Donald Trump caught in middle of Israel-Iran row over ballistic missile test claim

Donald Trump caught in middle of Israel-Iran row over ballistic missile test claim - Bethan McKernan - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/donald-trump-israel-iran-ballistic-missile-test-row-benjamin-netanyahu-new-sanctions-un-security-a7555186.html

 

US State Department says it is studying evidence Iran conducted a medium-range missile test violating terms of 2015 nuclear deal 

 

Donald Trump has faced his first Middle Eastern diplomacy spat as US President in the face of growing international concern over the alleged testing of a ballistic missile by Iran. 

 

US State Department spokesperson Mark Tone said on Monday that Tehran had test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile that exploded after 630 miles (1,000 km) and ended with a "failed" re-entry into the atmosphere. No other details were given. 

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif refused to confirm or deny to reporters on Tuesday whether the test had taken place, reiterating that Iran would "never use ballistic missiles to attack another country".

 

Iran's missiles, he added, are "not designed for the capability of carrying a nuclear warhead", and therefore not part of the 2015 nuclear deal struck between the country and world powers. 

 

Several non-nuclear tests have taken place since then.

 

Mr Zarif said he hoped the issue would not be used as "an excuse by the new US administration to create new tensions".

 

The historic US-Iran nuclear deal was implemented in July 2015. It eased the international sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy for decades in return for curbs to the country's nuclear program, reassuring the international community that Tehran - which has sworn the destruction of Israel - was not seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.  

 

On the campaign trail Mr Trump called the deal "a disaster" and suggested his administration would abandon it, although such rhetoric has simmered down since he won the US election last November.

 

 

The White House said on Monday it was looking into whether the missile test violated the UN Security Council that ratified the 2015 accord, and the UN is holding emergency talks on the matter at the request of the US. 

 

Israel, which Mr Trump views as a major ally, was quick to condemn the missile testing.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "flagrant violation" of the Security Council resolution that "must not go unanswered", adding that he would bring up the possibility of reinstating sanctions when he met with President Trump next month. 

 

Russia - Iran's major ally, but a country with which Mr Trump's administration is seeking better relations than under Barack Obama - said the test did not contravene the UN resolution.  

 

Tensions are already flaring between the US and Iran after President Trump's executive order temporarily banning citizens of Iran and six other Muslim countries from travelling to the US. 

 

In a reciprocal move, Mr Zarif said that Americans would not be issued travel visas until further notice.

 

 

The rule of law and your moral responsibility - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer was brought almost to tears over President Donald Trump's orders that limit immigration and refugees coming from the US from certain countries known for their radical Islamic terrorism. As the news media and Democratic Party progressives (communists) went into full attack mode against Trump, some people are pushing back and demonstrating that many presidents have limited immigration from time to time to protect America's national security. Trouble is, the rule of law has been only selectively enforced over the past eight years to the point that the globalists and anarchists think they can throw a fit every time a law is enforced with which they disagree.

 

The immoral and amoral thought they had secured a death grip on our free society. Then Christians stood up in this past election. That changed a lot. "Freedom sees in religion the companion of its struggles and its triumphs, the cradle of its infancy, the divine source of its rights. It considers religion as the safeguard of mores; and mores as the guarantee of laws and the pledge of its own duration."--these are the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat who came to America in the 1830s to observe what made the country so great. His "Democracy in America" is considered a historic treasure about the unique success of the United States. Tocqueville wrote that America is free because of its collective Christian religion.

 

He pointed out that the laws that governed the Plymouth colony were derived from the Hebrew texts. In the later 1600s, even the law of Connecticut stated that man shall not "have or worship any other God, but the Lord God." He said that Americans "have succeeded in incorporating somehow into one another and combining marvelously...the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom." According to the laws and the nature of early Americans, men and women who have the religious and political beliefs of many of those in leadership (progressives, socialists, communists, etc.) would have been forbidden to serve in such capacity, if not put to death for their immorality. Planned Parenthood, the Council on American Islamic Relations, Communist Party of America, and such, would have had absolutely no place in early America.

 

Cotton Mather wrote in 1820, "There is a liberty of corrupt nature, which is affected both by men and beasts, to do what they list; and this liberty is inconsistent with authority, impatient of all restraint; by this liberty we are all inferior;  'tis the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordinances of God are bent against it. But there is a civil, a moral, a federal liberty, which is the proper end and object of authority; it is a liberty for that only which is just and good; for this liberty you are to stand with the hazard of your very lives." Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." As Christians we must demand and accept no other form of liberty.

 

 

Russia freezes Syrian, Iranian military movements -

http://www.debka.com/article/25908/Russia-freezes-Syrian-Iranian-military-movements

 

An order to remain stationary was issued Thursday night, Jan. 26, by the Russian Commander in Syria Lt. Gen. Alexander Zhuravlev to the high commands of the Syrian army and of the Iranian and Shiite forces positioned in Aleppo, as well as Hezbollah units in all parts of Syria. Gen. Zhuravlev, acting on instructions from Moscow, prohibited any movement by those forces out of their current positions as of noon local time.

 

debkafile's military and intelligence sources report that the order banned the opening of new battlefronts anywhere in Syria and the movement of Syrian air force units between bases.

 

This order has been obeyed to date.

 

The ban came from Moscow to prevent military reprisals against the Putin-Trump deal for Syria. There was no mention of penalties for disobedience, but the tone was peremptory. The three army commanders did not need reminding that the Russians are capable of using their electronic warfare systems to disrupt unauthorized military movements, jam their communications, and withhold fuel, ammo and spare parts to create havoc in their armies.

 

Moscow has never resorted to extreme action of this kind in previous Russian military interventions in Middle East lands.

 

The decision was taken shortly after the Kremlin was notified that US President Donald Trump had agreed to join forces with President Vladimir Putin in Syria.

 

Since then, the Trump administration has kept all dealings with Moscow over Syria under a cloak of secrecy, including the outcome of President Trump's first phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. All other concerned parties, such as Israel, have been left groping in the dark about what happens next.

 

The Russian standstill order in Syria came shortly before the US presidential decree that barred Iranians from entering the United States (along with the nationals of six other terror-prone Muslim countries)

 

Iran can no longer doubt that the two powers, America and Russia, have ganged up to push the Islamic Republic out of their way. Trepidation in Tehran was articulated on Monday, Jan. 30, at a convention staged in the Iranian capital to celebrate 515 years of Iranian-Russian relations, an anniversary that would not normally be marked by a special event.

 

In his opening remarks, Foreign Minster Mohammed Zarif Javad said: that Iran and Russia "need to have far more extensive relations," and "few countries in the world have relations as deep and historical as Iran and Russia." This sounded like an appeal to Moscow for protection against the new US president. It most likely fell on deaf ears. Putin is fully engaged in promoting his new relations with Donald Trump.

 

 

Forewarning to Our New President - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

 

A Fox News person-can't remember who-reported that Paul Anka, writer of the song "My Way" had withdrawn from performing at one or another of the events scheduled during the inaugural festivities.

 

Anka reportedly said the inauguration gig conflicted with his schedule. He thus joined a long list of celebrities and performers who said they would not be a part of the Trump victory celebration.

 

CNN, it was reported, gave a news flash that Nancy Sinatra, daughter of the late crooner Frank Sinatra, was furious that Mr. Trump would use the song "My Way" in the presidential celebration. She was, it was reported, incensed because it was the song her father made famous by recording it.

 

Ms. Sinatra, however, it became clear, was incensed not at Mr. Trump, but at CNN for what has become known as a fake news story. She reportedly was angry because the story was not true and she was said to have responded, "It's not true. Why should I care? Why would they (CNN) lie about this?"

 

That's a question many voters asked themselves before the vote by the electorate was cast in this presidential election. The diatribes by mainstream news hounds, favoring one candidate over the other, included lying the likes of which has rarely if ever reached the level it did in this election cycle.

 

The song "My Way" and the lies surrounding it serve to open the way for me to issue this warning to our new president, as suggested by the commentary's title. 

 

I'll say this at the outset. I can't help but like the song. I've always-Lord, help me-liked it, particularly the way ol' Elvis sang it. However, it is one of the most anti-God songs ever created. It is straight from the mind of the old serpent himself, I have no doubt. That's why it is so appealing to the human mind and why even believers such as myself-weak in many ways because of the fallen nature of man-can't help but like the song.

 

"My Way" tells the story of how the person singing it lived totally on his or her own terms. These didn't listen to or bow the knee to anyone. They did it all-their way.

 

It's not just a matter that the song is one of boasting about how great one is; it is a repudiation of God Himself. That might not have been Mr. Anka's thought in writing it, but if you study the words, it is hubris that reflects Lucifer's own words in Isaiah 14:14.

 

Getting back to our new president and his choosing the song for inclusion in his celebratory festivities, such hubris is likely, one hopes, not Mr. Trump's own attitude. We should prayerfully hope-and believe-that he doesn't-by making this song a part of his celebration-harbor the thought that he is now president only because of his own greatness and ability.

 

We have heard him state his thanks to so many-to the whole national voting public that cast their votes for him, in fact. I have heard him say that God is the one who made America "great" in the first place, and will do so again.

 

Still, I'm concerned when I know he-like myself-can't help but like this song. It appeals to the pride that can so easily swell within each human being.

 

The Lord tells us in His Word that he hates "a proud look" (Proverbs 6: 17). He further says "he that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer" (Psalm 101:5). And, again, "An high look and a proud heart...is sin" (Proverbs 21:4).

 

God tells the end of all such pride in one's self ability. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).

 

Being blind, I, of course, couldn't see any of the presidential ball festivities. I did hear them, and the song "My Way" seemed to be the central theme song at each of the three.

 

Again, I couldn't see it, but was told that at one point the new president, while dancing with the new first lady, looked into a nearby camera and mouthed the words, "I did it my way."

 

So, it is hearsay, not a firsthand account. Perhaps some of the readers of this commentary witnessed this silent comment by the president.

 

I was a supporter of Donald Trump and continue to be so as he promises to move America forward and lead us out of the slide into the abyss into which we are headed. Mr. Trump is often audacious and outspoken, and to be frank, it is one of the traits that endeared him to many-myself included-that is, to the extent that I like his pushing back against the pay-no-attention-to-the-American-people arrogance of Washington D.C. insiders and mainstream media types.

 

That said, I must issue this warning, Mr. President. You, I, and America must do it  "God's way," not "My way," as Mr. Anka, Mr. Sinatra, or even ol' Elvis would have it. Our very national existence depends upon this truth.

 

 Pushback on Trump ban by radical Islamist groups - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

An unindicted co-conspirator in the Holyland terrorist money laundering scheme and a designate terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates is filing a Constitutional challenge to President Donald Trump's temporary US entry ban on people from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan without "extreme vetting," and banning refugees from these countries for at least 30 days. The Council on American Islamic Relations says the ban is targeting people of the Islamic faith from Muslim-majority countries. CAIR national litigation director Lena F. Masri says there is no evidence that refugees "are a threat to national security" and that the order is "based on bigotry, not reality." The ACLU is also enjoined.

 

The group reportedly is instigating #Muslimban protests at major US airports in San Francisco, Dallas, New York, Washington DC, Chicago and other cities. Breitbart reports: "On Saturday, protests broke out at airports around the country, including New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Saturday morning, two Iraqis were detained at JFK. CAIR chapters were actively promoting the protests on social media and acting as spokesmen for the issue." Time Magazine concurred: "The demonstration, led by the New York Chapter of the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was hastily organized in response to Trump's executive orders restricting immigration from Muslim countries and efforts to curb undocumented immigration within the US."

 

These organizations were also sponsors of the Women's March on Washington, DC after the inauguration. They are distinctly anti-American and seek to replace the US government with a Marxist or Marxist Islamic governance. This has been specifically stated by officers of CAIR. And the Marxist philosophy of the ACLU is well known. They are trying to twist the narrative of national security into a civil disruption based on bigotry, hatred, and racism. In reality, Trump's actions are to allow proper vetting of refugees, to prevent illegal entry and terrorism. This is not a ban on Muslims entering the US, but rather a temporary ban on people entering the US from certain countries until they are properly vetted.

 

President Trump's and the American people's quest to restore law and order and personal and national security is being met with stiff resistance from those who seek lawlessness to their own ends. This is not about religious freedom or any kind of hate "isms", it's about doing whatever they can to destroy our nation and doing it in the name of justice. As Habakkuk 1:4 says, "Therefore the law is slacked, and justice does never go forth: for the wicked does surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds." Trump and the American people must stand up to this as is found in Amos 5:15, "Hate the evil, and love the good and establish judgment in the gate." In doing so, anger will arise among the evil.

 

 

The President is right to protect the homeland from Radical Islam - Joel C. Rosenberg -

https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/the-president-is-right-to-protect-the-homeland-from-radical-islam-but-this-executive-order-was-poorly-drafted-and-mishandled-it-can-should-be-fixed-then-trump-should-work-closely-with-our-mod/

 

But this Executive Order was poorly drafted and mishandled. It can & should be fixed. Then Trump should work closely with our moderate Muslim allies and seek the counsel of their leaders.

 

President Trump triggered a firestorm of domestic and global confusion and protest over his new Executive Order issued on Friday.

 

First let me say that I am grateful for an American Commander-in-Chief who finally recognizes the threat posed by followers of Radical Islam and is willing to take bold and decisive action to protect the American people.

 

There is a real and serious threat that ISIS or groups like it will try to launch massive terror attacks inside the territory of the United States. There are FBI investigations of ISIS in all 50 states, and the ISIS ideology is metastasizing like cancer, recruiting and radicalizing new ISIS loyalists and future terrorists inside the U.S.

 

FLASHBACK: "Exclusive: US May Have Let 'Dozens' of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees" - ABC News headline, November 20, 2013

 

If such threats are not taken seriously, and dealt with firmly and effectively, Americans could be attacked without warning.

 

That said, we must be honest: this Executive Order has been mishandled by the new administration.

 

It is not a "Muslim Ban," as it is being portrayed by its critics. But it feels like one.

 

It does not ban Muslims from the largest Islamic nations like Indonesia or India.

 

It does not ban Muslims from our trusted Sunni Arab allies like Jordan and Egypt.

 

It does not ban only Muslims - Christians, Zoroastrians, and other religious groups in these countries are also affected.

 

The fact is, this Executive Order merely requires a temporary, several month delay of visitors to the United States - Muslim, Christian, or otherwise - from seven countries where Radical Islam and jihadi activity have been very serious. It also temporarily suspends the ability of refugees from such high-risk countries to enter the U.S. until the administration has more time to improve our vetting procedures. These are laudable goals.

 

The problem is that this presidential directive was poorly drafted. It is being poorly executed. And it is being even more poorly communicated.

 

As a result, damage is being done to America's reputation. In pursuit of defending America from Radical Islam, the administration has inadvertently handed the jihadists a talking point they can use to recruit and radicalize more people, that America is at war with all of Islam. This is not true, but to many in the Islamic world it feels true. This is dangerous.

 

Changes to the Executive Order need to be made immediately. Changes to the White House's communications strategy need to be made as well.

 

The last thing we should do in a hot war with the Islamic State and other jihadist forces is to alienate our moderate Muslim allies. But that's what is happening.

 

What we should be doing is strengthening our alliances with friends like Jordan, Egypt, the Gulf States, Indonesia, and other Muslim countries who want to work with America. We should be listening to their leaders, getting their counsel, and finding ways to work together to confront and defeat a common enemy.

 

The President has a strong national security and legal team around him. He can fix this. And he should. Here are a few suggestions:

 

The President and his team would be wise admit they've made some mistakes here while defending their goals and objectives. Humility will go a long way in building trust with the American people and our allies.

 

The administration can and should work hard to fix the document.

 

It needs to be crystal clear, for example, that legal permanent residents of the U.S. (i.e., green card holders) are not affected. There has been a great deal of confusion about this matter.

 

It needs to be clear why there is a 90 day ban on anyone coming from these seven particular countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) and not other countries.

 

UPDATE: We do have an answer as to why the 7 countries were included. They were singled out as "countries of concern" by the Obama administration (some in 2011, then more in 2016). Due to the "threat of foreign fighters" trying to infiltrate the US, the Obama administration's Department of Homeland Security determined that people from these seven countries were NOT eligible for the "Visa Waiver Program." In other words, they would need visas, and thus vetting, before being allowed to visit the U.S.

 

Why, for example, was Afghanistan left off the list when we have been at war with al Qaeda and the Taliban there since 9/11?

 

Why was Saudi Arabia left off the list when Osama bin Laden was born and raised in Saudi, and 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi?

 

Why was Lebanon left off the list when Hezbollah, a major terrorist organization backed by Iran, has essentially created a country within a country in Lebanon?

 

Why not Nigeria (home of Boko Haram) or Gaza (home of Hamas)?

 

This is not to say each of these or other countries should be on the list - but the rationale for each country needs to be made clear by the administration.

 

The administration should seek wise counsel and advice from a range of experts in and out of government to achieve the desired end: the protection of the American people and homeland. Hastiness isn't helpful.

 

UPDATE: It would be helpful to know if all of the President's relevant Cabinet officers and senior advisors had been fully briefed on the Executive Order, had the time to study it carefully, and had been able to provide input, ask questions, and recommend clarifications.

 

UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that John Kelly, the Secretary of Homeland Security, learned the Executive Order was going into effect because he saw the news on TV, and that the White House "had not asked his department for a legal review of the order."

 

UPDATE: The Times is also reporting that Defense Secretary James Mattis "did not see a final version of the order until Friday morning, only hours before Mr. Trump arrived to sign it at the Pentagon." 

 

UPDATE: "Mr. Mattis, according to administration officials familiar with the deliberations, was not consulted by the White House during the preparation of the order and was not given an opportunity to provide input while the order was being drafted," the Times reported.

 

Are these reports accurate? If not, then shame on the Times. But if they are, they suggest the President is not making good use of the excellent team he has just brought on board. Let's find out the facts.

 

The President would be wise to consider addressing the nation on television from the Oval Office. He could use the address to explain very carefully and thoroughly what the threat to the homeland is, and how best to deal with the problem. He could also use the address to answer people's questions and calm people's fears.

 

The President needs to explain to the nation clearly and often that while the followers of Radical Islam do pose a grave threat to the American people and our allies, this does not mean that all Muslims are a threat, or that Islam itself is the threat. As I have explained before, the data indicate that upwards of 90% of Muslims do not hold violent views or seek to attack us. However, between 7% and 10% of Muslims tell pollsters that they do support suicide bombings and other forms of violence against "infidels." It is critical that our leaders make these distinctions and educate the public about the nature of the threat. We want the broader moderate Muslim world to be partners in defeating the dangerous actors in their midst.

 

Yes, Mr. Trump called for such a ban during the campaign, and he was highly criticized for it by many people (myself included), and rightly so. Banning people from entering the U.S. based on their religious views would be both unconstitutional and morally repugnant. To be fair, it should be noted that Mr. Trump backed down and sought advice on how best to protect the country from the threats of violent jihadists trying to enter the homeland.

 

Protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic, is absolutely the most important job of the President of the United States. So is abiding by the American legal tradition of commonsense and fair play.

 

The new President and his team need to remember that this is not just a "kinetic war," one fought with bullets and bombs. This is also a "war of ideas," an ideological battle fought for hearts and minds.

 

We have seen some unforced errors on a matter of high national importance. They can and should be corrected and lessons should be learned. Winning the fight against Radical Islam will be a long and difficult mission. But with wise, humble and dedicated leadership - in Washington and around the world - we can prevail.

 

The Lessons of Roosevelt's Failures - Caroline B. Glick -

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-lessons-of-Roosevelts-failures-480065

 

The current media and left-wing uproar over the executive order US President Donald Trump signed on Saturday is extraordinary on many levels.

 

Is U.S. President Donald Trump the new Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Does his immigration policy mimic Roosevelt's by adopting a callous, bigoted position on would-be asylum seekers from the Muslim world? At a press conference on June 5, 1940, Roosevelt gave an unspeakably cynical justification for his administration's refusal to permit the desperate Jews of Nazi Germany to enter the US.

 

In Roosevelt's words, "Among the refugees [from Germany], there are some spies... And not all of them are voluntary spies - it is rather a horrible story but in some of the other countries that refugees out of Germany have gone to, especially Jewish refugees, they found a number of definitely proven spies."

 

The current media and left-wing uproar over the executive order US President Donald Trump signed on Saturday which enacts a temporary ban on entry to the US of nationals from seven Muslim majority countries is extraordinary on many levels. But one that stands out is the fact that opponents of Trump's move insist that Trump is reenacting the bigoted immigration policies the US maintained throughout the Holocaust.

 

The first thing that is important to understand about Trump's order is that it did not come out of nowhere. It is based on the policies of his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump's move is an attempt to correct the strategic and moral deficiencies of Obama's policies - deficiencies that empower bigots and fascists while disenfranchising and imperiling their victims.

 

Trump's order is based on the 2015 Terrorist Travel Prevention Act. As White House spokesman Sean Spicer noted in an interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz Sunday, the seven states targeted by Trump's temporary ban - Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Iran, Libya, Yemen and Somalia - were not chosen by Trump.

 

They were identified as uniquely problematic and in need of specific, harsher vetting policies for refugee applications by former US president Barack Obama.

 

In Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, the recognized governments lack control over large swaths of territory.

 

As a consequence, they are unable to conclude immigration vetting protocols with the US. As others have noted, unlike these governments, Turkish, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian officials have concluded and implement severe and detailed visa vetting protocols with US immigration officials.

 

Immigrants from Somalia have carried out terrorist attacks in the US. Clearly there is a problem with vetting procedures in relation to that jihad-plagued failed state.

 

Finally, the regimes in Sudan and Iran are state sponsors of terrorism. As such, the regimes clearly cannot be trusted to properly report the status of visa applicants.

 

In other words, the one thing that the seven states have in common is that the US has no official counterpart in any of them as it seeks to vet nationals from those states seeking to enter its territory. So the US must adopt specific, unilateral vetting policies for each of them.

 

Now that we know the reason the Obama administration concluded that visa applicants from these seven states require specific vetting, we arrive at the question of whether Trump's order will improve the outcome of that vetting from both a strategic and moral perspective.

 

The new executive order requires the relevant federal agencies and departments to review the current immigration practices in order to ensure two things.

 

First, that immigrants from these and other states are not enemies of the US. And second, to ensure that those that do enter the US are people who need protection.

 

Trump's order requires the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security to ensure that the new vetting processes "prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority in the individual's country of nationality."

 

Under the Obama administration, the opposite occurred. Christians and Yazidis in Syria for instance, have been targeted specifically for annihilation by Islamic State and related groups. And yet, they have made up a tiny minority of visa recipients. According to Christian News Service, during 2016, the number of refugees from Syria to the US increased by 675%. But among the 13,210 Syrian refugees admitted to the US, only 77, or 0.5% were Christians and only 24, or 0.18%, were Yazidis.

 

Similar percentages held in previous years.

 

On the second issue, of blocking potential terrorists from entering the US, Trump's order calls for measures to be taken to ensure that those who ascribe to creeds that would endanger the lives of US citizens are barred from entering.

 

Specifically, the order states, "The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including 'honor' killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation."

 

Whether or not the Obama administration's failure to give top priority to Christian and Yazidi refugees being targeted for genocide, enslavement and rape was driven by political considerations, the fact is that the current US refugee system makes it all but impossible for US officials to give priority to vulnerable minorities.

 

As Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom pointed out in an article in National Review in November 2015, the US has relied on the UN High Commissioner on Refugees to vet potential immigrants from these countries. The UNHCR accepts applications for resettlement primarily from people who reside in its refugee camps. Members of the Christian and Yazidi avoid UN camps because UN officials do not protect them.

 

As Shea noted, human rights groups and media reports have shown that at UN camps, "ISIS, militias and gangs traffic in women and threaten men who refuse to swear allegiance to the caliphate."

 

The situation repeats itself in European refugee centers. Shea noted that in Germany, for instance, due to Muslim persecution of non-Muslim refugees at refugee centers, "the German police union recommended separate shelters for Christian and Muslim groups."

 

The UNHCR itself has not been an innocent bystander in all of this. To the contrary. It appears that the institution colludes with jihadists to keep persecuted Christians and other minorities out of the UN refugee system, thus dooming them to remain in areas were they are subjected to forms of persecution unseen since the Holocaust.

 

Questioned by Shea, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ant�nio Guterres said that he opposes the resettlement of persecuted Christians from Syria. Despite the fact that in 2011 Pope Francis acknowledged that Syrian Christians were being targeted for genocide, Guterres told Shea that he doesn't want Christians to leave Syria, because they are part of the "DNA of the Middle East." He added that Lebanon's former president asked him not to resettle the Christians.

 

Invoking the Holocaust, in recent days US Jews have been among the most outspoken critics of Trump's executive order. Speaking to Britain's Independent, for instance, Mark Hetfield, the executive director of HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, slammed Trump's executive order as the "lowest point we've seen since the 1920s."

 

Forward editor Jane Eisner wrote that Trump's move is immoral and un-American and that all Jewish organizations are morally required to stand up to his "anti-Muslim" policies.

 

Writing at Vox.com, Dara Lind drew a direct connection between Trump's executive order and the Roosevelt administration's refusal to permit the Jews of Europe to flee to the US to escape annihilation in the Holocaust.

 

This then brings us back to Roosevelt's immoral policies toward the Jews of Europe and to the question of who has learned the lessons of his bigotry.

 

The American Jewish uproar at Trump's actions shows first and foremost the cynicism of the leftist Jewish leadership.

 

It isn't simply that left-wing activists like Hetfield and Eisner cynically ignore that Trump's order is based on Obama's policies, which they didn't oppose.

 

It is that in their expressed concerned for would-be Muslim refugees to the US they refuse to recognize that the plight of Muslims as Muslims in places like Syria and Iraq is not the same as the plight of Christians and Yazidis as Christians and Yazidis in these lands.

 

The "Jews" in the present circumstances are not the Muslims, who are nowhere targeted for genocide.

 

The "Jews" in the present circumstances are the Christians and Yazidis and other religious minorities, whom Trump's impassioned Jewish opponents and Obama's impassioned Jewish champions fail to defend.

 

Trump's executive order is far from perfect. But in making the distinction between the hunters and the hunted and siding with the latter against the former, Trump is showing that he is not a bigot.

 

Unlike his critics, he has learned the lessons of Roosevelt's moral failure and is working to ensure that the US acts differently today.

 

The Establishment Is Out to Get President Trump - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

 

Donald Trump has an endless number of enemies. The liberal media hates him. Hollywood hates him. The academia crowd hates him. The Washington, D.C. government bureaucracy hates him. They are all doing their very best to sabotage Trump's presidency.

 

This mob of cry babies has tried every imaginable tactic to stop Trump from taking office.  Most of their efforts have had no legal ground on which to stand. When Rosie O'Donnell tweeted  that martial law should be declared to block Trump from becoming president, the press blindly repeated her crazy idea with no comment on the negative consequences of such an insane suggestion.

 

The Women's March that took place the day after President Trump's inauguration is solid proof that the people on the left are being consumed with madness.  I think the organizers as well as the participants need to be checked to see if they have that brain eating amoeba in their skulls.

 

The gathering was the most bazaar pointless event I've ever seen. One speaker after another endlessly compared Trump to the former leader of Nazi Germany. They said he is Hitler because he acts like Hitler, he does Hitler like things, and he has a Hitler agenda.

 

Singer Ashley Judd gave this rambling bit of wisdom to the crowd, "I am not as nasty as a swastika painted on a pride flag and I did not know devils could be resurrected but I feel Hitler in these streets! Nazi's electro-conversion therapy! Gas chambers! Turning rainbows into suicide!"

 

The most ironic thing about this entire display of deranged hysteria was having the hijab-clad Muslim, Linda Sarsour, as a speaker. Everything Ashley Judd mentioned in her rant was actually everything Islam espouses.

 

What has me most concerned is the possibility that the establishment is moving to pin a stock market collapse on Trump. The economy has been on life support since the 2008 financial crisis. The Fed has kept the financial system stable by pumping in trillions of dollars. To trigger a crash all they need to do is stop printing new money.

 

Another way financial chaos can be created is to simply start telling the truth about our nation's economic health. I've been tracking the national debt the past several months, and I've noticed we kept coming close to the $20 trillion milestone, but we never passed it. It's miraculous that Obama managed to balance the federal budget for the last four months. Up until then, we had been averaging a shortfall of $100 per month.

 

This smoke and mirrors method of numbers crunching is very clear in the unemployed statistics. The press cheered when "Initial Claims" crashed to a 44 year low. However,  it has now come to light as of last week that the continuing claims data showed over 700,000 more people have been claiming unemployment benefits prior to President Trump's election.

 

The unemployment rate is at 4.7% because the Labor Department started counting part-time jobs as full-employment. If you sell more than $100 worth of stuff on Ebay each month, you're not considering jobless. The poor folks who gave up looking for employment are considered outside the workforce.

 

There can be no doubt that in the coming months that the national debt is going to edge up, and unemployment numbers are going to better reflect reality. Then, the mainstream media will suddenly discover how bad things are in America. Even though all of this happened under Obama's watch, the goal is to have people think "Greater Depression," when they think  "Donald Trump."

 

The establishment has openly proclaimed their plan to defeat Trump through impeachment. Media Matters founder, David Brock, claims to have more than 20,000 hours of video, 289 candidate research books, and the largest available archive of Trump research in the Democratic Party. Brock launched a "Trump War Room," with a team of over 40 workers that will scrutinize everything Trump does for the goal of forcing him out of office.

 

The guy that should have been examined for impeachable offenses is Barack  Hussein Obama. The former president repeatedly overstepped his authority. The U.S. Constitution clearly states that Congress controls the spending of money. Just hours before Obama left office, he openly defied Congress by quietly releasing $221 million to the Palestinian Authority.

 

Bookies are giving favorable odds that President Trump will soon find himself in a heap of trouble. The online betting site Paddy Power has placed the odds of Trump failing to complete his first term at 7 to 4. The odds of Trump getting impeached in the first six months stand at 4 to 1. The site doesn't have a good track record with Trump. Paddy Power prematurely paid out nearly a million dollars to those who betted in favor of a Hillary Clinton victory, a move that resulted in a $5 million loss for the site when she eventually lost.

 

It has become quite amazing to see the magnitude of the hatred aimed at Trump. There is no other time in American history that can compare to this level of lunacy. People are almost foaming at the mouth over a man who has only been in office for a few days. If he were to suggest we bring back school prayer, this mob would have a collective brain aneurysm.

 

I think the massive opposition against Trump is a strong indication that he has been set in place by God to fulfill His will for the last days. The devil and his minions may rage but the end result will show that  the Lord is in total control of world events. If Trump is able to beat the odds, I think his triumph could be the peace and safety window that will occur before the Rapture.

 

"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

 

 Trump stand against terrorism exposes dangerous shadow government - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

The media frenzy and anarchist globalist visceral over President Donald Trump's executive orders limiting immigration, visas, and refugees from nations of known terrorist activities exposed something far more dangerous to the American Republic than the rights of non-citizens and illegal immigrants-the emergence of a possible Marxist Islamist shadow government. The former "president" issued a divisive, seditious, and inflammatory statement against Trump's orders and his mouthpiece, the Huffington Post, printed it. Trump even had to fire acting Attorney General, Sally Yates a holdover from the previous "president" until Trump's Attorney General is approved, for refusing to legally defend his executive orders.

 

The office of the ex-"president," whose policies and legacy were soundly rejected by Americans in the November 2016 elections, issued the following statement through the Huffington Post:[sic] the "president" is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. In his final speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizens and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy-not just during an election but every day. Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voice heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake...the "president" (quotations added" fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith."

 

The ex-"president" is right in one respect: that American citizens need to be vocal, especially Christian citizens who see the common sense in enforcing the law, which the past "president" selectively did and the current President is trying to do. Notwithstanding, President Trump is not singling out Muslims because of their faith, he is preventing for a limited time visits of people from states known to harbor terrorists. He is taking measures to protect each of us from the murderous effect of terrorism. The ex-"president" would appear to be trying to stir up division and rebellion by protecting possible terrorists in the name of American civil rights. Never mind, he did similar acts that the media hardly noticed.

 

As for the American people-a recent Rasmussen Poll suggests that some "57% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a temporary ban on refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen until the federal government approves its ability to screen out potential terrorists from coming here...Similarly, 56% favor a temporary block on visas prohibiting residents of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States until the government approves its ability to screen for likely terrorists." As 1 Samuel 15:23 says, "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness (insubordination) is as iniquity and idolatry." This is a dangerous time for America as a seditious shadow government of Islamic Marxism supported by globalist anarchists may be in the making. Pray and act.

 

Trump-Putin deal on Syria bears on Israel security - http://www.debka.com/article/25907/Trump-Putin-deal-on-Syria-bears-on-Israel-security

 

It would be a mistake to take it for granted that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's talks with President Donald Trump in Washington early next month will be plain sailing or produce an automatic shower of benefits for the Jewish state. It is understood in Jerusalem that a new order is unfolding close to Israel's borders, which is not yet fully in the sights of its government, military and intelligence leaders. This process is going forward at dizzying speed in Syria, currently the central Middle East arena, where Presidents Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to cooperate.

 

The British Prime Minister Theresa May picked up fast on the new power equation. After standing before the media with the US President Friday, Jan. 27, and declaring hopefully, "Britain and the US can once again lead the world together," she decided to fly straight from Washington to Ankara Saturday, before returning home.

 

The outcome of her first meeting with President Erdogan was one of the fastest defense collaboration pacts ever negotiated for trade and the war on terror. The British leader lost no time in getting down to brass tacks on how British military and intelligence can be integrated in the joint US-Russian-Turkish military steps for Syria. Erdogan did not exactly receive her with open arms. He did not afford his visitor the courtesy of placing a British flag in the reception room in his palace.

 

Israel is in much the same position. Israel stayed out of military involvement in the Syrian civil war, according to a policy led by Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Avivi Kochavi (then Direct of Military Intelligence). This policy has left Israel out of today's decision-making loop on Syria's future.

 

Towards the end of 2015, shortly after Russia embarked on its massive military intervention in the Syrian conflict, Netanyahu took steps for safeguarding Israel's security interests by setting up a direct line with the Russian president. It was translated into a military coordination mechanism between the Russian air force command in Syria and the Israeli air force, with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russia's Chief of General Staff, and Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, Israel's Deputy Chief of Staff, in charge of this direct military link.

 

Any problems that could not be solved at the military level were promptly turned over to be addressed at meetings or in phone calls between Netanyahu and Putin.

 

In one example, the prime minister obtained an undertaking from the Russian president to keep Iranian forces and Iran's Shiite surrogates, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, away from the Syrian-Israeli border, or allow them to use borderlands to send terrorists into Israel.

 

Shortly after Trump's election victory (Nov. 8, 2016), the spadework on his collaboration with Putin was quietly begun by their national security advisers, Michael Flynn, in New York and Nikiolai Platonovich Patrushev in Moscow.

 

Jerusalem knew what was going on, but was taken aback by the speed at which those close understandings ripened into US-Russian deals on the ground. Before Trump had finished his first week in the White House, US warplanes had escorted a Russian air strike against ISIS in Syria.

 

This rush of events injects further urgency into Netanyahu forthcoming talks with the US president.  Whereas in the second term of the Obama presidency, the Israeli leader was wont to travel to Moscow or Sochi to sort out security problems relating to Syria, henceforth he must directly engage Donald Trump as the lead player.

 

So when the Israeli premier travels to the White House next month, he will have to address four pressing concerns, all relating to the fast-moving Syrian scene:

 

1. Will Washington and Moscow go through with the expulsion from Syria of Iranian forces and their proxies, including Hezbollah - and take it all the way until it is accomplished?

 

2. After they are gone, who will take over the areas they evacuate?

 

3. Will Bashar Assad stay on as president, or has his successor been nominated?

 

4. The most burning question of all is the level of Hezbollah's armament. Not only must Hezbollah forces be pushed out of Syria, but it is essential to strip them of their sophisticated new weaponry, including missiles. Israel's military and security chiefs assess Hezbollah's arsenal as having been upgraded in recent weeks to a level that directly impinges on Israel's security.

 

 Enforcing the law causes outrage - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

President Donald Trump, true to his word, is temporarily banning entry into the US of people originating from countries with known terrorist activity. He also is preventing entry of those who do not have a valid visa or green card from other nations such as Mexico. In short, Trump is enforcing the immigration laws on the books, which have not been enforced for the better part of a decade. This has sparked outrage. Protests at international airports located in the US; protests at the US-Mexican border; the ACLU going to court to stop the executive orders; a federal judge blocking part of the order that is not allowing people with visas or green cards to enter the US. People are angry because the law is being enforced.

 

The news media immediately went into "globalist" group-think and interviewed immigrant travelers who were stranded by the Trump E-Os and telling the good they were doing for America--heart specialists, doctorial candidates, people who had saved to get their education in America, etc.-painting a picture that these folks were unfairly being singled out by this nasty president who insists on enforcing the law. There has not been one mention of the terrorist attacks in the US-one per year since the previous "president" took office, involving those who had immigrated to this country or were homegrown products of not enforcing immigration laws or carefully vetting those coming from terrorist-sponsoring countries.

 

The Center for Immigration Studies analyzed data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. From 2010 to 2016, ICE released 124 aliens who have been charged with 135 new homicides--some have been released multiple times. In 2014, ICE released a total of 30,558 criminal aliens. These aliens had already been convicted of 92,347 crimes before they were released by ICE. As of July 25, 2015, a total of 1,607 aliens had been convicted of a crime after being freed by ICE. The total number of new crimes for which these aliens were convicted after ICE released them was 2,560, including: 298 dangerous drug offenses, 185 assaults, 40 weapons offenses, 28 sex offenses, 10 sex assaults, four kidnappings, two arsons, and one homicide. The numbers have escalated since the study.

 

The Bible is very clear about how to handle immigrants. Exodus 22:21 says, "You shall neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him." This is repeated in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. In context, Exodus 12:49 says, "One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the foreigner who sojourns among you." This is also repeated in Numbers and Leviticus. One law for all. In this context it is God's law, but these people neither want to submit to the laws of the nation or to God's laws. If they are here illegally, they have broken the law as their first act. Hard as it is, policymakers must address this, otherwise our country is in danger. Trump is taking the first step. It's not pretty enforcing laws that have not been enforced for a long time. But it is necessary to protect the rest of the population from the predators and terrorists.

 

 

The Trump way of war - By Caroline B. Glick - http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0217/glick020317.php3

 

Unlike his predecessors, Trump is serious about winning. To do so, he is even willing to take this radical step

 

The PLO is disoriented, panicked and hysterical. Speaking to Newsweek this week, Saeb Erekat, PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas's chief conduit to Israel and the Americans, complained that since President Donald Trump was sworn into office, no administration official had spoken to them.

 

"I don't know any of them [Trump's advisers]. We have sent them letters, written messages. They don't even bother to respond to us."

 

The Trump administration's shunning of the PLO is a marked departure from the policies of its predecessor. For former president Barack Obama, together with Iran, the Palestinians were viewed as the key players in the Middle East. Abbas was the first foreign leader Obama called after taking office.

 

Erekat's statement reveals something that is generally obscured. Despite its deep support in Europe, the UN and the international Left, without US support, the PLO is irrelevant.

 

All the achievements the PLO racked up under Obama - topped off with the former president's facilitation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 against Israel - are suddenly irrelevant. Their impact dissipated the minute Trump took office.

 

Israel, in contrast, is more relevant than ever.

 

While Trump occasionally pays lip service to making peace in the Middle East, his real goal is to win the war against jihadist Islam. And he rightly views Israel as a woefully underutilized strategic ally that shares his goal and is well-placed to help him achieve it.

 

During the electoral campaign, Trump often spoke derisively of Obama's nuclear pact with Tehran. And he repeatedly promised to eradicate Islamic State. But when asked to explain what he intended to do on these scores, Trump demurred. You don't expect me to let the enemy know my plan, do you?

 

Trump's critics dismissed his statements as empty talk. But since he came into office, each day signals that he does have a plan and that he is implementing it. The plan coming into focus involves a multidimensional campaign that if successful will both neutralize Iran as a strategic threat and obliterate ISIS.

 

Regarding Iran specifically, Trump's moves to date involve operations on three levels. First, there is the rhetorical campaign to distinguish the Trump administration from its successor.

 

Trump launched the campaign on Twitter on Wednesday writing, "Iran is rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq even after the US has squandered three trillion dollars there."

 

Shortly before his post, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Abadi appointed Iranian proxy Qasim al Araji to serve as his interior minister.

 

At a minimum, Trump's statement signaled an abandonment of Obama's policy of cooperating with Iranian forces and Iranian-controlled Iraqi forces in the fight against ISIS in Iraq.

 

At around the same time Trump released his tweet about Iranian control of Iraq, his National Security Adviser Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Michael Flynn took a knife to Obama's obsequious stand on Iran during a press briefing at the White House.

 

While Trump's statement related to Iran's growing power in Iraq, Flynn's remarks were directed against its nonconventional threat and its regional aggression. Both were on display earlier this week.

 

On Sunday, Iran carried out its 12th ballistic missile test since concluding its nuclear deal with Obama, and its first since Trump took office.

 

On Monday, Iranian-controlled Houthi forces in Yemen attacked a Saudi ship in the Bab al-Mandab choke point connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

 

Flynn condemned both noting that they threatened the US and its allies and destabilized the Middle East. The missile test, he said, violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that anchored the nuclear deal.

 

Flynn then took a step further. He drew a sharp contrast between the Obama administration's responses to Tehran's behavior and the Trump administration's views of Tehran's provocative actions.

 

"The Obama administration failed to respond adequately to Tehran's malign actions - including weapons transfers, support for terrorism, and other violations of international norms," he noted.

 

"The Trump administration condemns such actions by Iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the Middle East and place American lives at risk."

 

Flynn ended his remarks by threatening Iran directly.

 

"As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice," he warned.

 

While Flynn gave no details of what the US intends to do to Iran if it continues its aggressive behavior, the day before he made his statement, the US opened a major, multilateral, British-led naval exercise in the Persian Gulf. US naval forces in the region have been significantly strengthened since January 20 and rules of engagement for US forces in the Persian Gulf have reportedly been relaxed.

 

Perhaps the most potent aspect of Trump's emerging strategy for defeating the forces of jihad is the one that hasn't been discussed but it was signaled, through a proxy, the day after Trump took office.

 

On January 21, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a remarkable message to the Iranian people on his Facebook page. Netanyahu drew a sharp distinction between the "warm" Iranian people and the "repressive" regime.

 

Netanyahu opened his remarks by invoking the new administration.

 

"I plan to speak soon with President Trump about how to counter the threat of the Iranian regime, which calls for Israel's destruction," the prime minister explained.

 

"But it struck me recently that I've spoken a lot about the Iranian regime and not enough about the Iranian people, or for that matter, to the Iranian people. So I hope this message reaches every Iranian."

 

Netanyahu paid homage to the Green Revolution of 2009 that was brutally repressed by the regime. In his words, "I'll never forget the images of proud, young students eager for change gunned down in the streets of Tehran in 2009."

 

Netanyahu's statement was doubtlessly coordinated with the new administration. It signaled that destabilizing with the goal of overthrowing the regime in Tehran is a major component of Trump's strategy.

 

By the looks of things in Iran, regime opponents are taking heart from the new tone emanating from Washington. Iranian dissidents have asked for a meeting with Trump's team. And a week and a half before Trump's inauguration, regime opponents staged a massive anti-regime protest.

 

Protesters used the public funeral of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to denounce the regime. In 2009, Rafsanjani sided with many of the Green Movement's positions. His daughter was a leader of the protests.

 

Among the estimated 2.5 million people who attended the funeral, scores of thousands interrupted the official eulogies to condemn the regime, condemn the war with Syria and condemn the regime's Russian allies.

 

This then brings us to Syria, where the war against ISIS and the campaign against Iran are set to converge. To date, Trump has limited his stated goals in Syria to setting up safe zones inside the country where displaced Syrians can live securely. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have agreed to cooperate in these efforts.

 

Trump is now engaged in a talks with the Kremlin both above and below the radar about the possibility of coordinating their operations in Syria to enable safe zones to be established.

 

It is fairly clear what the US objective here would be. The US wishes to convince Moscow to effectively end its alliance with the Iranian regime. Trump repeatedly stated that the entire spectrum of US-Russian relations is now in play. Talks between the two governments will encompass Ukraine, US economic sanctions on Russia, nuclear weapons, Russian bases in Syria and Russia's alliance with Iran and its Hezbollah proxies.

 

Everything is on the table.

 

Trump understands that Russia is threatened by Sunni jihadists and that Russia views Iran as a counterweight to ISIS and its counterparts in the Caucasus. A deal between the US and Russia could involve a Russian agreement to end its support for Iran and Hezbollah in exchange for US acceptance of Russia's annexation of Crimea, cancellation of sanctions and perhaps some form of acquiescence to Russia's military presence in Syria.

 

Russia and the US could then collaborate with Arab states with Israeli support to defeat ISIS and end the Syrian refugee crisis.

 

Combined with actions the Trump administration is already taking in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and its telegraphed aim of backing a popular Iranian insurrection, Trump's hypothetical deal with Russia would neutralize Iran as a conventional and nonconventional threat.

 

This then brings us back to Israel - the first target of Iran's aggression. If Trump's strategy is successful, then the PLO will not be Israel's only foe that is rendered irrelevant.