Category: Syria

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Refugees From Reality

Leave it to the GOP (and some uninformed Democrats) to make a frightening situation something to panic over. The Paris attacks were terrible. The threat of more terrorist attacks on Europe is very real. But if you want to stop terrorists from coming into the United States, tampering with the refugee system is exactly the wrong place to start.

The United States has accepted about 70,00 refugees into this country since 2009.  And there’s a lengthy process. One-third of them were from countries that, on first glance, might supply potential terrorists. How many of these refugees turned out to be terrorists or involved in potential terrorist plots? None.  Further, if ISIS or any other group wanted to send potential terrorists to the United States, why would they choose a process that is thoroughly vetted and could take up to two years? It makes no sense. Which is why, I’m sure, the Republicans are pursuing legislation that would affect the refugee program.

It would be far easier for a potential bomber to come in as a tourist. Or as a worker who doesn’t need a visa. Or as a student.  But of course, no politician wants to shut down tourism or interfere with students who want to come to the U.S. to study or with someone who will do a job that an American won’t or can’t (including high tech jobs that require math, which seems to be another GOP weakness). That would be an economic catastrophe. So instead, they’re going after the one program that vets all applicants over a specified period of time as their target.

Even better, Donald Trump leads the GOP with a policy of building a very high wall on the Mexican border to stop the hordes who are coming to the United States. The truth is that more people are leaving the US for Mexico than are trying to come to this country.  The people who really want to come in, the drug smugglers, have built sophisticated tunnels. A wall won’t stop them.

President Obama is exactly right to veto any legislation that is built on fear, xenophobia and ignorance, which the right seems to think will win it an election next year. Hillary Clinton has proposed a specific, pragmatic policy for dealing with ISIS that goes beyond mere rhetoric and fearful slogans. It’s a policy that even conservatives view as thoughtful and worth considering.

Fear has been the coin of the realm for the Republican Party since 2001. They’ve run on a platform that says only they can keep us safe and I’m sure they’ll plug that exhausted line until November. What they need is a detailed plan for actually fighting ISIS both militarily and diplomatically with our allies. It will take thought and political will rather than blame. So far, I haven’t heard anything that gives me confidence in their ability to confront the threat.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Ted Cruz – For Bringing Syrian Refugees to U.S Before he was Against it – Video

At a time when everything is recorded – sometimes in High Definition – you would think that people, especially those wishing to be president of the United States, would at least be more consistent in their positions.

Yes, positions change, views evolve, but when they do, at least acknowledge that evolution and embrace it, and don’t act as if you’ve always maintained your new way of thinking.

That is what Ted Cruz is doing these days in the debate about whether Syrian refugees should be allowed in the United States. Back in February, Ted Cruz – whose father is a Cuban refugee – was all for bringing Syrians here. In an interview on Fox News, Cruz looked into the camera and made the case that the refugees should be welcomed.

“We have welcomed refugees — the tired, huddled masses — for centuries, he said. “That’s been the history of the United States. We should continue to do so.” He added: “We have to continue to be vigilant to make sure those coming are not affiliated with the terrorists, but we can do that.”

But of course that was then. Now, Cruz thinks it’s “lunacy” to bring “the tired, huddled masses” from Syria here.

“It is nothing less than lunacy,” Cruz said as recently as last Saturday. “It makes no sense whatsoever for us to be bringing in refugees who our intelligence cannot determine if they are terrorists here to kill us or not. Those who are fleeing persecution should be resettled in the Middle East in majority Muslim countries.”

And when the president basically quoted what Cruz said in February and said it was “shameful” that governors are now against bring refugees here, Cruz took it personally and dared the president to “come back and insult me to my face!” Total insanity if you ask me.

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Jeb Bush Flips – Now He’s Concerned about ALL Syrian Refugees – Video

What a difference a couple of days make… and a smack down from the President of the United States helped.

Just Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Jeb Bush fell in line with the other Republican presidential candidates demanding Syrian refugees remain in Syria where they are being slaughtered by ISIS and the Syrian regime. In that CNN interview however, Jeb didn’t close his heart from all Syrian refugees, he was willing to allow only the Christian refugees access to the United States.

“There are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now,” Jeb said, while talking about whether we should allow refugees here in the United States. “They’ll [Christians] be either executed or imprisoned, either by Assad or by ISIS. We should focus our efforts as it relates to the refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered.”

In other words, a Religious test to decide who we save and who gets slaughtered.

President Obama had something to say about that!

“That’s shameful,”the President said. “That’s not American. That’s not who we are…We don’t have religious tests to our compassion. We do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.”

Those words from the president apparently had some effect on Jeb and he admitted in the interview that he thought the president was talking directly to him. So with that, the interviewers asked Jeb if he felt refugees – not just Christian refugees, but Muslim refugees as well – should be allowed in the United States?

Jeb offered his new position – “the answer to this is not to ban people from coming” but “to lead, to resolve the problem in Syria.” He then went on to say, “I don’t think we should eliminate our support for refugees,” Bush added. “It’s been a noble tradition in our country for many years.”

Nice flip Bush, nice flip! Have you met Mitt Romney?

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New Jersey Politics Syria

Chris Christie – No Refugees in New Jersey, Especially “Orphans under 5 years old”

Tough-talking Chris Christie showed his breaking point Monday when he interviewed by phone with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, and expressed his concern for Syrian refugees coming to his state. And as far as Christie goes, he’s not having any of these people in New Jersey, not even “orphans under 5!”

“I do not trust this administration to effectively vet the people who are proposed to be coming in in order to protect the safety and security of the American people, so I would not permit them in,” Christie said.

Hewitt then asked, “What if they were orphans under the age of 5?”

“You know, Hugh, we can come up with 18 different scenarios. The fact is that we need appropriate vetting, and I don’t think orphans under 5 should be admitted into the United States at this point. You know, they have no family here. How are we going to care for these folks?” Christie said. “The fact is, you can come up with a number of different scenarios, Hugh, but in the end, I don’t trust this administration to effectively vet the people that they’re asking us to take in. We need to put the safety and security of the American people first.”

The governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Massachusetts have gone further as to move formally to block refugees from relocating into their states – at least for now.

It should be noted that governors cannot turn people away from their state. They simply cannot say who can and cannot come in.

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Domestic Policies Foreign Policies ISIS News Politics Russia Syria Terrorism

Does This Mean War?

I’m being a bit of a coward by posing my title as a question, but I do firmly believe that the western world is headed towards a much larger, more coordinated and, ultimately, more deadly military conflict. If it sounds like war, smells like war, destroys like war, breeds intolerance like war, then it must be a war.

And we’re in one.

I fear that there are more attacks coming in places that think they’re prepared, but are not. After all, Vladimir Putin thought he was going to help Assad in Syria and escape the fate that has befallen the United States, France and Great Britain. He was wrong, and 224 Russians savagely and tragically lost their lives. The French have been attacked twice this year. Israel is under constant threat.Who’s next?

I went on Facebook on Friday night after reading about the attacks and saw many people who had attached the peace sign with the Eiffel Tower in it, the French flag, and pictures of the people I know from their Paris vacations. But I also saw some vitriolic hatred directed towards all Muslim, and I mean ALL Muslims, even though they are not terrorists, and I saw the requisite number of posts calling President Obama a Muslim and blaming him for this, and seemingly every other attack, whether it was on US soil or not. It’s still gauche, evidently, to blame GW Bush for September 11, but blaming Obama for an attack on Paris is de rigueur, at least among a certain segment of the population.

Foreign policy will be a key factor in the upcoming presidential election and the GOP field had better begin focusing on policies other than building a very high wall on the Mexican border, throwing people out of the country and reestablishing the fortress America that served us so badly from 1924 to 1965. It also means that Bernie Sanders had better come up with a foreign policy plank that offers Democrats a choice between him and Hillary Clinton. Obviously, she has the most experience in the field by a wide margin. She’s got to make Americans believe that she can keep us safe, but engaged in the world. We need to stay strong.

My heart goes out to those who lost a loved one or who was injured in the attacks. The world has now shifted.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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isil ISIS Politics Syria

Major ISIS Leader Killed in US Special Forces Raid

Another win for America. Another win for the president many Republicans say is “soft on terrorism.”

Islamic State senior commander, Abu Sayyaf, was killed and his wife captured in Syria during a raid by U.S. Special Forces, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.

The operation in eastern Syria was authorized by President Barack Obama, according to a statement from Carter. He said Abu Sayyaf helped direct Islamic State’s oil, gas and financial operations and that his wife, Umm Sayyaf, was suspected of involvement in the militant group’s activities.

The raid comes after Obama’s meeting at the presidential retreat at Camp David with leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which has expressed concerns about the president’s policies in Syria and Iraq.

“The operation represents another significant blow to ISIL, and it is a reminder that the United States will never waver in denying safe haven to terrorists who threaten our citizens, and those of our friends and allies,” Carter said, using an alternative term for Islamic State.

Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces, none of whom were killed or injured, according to the statements from Carter and Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council. Umm Sayyaf is being held by the U.S. military in Iraq, Meehan said.

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Iraq ISIS Syria

The Pentagon Confirms – ISIS Now Has U.S Weapons

What now Republicans? What great idea do you have now to fight ISIS. “Arm the rebels” you screamed every day on my television and although the president told you that was not a good idea, you screamed louder. Well the President listened, and now it has been confirmed that ISIS has our weapons!

What now Republicans? We are giving them weapons to fight us! Not Smart! Unless… wait a second… was this your plan all along?

The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters took possession of a stray bundle of U.S.-airdropped weapons and other supplies in the Syrian border town of Kobani earlier this week.

The U.S. had dropped 28 bundles filled with grenades, mortar rounds and other supplies intended for Kurdish fighters in Kobani battling ISIS, but at least one had gone astray and was immediately destroyed.

However, Pentagon officials confirmed a second one had gone off course and ended up in enemy hands. A YouTube video uploaded on Tuesday appeared to show an ISIS militant going through an array of boxes, at least two of which contained grenades.

“We have determined a second bundle also went astray,” Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren acknowledged on Wednesday.”There’s always going to be some margin of error” when airdropping supplies, Warren added. “Wind can cause a parachute to move off its intended target.”

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isil Politics Syria

Vice President Joe Biden Issues Apology to Turkish Leader

The Vice President spoke to the leader of the Turkish people on Saturday and apologized for comments he made on Thursday, the White House said.

In a speech on Thursday, the Vice President of the United States said that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has conceded that Turkey mistakenly helped foreign fighters trying to unseat the Syrian government, foreign fighters like ISIS. Needless to say, the statement did not go over well with the Turks, prompting President Erdogan to say that Biden would become “history to me.”

According to the White House, the Vice President apologized “for any implication” that Turkey or other allies had intentionally supplied or helped in the growth of the Islamic State group or other extremists groups in Syria.

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Breaking: The U.S Has Began Bombing ISIS Targets in Syria

The United States launched airstrikes in Syria against ISIS targets, sources tell NBC News. The U.S. military plans to strike up to 20 targets — logistics, fuel and weapons depots; training sites; troop encampments; command and control sites; and headquarters for the Sunni fighters.

The U.S. military will deploy manned and unmanned air assets, including F-22s, B-1 bombers, F-16s, F-15s and F/A-18s. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is at the ready in the Persian Gulf, and the USS Arleigh Burke, a guided missile destroyer that fires Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs), is in the Red Sea.

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Iraq ISIS Syria

ISIS Releases 49 Hostages

Dozens of Turkish hostages abducted by Islamist militants in northern Iraq were freed Saturday after three months in captivity, CNN reports.

Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria raided the Turkish consulate in June and seized 49 people, including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz.

Others abducted included his family, children and other citizens who were at the consulate in Mosul at the time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Of the total, three were local employees and 46 were Turkish citizens. All were freed and the latter are now in their home country, Turkish authorities said.

It’s unclear how they were freed, but Erdogan thanked Turkish intelligence officials in a statement on his website.

“I thank … every single member of the national intelligence agency from the director to the field operatives,” he said. “I congratulate them for their big success from the bottom of my heart.”

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From Summer to Serious

I’ve always found it interesting when the calendar changes to the day after Labor Day and the country gets serious. The rest of the world doesn’t know from this holiday and I’m sure there’s a great deal of literature on how the calendar affects world affairs. Thus, here we are.

The world continues to be on fire. ISIS, Syria, Israel, Palestine, West Africa, and English towns that breed terrorists are mainstays of the 24-hour news cycle. The president is excoriated for suggesting that we are at a loss over what to do about increasing threats overseas. Texas is on alert for possible infiltration across the Mexican border. But don’t worry about that too much because Chris Christie was just in Mexico and I’m sure he’ll scare off the militants. Of course, he hasn’t a clue about foreign policy, but at least he didn’t pull a Romney on his first foreign trip.

On the domestic political front, the big issue is that Congress is going to meet for a few days, adjourn, and go home to run for those all-important safe seats that 96% of the members occupy. Excepting, of course, those few Senate seats that are up for grabs. It’s interesting to note that except for 2010, a big exception, I know, the Republican moon-bayers have been unable to defeat Obama and the Democrats and scare the country into giving the conservatives the control they will never, ever have. Yes, the House has been able to wreak havoc on the country and, by the by, their own party, but they have not been successful at implementing their agenda. They’ve only stymied the Democrats but for the 2009-2011 Congressional session.

Oh, and that ACA law thing? It’s working fairly well. You know, millions of people now have health insurance, doctors are able to give elderly people more care, poor people can get Medicaid, except in states that don’t take free money but say they are fiscally responsible. But no worries on that because those states that deny the money are actually paying so that the states that did take free Medicaid money can cover their populations. I live in one of those states. My governor wants to be president. Scared yet?

But if the Senate goes to the GOP, then both houses of Congress will vote to repeal the ACA, right? Well, possibly, but right now the GOP isn’t taking the Senate. And chances are good that they won’t. You heard it here third.

Did we even have a summer?

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Mother’s Emotional Plea to ISIS for Her Son’s Release – Video

After seeing the brutal killing of American journalist James Foley last week, Shirley Sotloff, mother of another captured American journalist Steven Sotloff, issued a video plea to the leader of the terrorist group asking for her son’s release.

“”Steven is a journalist who traveled to the Middle East to cover the suffering of Muslims at the hands of tyrants. Steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson,” Shirley Sotloff says, adding that her son “is an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak.”

“I ask you to please release my child,” she says, “I plead with you to grant me this.”

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