Category: Frontlines

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Who is Anwar Eshki and Why is he Leading a Saudi Delegation to Israel?

Dore Gold, the Foreign Ministry Director General met with a Saudi delegation headed by ex-general Anwar Eshki. Never mind the fact that Saudis were so openly visiting with Israelis in Israel, the fact that such a high-profile and high ranking Saudi was heading the delegation has given buzz to a variety of internet rumors.

Both the Saudis and Israel have not tried to hide their once covert operation against Iran.  What has confused observers is the extent of the cooperation.  The Saudis and other Gulf States know that Israel will never be a danger to their regimes.  Up until now Israel had been an interesting foil for the autocratic leaders throughout the Sunni world, but now that Iran, emboldened by Russia, China, and the Obama administration looms like a menace over the Arabian peninsula, Israel is far more helpful against their mutual threat.

Besides the nuclear threat, Iranian subterfuge and active support for Shiite separatist movements and uprising in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have unnerved Riyadh and its allies. All of this is backdrop on Anwar Eshki’s visit to Jerusalem and burgeoning alliance between Israel and the Sunni states.

As of last year Eshki and Gold spoke together at a CFR sponsored event. Both outlined why it is ultimately necessary to work together against Iranian expansionism.  There were obvious differences, but the two painted a picture of tremendous mutual cooperation.

Anwar Eshki has been the main proponent of reaching out to Israel and seeking their cooperation against the Iranian regime.

“The main project between me and Dore Gold is to bring peace between Arab countries and Israel,” Anwar Eshki said in Wall Street Journal interview published last August. “This is personal, but my government knows about the project. My government isn’t against it, because we need peace. For that reason, I found Dore Gold. He likes his country. I like my country. We need to profit from each other.”

“We didn’t talk much about Iran at first,” he continued, “but I found that our idea and their idea was close together against Iran. We don’t like Iran to destabilize the area. We don’t like for Iran to attack Israel and destroy Israel. And we also don’t like for Israel to attack Iran and destroy Iran. This is my idea. He has another idea. But we are together.”

The meeting between Gold and Eshki come at a time of increasing chaos in the region.  Many observers believe that the Arab world has moved beyond the Palestinian issue as is evidenced in cooperation between Israel and Abu Dubai, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia on issues beyond security.  The Gulf States have realized that they need to learn how Israel has built an innovation power house in order to diversify their economies.

Israel and Arab Peace A Long Way Off, but Progress is at Hand

The Arab Initiative as a peace plan still exists.  It is floated every once in a while, but it is clear both sides have decided to let their differing contours for peace remain on the sidelines and instead focus on solutions and progress in the security and development spheres.

General Anwar Eshki’s visit is visible proof that peace is not necessary for cooperation, especially when the enemy is at your collective doors.

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12 Wounded in Germany Suicide Bomb by Syrian Refugee

A 27-year-old Syrian man blew himself up at a music festival in Ansbach, Germany wounding 12 people, 3 seriously. The man detonated a an explosive device after being refused entry into the Ansbach Open music festival at around 10PM Sunday evening.

According to the Bavarian interior minister, the explosive content in the bomber’s backpack had the capability to injure and kill many more people. He also reported that the attacker came to Germany two years ago seeking asylum but his asylum claim was rejected. They claim the attacker attempted suicide twice before and spent time in a psychiatric clinic. However, the common denominator in the recent attacks in Germany is Islamic terrorism.

This is the fourth Muslim attack in Germany in the past week, including the attack in Munich that killed 9 people and injured 27 and the machete attack killing a pregnant woman. Germany has been on high alert since the recent attacks. Many German citizens are irate about the influx of Syrian refugees which seems to include a number of Islamic extremists and terrorists.

According to a poll conducted by state broadcaster ZDF, 77% of Germans fear future attacks.

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God Will Continue to Punish Nigeria Until Nnamdi Kanu is Released

Nnamdi Kanu
When the dust settles over the numerous calls for separation and restructuring in Nigeria, the world will know that it all started with the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu. Fortuitously, Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s public approval rating was 80% in October 2015, the same month he illegally kidnapped Nnamdi Kanu. Ever since, Buhari’s personal political standing as well as Nigeria’s economic well-being has nose-dived to 30% approval rating as at July 2016. As Prophet Nwoko had predicted, “Heaven will strike if Nnamdi Kanu is not released.”
We recall that on the 14th of October 2016, agents of Buhari known as the Department of State Services (DSS) trailed Nnamdi Kanu to his hotel in Lagos as he was on transit to Biafraland and arrested him. After several physical abuse and torture, he was flown to Abuja for further torture and physical abuse.  Desperate to jail Nnamdi Kanu, the DSS raised several trumped-up charges which were summarily dismissed by the courts. Both Magistrate and High courts issued orders for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu but Buhari’s DSS refused to obey the court orders.
On the 30th of December 2015, Buhari boasted to the global viewing audience that Nnamdi Kanu will never be released. In the meantime, as Biafrans in Biafraland gathered to pray for the success of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in the legal battle against the DSS, Buhari ordered his military and other security agencies to open fire at them, which resulted in the death of scores of Biafrans. Recently, on the 30th of May 2016, Buhari in conjunction with the governor of Anambra state—Willie Obiano, deployed the Nigerian Army from Onitsha military barracks who shot and killed over 200 unarmed peaceful Biafrans that gathered to commemorate the day Biafra was formally declared (49 years ago) as well as remember the fallen heroes of the war of genocide levied on Biafra by Nigeria and Britain.
Between the illegal detention of Nnamdi Kanu and the massacre of Biafrans on the 30th of May 2016, Buhari has steadily and continually engaged in ethnic cleansing of the Biafran people. His killing spree on Biafrans and the despoliation of the Biafran environment plus the refusal to obey court orders on the release of Nnamdi Kanu were harbingers to the emergence of diverse freedom-fighting groups which Buhari and his acolytes nicknamed militants. One of these freedom-fighting groups is the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). The NDA has dealt a devastating blow in the oil and gas industry and for which hydrocarbon production has plummeted.
The political environment in Nigeria has remained unstable. Nigeria has developed irreparable fault lines engendered by Buhari’s inept partisan governance style and his non-observance of the ethos of democracy and the rule of law. Both Executive and Legislative arms of government are confused, unproductive, and antithetical to democratic objectives. Instead of Buhari to carry out reflexive praxis on the many issues bedeviling the country he claims to be the president of, he is busy beating war drums and enjoying his pastime which is the slaughter of innocent Biafrans. Unknown to Buhari, the root cause of the aforementioned political woes facing his country is the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and the flagrant disobedience of court orders related to the unconditional release of Mr. Kanu. As a matter of fact, the call for restructuring wouldn’t have happened if not for Nnamdi Kanu’s well-articulated and relentless pursuit of Biafra and Buhari’s dictatorial nature of interfering with the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the social spectrum is also badly hit by Buhari’s lack of basic understanding of how democracy works and the need to subject himself to the law of the land which he swore to uphold and obey under Schedule-7 of Nigeria’s Constitution. Several thousands of lives have been avoidable lost to terrorist attacks coming from Islamic fundamentalists of Northern extraction under the protection of Buhari. From Borno to Benue and from Potiskum to Port-Harcourt, several lives have been cut short courtesy of a dysfunctional security and law enforcement system. People are now walking and looking over their shoulders and around them while thanking their creator for sparing every minute of their lives. This was not the situation prior to the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
The jet speed with which the economy of Nigeria descended into the abyss since the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu has been unprecedented. Readers should take time to review the economy of Nigeria before and after the illegal arrest of Nnamdi Kanu. Today, the only income-generating resource (Crude oil) for Nigeria is at all-time low. Even the Managers of Nigeria’s finances have openly confessed that Nigeria will not be able to execute 50% of planned projects because of the activities of militants who are all in unison in their demand for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu. As a matter of fact, the investors in oil and gas in Nigeria should blame Buhari for the activities of NDA and other militants because if Buhari had released Nnamdi Kanu there would not have been the destruction of oil and gas pipeline and facilities nor would there be any momentum or impetus for other separatist groups to emerge. If the present trend continues Nnamdi Kanu would have succeed in destroying Nigerian economy as militants will not stop blowing up pipelines until one of their key demands are met which is his release. In particular, the militants’ demand for the unconditional release Nnamdi Kanu is 7th item on their list of demands and the question bothering everybody’s mind is why Buhari and his government have chosen to downplay demand #7 when that is the only opening available to them to make meaningful human contact with the militants.
Religious bigotry has reached a crescendo in Nigeria under the presidency of Buhari especially since the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu. There have been beheadings of Christians by Islamic fundamentalists, lynching of non-Muslims by Boko Haram members, and outright mass-murder of Shiite Muslims by Sunni-practicing members of Buhari’s armed forces. Buhari deployed Boko Haram members to Biafraland to rampage and massacre Christians especially members of Indigenous People of Biafra under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu. Buhari did this with the sole aim of stifling the quest for the restoration of the nation of Biafra.
The Judiciary has been completely compromised and put under the direct dictation of Buhari from the time Nnamdi Kanu was illegally arrested. Most Judges now pander to the whims and caprices of Buhari for fear of being dismissed from service or killed in a mysterious manner. The shenanigans going on in the court room of Justice John Tsoho speak for itself. The independence of the Judiciary is now an unknown phenomenon in Buhari’s Nigeria.
Nigeria is truly in a very big mess from the time the DSS illegally arrested and unconstitutionally detained Nnamdi Kanu. The reputation of Nigeria and that of Nigeria’s assumed president (Buhari) is in tatters and got worse from the time Buhari illegally arrested and detained Nnamdi Kanu. There is a bleak future for Nigeria as long as Buhari continues to keep Nnamdi Kanu in captivity.
Nigeria is already on a cliff-hanger and just a tiny strand is what remained for it to descend into irredeemable catastrophe. Like Somalia under Siad Barre, Nigeria under Buhari is sliding into the abyss because of the stubbornness or some would say suicidal tendencies of one man. As Somalia collapsed into a failed state and terrorist heaven today, so will Nigeria follow suit because of the antics of Buhari. Nnamdi Kanu’s illegal detention and Buhari’s disobedience of court orders have negative implications for the stability of West African region as well as crude oil price stability globally. It has been confirmed form reliable sources in Nigeria’s Presidential Villa that 60 percent of calls to Aso Rock from overseas is about Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, Niger Delta Avengers, and the collapsing economy.
The European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America must take notice that there will surely be another war in Nigeria with far more deadly consequences worse than that of Somalia and Sudan combined. The only way this prediction can be avoided is to ensure that Buhari obeys court orders by releasing Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. Anything short of unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu in accordance with the court orders will make Nigeria current political instability snowball into anarchy and at the very end, Nigeria as we know it now will never be the same again. The ball is in the court of the international community to make the right decision of requesting Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and the time to make that decision is now.
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Syrian Refugee Kills Pregnant Woman in Germany with a Machete, Not Terrorism?

Syrian Refugee Stuttgart Attack

Germany seems like it is under siege these day. At 4:30 CET, a 21 year old Syrian refugee stabbed a pregnant woman to death and injured another two.  Witnesses said he then ran at police before he was shot.  The incident comes after days of continuous carnage and destruction. With the country already rocked after Ali Sonboly killed 9 in Munich and 2 other incidences, the attack today 25 miles south of Stuttgart seems to be one too many.

Angela Merkel has become under increasing pressure to change her refugee policy.  She has so far stayed the course.

Not only that, the German government has been intent on white washing the events to dissuade the populace from believing there is a home-grown migrant caused terror problem.

The police have already deemed today’s event as anything but terrorism. “Given the current evidence, there is no indication that this was a terrorist attack,” police said in a statement. Unfortunately for Germany and most of Western Europe this sort of ignorance and head in the sand mentality will not save them from their self induced destruction. Only a 180 degree change of course will halt the chaos now upon Europe.

With regional elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Sept. 4 and on Sept. 18 in Berlin, Merkel’s ruling party will have a serious test. Negative results for Merkel’s party will force her to toughen her stance on refugees.  The challenge now is preventing the largely successful agreement with Turkey from collapsing due to antagonism against Erdogan’s power grab in the wake of what many believe is a false flag event.

The refugee deal was predicated on EU negotiations with Turkey, but ascension to the EU is predicated on dropping capital punishment. Turkey did in fact do away with it in 2002, but the enactment of emergency powers under Erdogan has made Germany and the EU nervous. “A country that has the death penalty can’t be a member of the European Union and the introduction of the death penalty in Turkey would therefore mean the end of accession negotiations,” Merkel’s spokesman Stefan Seibert said. If EU talks collapse with Turkey the current Syrian refugee crisis will pale in comparison to what will be.

There have been ongoing negotiations with Israel to bring Israeli experts over to Europe to help train and share knowledge.  So far the dialogue is too early to help make a difference.

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Ali Sonboly: Iranian Refugee Kills 9 Germans, Merkel’s Policy in Tatters

ali-sonboly

Ali Sonboly, son of Iranian refugees in Germany killed 9 and injured many more in Munich. The attack comes a few days after a 17 year old Muslim refugee attacked passengers on a train in Bavaria with an axe. The attacks come after weeks of reported rapes and violence on the part of refugees that have been allowed to enter Germany and other Western European countries unhindered.

Despite the clear Islamic connection German authorities have refrained from calling it a terrorist attack.  German leadership tried to hide the name until neighbors released it to the media.

Refugee Policy in Tatters

“We are mourning those who will never go back to their families. We share your pain. We think of you. We suffer with you,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said about the attack. “We live together in a liberal society. This freedom is our greatest strength,” she contined.
The challenge now for Merkel and other leaders of countries that have backed such a liberal refugee policy is at one hand offering a clear security plan, while maintaing a sense of control as citizenry in Germany, France, and other Western European countries grow increasingly frantic.
The real message with the attacks in Nice, Bavaria, and now Munich is that open borders where Muslim refugees are able to stream into western societies has created a real sense of deterioration in security.
The Enemy Within
There are no real solutions to Europe’s refugee and terrorist issues.  Far too many undocumented migrants have flooded Europe.  These migrants have no interest in becoming part of the host countries they go to, rather they act as a spring board for radical Islamic terror and a pool of near limitless potential Jihadists waiting to be radicalized.
Western Europe, which long ago lost its backbone does not seem capable of fighting something so outside of their paradigm. Ali Sonboly is essentially one of millions of potential home grown terrorists waiting to strike Europe.
The recent overtures to Israel on becoming a security partner are in effect too little too late.