Syria Archbishop Calls on West to Back President Bashar al-Assad in War against Islamist Rebels

THE TELEGRAPH: Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, based in Aleppo, says West should follow Russia in backing Assad regime rather than Islamist-dominated rebel groups

A leading Christian bishop in Syria has welcomed Russia's intervention in the country's civil war, saying the West should follow Vladimir Putin in backing President Bashar al-Assad rather than rebel groups dominated by Islamic extremists.

Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, who is based in the war-ravaged northern city of Aleppo, said Mr Putin's involvement had brought "hope" to many of Syria's Christian minority, who thought it might force the warring sides to the negotiating table.

In an interview with The Telegraph during a visit to London, he also urged Britain and America to re-examine their assessment of President Assad, who he claimed was not the "Devil" that they made him out to be.

Archbishop Jeanbart said: "I have been asking fellow bishops, priests and lay people about what they think of the Russian involvement, and they say they find some hope in it because they are desperate for the end of this war.

"As long as Europe and the USA have been involved, we have no seen no results despite the coalition bombing, but with the Russian intervention maybe things will change.

"Perhaps it will help destroy Daesh and push the opposition to find a solution," he added, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The bishop made his comments ahead of a visit to the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon, where he was due to make a speech at event to mark the launch of a new report on the persecution of Christians worldwide. » | Colin Freeman | Tuesday, October 13, 2015

‪The Glazov Gang:‬ The Problem With ISNA Influence on Mosques in America

The Glazov Gang-The Problem With ISNA Influence on Mosques in America. Dr. Mark Christian (President, Global Faith Institute)

HT: Jamie Glazov @ Jihad Watch »

Islamic State Threatens to Repeat 9/11 in New Video Warning to America

The video is a reminder of the power if Isil and Al-Qaeda
to inspire followers around the world to 'lone wolf'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Isil supporters launch social media blitz with hashtag #WeWillBurnUSAgain

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's social media have launched a new campaign threatening to repeat 9/11 and bring war to America.

The campaign, given the hashtag #WeWillBurnUSAgain, is accompanied by a video compilation showing some of Isil’s “greatest hits”, including the beheadings of the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

“America thinks it’s safe because of the geographical location,” its voiceover says. “Thus you see it invades Muslim lands, and thinks that the army of jihad won’t reach in their lands.

“But the dream of Americans to have safety became a mirage.”

The hashtag campaign was announced on April 8, last Wednesday, and launched on Saturday, when pro-Isil accounts posted thousands of tweets with the hashtag with variations on the same theme, of America’s vulnerability to lone wolf and other attacks. » | Richard Spencer | Monday, April 13, 2015

Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: May the Muslims Wage War on America, and Raid It on Its Own Land

French-Speaking Jihadists in Syria Praise Paris Terrorists, Threaten More Attacks in Europe and America

Erdoğan Says Muslims Discovered America, Wants Mosque in Cuba

TODAY’S ZAMAN: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Muslims, not Christopher Columbus, were the first foreigners to set foot in America, suggesting the construction of a mosque on a hill in Cuba where he said there used to be a mosque.

“Latin America's contact with Islam dates back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus. Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178. Christopher Columbus mentions the existence of a mosque on a hill along the Cuban coast. I will talk to my brothers in Cuba and a mosque would suit the top of that hill today as well. We would build it if they [the Cuban government] say so. Islam had expanded in the American continent before Columbus arrived,” Erdoğan said on Saturday while speaking in İstanbul at the 1st Latin American Muslim Religious Leaders Summit, hosted by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate. » | Today’s Zaman | Saturday, November 15, 2014

Condoleezza Rice on America's Standing in the World

Nov. 10, 2014 - 4:45 - Former secretary of state reacts to ISIS, world crises

Erdogan Claims Muslims Beat Columbus to the Americas

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that
Muslims discovered the Americas before Christopher Columbus

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkish president revives disputed evidence that famous explorer found a mosque when he arrived on Cuban shore in 15th century

Muslims discovered the Americas in the 12 century, nearly 300 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage there, according to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey.

His words, delivered in a televised speech, will lend support to a controversial theory that has been debunked repeatedly by historians.

That did not seem to bother the conservative Turkish president during a summit in Istanbul of Muslim leaders from Latin America.

"Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus," he said.

Mr Erdogan went on to say that Columbus descibed the existence of a mosque on a hill by the Cuban site and that Ankara was prepared to fund a new place of worship for Muslims there.

"I would like to talk about it to my Cuban brothers. A mosque would go perfectly on the hill today," the Turkish leader said. » | Rob Crilly, New York, and agencies | Saturday, November 15, 2014

America's Weakness, Part 2

Aug. 05, 2014 - 3:18 - Talking Points 8/5

Part 1 »

America’s Weakness

Aug. 04, 2014 - 6:50 - Talking Points 8/4

Why America Is Changing So Drastically

Apr. 04, 2014 - 4:00 - Talking Points 4/4

Václav Klaus on Barack Obama, America

Václav Klaus, former Premier of the Czech Republic

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president." – Václav Klaus, the former Premier of the Czech Republic [Source: Snopes.com] 2012

America – From Freedom To Fascism (2011)

Is there a law which requires you to pay the Federal Income Tax? Is the Federal Reserve a part of the United States Government, or is it a private bank owned and operated by multinational corporate interests? Do they have our nation's best interests at heart? Unless something changes, what does the future of the United States look like?

America in Decline

Mar. 06, 2014 - 4:05 - Talking Points 3/6

Bill Maher - America Isn't #1

Bill Maher rants on America letting people know we need to reclaim that title and to quit replying on old adages.

Global Leadership Vacuum: Europe Incapable, America Unwilling

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: US Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Germany this week in an effort to strengthen trans-Atlantic ties. Global politics have come to a standstill in recent years, with the United States unwilling to show leadership and Europe and other major powers unable to fill the vacuum.

Ernest Rutherford, the chemist and nuclear physicist, wanted to conduct massive experiments in his laboratories in Britain. He had won the 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry and would go on to become one of the legends in his field. But he often simply didn't have the funds. Legend has it that he gathered together his team and said: "Gentlemen, we have run out of money. It's time to start thinking."

These words attributed to Rutherford have become world-famous -- also in the realm of politics. And they could hardly be more applicable than to United States Vice President Joe Biden's upcoming trip to Germany. On Friday afternoon, Biden will hold a powwow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. On Saturday, he is scheduled to deliver a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference.

The reason is clear: Biden might still speak eloquently in public about trans-Atlantic cooperation. But, behind closed doors, his main message will be that America and its allies need to come up with a new way of divvying up responsibilities in this uncertain world. The Exhausted Nation » | An Analysis By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Munich | Friday, February 01, 2013

Detroit in Ruins
THE OBSERVER: Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre's extraordinary photographs documenting the dramatic decline of a major American city

To the photo gallery >>> | Sunday, January 02, 2011

America At Risk: The War With No Name - Official Trailer

America At Risk – Newt and Callista Gingrich – Citizens United Productions >>>

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Indonesia Seeks Prison Sentence for 'Blasphemous' American
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Indonesian prosecutors on Tuesday sought a seven-month prison sentence for a US retiree accused of blasphemy after he allegedly pulled the plug on a mosque loudspeaker during a prayer reading.

The August 22 incident in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan resulted in retired Californian engineer Gregory Luke, 64, needing a police escort from his home on Lombok island as a mob tore it to pieces around him.

Prosecutors said Luke had blasphemed against Islam, the dominant religion in Indonesia, when he allegedly barged into the mosque to complain that a nightly Ramadan prayer reading was too loud.

"We recommend a sentence of seven months' jail as he is guilty of blasphemy and committing an act of hatred," prosecutor Baiq Nurjanah told a court in Praya, Lombok. >>> | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Cable Guy: Julian Assange Becomes the US's Public Enemy No. 1
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: He may be on the short list for Time magazine's "person of the year," but many Americans consider Julian Assange to be a criminal and a terrorist. The WikiLeaks founder has been fighting a battle on several fronts since the publication of the diplomatic cables. He has now been arrested in London.

Wherever Julian Assange turned up in recent weeks, there was always a noticeably well-dressed young woman at his side. Jennifer Robinson, an attorney at a London law firm, has served as Assange's legal protection insurance for the last few weeks. She kept several sets of legal documents in her purse, for the event that Scotland Yard or some other law enforcement agency decided to arrest the Australian.

Assange now finds himself in need of such expert legal protection. He was arrested by British police in London on Tuesday on a European warrant issued by Swedish prosecutors. London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement that Assange had been arrested at around 9:30 a.m. local time, by appointment at a police station in the British capital. "He is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010," the statement read. Assange was due to appear before a London court later on Tuesday.

Assange's lawyers had earlier said that he would meet with police to talk about the European arrest warrant. "We are in the process of making arrangements to meet with police by consent," lawyer Mark Stephens said on Monday.

As of last week, there was no longer any doubt that the Swedish authorities were determined to catch the 39-year-old at all costs. Interpol issued a "Red Notice" seeking Assange's arrest, and Scotland Yard's Serious Organized Crime Agency confirmed that it was familiar with the case.

But like everything else relating to the WikiLeaks founder, this private case has also become a political issue. The man who had sent a shockwave through global politics since the publication of the American embassy cables two weekends ago had become a hunted man.

He has also become the Americans' latest public enemy, after having challenged the world's most powerful nation and made its secrets public for all to see. >>> Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark | Tuesday, December 07, 2010