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Top U.S. counterterrorism officials say they worry a potential terrorist could be hiding among refugees who are looking to come to the United States after escaping the brutal war in Syria. "It's clearly a population of concern,” the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Nicholas Rasmussen, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, went further, saying it would be a “huge mistake” to bring refugees from the conflict to the U.S. – even as an estimated 4 million children, women and men have been forced to flee Syria and another 7 million have been...

Up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, most of them Muslims, will be resettled in cities throughout the U.S. in 2015, with that figure expected to surge to near 75,000 over the next five years. While some of the planned destinations for these refugees are starting to leak out, the big question is: where will they be going? The U.S. State Department does not announce where it plans to send foreign refugees for resettlement within the United States, although the locations do eventually show up in a government database some weeks after they arrive in their host cities. Word of their anticipated...

Syrian refugee and Caritas Jordan volunteer Amer Fahd Al Naser, his wife Noor, and their sons, at their apartment in Jordan, October 2014. Credit: Kevin Jones/CNA. Beirut, Lebanon, Dec 26, 2014 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic participation in refugee and humanitarian relief in the Syrian civil war is strengthening a foundation for future peace despite the great difficulties of the region, says an official of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. “The Church is a very big player in the humanitarian efforts,� said Monsignor Giampietro Dal Toso, the pontifical council’s secretary. “The fact that we are helping the whole population...

Israeli planes bombed the area near Damascus international airport and the town of Dimas, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state television. No casualties were reported. There has been no confirmation of the air strikes from Israel.

Millions of YouTube viewers have been captivated by the 'Syrian hero boy' who manages to rescue a little girl while under gunfire. Now a group of Norwegian filmmakers have told BBC Trending they are behind it. They say it was filmed on location in Malta this summer with the intention of being presented as real. Lars Klevberg, a 34-year-old film director based in Oslo, wrote a script after watching news coverage of the conflict in Syria. He says he deliberately presented the film as reality in order to generate a discussion about children in conflict zones.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who holds a coveted seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has skipped out on nearly half of the public hearings held by the committee over the last two years, including one where counterterrorism officials warned of the emerging ISIS danger, documents show. Shaheen missed an April 11, 2013, hearing on U.S. policy toward Syria in which a top U.S. Treasury official in charge of terrorist financing told Senate committee members that a new terrorist group, ISIS, had sprung up, “underscoring the danger this group poses for Syria and the world.” Shaheen was not listed...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A former Iraqi general, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, is reported to be coordinating attacks in Iraq by foreign fighters and Iraqi regime loyalists, a US defense official said. "There are reports that the al-Douri is coordinating the attacks," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The reports in military channels fingering al-Douri as the coordinator of the attacks probably came from the recent capture in Mosul of a former secretary of al-Douri and two senior members of Ansar al-Islam who were close to the general, the official said. Number six on the US list of 55...

Ceylan Ozalp, 19, was reportedly surrounded by ISIS fighters near the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane also known as Ain al-Arab. After she run out of ammunition Ozalp said “goodbye” over the radio and spent her last bullet on killing herself. She knew. She knew what these devout Muslims do to non-Muslim girls. This woman is a heroine. True courage. Another freedom loving people Obama abandoned in support of the jihad movement. ... Those whom their “right hands own” (Quran 4:3, 4:24, 33:50) are slaves, and inextricable from the concept of Islamic slavery as a whole is the concept of...

Washington (AFP) - Training and equipping moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State extremists will take months, the White House warned Friday a day after Congress approved the plan. "We will move out as rapidly as can be done, in partnership with the countries that will host the training facilities," said Susan Rice, national security advisor to President Barack Obama. "This will be a process that takes months," she said, adding it will not "happen overnight." "This is a serious training program, and we are serious about vetting those that we will be training and equipping," Rice emphasized. "It is...

The IDF returned fire at a Syrian army position along the northern border Thursday afternoon, after a mortar shell struck Israeli territory. Sirens were heard throughout throughout the Golan Heights earlier, as a mortar shell had struck in an open field in the northern Golan. No damage or injuries were reported. A military spokeswoman told AFP it hit an open field without causing any damage or harm to anyone. Nevertheless, Israel has vowed to take a zero-tolerance approach to any fire into Israel. "Initial reviews suggest that this was a result of errant fire from the internal fighting in Syria,"...

MALIKIYA, Syria (AP) — In a dusty camp here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve out an escape route for tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop. While the U.S. and Iraqi militaries struggle to aid the starving members of Iraq's Yazidi minority with supply drops from the air, the Syrian Kurds took it on themselves to rescue them. ... For the past few days, fighters have been rescuing Yazidis from the mountain, transporting them into Syrian territory to give them first aid, food and water, and returning some to Iraq via a...

Obama is saying he is contemplating arming and training Syrian rebels (just the 'moderates' which will be identified by their smiles). However, as the following PBS Frontline documentary exposes, the Syrian rebels themselves say they are already armed and trained by US in the use of sophisticated weapons and fighting techniques, including, one rebel said, "how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush." The interviews are the latest evidence that after more than three years of warfare, the United States has stepped up the provision of lethal aid to the rebels, as PBS notes "it appears the Obama...

One of the militant Syrian rebel groups provided access to advanced U.S. missiles said that it is seeking “the return of all Syrian land occupied by Israel,” a stance that could potentially complicate U.S. military support to the armed rebel group. The leader of an official rebel group sanctioned by the Syrian Military Council and in possession of sophisticated U.S. arms expressed his opinion in an interview published over the weekend by the Syrian news organization Tahrir Souri. Ahmad Al-Sa’oud, who heads the rebel unit Division 13, was asked by the interviewer to explain “your stance, as an armed opposition...

"9/11 plotter released in Syria prisoner exchange" SNIPPET: "The al-Qaeda recruiter reputed to have assembled the so-called Hamburg Cell, which planned and largely carried out the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, has been set free in a prisoner exchange between rebel and regime forces in Syria. Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham has secured the release of 9/11 plotter and alleged al-Qaeda core member Mohammed Haydar Zammar, adding to concerns about the composition of the Islamic Front. A naturalized German citizen of Syrian origin, Mohammed Haydar Zammar left Germany shortly after the attacks and traveled to Morocco, where he was reportedly...

BREAKING: Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza (VIDEO) MARCH 5, 2014 8:53 AM 9 COMMENTS Benny Gantz Ram Rothberg Israeli Navy KLOSCIran Gaza KLOSC Shayetet 13Israeli navy commandos KLOSC arms shipM-302 missile Iran Gaza StripM-302 missile Second Lebanon WarMoti Almoz Israeli Navy KLOSC Iran Israeli Naval commandos on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea weighed down with missiles that was en route to the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement. The boat, named KLOSC, was stopped by the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 as it was heading to...

Hell-bent on arming opposition forces in Syria—despite strong evidence that they’re run by Islamic terrorists—John McCain displayed behavior unbecoming of a United States Senator during a recent meeting with Syrian Christian leaders touring Capitol Hill. The delegation of Syrian clergy came to Washington to raise awareness among lawmakers of the growing crisis among the region’s minority Christian community. Christians make up about 10% of the Syrian population and they are being targeted and ruthlessly murdered by radical elements of the rebel forces, according to the visiting church officials. They say the media and human rights groups in the west have...

Islamic supremacist anti-Semitic propaganda endangers not only Jews. “Wounded Syrian couple treated in Israel,” from Israel Hayom, January 19 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): Israel Defense Forces troops brought a wounded Syrian couple to Poriah Hospital near Tiberias Thursday night. The couple, residents of the embattled town Daraa, arrived with gunshot wounds in their legs. The male is 27 years old and his wife is 23 and in the early stages of pregnancy.While the two did not have life threatening wounds, the two have been through an immense amount of duress recently: Two months ago, the couple lost their...

Obama administration official confirms to CNN that Israel attacked missiles and equipment it felt might be transferred to Hezbollah; Al-Arabiya reports Israel destroyed SA-8 missiles in Damascus and Latakia. Israel conducted air raids against a Syrian missile base near the port city of Latakia early on Thursday, according to an anonymous US administration official. The official, speaking to CNN, said Israel targeted missiles and related equipment out of concern that they would be transferred to Hezbollah. It is unclear why the US would leak such information, as it could increase the pressure on Syria to retaliate against Israel.

(CNN) -- Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Thursday, an Obama administration official told CNN. An explosion at a missile storage site in the area was widely reported in the Israeli press, but an attack has not been confirmed by the Israeli government. The target, according to the Obama administration official, was missiles and related equipment the Israelis felt might be transferred to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. When asked for comment, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told...

Unclear who is behind the attack on base located in stronghold of Assad's Alawites, but Syrian, Lebanese media accuse Israel; Channel 2 reports attack's target were S-125 surface-to-air missiles.

If there is a country Saudi Arabia and Iran despise more than Israel, it’s each other. When it comes to Syria, Iran’s most prominent ally, the prospect of removing Bashar al-Assad has a pavlovian effect on the Saudis. ... Putin beat Barack Obama and John Kerry like a couple of drums. While Obama saw an opportunity to spin a resounding defeat into an opportunity to back down under the guise of a diplomatic stalemate as the preferred option, there were consequences. One of those consequences involves Saudi Arabia’s anger with the U.S. for not dealing with Assad. Consequences aren’t necessarily...

Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels continue to haunt the predominantly Christian town of Maaloula as regime fighters struggle to regain power there. Maaloula, about 35 miles northeast of Damascus, the capital, is nestled under a large cliff, the summit of which is controlled by the rebels. “Invisible” snipers continue to pepper the residents below. “We never see them, but we hear the shots fired by their Dragunovs,” the Russians’ favorite sniper rifle, said a soldier as he hid behind a wall, Agence France-Presse reported. ... al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels in Maaloula had forced at least one person to convert to Islam at gunpoint...

t will likely come as no surprise but the political one-up-manship continues as the Obama White House try to rescue themselves from a face-melting Putin Op-Ed... As Politico reports, WH press secretary Jay Carney stated: “If we were to see a situation unfold where Assad were to give up his chemical weapons to international supervision that would be an enormous accomplishment ... would be due to the decisions made by the Russian leadership but also the decisions made by the United States, by the president, to take the approach he has taken in response to the horrifying use of chemical...

A Washington scholar whose writings on Syria were touted by top U.S. officials in making the case for a military strike has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her education credentials. The development comes after Elizabeth O'Bagy's credibility and objectivity had come under scrutiny over her work with a Syrian opposition advocacy group. The institute, where she had worked as a senior analyst, on Wednesday posted a terse statement on its website claiming she also misled the organization about having a Ph.D. "The Institute for the Study of War has learned and...

Hackers claiming to be affiliated with Anonymous launched a widespread cyber attack on Israeli citizens, government institutions, and corporations on Wednesday, according to Internet chatter and postings from the self-described hackers. The attack is purportedly being carried out by a nebulous group of hackers who claim affiliation with both Anonymous and the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), which supports embattled President Bashar al Assad. Timed to occur on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the hackers took aim at Israeli banks and government websites over what they claimed are the Jewish state’s multiple crimes. The hackers alternately blamed Israel for...

RAF Typhoon fighters won a mid-air showdown with two Syrian warplanes heading towards Britain’s main base in Cyprus, the Sunday People reports. The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar Al-Assad’s air chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe British air defenses, the report said. The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK’s Akrotiri air base to contact them. RAF pilots flying the advanced combat jet were scrambled before the Sukhois could enter our 14-mile air exclusion zone. The Typhoons – which can scream from runway standstill to seven miles high in...

According to USAID (United States Agency For International Development), the federal agency in charge of distributing the vast majority of foreign aid monies to other countries, United States taxpayers have paid for over one billion dollars in foreign aid packages to help support the “Syrian Humanitarian Response." Despite the threat of continued chemical attacks against the Syrian people that has served as the focal point of rallying cries for advocates of US military intervention (including the Obama administration), The Daily Beast reported that gas masks were not among the items

American government knew days beforehand that the Syrian regime was about to launch the chemical attack that later killed more than a thousand people. The disclosure, raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions for the American government. First and foremost: What, if anything, did it do to notify the Syrian opposition of the pending attack?

(CNSNews.com) - While President Barack Obama is now asking Congress to authorize him to use military force against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad because that regime used chemical weapons on its own people, the State Department is maintaining a travel warning advising Americans not to travel to Syria because the al-Nusrah Front, the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria--which is particiapting in the rebellion seeking to overthrow Assad--has carried out about 600 attacks in the country since November 2011. These al Qaeda terrorist attacks, according to the State Department, have killed many Syrian civilians. "There is also a threat from...

Senator McCain has had a busy day making a variety of confused statements 1. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is “euphoric” about President Obama’s surprise announcement Saturday that he will seek congressional authorization for a limited strike in the war-torn country, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on “Face the Nation.” 2. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized President Barack Obama’s plans for limited air strikes on Syria as “cosmetic” Friday, saying the failure of the United States to intervene in the country’s civil war was “shameful.” 3. “We’re in a bit of a dilemma here, because I think Senator Lindsey Graham...

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The moves are a setback for the U.S. bid to strike Syria militarily for its alleged chemical weapons use. WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's move to punish Syria's government for allegedly using chemical weapons in a deadly attack last week appeared to suffer a setback Wednesday when the U.S. failed to get United Nations approval for use of force and British support was thrown into question. The collapse of diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria was expected. The British impediment was not.

Rand Paul in May, proven correct later in August...

As the war drums for Syria get louder, let this thread serve as a repository for news, background, Tweets, photos, video, on-the-ground reports, etc., as was done recently with Egypt.

A senior official in the Syrian army warned the United States and its partners on Tuesday that waging a full-scale war on Syria would be reciprocated with an immediate attack on Tel Aviv. "If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will actually issue a license for attacking Israel," the Syrian army source told the Iranian Fars news agency. "Rest assured that if Syria is attacked, Israel will also be set on fire and such an attack will, in turn, engage Syria's neighbors," he added. The source also warned the U.S....

The UK is drawing up contingency plans for military action in response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria, Downing Street has said. David Cameron will also consider a recall of Parliament when he returns to No 10 later on Tuesday. MPs from all parties have demanded they be consulted before any move to support military action is taken. The suspected chemical attack took place on Wednesday near Damascus, and reportedly killed more than 300 people. Syrian rebels say the Assad government was responsible, but it blames rebel forces - saying footage of the attack was "fabricated". Mr Cameron is...

Secretary of State John Kerry says the use of chemical weapons in Syria is "undeniable" and that the U.S. is considering how to respond:

Helping them with your tax dollars to unilaterally overthrow Syria’s president and replace with the Muslim Brotherhood that is. via As Syria war escalates, Americans cool to U.S. intervention: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters. (Reuters) – Americans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria’s civil war and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict even if reports that Syria’s government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed, a Reuters/Ipsos poll says. About 60 percent of Americans surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria’s civil war, while just 9 percent thought President Barack Obama should act. More Americans...

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered local spy agencies to urgently probe claims that Syrian forces launched a horrific chemical attack on civilians, including children, aides said Thursday. Officials said they could not yet be sure the deadly arms had killed as many as 1,300 people outside Damascus, as the rebels have claimed. The Obama administration is facing rising political pressure for a tough response to the attack, which could have again infringed U.S. "red lines" against chemical weapons use by President Bashar Al-Assad's regime. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said that Obama had asked intelligence agencies to urgently evaluate...

« CNN on al Qaeda's 'encrypted messaging system' | Main | Bloomberg News on Zawahiri's communications » Link lwj-print-icon-2.jpg Comments (3) ShareThis Free Syrian Army commander celebrates victory with al Qaeda affiliate By Bill RoggioAugust 10, 2013 10:38 AM In this New York Times article on the influx of foreign fighters into Syria (more than 6,000 foreign fighters are now estimated to be fighting with jihadist groups) is a report of a Free Syrian Army commander celebrating the capture of the Minnigh airport in Aleppo with a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al Qaeda...

These are the "rebels" Obama is sending lethal weapons to. And it's not just him. Doddering old clueless McCain is right there taking photos with kidnappers and terrorists: Disturbing report alleges killings of 450 Kurds in Syria" RT, August 9, 2013 (thanks to The Religion of Peace) Unconfirmed reports have emerged detailing a new massacre in which 450 Kurds - including 120 children - were allegedly slaughtered by al-Qaeda-linked rebels fighting against the Syrian government. The report has sparked international concern. According to Iranian TV channel Al-Alam, militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra Front attacked the town of Tal Abyad on...

With conditions continuing to deteriorate in Syria, the Obama administration is making a major policy shift by agreeing for the first time to allow thousands of new Syrian refugees into the United States, The Cable has learned. The numbers are relatively small: just 2,000 refugees, compared to an estimated two million people who have fled Syria during the civil war. But it's a significant increase from the 90 or so Syrian refugees who have been permanently admitted to the U.S. in the last two years. And it's not entirely uncontroversial. The refugees, mostly women and children, will be screened for...

He played the great Klingon warrior Kang on three versions of "Star Trek" and a Native American on ABC's "Broken Arrow." Michael Ansara, the rugged character actor who played Klingon commander Kang on three different Star Trek TV series, has died. He was 91 ... Born in a small village in Syria to American parents, Ansara starred as Native Americans on two 1950s primetime series ...

Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria by Al-Qaeda-Linked Rebels as Men and Children Take Pictures and Cheer Jun. 30, 2013 7:37am Sharona Schwartz Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder. As TheBlaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad. While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death,...

According to Syrian Truth’s Facebook page, the above photo is of a toddler living in the Deir ez-Zor Governate in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. She was tied up by members of the U.S.-supported “Free Syrian Army” — which is dominated by foreign, Sunni jihadis — and made to watch as her mother and father were killed for being Shia. Here is how the Obama administration is using your tax dollars — mockingly in the name of “freedom.”

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), two lawmakers who are part of the gang of eight immigration bill, are unaware of the administration's willingness to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States. Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told Breitbart News, “Well this country has a long history of asylum and taking people who are fleeing oppression. On the other hand, given the nature of the Syrian conflict, like any asylum seeker, that they be carefully vetted. That’s my initial take. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.” Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon have taken...

Just thought I'd call Obama's arming Syrian rebels for what it REALLY is; America training and arming terrorists who've committed atrocities just as bad as those committed against them. When evil fights evil, we should just let them kill each other! There is no 'good guy' in this fight and we should stay OUT of it. Obama is arming Al Qaeda. Why is America doing this, to help spread the Caliphate? To further the reach of Sharia Law?

In a sharp escalation of the U.S. role in Syria's bloody civil war, the White House announced late Thursday that it will provide military aid to rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad after confirming that his government used chemical weapons on the opposition. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call that President Barack Obama had heard pleas from Syria's rebel Supreme Military Council (SMC) for more help. "Our aim is to be responsive," Rhodes said, underlining that the new assistance would have "direct military purposes."

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The Syrian army has begun deploying advanced surface-to-surface missiles and has aimed them at Tel Aviv, the British Sunday Times reports. According to the report, Syria is preparing to strike Israel in case the Jewish State launches another attack on its territory. The army has received orders to strike central Israel in case additional attacks against Syria are carried out, according to the Sunday Times. The information was reportedly obtained by reconnaissance satellites that were tracking the Syrian forces. According to the report, Syria was deploying advanced Tishreen missiles, which are capable of carrying a warhead of a half a...