Brussels Faces Week On Lockdown as Hunt for Terror Cell Intensifies

A police officer and soldiers on security duty inside the
Galerie de la Reine in Brussels on Sunday.

THE GUARDIAN: Belgian officials say they are looking for at least two individuals, including one man suspected of playing role in Paris attacks last week

Europe’s unofficial capital faces an unprecedented security lockdown this week after Belgian authorities imposed a slew of safety-first measures to prevent a “serious and imminent” terrorist attack.

Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, said schools and universities would be shut on Monday while the Metro in the city, which had been expected to partially open after being suspended over the weekend, will not run.

Belgian counter-terrorist agencies are continuing their search for a network of Islamic militants as soldiers patrol the streets with armoured vehicles outside main stations and in public spaces.

“We still fear attacks here like those that occurred in Paris, involving several individuals striking simultaneously in several places,” Michel told a tense press conference, adding that there were “indications” that transport systems, commercial centres, shopping streets and busy places were targets.

Local media described the measures, particularly the closure of schools, as unprecedented and historic, and predicted mass disruption. It remained unclear how the lockdown would affect Europe’s political executive, the European commission. » | Jason Burke in Brussels | Sunday, November 22, 2015

On the Murder March with ISIS: Terror Expert Tells of the Slave Markets, Summary Executions and 'Morality' Police of the Jihadi Group - Who Have $2trillion in the Bank

MAIL ON SUNDAY: The terror group started off as a version of Al Qaeda but split off by 2011 / Only came to forefront in 2014 when they took control of three Iraqi cities / Now boast about 33,000 fighters, many having joined from overseas / Here, Michael Burleigh takes a closer look at this medieval death cult

It is a force the like of which the world has never seen before: a medieval death cult with a territory roughly the size of England.

Its tentacles of power stretch out across Iraq and Syria, whose border it has erased. Syrian Raqqa is the de facto capital, Iraqi Mosul its most populous centre. Within its brutal control lies a huge population of eight million – and it has assets estimated at $2 trillion.

This is the Islamic State, sometimes called ISIS, a terrorist movement with the destructive power of an army possessed by a terrifying vision of the world to come. Read on and comment » | Michael Burleigh for the Mail On Sunday | Sunday, November 21, 2015

Sweden Is On Fire & Europe Will Follow If Our Politicians Don’t Stop This Madness

Austria: Anti-refugee Protesters Rally against Government in Vienna

Anti-refugee protesters staged a rally in Vienna, Saturday, to decry the Austrian government's policy on refugees and migrants and to demand tougher border controls.

Germany: 'Merkel Must Go' - Anti-refugee AfD Rally Hits Mainz

Around 400 supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) marched through Mainz to demonstrate against the asylum policy of the Germany, Saturday.

Germany: More Than 100 Arrested as Clashes Erupt over NPD Conference in Weinheim

More than 100 people were arrested after left-wing protesters clashed with police in Weinheim, Saturday, during a demonstration against the party conference of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) being held in the German town.

Germany: Far-right Activists Commemorate Nazi Soldiers Killed in WWII

Around 100 far-right activists gathered in the German town of Remagen, Saturday, to commemorate the Nazi soldiers who died in Allied prisoner of war camps at the end of WWII.

Ban Bathtubs, Says Sweden's 'Green King'

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

THE TELEGRAPH: King Carl XVI Gustaf, once better known as a lothario, describes how he was shocked recently to find himself having to bathe, not shower

The king of Sweden wants to ban all bath-tubs in an effort to save water.

King Carl XVI Gustaf, who in recent years has put past scandals relating to his reputation as a lothario behind him to become better known as a dedicated environmentalist, has given a frank interview to describe his determination to turn the royal palace in Stockholm green.

He also suggested that having given up taking baths himself his people should follow where he has led.

“We should ban all baths, imagine that,” he said when asked about his suggestions for everyday energy saving.

The question arose when he confessed he had recently been forced to run himself a bath when staying somewhere that lacked showers. “That’s when it hit me how much water and energy it used," he said. "I thought ‘I can’t believe I’m having to do this’. I felt quite ashamed.”

The comment about a bath ban appeared to be in jest, but he added: “There’s truth in it though. It’s the small details that have an enormous effect.” » | Lisa Kjellsson | Saturday, November 21, 2015

My comment:

Doesn't this king have more important things to worry about? I would have thought that the Islamisation of his country would be uppermost in his mind. – © Mark

Saudi Arabia and ISIS; Islam and Islamism

“Essentially, Islamism is a doctrine which provides a reason to hate and kill everyone who does not subscribe to it.” – Charles Moore

This one sentence encapsulates the West’s problem! The West has fabricated a term––Islamism––to get around a problem which it has introduced into our Judaeo-Christian civilization. The problem, of course, is Islam.

There is no such thing as ‘Islamism’. Islamism is a figment of the Westerner’s imagination. No self-respecting Muslim would recognize the term. What liberal Westerners perceive as Islamism is merely the practice of Islam as it should be practised. An Islamist is a devout Muslim!

Of course, there are many peace-loving Muslims: the people that Western politicians refer to as ‘moderate’. But these people are people who do not practice their faith to the letter of Sharia law, to the letter of the Koran, to the letter of the Hadiths. They are not properly living in accordance with the Sunnah, or way of, the Prophet.

The ‘Islamic State’ is carrying out the practices of their Prophet, as does indeed Saudi Arabia. What goes on in the so-called Islamic State is not much different from what goes on in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace and home of Islam.

Saudi Arabia puts people to death for apostasy. Saudi Arabia stones women to death for adultery. Saudi Arabia beheads people in the public square. Saudi Arabia amputates people’s hands (and feet!) for theft. Etc. All these atrocities we turn a blind eye to for commercial reasons. In Saudi Arabia these punishments are state-sponsored, whereas in the Islamic State, because as yet it is only a quasi state, they are not.

We are never going to be able to defeat the “enemy within”, or without, for that matter, until intelligent people come to the realization that our enemy is not Islamism, but Islam itself. Our forefathers understood the dangers of Islam. Why can’t we?

The fact is simple: Islam is out to defeat its long-time enemy. This is a Holy War, otherwise known as the Jihad. For as long as we refuse to come to terms with this reality, the West will be in danger; and its survival will also be in danger. – © Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

A version of this also appeared here

Op-Ed: Saudi Arabia, an ISIS That Has Made It

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Black Daesh, white Daesh. The former slits throats, kills, stones, cuts off hands, destroys humanity’s common heritage and despises archaeology, women and non-Muslims. The latter is better dressed and neater but does the same things. The Islamic State; Saudi Arabia. In its struggle against terrorism, the West wages war on one, but shakes hands with the other. This is a mechanism of denial, and denial has a price: preserving the famous strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia at the risk of forgetting that the kingdom also relies on an alliance with a religious clergy that produces, legitimizes, spreads, preaches and defends Wahhabism, the ultra-puritanical form of Islam that Daesh feeds on.

Wahhabism, a messianic radicalism that arose in the 18th century, hopes to restore a fantasized caliphate centered on a desert, a sacred book, and two holy sites, Mecca and Medina. Born in massacre and blood, it manifests itself in a surreal relationship with women, a prohibition against non-Muslims treading on sacred territory, and ferocious religious laws. That translates into an obsessive hatred of imagery and representation and therefore art, but also of the body, nakedness and freedom. Saudi Arabia is a Daesh that has made it.

The West’s denial regarding Saudi Arabia is striking: It salutes the theocracy as its ally but pretends not to notice that it is the world’s chief ideological sponsor of Islamist culture. The younger generations of radicals in the so-called Arab world were not born jihadists. They were suckled in the bosom of Fatwa Valley, a kind of Islamist Vatican with a vast industry that produces theologians, religious laws, books, and aggressive editorial policies and media campaigns.

One might counter: Isn’t Saudi Arabia itself a possible target of Daesh? Yes, but to focus on that would be to overlook the strength of the ties between the reigning family and the clergy that accounts for its stability — and also, increasingly, for its precariousness. The Saudi royals are caught in a perfect trap: Weakened by succession laws that encourage turnover, they cling to ancestral ties between king and preacher. The Saudi clergy produces Islamism, which both threatens the country and gives legitimacy to the regime. » | Kamel Daoud * | Friday, November 20, 2015

* Kamel Daoud, a columnist for Quotidien d’Oran, is the author of “The Meursault Investigation.” This essay was translated by John Cullen from the French.

Dans Bruxelles en alerte

Face а une menace «imminente», la Belgique a relevй son niveau d'alerte terroriste au maximum. Ce samedi, les rues sont quasi dйsertes et la population respectent les consignes de sйcuritй.

Army Chaplains to Lose Christian Motto Because It Might Offend Muslims

BREITBART.COM: The Royal Australian Army Chaplains’ Department is to lose their traditional motto held since 1913, because it is offensive to Muslims.

The cap badge and motto of the Australian army chaplains is presently identical to those held by the British army, a legacy and tradition dating back to the founding days of the Australian nation as it established itself as a Dominion independent of Great Britain. Emblazoned on a Maltese cross and wreath in purple and gold, the motto ‘In This Sign Conquer’ is thought to be a reference to the crusades.

Now just five months after a Muslim Imam joined the Australian forces religious advisory committee, that history is to be swept away, reports Australia’s Daily Telegraph. Despite the sudden push for change, there is not thought to presently be a single Australian Muslim chaplain in the army. » | Oliver Lane | Saturday, November 21, 2015

Medical Issues Causing Hillary Clinton’s Confusion, Dizziness?

Nov. 17, 2015 - 4:14 - ‘Unlikeable’ author Ed Klein on reports of Hillary Clinton’s health problems.

When Did Belgium Become a Terror Breeding Ground?

Nov. 17, 2015 - 4:02 - Zuhdi Jasser weighs in

Un-Welcome? Europeans Change Stance on Refugees after Paris Attacks

One of the key clues in the Paris attacks probe is a Syrian passport found next to the body of one of the suicide bombers. The question being asked now is whether one of the terrorists could have entered Europe as a refugee.

Canada’s New HEAVYWEIGHT PM: Behind-the-scenes of Justin Trudeau's First Day as Prime Minister

Belgium: Brussels on Lockdown Over Terror Alert, Soldiers Deployed

Public areas of Brussels including metro stations were closed on Saturday after the Belgian authorities raised the ‘terror’ alert status in the capital to its highest level. People have been advised to avoid crowded areas because of a "serious and imminent threat," according to a government spokesperson.

Brussels in Lockdown after Terror Threat Level Is Raised to Maximum

Military vehicles commonly sighted in Brussels on Saturday
as city moves to maximum terror alert level.

THE GUARDIAN: Shops close, football is cancelled and people are urged to stay home as army patrols streets in face of ‘serious and imminent threat’ of Paris-style attack

Brussels has been blanketed with security after the Belgian government raised alert levels on terrorist threats to the maximum, warning of the “serious and imminent” possibility of a Paris-style attack involving firearms and explosives.

The city’s metro system was closed down on Saturday until Sunday afternoon at the earliest as shops shut, shopping malls were partly shuttered, professional football was cancelled, concerts were called off and music venues, museums, and galleries closed their doors for the weekend.

The heightened alert level followed meetings of the national security and counter-terror services late on Friday, which concluded, on the basis of undisclosed evidence, that a major attack was being planned in Brussels. The rest of the country was put on a level three alert, one level short of the maximum. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Saturday, November 21, 2015

Brussels on Highest Alert as Belgian Officials Warn of ‘Serious and Imminent’ Threat

THE WASHINGTON POST: BRUSSELS — The government abruptly shut down the metro system, canceled sporting events and warned residents to avoid crowded places as Belgium placed the capital on maximum alert early Saturday, citing a “serious and imminent” threat of attack.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Saturday morning that officials had identified shopping centers, public transportation and major events as targets of a possible attack, involving multiple assailants at multiple locations, similar to the deadly assault that struck Paris on Nov. 13.

Searches of homes overnight by police in the immigrant quarter of Molenbeek and other neighborhoods in Brussels uncovered explosives and weapons, the prime minister said. Belgian security officials said it appeared that suspects were planning simultaneous attacks and that this was the reason for raising the threat to its highest level early Saturday. The U.S. Embassy in Brussels also issued a security alert warning U.S. citizens here “to shelter in place and remain at home.” Late Friday, an additional Belgian citizen was charged as an accomplice in connection with the Paris attacks and participation in a terrorist organization. Authorities declined to release his name.

Armed troops stood guard in front of hotels and at major intersections. Movie theaters, pools and department stores were shuttered. A concert by well-known Belgian singer Johnny Hallyday planned for Saturday night at a major concert venue was canceled, as well. » | William Booth, Anthony Faiola and Emily Badger | Saturday, November 21, 2015

Turkey Threatens Russia Over Bid to Obliterate Sick Islamic State Terrorists

EXPRESS: RUSSIA and Turkey are in deadlock after the latter threatened Moscow with “serious consequences” if it continues its bomb assault on Syria.

Officials in the capital Ankara warned Russia to “immediately end its operation” after war planes hit Syrian ground “very close” to the Turkish border.

Turkey sees the Turkmen population that inhabits villages near the border as natural allies in the struggle against President Assad’s brutal regime.

Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, said that "if civilians fleeing massacre and cluster bombs head to Turkey, and a new refugee influx emerges, everyone concerned will be held accountable."

The Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov was called in for crisis talks as tensions between the two sides escalate over their different of opinion on the Syrian conflict. » | Jack Fenwick | Saturday, November 21, 2015