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- from a neoconservative perspective! - Keeping an eye on the communist-left so you don't have to!
Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for the deadly truck attack in the French city of Nice, saying the assault was a response to calls by the extremist group to target those nations allied against it.
Despite the assertion of responsibility, the nature and scope of the Sunni Muslim extremist group’s involvement in Thursday’s attack, which killed 84 people and wounded scores more, was unclear.
French authorities said Saturday they had found no evidence of ties between terror groups and the man who carried out the assault in Nice, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian man living in the city. Prosecutors also said they had little doubt the militant group had, at the very least, inspired the attack.
In its statement Saturday quoting an unidentified security source and carried by its affiliated Amaq news agency, the Sunni Muslim extremist group said, the Bastille Day attack “was carried out by one of the soldiers of the Islamic State, and the operation was done in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting the Islamic State.”
The statement was reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity.
France is one of 66 participants in the U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to the U.S. State Department. U.S. President Barack Obama announced the formation of the coalition in September 2014.
On the internet and social media, supporters of Islamic State cheered the truck attack by Lahouaiej Bouhlel, but as in some previous claims of responsibility by the militant group, no clear link to the group has been established.
U.S. and European officials were running checks on financial, social media and internet communication networks to try to determine whether Lahouaiej Bouhlel had accomplices or received foreign support...
Events were moving very quickly. Shortly after I posted it looked like Erdoğan was bringing things back in control. He flew into Istanbul's airport and went on television for a national address.
The nation's capital is in Ankara, however, so it remains to be seen if Erdoğan's restored control at the government traditional seat of power.
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government rounded up thousands of military personnel on Saturday who were said to have taken part in an attempted coup, moving swiftly to re-establish control after a night of chaos and intrigue that left hundreds dead.
By noon, there were few signs that those who had taken part in the coup attempt were still able to challenge the government, and many declared the uprising a failure.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the insurrection “a stain in the history of democracy” at a news conference on Saturday in Ankara, the capital. He raised the death toll in the clashes to 265, with 1,440 people wounded, and he said 2,839 military personnel had been detained.
As the insurrection unfolded Friday night, beginning with the seizing of two bridges in Istanbul by military forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not heard from for hours. He finally addressed the nation from an undisclosed location, speaking on his cellphone’s FaceTime app — a dramatic scene that seemed to suggest a man on the verge of losing power. But in the early hours of Saturday, he landed in Istanbul, a strong sign that the coup was failing.
Mr. Erdogan placed blame for the intrigue on the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, who was the president’s ally until a bitter falling out three years ago. Mr. Gulen’s followers were known to have a strong presence in Turkey’s police and judiciary, but less so in the military.
On Saturday morning, Mr. Erdogan said, referring to Mr. Gulen, “I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation. If you dare, come back to your country.”
In a statement released on the website of his group, Alliance for Shared Values, Mr. Gulen condemned the coup and supported the country’s democratic process.
“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt,” Mr. Gulen wrote. “I categorically deny such accusations.”
Mr. Erdogan also said that Turkish fighter jets had bombed tanks on the streets of Ankara, and that a military helicopter being used by the coup plotters had been shot down.
There was also a battle early Saturday at Turkey’s main intelligence headquarters in Ankara, which government forces later secured, and a Turkish official said the intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, had been taken to a secure location.
In a news conference on Saturday, Turkey’s top military officer, Gen. Umit Dundar, the acting head of the general staff, said that “the coup attempt was rejected by the chain of command immediately.”
AARVADA, Colorado (AP) — Eight years ago, Barbara Conley was one of the millions of Americans swept up in Barack Obama's promises of hope and change when he accepted the Democratic nomination at a packed football stadium a few miles from her home in the Denver suburbs.
But those optimistic days are almost unrecognizable to Conley now.
With Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton preparing for their own nominating conventions, the 68-year-old independent is filled with so much frustration at the candidates and the political system that propelled them to victory that she can't even imagine voting in November.
"I'm so mad about both of the candidates," said Conley, who finds Clinton too dishonest and Trump too unproven to be president. She paused while loading groceries into her car and declared, "It's depressing."
Less than four months before Election Day, that same sense of anger and anxiety runs deep with voters across the country. Trump and Clinton will each try to paint a rosy picture of life under their leadership during their back-to-back conventions, but it seems unlikely either can quickly shake Americans out of their bad mood.
A stunning 79 percent of Americans now believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, a 15-point spike in the past year, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. Voters are strikingly unhappy with the candidates who will be on the ballot this fall, with only 22 percent saying they would be proud to see Trump win and 27 percent to see Clinton.
Kristie Boltz, a registered Republican from Black Lake, Ohio, said a choice between Clinton and Trump is so unappealing that she would rather Obama stay in office for a third term.
"And I didn't even vote for Obama. How crazy is that?" said Boltz, a 39-year-old who works in marketing.
By some measures, America's palpable pessimism can appear at odds with the country's economic and security standing.
The economy is growing, jobs are being created and unemployment is low. Tens of thousands of American troops have come home from dangerous war zones during Obama's presidency. Crime is down nationwide.
But the improving economy is no doubt a changing one, leaving some Americans without the skills they need for the jobs available. Terrorism fears have been heightened in the U.S. after a string of deadly incidents in the West.
This summer in particular has seemed to bring a steady stream of gruesome news.
A mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub left 49 people dead, as well as a gunman who pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State militants despite no formal ties to the group. Shootings by police of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota were captured on video, followed by the murder of five police officers in Dallas.
The incidents seemed to momentarily spark national soul searching about gun violence and race relations. But as Americans looked toward the presidential candidates and other political leaders, some saw little sign of readiness to meet a challenging time.
Emilie Passow, a 68-year-old Democrat from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, said her disgust extends beyond the presidential candidates to Congress as well. "There's so little attempt at conciliation and consensus," she said.
More than any other candidate in this election, Trump has latched onto the public's fears. He promises to "Make America Great Again," pledging to bring back manufacturing and mining jobs from areas where they've disappeared. With coded — and sometimes not so coded — language, he's cast aspersions on immigrants seeking to come to the United States and on Muslims already here.
"We're trying to be so nice, we're trying to be so civil. We're so weak," Trump said hours after the Nice attack. "The world has got to strengthen up, and we have to be very tight with our borders. It's now a different world."
While Trump supporters cheer those lines, they leave other voters on edge...
Again, news is breaking very quickly and it's unclear who's in control, although I have my doubts that the coup plotters will be successful. Still, where's Erdoğan? As long as he remains out of the country, there's no saying how things will turn out. This is the real thing. Wow.
Here's some of the latest from AFP on Twitter, and note that events might prove different as we move along:
I've just been glued to my Twitter app for about the past two hours. There's no way to post on a story as fast-moving at the coup in Turkey. There's been all kinds of conflicting information, and some just plain crazy developments, especially the moment when President Erdoğan took to Face Time to announce that he was still in control and there'd be major repercussions against the coup plotters. Erdoğan urged citizens to rise up and take to the streets, and frankly, within minutes cable news reports started showing hordes of people out and about, protesting and gathering.
I'm going to look for the Sky News video of Erdoğan, but probably the best thing I saw of all this was Barbara Starr's reporting on CNN. She discussed all the intense linkages between Turkey and the U.S., including the former's key role in NATO, from which the U.S. is authorized to launch air missions from Turkish military bases. Turkey's also an incredibly strategic state, with its location at the entry-points to the Middle East from the south and to Europe from the north. And the U.S. sends billions of dollars in direct foreign aid to the regime in Ankara, so the investment is multifaceted. And then there's the fight against Islamic State and U.S. policy toward Assad's regime in Syria. Frankly, Turkey's looking like a linchpin over there, sheesh.
In any case, here's Starr at CNN. I'll update throughout the night. I've gotta say, this is an extremely interesting story from a number of angles. Donald Trump tweeted his support for the coup plotters, which may prove rather tantalizing, even problematic, depending on events.
In any case, there's too much conflicting information on who's in control.
Yeah, the Telegraph U.K., and a number of other outlets are using the "lone wolf" whitewash. France 24 even referred to Mohamed as a "stray dog" attacker, because of course this has nothing to do with Islam.
Some pretty aggressive statements on Islam and sharia.
Gingrich is like an echo to Trump's earlier statements on Islam, and not only does this fire up the base, it's almost like he's trying to sway Trump's veep decision at the last minute. Remember, the announcement's been postponed due to the attack in France.
Bastille Day's kinda like the Fourth of July in the states, although July 14th isn't exactly the start of the French Revolution. An angry French mob just busted into the Bastille prison, massacring a number of officers of the permanent garrison, and beheading the governor, Bernard-René de Launay, parading his head around on a pike.
Vox Day is the Supreme Dark Lord on Twitter:
Multiculturalism kills. Close the borders. Deport the invaders. #Nice
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