Imagine you are contacted by a recruiter and have been asked to go get an explosive belt from their agents. Then you are instructed to go to one of the most crowded places near you and kill as many people as you can before you detonate your vest. Yes while you are still wearing it.
Probably you cannot imagine that. Or you may be thinking what kind of psychological illness you should have to be able to even picture such a scene. But at the moment, there are quite a large number
Terrorism is generally defined as the use of violence against random innocents with the intent to generate fear and emotions that further the terrorists’ political goals. In America, where the actual risk of terrorism is low, our fear and emotions also are shaped — and distorted — by how the news media covers terrorism and how politicians talk about it.
At the moment, our attention, as measured by cable TV airtime and political rhetoric, is focused on two incidents — the mass
What first catches one’s eye at the sight of the group Al-Hashd Al Shaab (people's militia force, formed from the Shiites in Iraq), is their pervasive religious paraphernalia.
RIA Novosti correspondent Rafael Daminov visited Fallujah, a recently liberated city in Iraq, where he met with soldiers of the “People's Militia” (Al-Sha'ab Hashd).
First thing that catches the eye is the numerous flags with the image of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, the portraits
Meerkat and Periscope have opened the doors for social live streaming, and now even Tumblr and all the major social sites are vying for market share. However, a live feed is harder to moderate, and it seems that live streaming has already become an avenue for terrorism and propaganda.
Forbes columnist Kathleen Chaykowski reported that a recent terror suspect live-streamed via Facebook Live from the scene of a murder and hostage situation last week, and threats of terror attacks against
The Clintons have always enjoyed a warm, transactional relationship with Saudi Arabia. Since its inception in 2001, the Kingdom has given the Clinton Foundation somewhere in the range of $10-25 million. So is it any surprise that Bill Clinton mourned the death of the former Saudi monarch, King Abudllah, and praised the king’s “humanitarian efforts around the world”? Nein.
Everyone knows that Saudi Arabia is an oasis of tolerance where gays and wizards are executed. But does Saudi Arabia have
The best way to hijack a person’s capacity for broad thinking, connection to others, creativity — all of our magnificent qualities — is to place that person in a state of fear. In this mode we shut down and run our survival circuitry; we’re relegated to fleeing, fighting or freezing. We are no longer our whole selves. Our energy for life is usurped, and we are easily controlled.
This is how the Islamic State pursues both victims and recruits. But it’s not terrorism; it’s cowardism. It’s
British Labour MP Jo Cox was brutally murdered yesterday. Although the motive is not yet proven, there is mounting evidence that the detained suspect, 52-year-old white male Thomas Mair, was motivated by political ideology. Cox was an outspoken advocate for refugees. At least two witnesses say Mair, as he carried out the attack, yelled “Britain First,” the name of a virulently right-wing anti-immigrant party. He has years of affiliation with neo-Nazi groups: what Southern Poverty Law Center
By Mohammad Khajouei*
The US Department of State has recently released its “Country Report on Terrorism 2015” in which it has put Iran on the top of the list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism. Therefore, mentioning the following five points seems to be necessary in this regard:
1. The US Department of State has declared Iran as a major sponsor of terrorism in 2015 at a time that Iran has been a pioneer in fighting the main symbol of terrorism in the Middle East, which is the
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama administration supported the terrorist group that became ISIS as the group struggled to gain control of the Syria-Iraq border where ISIS now claims its caliphate, according to an intelligence report sent to Hillary Clinton.
Breitbart News reported Tuesday on a “Secret” classified intelligence report sent to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top U.S. officials and agencies in August 2012. The report confirmed that Western and Gulf states were
by Gary Leupp
Donald Trump declares that the Orlando nightclub massacre shows that he “was right on Islamic terrorism” all along, once again chiding Obama for avoiding that label. Hillary Clinton for the first time uses a similar term in an interview with Savannah Guthrie on NBC New’s Today Show.
She says, “To me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing. I’d be happy to say either.” The news media has treated this as a major shift; and Trump was quick to
State Department spokesman John Kirby recently stated that the U.S. government has no interest in collaborating with Russia to undermine jihadist influence in Syria. The announcement came after Moscow proposed a joint action targeting terrorist gangs that refuse to honor ceasefires or even participate in diplomatic negotiations, and thus effectively preclude any political solution to the devastating five-year conflict. Kirby’s words ultimately serve as further confirmation that
By Stephen Lendman
Propaganda works because when repeated enough most people believe it.
The disturbing irony of the latest State Department annual report on terrorism finds the world’s leading state sponsor, America, accusing Iran, threatening no one, without just cause. The same false accusation repeats annually.
The State Department’s report was falsified rubbish, more proof of US hostility toward Iranian sovereign independence, wanting pro-Western tyranny replacing it, an Israeli
BUCHAREST, Romania, June 6 (UPI) -- Last month, the Moscow International Security Conference expressly concentrated on fighting global terrorism. And Bucharest's Middle East Political and Economic Institute and the EURISC Foundation held a conference last week examining terrorism and critical infrastructure. Many conferences have and will aim at exploring "terror and terrorism and the consequences for fill in the blank."
Aside from a common theme, this conference had two other quite
By Finian Cunninghum
Since 1984, the US has been labeling Iran a leading state sponsor of terrorism, a charge that was reiterated last week. However, global events explode Washington’s credibility and denial of reality.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, for example, this week reported that some 270 civilians were killed within 24 hours from shelling of Syria’s second city, Aleppo, by Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror groups.
Moscow said the surge in violence by these groups followed from the
Western militants in the ranks of the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq are seeking their countries’ help in securing return to their motherlands as the Takfiri group continues to suffer heavy losses in the two Arab countries, a report says.
Some of the Daesh militants have contacted diplomatic missions in Turkey while others have secretly sought their governments’ help in leaving dwindling Daesh-held territory, The Wall Street Journal said in a Monday report, citing diplomats
Last Thursday, the US State Department issued a report on global terrorism activity, labeling once again Iran and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism.
In a briefing to reporters Thursday, the Department’s Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell said: "Iran continues to provide support to Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East."
Despite a final nuclear deal with Tehran and the partial removal
By Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos*
Saudi Arabia, by its very nature, is a malevolent country. A malevolent country whose cancerous tentacles extend far beyond the Middle East. And those cancerous tentacles have caused abject pain and suffering to people of different nationalities and different religions for decades now.
Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia's official ideology, and the basis for every aspect of life in the country, is a perverted interpretation of Islam. And at the heart of Wahhabism is the
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful: Inconsistent messages from the Muslim leadership have created increased risk of extremism and radicalization. The True Islam Campaign aims to provide all Americans with a clear way to distinguish true Islam from extremism and to unify Muslim Americans on the correct understanding of Islam the Prophet Muhammad taught. To this end, 11 points have been selected as key tenets of true Islam which differentiates it from extremism. The first of
The New York Times lead headline today reads: “EgyptAir Jet Crashed After Erratic Turns, Officials Say” — with the subhead: “France’s president said ‘no hypothesis was being ruled out,’ including terrorism.”
BEAU GROSSCUP, bgrosscup at csuchico.edu
Grosscup is author of several books including The Newest Explosions of Terrorism and, most recently, Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment.
He argues that, regardless of the causes of the EgyptAir crash, there are
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2001. After 15 years, Americans are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when the Republican-controlled Senate unanimously approved bi-partisan legislation that would allow for families of the victims of the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), sponsored by Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican