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Francis Omits Islam From Nigerian MassacreVATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis and the Nigerian bishops are refusing to name Muslim Fulani herdsmen as the gunmen who slaughtered over 70 Catholics in St. Francis Xavier Church, Ondo, on Pentecost Sunday. The pontiff's second-in-command, Cdl. Pietro Parolin, told Bp. Jude Arogundade of Ondo in a telegram sent Monday that Francis was praying for "the conversion of those blinded by hatred and violence so that they will choose instead the path of peace and righteousness." Episcopal FudgeArogundade's office issued a public statement hours after the slaughter, calling the attackers "unknown gunmen" and stating...

The greatest present challenge facing America and its allies is arguably a small democratic island off the coast of the biggest rising naval hegemon. Detached historians might see an amusing parallel from ancient Greek history, but history has rarely been kind to small islands caught in the middle of a great-power rivalry. The same argument has now reached Washington D.C., as China embarks on one of the fastest and largest naval build-ups in human history.Charles Glaser writes for Foreign Affairs that China is geographically poised to take Taiwan if it so desires, yet defending Taiwan militarily is a fool’s errand...

Chinese foreign affairs minister Wang Yi urged the United States to meet four requirements from Xi Jinping’s regime at the Lanting Forum, a video conference organized by the Chinese foreign affairs ministry on Feb. 22. The requests include: ending support for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet; resuming the U.S.-China dialogue; ending the tariffs on Chinese products and sanctions on Chinese enterprises; and removing all restrictions on China’s news agencies and cultural entities such as the Confucius Institutes. After President Joe Biden announced that he won the presidential election, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his senior diplomats urged the United...

Which is . . . ? Donald Trump obviously doesn’t need to worry. If he crosses any of Obama’s red lines, all that will happen is that Vladimir Putin will swoop in and broker a phony deal in which Trump pretends to give up his weapons. I suppose there are still leftists who buy the narrative that Trump and Putin are best pals, so the whole thing is set up from the start. Seriously, though . . . one thing we know about Obama is that he is willing to fight an enemy. It’s just that he has to actually...

Confronted by one of his first foreign crises, President Donald Trump on Tuesday split the blame for Syria’s worst chemical weapons attack in years between its Russian-backed leader and former President Barack Obama, as the new American administration struggled to explain what it might do in response. In a surprising statement, Trump called the assault in an opposition-held town in northern Syria “reprehensible” and one that “cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” rhetoric that harkened back to Obama’s criticism in 2013 of an earlier chemical attack ascribed to President Bashar Assad’s forces. Trump said Assad was responsible for Tuesday’s...

In a video message posted to Facebook on Thursday evening, Anders Fogh Rasmussen appealed to the US to be the world’s “policeman” and to stop “leading from behind”. […] “Obama’s decision to draw the infamous red line to Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria and then not follow it up with action was, in my opinion, a disaster,” Rasmussen said in a video message posted to Facebook. …

A rare meeting took place on Sunday between a member of the Saudi royal family and Israeli officials, reports NRG/Maariv. The meeting took place at the World Policy Conference in Monaco, where Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former head of the Saudi secret services and formerly his country’s ambassador to the United States, met MK Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua) and Itamar Rabinovich, formerly Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. According to NRG/Maariv, the Saudi prince publicly shook hands with Rabinovich and held a discussion with MK Sheetrit. The report said that Sheetrit invited the Saudi prince to address the Knesset, to which the prince...

Russia helped annihilate the jihadis after Putin made a U-turn over his ceasefire decision. And with the help of Russia airstrikes the Syrian army had been gaining ground for several days. Putin's men hit 158 targets and annihilated more than 100 militants, according to the Russian ministry of defence. Military sources said the army have “full control” of the city known for its beautiful archeology. Syrian officials yesterday released pictures showing helicopters and tanks blasting ISIS targets. The sick terror cult seized the Unesco World Heritage site in May last year and smashed two 2,000-year-old temples and detonated dynamite blasting...

The United States is coming under increasingly bitter criticism for its perceived lack of leadership over Syria as the country's brutal civil conflict heads toward new levels of intensity. Washington appears unable or unwilling to prevent its ally Turkey from bombing Kurdish fighters inside Syria, its critics say. And it has done little to rein in Russia's mounting military involvement on behalf of Bashar al-Assad. President Barack Obama, at a summit in California, said "this is not a contest between me and Putin." "The real question we should be asking is what is it that Russia thinks it gains if...

EXCERPT "There will be an intensification of the strategy that we put forward but the strategy they we put forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work," Obama told reporters at a news conference at the close of a Group of 20 summit.

The change in rhetoric (and apparent shift in strategy) comes just days after the US seemingly prepared the public for what might be coming by releasing helmet cam footage of what Washington says was a raid on an ISIS prison by Delta Force (accompanied by the Peshmerga). 70 prisoners were allegedly freed although not before the US suffered its first combat death in Iraq since 2011. The timing of the video is suspect, to say the least. It came just days after Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford visited Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi in an effort to dissuade Baghdad...

President Obama now says he never believed in the $500-million program to train and equip the moderate Syrian opposition. The administration last week halted the failed program, which ended up “training” fewer than 100 Syrians, all but four or five of whom deserted or died after the Americans tried to turn them into anti-ISIS fighters. “Steve, this is why I’ve been skeptical from the get-go about the notion that we were going to effectively create this proxy army inside Syria,” Obama told CBS’ Steve Kroft during an interview for “60 Minutes.” …

I need to power down for a bit this weekend, so I leave you with this to discuss amongst yourselves: From the Washington Free Beacon – some reporter had the audacity to press BHO on his waffling on the red line in Syria. So Big Guy schooled him on the fact that chlorine is just a toilet bowl cleanser: During a press conference at Camp David, President Obama said that chlorine isn’t ‘historically’ a chemical weapon.“We have seen reports about the use of chlorine in bombs that had the effect of chemical weapons. Chlorine, chlorine, itself, historically has not been...

US Special Operations Forces killed an Islamic State military and financial leader and captured his wife during a raid in eastern Syria last night, the US military confirmed today. The operation, which included airstrikes followed by an air assault conducted by special operations troops, was designed to capture Abu Sayyaf, a senior leader in the Islamic State, and his wife, Umm Sayyaf. The raid took place “in al-Amr,” or the Al Omar oil field in Deir al Zour province in eastern Syria, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a statement released by the US military. The oil field is...

U.S. commandos mounted a rare raid into eastern Syria overnight, killing a senior Islamic State commander in a firefight, capturing his wife and rescuing a Yazidi woman held as a slave, the Pentagon said Saturday. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the raid, identifying the militant as Abu Sayyaf. He said no U.S. forces were killed or injured in the operation. A U.S.-led coalition has been striking Islamic State militants in Syria since last year, but this is only the second time troops have carried out a ground raid. A previous operation was aimed at rescuing Americans held hostage by the...

Boys, move the goalposts. If you’re having trouble keeping track of all the promises, threats, and “red lines” that Obama has applied to Syria and Assad, you’re not alone. There have been so many that things tend to get confusing. However, one constant through it all has been a warning that, if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, it would trigger a US military response. Now we have widespread reports of the Assad regime deploying weaponized chlorine gas. So, if you’re a President who’s absolutely terrified of backing up his own proclamations with actual action, what are you to do?...

Widespread reports of chlorine gas attacks in Syria have not been prevented - or acted upon - because chlorine is not "historically" considered a chemical weapon, US President Barack Obama stated Thursday. Obama was forced to answer the chlorine question during a press conference from a summit at Camp David with leaders of the Gulf states. Syria and Iran were key issues at the conference.

Blunder after blunder. That's been the story of President Barack Obama's policy toward Syria. In April 2011, Obama said dictator Bashir al-Assad "had to go." But he did little or nothing to speed him on his way. At an Aug. 20, 2012, press conference, in campaign season, he was asked about Syria's chemical weapons and said "a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus." On Aug. 21, 2013, a year and a day afterwards, chemical weapons were used in large quantities in the...

WASHINGTON — President Obama warned Syria on Monday that it would face American military intervention if there were signs that its arsenal of unconventional weapons was being moved or prepared for use. It was Mr. Obama’s first direct threat of force against Syria, as he has resisted being drawn into the bloody 18-month rebellion. [...] “We cannot have a situation in which chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Mr. Obama said in response to questions at an impromptu news conference at the White House. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime...

Red lines should not be drawn without anticipating their likely consequences or what will have to be done if they are crossed. President Obama seems not even to have considered either.Are we going to war in the Middle East? By all accounts I have read, we seem likely to do so shortly; military intervention is not a matter of if, but when. If we do intervene militarily, there will be attempts to make the war short and sanitary. That is likely a delusional hope. In April, I re-posted a Stratfor article about the red line mess and offered this view: Great...