Monday, March 28, 2016


Iranians Hacked DOZENS of U.S. Banks, NYSE — TENS OF MILLIONS in Losses

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

JP Morgan ChaseJust over two weeks ago I posted here at Atlas about the Iranian government-backed hacking attack on the New York dam. Now it has been revealed that Iranian government hackers also targeted major U.S. banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and HSBC, as well as the New York Stock Exchange.

This further exposes the treachery behind Obama’s nuclear pact with the world’s leading state sponsor of Islamic terrorism.

“Iranians Hacked New York Dam And Banks, Says US,” Sky News, March 24, 2016:
Seven hackers allegedly tied to the Iranian government have been charged with cyber-attacks on a small dam outside New York City and dozens of banks.
Unsealing the indictment in Washington DC, the Justice...
     

US Muslim group demands FBI cancel counter-terror program
By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

US Muslim group demands FBI cancel counter-terror program
“Foremost, the SRC is problematic as it continues to target Arabs and Muslims, and turns our religious leaders, mental health professionals, teachers and dedicated community members into informants for the FBI.” If they were loyal to the U.S. and against jihad terror, they would be willing informants.

“US Muslim Anti-Discrimination Group ‘Demands’ FBI Cancel Informant […]
 
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Donald Trump’s remarks about Muslims still has some with knots in their stomach, though the recent and horrific ISIS-led terrorist attack in Brussels have led some, like Piers Morgan, to suggest that maybe the billionaire real estate magnate should be taken a but more seriously on the issue of terrorism. Fair point, as The New York Times penned an article in January, where the GOP frontrunner called the city a “hellhole.” Heck even The View, which is known for being a bastion of left-leaning daytime programming, was saying that Trump’s remarks after the Brussels attack seemed reasonable.

Nevertheless, such remarks are bound to continue, and it could lead to Middle Eastern and other nations shopping for their arms elsewhere if Trump were to e elected president of the United States (via Defense One):
Donald Trump has pledged to bring jobs back to the U.S. from overseas, but if elected president the Republican frontrunner might send thousands of American defense jobs to Europe. 
U.S. defense industry and national security analysts are expressing concerns that a President Trump might prompt Middle Eastern and other military allies to seek arms elsewhere.
“President Trump may prove offensive to Islamic states and those countries could seek alternative sources of weapons systems,” Byron Callan, an analyst with research firm Capital Alpha Partners wrote in a recent report. “European firms could benefit if countries seek to reduce U.S. defense dependence.”
That means billions of dollars that would go to American firms — Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and others — could shift to European arms makers, such as BAE Systems, Airbus, Thales, and Finmeccanica.
[…]
The U.S. has increasingly relied upon Japan in recent years to counter China’s growth. U.S. arms exports topped $36 billion in 2014. But Trump has accused Japan and South Korea, both major consumers of U.S. arms, of not paying enough to the U.S. for their security. “[T]here could be a backlash that impacts U.S. defense firms. Japan and South Korea might seek to reduce reliance on U.S. defense imports and build their own capabilities,” Callan wrote.
Yet, we have a lot of time until Election Day, and these tragic events in Europe have certainly devoted attention to more pressing areas of security and public policy. One defense industry source told One that U.S. arms are the “gold standard” –and that nations will probably not opt out of all all American arms shipments.

Let’s hope that turns out to be the case.

In his weekly address to the nation, President Obama spoke of the U.S.’s continued efforts to defeat the Islamic State in the wake of the Brussels attacks, but added that in doing so, we must also be an example of freedom and tolerance.

"As we move forward, we have to wield another weapon alongside our airstrikes, our military, our counterterrorism work, and our diplomacy—and that’s the power of our example,” he said.

The president then made it clear that he has no plans to back off his pledge to allow 100,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees to come to America, despite the fact that a majority of Americans oppose accepting refugees from the war-torn countries.

“Our openness to refugees fleeing ISIL's violence; our determination to win the battle against ISIL's hateful and violent propaganda — a distorted view of Islam that aims to radicalize young Muslims to their cause,” are integral to the fight, he said.

The nation’s most important partners in this effort are American Muslims, he added. Thus, he said, we have to “reject any attempt to stigmatize Muslim Americans.”

The president was likely taking a shot at a proposal by GOP frontrunner Donald Trump to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S., and recent calls by Sen. Ted Cruz to increase surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods.

Such efforts, Obama implied, are “contrary to our character, our values, and to our history as a nation built around the idea of religious freedom.”

See video 'Weekly Address - Defeating ISIL' here:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2016/03/27/obama-reaffirms-plan-to-bring-more-refugees-to-us-n2139520

According to the Pentagon, the U.S. military and Joint Chiefs of Staff are calling for more troops to be sent to Iraq in a possible offensive toward Mosul, the ISIS stronghold in Northern Iraq.

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford said the battle for Mosul will be tough and stressed that Iraqi forces will be the ones fighting that battle.  “We will be in a position to provide advise, assist and enabling capabilities to make them successful,” he said.

“From a military-to-military perspective, we’ve significantly increased our information- [and] intelligence-sharing over the last few months, and we have specific locations where we bring together a number of our coalition partners to do just that,” Dunford said.

Mosul is the strategic stronghold for ISIS and will be one of the toughest challenges the region has faced in terms of toppling ISIS-held cities.  If Mosul is taken by coalition forces, it will be a crushing blow to ISIS communications and logistics.