Free Republic

An Orange County man who had fought with Syrian rebels against the Assad regime was arrested Friday morning as he tried to leave the U.S. with a fake passport to fight for al Qaeda against U.S. soldiers overseas, said authorities. Twenty-four-year-old Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove, also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum, was stopped at a bus station in Santa Ana, Calif. at 7:30 a.m. by members of the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force and arrested on suspicion of providing material support to al Qaeda. At the courthouse, his mother, Hieu Nguyen, told The Associated Press...

I was born at the beginning of the Second World War into a family of high school teachers who were members of the Communist Party, and therefore were actually part of a vast conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of this country, although they would never have looked at it that way, and so-called liberals would be the first to deny it. n those days, the schools were old fashioned enough that my parents did not use their classrooms to indoctrinate students as tens of thousands of university professors and even more K-12 teachers regularly do today. It is also an...

Details are sketchy at this late hour, but CNN and others are reporting via Twitter that the Libyan PM has been “kidnapped.” revenge for al Libi raid?

Only a few months have passed since President Obama last boasted that al Qaeda is on "the path to defeat." The jihadist groups can work independently, but most are reported to coordinate their carnage with Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's successor as the al Qaeda leader. And it was he, the United States says, who ordered coordinated attacks on American embassies and consulates in August, a plan that prompted the United States to close more than 20 of them. Where is this leading? The State Department says "current information suggests that al Qaeda, its affiliated organizations and other terrorist groups continue...

Al-Qaeda has now welcomed al-Shabab--the group responsible for the Kenya mall attack--into its ranks. Despite the targeted US killing of al-Qaeda leaders, more and more terrorist groups are joining the al-Qaeda network and expanding membership - what led former Australian intelligence analyst Leah Farrell to say, "al-Qaeda's bigger now than it ever has been." Both Osama bin Laden's death and the Arab Spring unrest allowed the al-Qaeda network to grow much stronger.

A federal judge has ordered the release of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner suffering from severe mental illness who has been spent much of his time at a psychiatric ward on the U.S. naval base since he arrived more than 11 years ago. U.S. officials say Idris, who is in his 50s, was captured with al-Qaeda fighters in 2001 by Pakistani forces while attempting to cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Samantha Lewthwaite, the County Down born woman known as the White Widow, evaded capture at the Kenyan shopping mall by smearing blood over her face, security sources there have said.

“We got the heads up that they will be barricaded and specifically asked for an exception for these heroes,” Palazzo told TheDC. “We were denied and told, ‘It’s a government shutdown, what do you expect?’ when we contacted the liaison for the White House.” Palazzo’s office was in touch with the heads of the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and the Capitol Police. He says all these officials rejected his request to allow the veterans, many of whom are octogenarians and some of whom are in poor health, to attend.

<p>As if the senseless massacre of innocents in Nairobi’s Westgate mall was not horrific enough, reports are surfacing that the Islamic terrorists who seized the mall last weekend tortured, beheaded, raped, and mutilated their victims before killing them. A police doctor who entered the mall after the attack said these reports “are not allegations. Those are f***ing truths.”</p>

The Justice Department announced Monday that it is suing the state of North Carolina for alleged racial discrimination over tough new voter ID rules. The suit claims that the North Carolina statute violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and would seek to have the state subject to federal pre-clearance before making "future voting-related changes." The suit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn. Attorney General Eric Holder said "by restricting access and ease of voter participation, this new law would shrink, rather than expand, access" to voting. The Justice Department will ask a federal judge...

'A British man who offered himself as a hostage to save the lives of a group of children was today described by colleagues as a 'born leader'. Mitul Shah, 38, a sales executive from London attempted to strike a deal with the terrorists, replacing children with himself, a heroic act which gave several victims vital time to escape. The selfless father did not get through to the gunmen and was shot alongside a number of children in the Kenyan tragedy, leaving behind his wife and two-year-old daughter. Today his employers, the cooking oil company Bidco Oil, and his work colleagues...

In Western news-making and opinion-forming circles, there’s a palpable reluctance to talk about the most noteworthy thing about modern Islamist violence: its barbarism, its graphic lack of moral restraint. This goes beyond the BBC's yellow reluctance to deploy the T-word – terrorism – in relation to the bloody assault on the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya at the weekend. Across the commentating board, people are sheepish about pointing out the historically unique lunacy of Islamist violence and its utter detachment from any recognisable moral universe or human values. We have to talk about this barbarism; we have to appreciate how...

POTISKUM, NIGERIA Suspected Islamic extremists attacked an agricultural college in the dead of night, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in dormitories and torching classrooms, the school's provost said, reporting the latest violence in northeastern Nigeria's ongoing Islamic uprising. As many as 50 students may have been killed in the assault that began at about 1 a.m. Sunday in rural Gujba, Provost Molima Idi Mato of Yobe State College of Agriculture, told The Associated Press. "They attacked our students while they were sleeping in their hostels, they opened fire at them," he said.

Suspected Islamist gunmen have attacked a college in north-eastern Nigeria, killing up to 50 students. The students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitory at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state. North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency amid an Islamist insurgency by the Boko Haram group. Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow Nigeria's government to create an Islamic state, and has launched a number of attacks on schools. Casualty figures from the latest attack vary, but a local politician told the BBC that around 50 students had been killed. The politician said two vanloads of...

For Israel and Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, President Obama’s telephone call with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Friday was the geopolitical equivalent of discovering your best friend flirting with your main rival. Though few nations have a greater interest in Mr. Obama’s promise to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, his overtures to Mr. Rouhani were greeted with alarm here and in other Middle East capitals allied with the United States. They worry about Iran’s sincerity, and fear that Mr. Obama’s desire for a diplomatic deal will only buy Iran time to continue a march toward...

The West thought it was winning the battle against jihadist terrorism. It should think again. A FEW months ago Barack Obama declared that al-Qaeda was “on the path to defeat”. Its surviving members, he said, were more concerned for their own safety than with plotting attacks on the West. Yet the inconvenient truth is that, in the past 18 months, despite the relentless pummelling it has received and the defeats it has suffered, al-Qaeda and its jihadist allies have staged an extraordinary comeback. The terrorist network now holds sway over more territory and is recruiting more fighters than at any...

“We knew our Muslim neighbours all our lives,” Georgios says .... we thought they would never betray us. We ate with them. We are one people. Every time there is a conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims, "moderate" Muslims always join the jihadis. We've seen this time and time again all over the world. This is never discussed in the media. Read this.  "Syria crisis: In sacred Maaloula, where they speak the language of Christ, war leads neighbours into betrayal"  The Independent, September 28, 2013 (thanks to Filip) Muslims and Christians had lived together in this town of churches and...

There have been questions about Mohamed Elibiary’s true allegiances for years. He was one of the speakers at a December 2004 conference in Dallas titled “A Tribute to the Great Islamic Visionary.” The visionary in question was none other than the founding father of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini.When I questioned him about his appearance at such a conference, Elibiary claimed that he hadn’t known what kind of conference it was going to be, although he didn’t explain why he went ahead and appeared there anyway once he found out. Among those who found this explanation...

“Have a nice day”—this is how Iranian President Hassan Rohani concluded his phone conversation with US President Barack Obama, the first direct contact between leaders of the two nations in over three decades. A message on Rohani’s Twitter page, which has since been deleted, stated that Obama answered in Farsi by saying “khodahafez” to indicate goodbye, whose literal meaning is “may God be with you.” The tweet was one of several Rohani posted after the historic phone conversation. He noted that Obama had phoned him and told him he was positive that relations between Iran and the US would have...

Senior Hezbollah and Hamas officials met with representatives of the Iranian government several times over the past two weeks in Beirut and in Tehran, to discuss developments in the region, Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported Monday. The parties conducted an assessment of recent events in the Middle East, including the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Syrian crisis and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Officials reportedly also agreed to fortify what they called the “axis of resistance.” …

US President Obama today applauded a deal reached on a United Nations resolution to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, calling it a potentially huge victory for the international community. Obama hailed the resolution and disarmament plans as a "legally binding" and "verifiable" initiative which threatens consequences if Syria did not adhere to conditions. Under a deal reached yesterday, a proposed UN resolution would require Syria to give up its chemical weapons stockpiles and allow inspectors access to all sites. The proposal does not call for force, which would require a second resolution if Syria fails to comply.

'Eyes gouged out, bodies hanging from hooks, and fingers removed with pliers': Horrific claims of torture emerge as soldiers reveal gory Kenyan mall massacre details Kenyan soldiers claim to find scenes of torture by mall terrorists They say children found dead in food fridges with knives still in bodies Men were said to have been castrated and had fingers removed By Paul Bentley Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2434278/Kenya-mall-attack-torture-claims-emerge-soldiers-Eyes-gouged-bodies-hooks-fingers-removed.html#ixzz2g8kwK3gd Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

A document found after Somali troops killed Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al Qaeda's former leader in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander, details a plot to conduct multiple Mumbai-like attacks that target civilians in London. The plot highlights how al Qaeda and Shabaab seek to strike civilian targets outside Somalia, and foreshadowed Shabaab's attack on the Eastgate Mall in Kenya this week. -------------------------------------------------------------------snip--------------------------------------- Fazul said that the "first target" in London would be "Jewish communities with tens of thousands of Jews crammed in a small area" in the Golders Green and Stamford Hill neighborhoods of the city. "Our plan is...

President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first direct conversation between leaders of the United States and Iran since 1979. Obama believes a comprehensive agreement is possible regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, telling reporters at the White House that "the test will be meaningful, transparent and verifiable action" and if proven would ease international sanctions in place against Iran. The news of the historic telephone conversation between the two presidents also played out on Twitter in Rouhani's posts. It was unclear whether Rouhani was retweeting direct messages between the two or curating his conversation on Twitter.

It was at 11.44am that time stood still at All Saints' Church. The clock on the wall is frozen at the very minute seven-year-old Shyam Emmanuel lost his parents. In that same moment, seven children were sent to their deaths along with 78 adults who had congregated outside the gleaming white walls of Peshawar's main Christian place of worship.

Soldiers told of the horrific torture meted out by terrorists in the Nairobi mall massacre yesterday with claims hostages were dismembered, had their eyes gouged out and were left hanging from hooks in the ceiling. Men were said to have been castrated and had fingers removed with pliers before being blinded and hanged. Children were found dead in the food court fridges with knives still embedded in their bodies, it was claimed.

That’s an interesting question considering that the government has broken down, the country is on the verge of civil war and Al Qaeda terrorists are openly operating training camps there. “In Libya, when the Security Council provided a mandate to protect civilians,” Obama said at the UN “America joined a coalition that took action. Because of what we did there, countless lives were saved, and a tyrant could not kill his way back to power.” Obama went far beyond the UN mandate by bombing his way to regime change. His actions resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Africans in Libya,...

Some of the largest Free Syrian Army brigades teamed up with an al Qaeda affiliate and other large Islamist groups to reject the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition and call for the establishment of sharia, or Islamic Law, throughout Syria. The move is a major blow to the US-backed Syrian National Coalition and Free Syrian Army, which the West has held up as the moderate faction of the Syrian rebellion. Abd al Aziz Salamah, the leader of Liwa al Islam, announced that 11 rebel groups, including al Qaeda's Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, signed a statement that...

The State Department has done almost nothing to enhance security at dangerous diplomatic outposts since last year’s deadly Benghazi attack, the department’s chief watchdog reported. In an audit released Wednesday, the State Department’s inspector general blasted the department for failing to formulate a strategy to protect high-risk installations abroad, even after Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered during a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2012. “The Department of State has neither a conceptual framework nor a process for risk management,” the report reads. “There is no one person or office specifically tasked to oversee the assessment...

Magnus von Buddenbrock and Stefanie Giesselbach arrived in Chicago in 2006 full of hope. He was 30, she was 28, and they had both won their first overseas assignments at ALW Food Group, a family-owned food-trading company based in Hamburg. Von Buddenbrock had joined ALW—the initials stand for its founder, Alfred L. Wolff—four years earlier after earning a degree in marketing and international business, and he was expert in the buying and selling of gum arabic, a key ingredient in candy and soft drinks. Giesselbach had started at ALW as a 19-year-old apprentice. She worked hard, learned quickly, spoke five...

During an interview on PBS Newshour on Monday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed claimed that foreign nationals, including “two or three Americans” and “one Brit,” were among the terrorists who attacked Nairobi’s Westgate mall on Saturday, killing more than 60 people and injuring around 200. The assertion was also made by Kenya’s police chief-of-staff General Julius Karangi, who said that the terrorists, members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab, were a “multinational collection from all over the world.” Mohamed told PBS that the American gunmen had spent time in Minnesota, were aged 18 or 19, and of Somali or Arab...

The al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab has launched a lengthy massacre in an upscale Nairobi mall popular with Westerners, with a death toll of at least 59 people so far. The attack comes in reprisal for Kenya’s participation in suppressing the terrorist networks that operate in al-Shabaab’s home base of Somalia, and specifically targeted “non-Muslims.” It’s essentially a replay of Mumbai from five years ago, with the only question remaining is how many more will the terrorists kill before getting killed themselves or committing suicide. The terrorists told Muslims to clear out of the mall before attacking the rest:(VIDEO-AT-LINK) The Kenyan military...

As we confront yet another weekend of jihadist violence – with 81 Christians dead in Pakistan, 142 dead after a jihadist killing spree in Nigeria, and 62 innocents slaughtered in a Kenyan shopping mall – we should remember three key (and infuriating) realities: First, the sustained and deadly jihadist violence that has swept the Muslim world cannot be maintained without broad and deep support from the Muslim population. Tens of thousands of jihadists are recruited, trained, and funded from a much larger network of sympathetic Muslim civilians who share the jihadists’ goals but not always the same willingness to die....

Kenyan official reveals he suspects the involvement of fugitive 7/7 'white widow' Samantha Lewthwaite Soldiers said a white woman wearing a veil was shouting orders to gunmen in Arabic during the bloody massacre inside the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. Islamist terror group Al Shabaab claimed it carried out the atrocity in which three Britons were killed and 175 people were left injured. It said last night on Twitter that Samantha Lewthwaite, the ‘white widow’ of London 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was ‘in their ranks’ and a ‘brave lady’. Fifteen hostages were still trapped inside the shopping centre after more...

The last month and a half has seen perhaps the worst anti-Christian violence in Egypt in seven centuries, with dozens of churches torched. Yet the western media has mainly focussed on army assaults on the Muslim Brotherhood, and no major political figure has said anything about the sectarian attacks. Last week at the National Liberal Club there was a discussion asking why the American and British press have ignored or under-reported this persecution, and (in some people’s minds) given a distorted narrative of what is happening.

LONDON: The wife of one of the 2005 London bombings prime suspects, dubbed the "white widow", was on Monday linked to the ongoing siege at a shopping centre in Kenya. Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was reportedly spotted shouting orders to gunmen in Arabic during the attack on the Westgate complex in the Kenyan capital, according to a media report. The 29-year-old is reportedly a member of Somali al-Shabaab movement, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, and is wanted by Kenyan police over links to a suspected terrorist cell. According to "Daily Mirror", she is a...

Some barricaded themselves in storerooms, while others hid in boxes or even played dead. All were fleeing the bloody massacre unfolding around them as they saw terrified fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim. Men, women and children were lined up and then gunned down with AK-47s after failing to name the Prophet Mohammed’s mother or recite passages from the Koran – sure-fire proof they were ‘kafirs’, or non-believers. Others fled and sought refuge in shops, bank vaults and store rooms as grenades exploded and bullets fired around them. The fortunate ones managed to emerge blood-splattered and

Sharyl Attkisson talked about the investigation into attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, following a series of House hearings on the subject earlier in the week. She also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. At the conclusion of the program, C-SPAN Radio’s Nancy Calo previewed Sunday morning talk shows. Due to technical difficulties, the audio and sound are out of synch. The audio with Ms. Attkisson begins approximately two minutes into the program.

That's right, the terrorist-sponsoring Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial, FBI "consultants" and promoters of Obama's Muslim Brotherhood BFFs, just changed their name to the Washington Trust Foundation. WTF? Or perhaps more to the point, WHY? An explosive story posted Sunday by Charles Johnson at the Daily Caller reveals that CAIR, er, excuse me, WTF, has apparently been laundering money obtained from Middle East donors in violation of federal law. While it publicly presents itself as a single organization, CAIR has in fact created a multitude of 501(c)(3) organizations and a 501(c)(4), CAIR...

While a horrified world watches the images coming out of Kenya in the aftermath of the massacre at a Nairobi mall perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists, another less bloody but just as morally reprehensible atrocity unfolded online: the sickeningly biased coverage of the attack produced by some mainstream media outlets determined to provide cover for the jihadists. The BBC’s lead story this afternoon was almost a study in journalistic malfeasance: an archetypal example of how left-leaning Western journalists will violate their own consciences — and the basic principles of reporting — in their relentless quest to hide the truth. Such bias...

Kenya, Pakistan Still Reeling from Terror Attacks Monday, September 23, 2013 Islamic terrorists launched major attacks in two continents over the weekend, killing more than 80 people in Pakistan and dozens in a hostage standoff at a popular mall in Kenya. In Pakistan, Christians want the government to provide more protection for minorities after suicide bombs killed more than 80 people Sunday. And in Kenya, security forces still haven't taken the mall where members of the al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, al-Shabab, killed dozens of non-Muslim shoppers. The group is now holed up with hostages and it is not clear how...

Terror Group That Claimed Kenya Attack Has Recruited Americans Before Sept. 22, 2013 By BRIAN ROSS, JAMES GORDON MEEK and MEGAN CHUCHMACH Brian Ross More from Brian » ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Home> Investigative Unit Terror Group That Claimed Kenya Attack Has Recruited Americans Before Sept. 22, 2013 By BRIAN ROSS, JAMES GORDON MEEK and MEGAN CHUCHMACH Brian Ross More from Brian » ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent The same group that claimed responsibility for an attack on a Kenyan mall this weekend that has claimed at least 62 lives has previously recruited dozens of Americans to join their...

Kenyan security forces, including commando teams and military helicopters, launched a "final assault" on the luxury shopping mall in Nairobi where a group of armed militants were holding around 30 hostages. As night fell in the Kenyan capital a huge blast reverberated around the Westgate mall, where the attackers – thought to be members of the Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab – had been holed up since shooting their way into the shopping centre on Saturday afternoon. Two hours later the Kenyan defence forces tweeted that they had rescued most of the hostages and secured most of the mall. Four soldiers...

If ever there was a terrorist attack that cries out the name “President Barack Hussein Obama!” the massacre at Kenya’s Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi is it. The Somalian terrorist group, al-Shabaab, which has links to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the slaughter of at least 68 people, including Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges and an as yet unnamed other Canadian. Imagine this horrific scene: Terrified shoppers hid behind counters as the gunmen went on the rampage using guns and grenades. (Daily Mail, Sept. 22, 2013) Today 10 to 15 hostages are still trapped in the shopping center as security forces...

CAIRO (AP) -- An Egyptian court has banned the Muslim Brotherhood group and ordered its assets confiscated in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the military-backed government against supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Egypt state TV said the court issued its ruling on Monday.

<p>The bloody jihadist assault on a Kenyan shopping mall shows that while al Qaeda forces may be dispersed, they are still highly dangerous. The gunmen fired their way into the crowd Saturday afternoon and hurled grenades as they made their way to the upper levels. At least 68 people had been killed and 205 injured as we went to press. Dozens more are being held hostage. Escapees report the terrorists are targeting Westerners and non-Muslims.</p>

Denial is the first stage of coming to terms with the unthinkable. In Westgate, a Kenyan mall oriented toward expats, terrorists separated Muslims from non-Muslims before killing them. The Muslims were allowed to go free if they could recite a Muslim prayer. During the attack, Al Shabaab’s Arabic Twitter account quoted the Koran, “Plant firmly our feet and give us victory over (Al-Kafireen) the disbelieving people.” (Koran 2:250). The Kuffar, the non-Muslims of Westgate, included small children. “I don’t understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child,” one of the survivors said. But the five-year-old was not a Muslim. Moments...

Westgate Shopping Centre on fire amid fears that terrorists have carried out suicide bomb attack Claims that five of the attackers are American and two are British Men, women and children slaughtered if they could not recite Koran or name Prophet Mohammed's mother

According to a post by Jean-Patrick Grumberg at Dreuz.info, Muslims from Illinois, Maine, and Arizona were listed by al Shabaab along with the Muslims from Minnesota & Kansas City as being among the Islamic killers that perpetraded the Kenyan Mall Massacre. We re-arranged the Dreuze.info list putting the Muslims that were living in America at the top of the list. Ahmed Mohamed Isse, 22 ans, de Saint Paul, Minnesota Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid. 24 ans de Minneapolis [Minnesota] Gen Mustafe Noorudiin. 27 ans, de Kansas City. MO Abdelkarem Ali Mohamed, 21 ans, d’Illinois Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan 22 ans, du Maine Shafie...

Last night, as the bodies were still being counted at the shopping mall, one British woman was notably slow to join the condemnation. For Samantha Lewthwaite, the daughter of a former British soldier who grew up attending school discos in Buckinghamshire, views these awful events as a cause for jubilation. Kenyan anti-terror police revealed yesterday that Lewthwaite - who is known to many as the White Widow - may be the brains behind the operation to bring terror to the heart of Kenya, a country once synonymous with the sexual high-jinks of the Happy Valley expatriate set, but rapidly becoming...