This and That...

[Warph]

Syria crisis: al-Qaeda seizes village that still
speaks the ancient language of Christ

A branch of al-Qaeda fighting in the Syrian civil war has seized one of the few remaining villages where the original language of Christ is still spoken, residents say.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10289944/Syria-crisis-al-Qaeda-seizes-village-that-still-speaks-the-ancient-language-of-Christ.html



Update to this Story:

BEIRUT (AP) — A nun and activists say rebel fighters have attacked a regime-held, predominantly Christian village, commandeering a mountaintop hotel and shelling the ancient community from there.

The nun, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, says the assault began around dawn Wednesday with a suicide bombing at a regime checkpoint outside the village of Maaloula.

She says she's heard firefights and regime airstrikes. The nun, speaking by phone from a convent in Maaloula, says regime troops are deployed at the village's entrance, while rebels have commandeered the Safir hotel overlooking Maaloula and surrounding caves.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirms the attack and says the rebels are from the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra.


Al Qaeda-Linked Syrian Rebels Battle Government Troops For Control of Christian Village For Second Day

Via AP:

Syrian government troops battled al-Qaeda-linked rebels over a regime-held Christian village in western Syria for the second day Thursday, as world leaders gathered in Russia for an economic summit expected to be overshadowed by the prospect of US-led strikes against the Damascus regime.

Residents of Maaloula said the militants entered the village late Wednesday. Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, said the fighters included members of the of al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra group.

Despite heavy army presence in the village, Abdul-Rahman said the rebels patrolled its streets on foot and in vehicles, briefly surrounding a church and a mosque before leaving early Thursday.

The rebels launched the assault on the ancient Christian village of Maaloula – which is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites – on Wednesday after an al-Nusra fighter blew himself up at a regime checkpoint at the entrance to the mountain village. The village, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Damascus, is home to about 2,000 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.

Heavy clashes between President Bashar Assad's troops and Nusra Front fighters persisted in surrounding mountains Thursday, according to the Observatory, which collects information from a network of anti-regime activists.

Speaking by phone from a convent in the village, a nun told The Associated Press that the rebels left a mountaintop hotel Thursday after capturing it a day earlier. The nun said the frightened residents expect the Islamic militants to return to the Safir hotel and resume shelling of the community below.

"It's their home now," the nun said. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

[Warph]

Iran Threatens To Kidnap Family Members Of U.S. Officials, threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obuma family, and Release Videos Of Them Being Killed, If Obuma Launches Military Strike On Syria

(And they're evil enough to do it)

Via Daily Caller:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/05/iran-threatens-brutal-attacks-on-americans-obama-family-if-us-hits-syria/

As Congress debates whether to support President Obama's call for a limited strike against Syria for the alleged use of chemical weapons, Iran is vowing to back Bashar al-Assad's regime to the hilt and threatening to unleash terrorism should the U.S. strike.

Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Forces, Wednesday told the Assembly of Experts — the body that chooses the supreme leader — that "[w]e will support Syria to the end."

And in an unprecedented statement, a former Iranian official has warned of mass abductions and brutal killings of American citizens around the world and the rape and killing of one of Obama's daughters should the United States attack Syria.

Alireza Forghani, the former governor of southern Iran's Kish Province, threw down the gauntlet last week. Forghani is an analyst and strategy specialist in the supreme leader's camp and closely aligned with Mehdi Taeb, who heads the regime's Ammar Strategic Base, a radical think thank, and thus speaks with the blessing of the Islamic regime.

"Hopefully Obama will be pigheaded enough to attack Syria, and then we will see the ... loss of U.S. interests [through terrorist attacks]," he threatened. "In just 21 hours [after the attack on Syria], a family member of every U.S. minister [department secretary], U.S. ambassadors, U.S. military commanders around the world will be abducted. And then 18 hours later, videos of their amputation will be spread [around the world]."

A similar act was committed in a video of the torture of William Buckley, a CIA station chief who was abducted in Beirut in 1984 and later killed by Hezbollah on Iran's order. That video was dropped off at the U.S. Embassy in Athens. Former CIA Director William Casey later described what he saw in the video: "They had done more than ruin his body. His eyes made it clear his mind had been played with. It was horrific, medieval and barbarous."

[Warph]

Vote Count Shows Obama Is About To Suffer A
Humiliating Defeat On Syria In The House

Posted Friday, September 6, 2013, 4:54 AM
Post by John Hawkins - Right Wing News.

Barack Obama is the most autocratic President we've had in the United States since Woodrow Wilson. He doesn't care what Congress thinks about going to war with Syria and his administration has made it known that they're planning to bomb no matter how the vote turns out. In fact, the only reason Obama is going to Congress at all is because the American people are ferociously opposed to helping Al-Qaeda by bombing Assad and so Obama is hoping to spread the blame around for an unpopular war.

Naturally, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner and Eric Cantor rushed out to back Obama on a wildly unpopular bombing campaign that their own supporters hate with a passion.

(If you've ever wondered why Republicans get called the "Stupid party," that may help explain it)

However, not every Republican is quite so dumb. There are quite a few conservatives who think backing an unpopular war that helps Al-Qaeda and isn't in our national interest probably isn't so smart. Furthermore, after spending 8 years screaming about a "rush to war" and a "cycle of violence," there are even a few liberals that are uncomfortable with the idea of bombing Syria to keep Obama from embarrassing himself.

Because of that, the pro-war vote tallies aren't looking so hot in the House.

President Barack Obama appears to be dangerously close to what would be an historic rebuke at the hands of Congress, if the current whip-count projections on the authorization to attack Syria continue to hold.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle say losing the high-stakes bid for congressional authorization would make Obama an instant lame-duck, and might well endanger his entire second-term agenda.

The resolution authorizing an attack on Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, as punishment for his use of chemical weapons against his own people, is still expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

But the real question mark all along has been whether the administration could muster enough support to get the attack resolution through the House. And there, the situation for the administration appears to be growing dimmer by the hour.

Various news organizations are contacting members of Congress to see where they stand on the attack authorization. While each outlet has different numbers, the ominous sign for the administration is that all of them show the "no" votes outpacing the "yes" votes by a more than a 3-1 margin.

Most alarming for the administration may be The Washington Post whip count.

The Post has contacted 371 of the 435 members of the House. Of those contacted, 204 representatives are against authorization or leaning against it. That compares to 24 members in favor and 143 members who are undecided, and 48 of the undecided representatives are Republicans.

Nancy Pelosi has never been particularly concerned about looking hypocritical, so you can expect her to push Democrats very hard to support Obama. The argument won't have much to do with Syria, it'll be more like, "It will make Obama look really bad if he loses this, so you have to vote for him!" Unfortunately for Obama, he's a lame duck who hasn't done much to build relationships in Congress, so that argument will have less resonance than you'd expect. As to Boehner and Cantor, they've made fools of themselves on this issue already and there'll be no whipping on the vote.

What this all adds up to is that win or lose in the Senate, Obama is likely to lose a bipartisan vote in the House on Syria. What happens from there is anyone's guess although Obama, being Obama, is likely to screw it up.

[Warph]

Is Peace Prize Winner Obama Starting World War III?

Posted Friday, September 6, 2013, 4:40 AM

(It's an Obuma World: Who knew the POS Clown who got an unearned Peace Prize
could cause so much world wide chaos... huh?)

Putin is positioning his warships near Syria and China is joining Russia's lead in "Observing" warships.

Obama is trying to silence the Congressional Black Caucus from voicing their opposition to invading Syria to avoid destroying the illusion of support.

Jake Tapper reports that Diane Feinstein is "overwhelmed" with constituents against any action on Syria , but being loyal to making Obama look good, Feinstein dismisses their "negativity." Meanwhile, the Senate plans to vote on aiding al-Qaeda in Syria on September 11th anniversary.

Russia compiled a 100-page report to prove Syrian rebels are responsible for the chemical weapon attack which refutes Obama Administration blame on Assad.

Russia gave UN 100-page report in July blaming
Syrian rebels for Aleppo Sarin attack

This image provided by Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show dead bodies after an attack on Ghouta, Syria on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013. /AP
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/05/201268/russia-releases-100-page-report.html#storylink=cpy

[Warph]

Florida Rep. Yoho Not Sure Obama Is An American

Published on Sep 5, 2013

Republican Congressman Ted Yoho came on Hardball Wednesday night to talk about Syria. Instead, the conservative tied himself in knots about President Obama's birthplace.

The Florida lawmaker argued against U.S. military action in Syria, which President Obama is pushing, insisting diplomacy was the answer instead of "guns and bombs."
Host Chris Matthews asked if Yoho would feel the same way if the president was a Republican, to which the Yoho said yes.

Matthews then asked if Yoho questioned Obama's legitimacy. Yoho said "No. He's been under enough scrutiny. We need to move on from that," and even pointed to a recent town hall meeting in which the president's birth certificate came up.

Yoho recounted asking his constituents if that was really the issue they wanted him to spend time on. Ninety-eight percent, he said, said "absolutely not."

Matthews asked Yoho: "So you accept the fact that he's a born American," to which the Sunshine State pol said "no comment."

"No comment?" Matthew said. "In other words, you question the president's legitimacy."
When pressed further, Yoho said "I haven't studied it enough to spend the time on it to come back with an intelligent answer, so I will not respond." He added when the U.S. gets Syria and the debt crisis are solved, "I'd be happy to talk to you."

[Warph]

Ouch! Only 63.2% of Americans Working – Lowest Since 1978

Posted by The News Commenter on
Friday, September 6, 2013
TheNewsCommenter.com 

New job numbers out today indicate a rosy picture for the economy.  The 'low information' unemployment rate dropped to 7.3%.  Great, right?  Maybe not.  The real story, as CNBC reports, is 312,000 people dropped out of the labor force, changing the calculus and giving us the 'best' unemployment number in months, and lowest labor force participation rate since 1978.  It's an upside down kinda world.

From the CNBC article:
The U.S. economy added 169,000 jobs in August, the Department of Labor said Friday.

Although that was an improvement from 104,000 jobs added in July, it was also slower than the average pace of job growth over the last 12 months, and missed economist expectations.

Job growth for both June and July was also revised lower by a total of 74,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 7.3%, but the decline came for the wrong reasons, as 312,000 people dropped out of the labor force. Only 63.2% of Americans now participate in the labor force — meaning they have a job or are looking for one. That's the lowest rate since August 1978.

[Warph]

Thunder From Down Under!  Australia Poised To Dump
Their Labour Libs In Carbon Tax Revolt

Posted by

Friday, September 6, 2013
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/australia-shifts-right-as-tony-abbott-shrugs-off-reputation-for-gaffes-8801856.html

Tomorrow Australians go to the polls to elect a new government, and it looks as though the liberal government is about to be humiliatingly dumped in favor of the conservative party.

[Warph]

(They called the investigation team back, leaked the charges, but haven't arrested anyone despite obviously knowing who the suspects are.  Just unforgivable!)

[Warph]

Obuma: The Most Hated Man In The World

Narcissist-In-Chief Refers To The U.S. Military As "My Military"... AGAIN!  He said this last Friday.  He is one arrogant SOB.

(Uh, er, uh, you know, uh, uh, err, ya know, my military, uhh, you know, proportional response, uh, ahhh, you know, I, me, me, mine, uhhh uh...


Rant Time:
He says it so casually... he really believes he owns the military.  This is outrageous.... this is a way to elevate himself... portray himself as a real leader in charge of all the military.  It's obnoxious... considering he hates our troops and they know it.  Only a military leader who was admired and respected by the men he commanded would call the soldiers HIS military.  Like a great caesar of Rome whose men would die for him because they trusted and loved him.  This is how the bastard ass-hole is trying to portray himself.  It is unconscionable, vulgar and disgusting,
He  is trying to steal honor on the backs of our soldiers even as he has allowed them be killed and done nothing.  It makes me sick to my stomach to see this sick worm deign to be the leader of our military.

He is the worst kind of fcking coward wrangling for self-importance.  He isn't fit to polish the boots of our soldiers.

Soooo...screw you, Obuma.... you thief of honor, decency and courage.  The military is NOT yours you imbecile!
...Warph)

[Warph]

Obuma backed Syrian Jihad "rebels" post image
of burning U.S. Capitol

(The genius in the White House is arming these Muslim terrorists
who envision marching on our Capitol)

Flashpoint Intelligence... A photo-illustration from the Facebook page of the al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades, a faction of the opposition Free Syrian Army fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, shows Islamic fighters marching away from a burning U.S. Capitol.

A photo-illustration from the Facebook page of the al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades, a faction of the opposition Free Syrian Army fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, shows Islamic fighters marching away from a burning U.S. Capitol.

Not one of 'bad guys,' but Syrian rebel group proclaims 'anti-American' bent By Robert Windrem, Investigative Reporter,  NBC News, September 6, 2013

As debate grows over the extremism of some armed factions battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, an incendiary illustration on the Facebook page of one such group leaves little doubt where its leaders envision the uprising ending – with masked Islamic fighters marching through Washington, D.C., as the U.S. Capitol burns in the background.

The image is one of eight photos posted on the official Facebook page of the "Al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades,"  a small armed Sunni rebel faction fighting with the Free Syrian Army, the main umbrella military organization of the opposition forces. Two other photos posted on the group's page feature the widely recognized black flag of the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist group, which operates freely in Syria.

Evan Kohlmann, a senior partner with the security firm Flashpoint Intelligence and an NBC consultant on terrorism, who discovered the image on Facebook and provided it to NBC News' investigative unit, said Al-Aqsa has not been designated as a terrorist group by the United States. But he noted that it fights alongside another Free Syrian Army force, the Tawhid Brigade, that has been linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, one of two rebel factions labeled terrorist groups by the U.S. government.