed, might well go rogue, worried about his own reputation, and actually do a competent job.  The Dems dread this.  I suspect they realize what would be uncovered.

June 30, 2014       Permalink


NEW TERROR WARNING – No, the war on terror is not over, as Field Marshal Obama declared.  If anything, it's more critical today than ever before.  From ABC News: 

The Obama administration may ask overseas partners to enhance security measures at airports and is weighing whether to do the same here at home to address deepening concerns that terrorists in war-ravaged Syria are trying to develop a new generation of bombs that could be smuggled onto commercial planes, ABC News has learned.

"[This threat] is different and more disturbing than past aviation plots," one source said.

And...

The back-and-forth has been based on intelligence showing that a particularly extreme "subset" of terrorist groups in Syria was working alongside operatives from al Qaeda's prolific offshoot in Yemen to produce "creative" new designs for bombs, as one source put it.

Specifically, U.S. officials learned that associates of the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria -- the Al Nusrah Front -- and radicals from other groups were teaming up with elements of the Yemen-based group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which built such innovative devices as the "underwear bomb" that ultimately failed to detonate in a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

Bolstered by more recent intelligence, U.S. analysts believe the "subset" of extreme terrorists in Syria could be looking to down a U.S.- or European-bound plane, with help from one of the thousands of Americans and other foreign fighters carrying U.S. and European passports who have joined Al Nusrah Front and other groups in the region.

COMMENT:  Sooner or later, our opponents will get lucky again, as they were on September 11, 2001.  The story assumes that they will be content to down one plane.  I'd imagine their dreams are greater than that. 

June 30, 2014       Permalink


SHALL WE SEND A CAKE? – It didn't take them long, did it?  ISIS has now declared an Islamic caliphate, and the declaration is being taken very seriously.  From Reuters: 

An offshoot of al Qaeda which has captured territory in Iraq and Syria has declared itself an Islamic "caliphate" and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance, a statement posted on Islamist websites and Twitter said on Sunday.

The move poses a direct challenge to the central leadership of al Qaeda, which has already disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab rulers.

The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has renamed itself "Islamic State" and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "Caliph" - the head of the state, the statement said.

"He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere," the group's spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in the statement, which was translated into several languages and read out in an Arabic audio speech.

"Accordingly, the "Iraq and Sham" (Levant) in the name of the Islamic State is henceforth removed from all official deliberations and communications, and the official name is the Islamic State from the date of this declaration," he said.

The Sunni Muslim militant group follows al Qaeda's hard-line ideology but draws its strength from foreign fighters, battle-hardened from Iraq.

It seeks to re-create a medieval-style caliphate erasing borders from the Mediterranean to the Gulf and deems Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics deserving death.

"It is incumbent upon all Muslims to pledge allegiance to (him) and support him...The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the khalifah's authority and arrival of its troops to their areas," the statement said.

In Syria, the group has alienated many civilians and opposition activists by imposing harsh rulings against dissent, even beheading and crucifying opponents, in areas it controls.

In Iraq it has been accused by rights groups of carrying out mass executions in the northern city of Tikrit and in Lebanon the group claimed a suicide attack at a hotel on Wednesday.

Charles Lister, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, saw considerable significance in the group's declaration.

"Whatever judgments are made in terms of its legitimacy, (the) announcement that it has restored the Caliphate is likely the most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11.

"The impact of this announcement will be global as al-Qaeda affiliates and independent jihadist groups must now definitively choose to support and join the Islamic State or to oppose it."

COMMENT:  And opposing this group internationally is precisely who?  Barack Obama?  John Kerry?  Hillary Clinton?  Chelsea Clinton?

Developments like this new declaration are often laughed at.  I wouldn't laugh.  These people are serious.

June 30,  2014     Permalink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"What you see is news.  What you know is background.  What you feel is opinion."
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