Benjamin Netanyahu on Obama's Nuclear Deal with Iran: 'This Is a Bad Agreement'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit hard at the Obama administration, saying that a nuclear deal that's being forged between the United States and Iran - a deal that's been largely discussed behind closed doors - is no good. A few days ago, Mr. Netanyahu criticized the White House for keeping Israel in the dark about nuke…

FRANK GAFFNEY: Who's Lying About Islamic Supremacism?

President Obama on Wednesday said "it is a lie" when leaders of the Islamic State and al Qaeda describe themselves as "holy warriors in defense of Islam." He insisted that they are "terrorists" who have "perverted Islam." We are not, he proclaimed, "at war with Islam." Mr. Obama even declared "no religion is responsible for terrorism."…

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama's Blind Indifference to Islamic Terror

The threat of radical Islamic terrorism is so clear and plain that even a president could see it. But Barack Obama is blind, deaf or indifferent, and maybe all three, and determined to keep himself that way. At his White House conference on "extremism" - where it came from and where it wants to go left…

Russian Tensions Could Escalate into All-out War, says Nato General

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of Nato forces in Europe, says Vladimir Putin could try to invade and seize Nato territory

Tensions with Russia could blow up into all-out conflict, posing “an existential threat to our whole being”, Britain’s top general in Nato has warned.

Gen Sir Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of Nato forces in Europe, said there was a danger Vladimir Putin could try to use his armies to invade and seize Nato territory, after calculating the alliance would be too afraid of escalating violence to respond.

His comments follow a clash between London and Moscow after the Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, said there was a "real and present danger" Mr Putin could try to destabilise the Baltic states with a campaign of subversion and irregular warfare.

The Kremlin called those comments “absolutely unacceptable". » | Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent | Friday, February 20, 2015

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain cannot defend itself against Putin's military might, top brass warn: Former RAF chief says that Britain's defences have been 'decimated' and would not survive a Russian air attack » | Camilla Turner | Friday, February 20, 2015

Saudi King Salman Showers His People with Cash

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The new Saudi monarch has ordered hefty payments to a large chunk of the population.

Riyadh: European leaders are still battling over austerity. The US Congress is gearing up for another fight over the budget. But in Saudi Arabia, there are no such troubles when you are king - and you just dole out billions and billions of dollars to ordinary Saudis by royal decree.

Not surprisingly, Saudis are very happy with their new monarch, King Salman.

"It is party time for Saudi Arabia right now", said John Sfakianakis, the Riyadh-based Middle East director of the Ashmore Group, an investment company, who estimates that the king's post-coronation giveaway will ultimately cost more than $US32 billion or $41 billion.

Since Salman ascended the throne of this wealthy Arab kingdom last month, he has swiftly taken charge, abolishing government bodies and firing ministers. But no measure has caused as much buzz here as the giant payouts he ordered to a large chunk of the Saudi population.

These included grants to professional associations, literary and sports clubs; investments in water and electricity; and bonuses worth two months of salary to all government employees, soldiers, pensioners and students on government stipends at home and abroad. Some private companies followed suit with comparable bonuses for their Saudi employees, putting another few billion dollars into people's pockets. » | Ben Hubbard | Friday, February 20, 2015

Islamic Supremacist Linda Sarsour on MSNBC: Muslim “Kids Being Executed” in the U.S.

Read the Jihad Watch article and comment here | Robert Spencer | Thursday, February 19, 2015

USA: Obama bekämpft Jihad-Tourismus mit Bürokratie

DIE PRESSE: Seit seinem Amtsantritt versucht US-Präsident Obama vergeblich, mit Beiräten, Arbeitskreisen und Konferenzen die Anziehungskraft des Jihadismus einzudämmen.

Washington. Am Donnerstag war Barack Obama in seinem Element. In seiner binnen 24 Stunden zweiten Rede zur Frage, wie sich der Reiz von Terrorgruppen auf junge Menschen vermindern lasse, appellierte der Präsident in der Sprache des einstigen Universitätsprofessors an die in Washington versammelten Vertreter von knapp 60 Staaten und internationalen Organisationen: „Wir alle haben die Verantwortung, die Vorstellung zurückzuweisen, dass der IS den Islam repräsentiert. Die Vorstellung, dass der Westen im Krieg mit dem Islam sei, ist eine hässliche Lüge.“ » | Vom Korrespondenten der Presse Oliver Grimm | Donnerstag, 19. Februar 2015

Obama Accused of Skirting Islamic Extremist Threat, at ‘Summit without Substance’

FOX NEWS: President Obama took pains Thursday to stress, once again, that the West is "not at war with Islam" as he wrapped a three-day White House forum on "violent extremism" -- but in the end, drew criticism that he was going to extremes to avoid talking about the threat of Islamic extremists.

"Sadly, this was a summit without substance," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "Americans understand we are not at war with Islam. But, we will not defeat these fanatics if we refuse to define them for what they are -- violent Islamist extremists."

The president and top officials in his administration, as they have before, generally avoided using the term "radical Islam" during the summit. Instead, Obama argued that groups like the Islamic State "use Islam to justify their violence" and that to accept that connection would be to embrace the "terrorists' narrative." (+ FoxNews video) » | FoxNews.com | Thursday, February 19, 2015

Return of the Religious Police Worries Reformers in Saudi Arabia

Saudi women shopping in Riyadh

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As King Salman takes command, Saudi Arabia's creeping reforms appear to reverse

The violation of modesty might seem technical, but this was Saudi Arabia, and the religious police were having none of it.

They swept through Riyadh's Marina Mall, going through shops with names like "Princesses' Island" and "My Scarf" which specialise in abayas, the all-enveloping, shapeless gown that Saudi women must by law wear in public, and tore down any that weren't black.

Black is the colour stipulated for abayas, but as Saudi society has become more cosmopolitan, women have begun to experiment.

First dark patterns emerged, then a few diamante adornments, then the occasional striped sleeve; finally - the step the religious police thought was taking it too far - abayas of whole different colours, like brown, and dark blue.

The cloaks still hid every vestige of a woman's anatomy: only not in the same monotone.

"It was very annoying," said one shop assistant, who requested that he not be identified to prevent further raids. "They did cause a big problem. However, it is the law I suppose, so we just have to put up with it."

The attack on the Mall was not, women's rights and other activists say, a one-off. It happened shortly after the death of 90-year-old King Abdullah at the end of January, and may have been a sign that the once-feared religious police which he spent years trying to rein in felt they were now in the ascendant again. » | Richard Spencer, Riyadh | Thursday, February 19, 2015

La beauté iranienne à travers le voile

Comment le port du voile a évoulué en Iran depuis 100ans

La beauté iranienne à travers le voile by LePoint

L'organisation État islamique menace l'Europe d'un "chaos" en Méditerranée

LE POINT: La branche libyenne de Daesh envisagerait d'envoyer 500 000 migrants à bord de bateaux fantômes vers l'Italie, en cas d'intervention militaire en Libye.

Le message est clair. L'État islamique menace l'Europe d'envoyer des milliers de barques remplies de migrants vers les côtes italiennes en cas d'intervention militaire en Libye. L'information a été révélée par le quotidien italien Il Messagero qui s'est procuré des écoutes téléphoniques auprès de la police, rapporte Le Figaro. Dans ces enregistrements, les djihadistes parlent de "500 000 migrants" qu'ils enverraient par bateaux vers l'Italie.

Le pays est en première ligne, à 350 kilomètres seulement des côtes libyennes. Son ministre des Affaires étrangères a fait savoir lundi dernier que la Libye devait être "la priorité absolue". Le pays redoute l'installation d'un "califat" en Libye et a averti que le temps était compté pour une solution politique, face au renforcement de l'organisation de l'EI. » | jeudi 19 février 2015

Der kurzsichtige Terrorfürst

TAGES ANZEIGER: IS-Chef al-Bagdadi verbreitet mit seiner Terrormiliz Angst und Schrecken: Deutsche Journalisten haben seine Vergangenheit durchstöbert – und Aussergewöhnliches gefunden.

Die Jihadisten-Miliz Islamischer Staat (IS) sorgt mit ihren Gräueltaten weltweit für Schlagzeilen, doch über ihren öffentlichkeitsscheuen Chef Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi ist wenig bekannt.

Einem Rechercheteam von «Süddeutscher Zeitung», WDR und NDR ist es nun nach eigenen Angaben gelungen, dank Dokumenten und Zeugenaussagen ein genaueres Bild des irakischen Jihadisten zu zeichnen. Wie die «SZ» am Donnerstag berichtete, war al-Bagdadi demnach schon früh machthungrig. Der «Weltspiegel extra» porträtierte den Terroristen. » | spu/AFP | Donnerstag, 19. Februar 2015

Exodus aus Europa

TAGES ANZEIGER - BLOG: Frankreich erlebt eine starke Abwanderung seiner jüdischen Bevölkerung. Wie sieht es im übrigen Europa aus, wie in der Schweiz? Die Daten.

«Wir wären nicht mehr dieselben ohne jüdische Gemeinde.» Die dänische Ministerpräsidentin Helle Thorning-Schmidt rief diese Woche nach den Anschlägen in Kopenhagen die Juden des Landes zum Bleiben auf. Ähnliche Aussagen machten auch die Regierungschefs Deutschlands und Frankreichs. Es war eine Reaktion auf Israels Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, der am Sonntag die Juden Europas zur Auswanderung nach Israel aufgefordert hatte.

Nach den wiederholten Attacken auf jüdische Einrichtungen in verschiedenen westeuropäischen Staaten ist die Verunsicherung gross. Für Aufsehen sorgen neue Zahlen zu Frankreich. 6658 Juden sind im letzten Jahr aus Frankreich nach Israel ausgewandert, wie aus den Daten der dortigen Migrationsbehörden hervorgeht. Das ist eine Verdoppelung gegenüber 2013. Im gleichen Zeitraum hat sich in Frankreich auch die Zahl der registrierten antisemitischen Straftaten verdoppelt. Das Auswanderungsplus gegenüber dem Schnitt der letzten zehn Jahre beträgt gar rund 140 Prozent. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben » | Von Luca De Carli | Donnerstag, 19. Februar 2015

Obama Picks State Dept.'s Jen Psaki To Head White House Communications

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who worked on President Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, will become the president's new communications director, White House officials said Thursday. Ms. Psaki will replace Jennifer Palmieri, a veteran Democratic strategist who is leaving the White House to join Hillary Rodham Clinton's likely presidential campaign. She will start her new job…

MONICA CROWLEY: Obama's 'Violent Extremism' Summit A Façade

Another week, another Islamic State slaughter and another Orwellian White House "conference" orchestrated for maximum "newspeak" effect. Just days after the Islamic State beheaded 21 Christians in Libya, the White House welcomed domestic and foreign representatives from law enforcement, government and religious groups (including the extremist Islamic Society of Boston) to a glorified coffee klatch called…

Obama: Too Many People View Muslims As Terrorists

President Obama said Thursday that too many people in the U.S. and other countries view Muslims unfairly as terrorists because they don't socialize with ordinary Muslims. "Many people in our countries don't always know personally somebody who is Muslim," Mr. Obama told foreign ministers at a White House conference on violent extremism. "The image they get…

Franklin Graham: Obama 'Only Knows Islam, and He Has Given a Pass to Islam'

The Rev. Franklin Graham said to a Fox News audience that President Obama is seriously understating the Islam tie to recent acts of terrorism around the world - but no wonder, he "only knows Islam." The context of the discussion was the White House's failure to use the term "radical Islam" when describing Islamic State and…

ISIS Militants Reportedly Burn to Death 45 People in Western Iraqi Town

FOX NEWS: Islamic State militants reportedly have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi on Tuesday, just five miles away from an air base staffed by hundreds of U.S. Marines.

The identities of the victims are not clear, the local police chief told the BBC, but some are believed to be among the security forces that have been clashing with ISIS for control of the town. ISIS fighters reportedly captured most of the town last week.

Col. Qasim Obeidi, pleading for help from the Iraqi government and international community, said a compound that houses families of security personnel and officials is now under siege. » | FoxNews.com | Tuesday, February 17, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Obama Remains Ignorant as Anti-Semitism Makes a Comeback

We're well into the new century, moving swiftly through the second decade of the new millennium, at ease in an era of science, modern medicine and wondrous electronics that our grandparents could not have imagined. (Even our parents don't understand most of it.) So why does 2015 smell like Munich in 1938, reeking of denial, blindness,…

EDITORIAL: Shaming Saudi Arabia into Freeing Blogger Raif Badawi

The example set by the early Americans who met in Philadelphia to write a Constitution for free men continues to be a beacon to "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free," in the words of the poet Emma Lazarus. We, the most fortunate of men and women, sometimes forget the debt everyone owes to the men…