Free Republic

The George Washington University Center on Extremism recently published a study on Islam-based extremism by sympathizers of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, Daesh, or as the Obama administration says, ISIL). The study's executive summary noted that this recent trend of "ISIS-related mobilization in the United States has been unprecedented." Some of the major findings from their report were the following: ~ 250 Americans have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join ISIS, or have tried to. ~ 900 active investigations against ISIS sympathizers in all 50 states. ~ 71 individuals have been charged with ISIS-related activities since March...

In an email this week to students, University of Maryland President Wallace Loh, outlining the reasons behind his request to the Board of Regents to rename the school's football stadium, due to the racist past of a previous president for which the stadium is named, managed to quote the wrong official motto of the United States: "Our national motto engraved on our coins is E Pluribus Unum, one formed from many. The Founders of our Republic got it right. We are a diverse people, but we are united by common values and ideals. We are of many different backgrounds but...

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Thursday that he is confident the U.S. is safe from a Paris-style attack from ISIS and that American law enforcement is well equipped to protect the nation during the holidays. "ISIL will not pose an existential threat to us. They are a dangerous organization like al Qaeda was, but we have hardened our defenses," Obama told CBS. "The American people should feel confident that, you know, we are going to be able to defend ourselves and make sure that, you know, we have a good holiday and go about...

A permanent new US “expeditionary force” will target Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, operating independently of local troops in Iraq and Syria for the first time, defense secretary Ash Carter has revealed, in a significant escalation of the frontline use of American ground troops in the region. Addressing Congressional leaders who are demanding swifter progress against Isis, Carter said on Tuesday that the troops would be based in Iraq but will have the capability to carry out raids across the border. “It puts everybody on notice in Syria,” he said. “You don’t know at night who is going...

Oversight: A federal agency keeps stonewalling congressional efforts to access its internal communications. What's the problem here? If the agency's global warming claim was honestly arrived at, just turn over the documents.

MR KIRBY: Good afternoon, everybody. Got a special guest with me here today to kick off the briefing – Mr. Simon Henshaw, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, is going to walk you through for a few minutes some more details about the screening process for refugees. We’ve talked about this over the last few days, about how extensive and thorough it is, and I asked Mr. Henshaw to come give you a little primer on that. He’ll also be able to stick around for a couple of questions and then we’ll get on...

Anonymous, the loose collective of online activists, said Saturday it has uncovered information about Islamic State group attacks in Paris as well as on locations in the U.S., Indonesia, Italy and Lebanon, all apparently set for Sunday. OpParisIntel, a group within Anonymous, released a statement saying it had collected information about imminent attacks by the militant group -- aka Daesh, ISIL and ISIS -- on the French capital a little more than a week after a series of coordinated attacks there left 130 dead and hundreds injured. Anonymous also said the Islamic State group is planning an assault at the...

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) says the argument made by the left and by GOP leadership – particularly Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) – that America shouldn’t stop letting Syrian refugees into the country because “that’s just not who we are” is “not supported by logic or rational.”

NEW YORK (AP) - Intelligence officials found no evidence of any specific or credible threat targeting American soil following the deadly Paris attacks, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Still patrols were stepped up and added security measures put in place nationwide. In New York, officers with assault rifles stood guard in Times Square, and extra security was stationed at French-owned sites in Washington and consulates in Boston and New York City. But elsewhere around the country, like at Minnesota's Mall of America, it was business as usual. Dozens of police cars left Times Square with lights and sirens blaring...

IDF Intelligence officers have warned Israeli soldiers that the CIA may be trying to gain their confidence to obtain information that could reveal security information. The memo warns soldiers to “be aware and report any unusual incidents.” The IDF attached to its memo a copy of an article from a Israeli newspaper that once reported that American s serving in the IDF were extensively questioned when they visited or returned to the United States. The American government has ears and eyes in Israel, both on the spy level and within the consulate. One security officer in a community in Judea...

Australian defense planners are looking at the possibility of a naval sail-through close to China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea, in case the government decides to follow its close ally the U.S. in testing Beijing’s territorial claims. “Australia has been looking at options,” said one official in Australia’s military familiar with operational planning. The official spoke after the American guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed early Tuesday within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, one of seven sand and rock outcrops in the Spratly chain on which China has built artificial islands. The U.S. considers the area international waters,...

Video:China warns US not to ‘make a fool of itself’ over South China Sea manoeuvres. China is not afraid of fighting a war against the United States in the South China Sea, a state-run newspaper with links to the Communist party has claimed. Beijing is attempting to build artificial islands, while other states in the region are looking to the US to flex its military muscle on their behalf Twenty-four hours after Washington challenged Beijing’s territorial claims in the region by deploying a warship to waters around the disputed Spratly archipelago, the notoriously nationalistic Global Times accused the Pentagon of...

The United Nations General Assembly has almost unanimously voted to condemn the US embargo on Cuba, in the first such resolution since US-Cuban diplomatic ties were restored earlier this year. The motion won more support than it has done in the past, with 191 members of the 193-member body voting in favour. Only the US and Israel opposed the resolution, which is non-binding.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin "direct action on the ground" against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria, aiming to intensify pressure on the militants as progress against them remains elusive. "We won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground," Carter said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, using an alternative name for the militant group. Carter pointed to last week's rescue operation with Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to free hostages...

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailed close to one of China's man-made islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday, drawing an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it had tracked and warned the ship and called in the U.S. ambassador to protest. SNIP Washington's move followed months of deliberation by the administration of President Barack Obama and could ratchet up tension in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and increase strains in U.S.-China relations. A U.S. defense official said the Lassen also went within 12-mile limits of features in the disputed sea claimed by Vietnam and U.S. treaty ally,...

In an explosive report we learn that ever since 2012, the United States has been spying on Israel in order to prevent the Jewish State from attacking suspected Iranian nuclear sites, according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal. The White House had sent an additional aircraft carrier to the region after learning that Israeli aircraft had flown into Iranian airspace in what U.S. officials feared was a test run for an attack on Iran’s Fordow plant. The carriers had attack aircraft on board prepared to respond to any Israeli attack on Iran. If that wasn’t enough to strain the conceit that...

BAGHDAD — Struggling to regain the initiative after a long impasse in the battle against Islamic State militants, the Iraqi government and the American-led coalition are for the first time in months putting military pressure on the jihadists on multiple fronts, officials say. Supported by increased American air power, Iraqi forces are on the outskirts of Ramadi, pressing to encircle the capital of Anbar Province, which the militants took in May, and cut it off from resupply and reinforcements. To the north of Baghdad, Iraqi military forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias are trying to expand their foothold at the Baiji...

Editorial in Global Times, which is close to Communist rulers, condemns Washington’s ‘ceaseless provocations and coercion’ Chinese media criticised the US on Thursday for “ceaseless provocations” in the South China Sea, with Washington expected to soon send warships close to artificial islands Beijing has built in disputed waters. An editorial in the Global Times, which is close to China’s ruling Communist party, condemned US “coercion”, adding: “China mustn’t tolerate rampant US violations of China’s adjacent waters and the skies over those expanding islands.” It said China’s military should “be ready to launch countermeasures according to Washington’s level of provocation”. Tensions...

Link only. Now on Drudge

Central banks around the world are selling U.S. government bonds at the fastest pace on record, the most dramatic shift in the $12.8 trillion Treasury market since the financial crisis. Sales by China, Russia, Brazil and Taiwan are the latest sign of an emerging-markets slowdown that is threatening to spill over into the U.S. economy. Previously, all four were large purchasers of U.S. debt. Few analysts expect much higher yields in the Treasury market as a result. Foreign private purchases of U.S. debt have increased amid pessimism about the world economic outlook. U.S. firms and financial institutions continue to buy...