08/31/17

The Truth about David Duke and the #UniteTheRight Leaders

By: Renee Nal | New Zeal

Unite the Right promotional poster as tweeted out by Baked Alaska

Are the leaders of the infamous “Unite the Right” rally held in Charlottesville, VA on August 12 “white supremacists” or something else? Heather Heyer was brutally killed and many others wounded when a car being driven by James Alex Fields, Jr., a Hitler-loving 20-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic plowed into a group of communist agitators and Antifa activists.

Whether they are provocateurs, infiltrators or nazis, one thing is for sure – the leaders of the Unite the Right rally do not preach, practice or even remotely represent conservatism.

But the Unite the Right leaders researched by this author do share several common traits: They are anti-Semitic, deeply pro-Russian, and have an anti-free market ideology.

David Duke

David Duke is not exactly a conservative icon. He is anti-Semitic and would be more ideologically compatible with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement than with the pro-Israel Tea Party. In fact, David Duke praised the Occupy Wall Street movement, particularly the anti-Semitic strain therein, including head OWS organizer Adbusters editor Kalle Lasn.

Watch:

Like the others profiled here, David Duke has a deep appreciation for Russia, and even lived there for a period:

Here, David Duke is pictured with Aleksandr Dugin, Russian philosopher and political figure working to combine Islam, Fascism and Communism into an anti-West alliance. Dugin was dubbed “Putin’s Rasputin” by Breitbart News.

A revealing quote from Aleksandr Dugin’s 1997 work “The Foundation of Geopolitics:”

“It is especially important to introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics…”

Learn more on Dugin from the Center for Security Policy.

Continue reading

08/31/17

Weekly Featured Profile – Bernard Sampson

KeyWiki.org

Bernard Sampson is chairman of the Houston Club of the Communist Party USA. As a young man he was active in the Trotskyist Spartacist League in Los Angeles.

In recent years, Sampson has been active in the NAACP, Working America, People Before Profits, Houstonians for Bernie Sanders and The Houston Socialist Reading Group.

He also serves as a Precinct Chair for the local Democratic Party.

Bernard Sampson also serves on the board of Coalition of Community Organizations, which is led by his friend and fellow Communist Party USA supporter Rev. James Caldwell, one of two black pastors involved with the Houston Communist Party.

In August 2017, Bernard Sampson stood for election to the Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee, at the National Convention in Chicago, from Houston Democratic Socialists of America.[1]

I have been involved in the progressive movement within Houston since the 1970s… I am a long-time friend of DSA here in Houston and have been a dues-paying member myself since the beginning of the year.
I am heavily involved with DSA and would like to help the Houston chapter establish meaningful relationships with other progressive organizations in the area. I have ties to Working America, Texas Organizing Project, Communist Party USA, Houstonians for Bernie Sanders (I played an active role in Bernie’s campaign throughout the process), as well as many of the unions within the Houston area.

Bernard Sampson failed to win election to DSA’s leadership body, but remains active in the organization. —

(Bernard Sampson|more…)

08/30/17

Egypt: “War on terror” shuts down churches and prayer

By: Dr. Ashraf Ramelah | Voice of the Copts

Mass in Al Furn street

Imagine walking through your village to church to pray during the final days of fasting for the Feast of Assumption. You find police barricades blocking all roads to the sanctuary. At a check point you see your priest petitioning the heavens. State police forbid your entrance and give the same reasons they always do – excuses well known to Christian Copts. You have no permit to pray and you must stop irritating Muslims with whom you share your village.

You are accustomed to it. You’ve always been told on the slightest whim that you need a government permit to pray in the church and even inside your home in the village of Al-Furn, and that goes for all other towns across Egypt. Yet no actual law or code exists requiring anyone anywhere in Egypt to have a permit for prayer. Meanwhile, Christians in this little town of four hundred Coptic families live with the familiar weekly scene of neighboring Muslims praying in the street — blocking public transportation and ceasing passage. Complaints are never lodged against them demanding the nebulous “permit.” They are free to do so.

It is not the only village to be targeted by the Sisi regime’s state police in the Upper Egypt area of the country which is heavily inhabited by Christian Copts. There was Ezbet Nakhla in Abu Qarqas, Qum Al-Loufi village in Basmalut and Taft Al-Kharsa at Al-Fashn Center in Beni Suef.  All received their share of obstruction to worship. Furthermore, when police take illegal actions to harass Christians and halt worship, Copts begin to fear it gives license to Muslim mobs.

In the case of the Virgin Mary Church, it is known that Muslim intolerance was not the motivation behind the police barricade even though so often their complaints cause such responses from law enforcement. Virgin Mary’s priest, Botrus Aziz, claimed that local Muslims said nothing this time and gave no objections to the planned celebrations for the end of the fast on Sunday, August 20.

The regime maintains the police were sent to protect Christians in religious practice from possible terror attacks.

Street prayer

However, two days later when the congregation gathered in the street, law enforcement disappeared. Men, women and children of the Virgin Mary Church, having no other recourse, entered the street on the eve of the Feast to celebrate mass. Christians were left wide open and vulnerable. Apparently the police were no longer concerned with potential infiltrators.

It is speculated that the state may have been retaliating against Bishop Makarius and his courageous remarks to the public two weeks earlier about the status of religious discrimination in Al Minya Diocese. He correctly stated that 15 more church doors are bolted, and 70 villages are not permitted to have a church at all. It seems that Virgin Mary Church may have been next on the hit list for the steady shut down of churches, a total of 58 so far that are inaccessible to Copts due to the regime’s concern for “security.”

Coptic priest watching barracades

With this in mind, some believe that the police barricade of the Virgin Mary Church was the state’s attempt to create a “vacancy” status for the church building. If so, the Church would not succeed in meeting the “grandfather” requirement of sound construction by deadline at the end of September in compliance with the state’s new Law 80-2016 (9/28/2016) governing church buildings. Virgin Mary Church could then be legally and permanently shut down by the state.

In the regime’s zeal for “protecting” Christians the state has expanded its harassment by demanding burdensome paperwork from the church. The church must submit a report in advance to state security with date, time and place of religious activities, listing its participants. After the bus attack and murder of Coptic Christians earlier this year by Egyptian Islamic-jihadists crossing Libyan borders Egypt is clamping down on Christian religious trips and conferences and requiring details upfront for security reasons. In addition to these controls, the previous terror attack brought about the closing of the Coptic Monastery to any future visitors, ending a long religious tradition.

One can’t help but feel that jihadists are winning here. State regulations and errant police follow through with controls over the jihadi targets to strip Christian Copts of religious freedoms. That’s one of the aims of terrorism. Already there are 58 churches inaccessible to parishioners due to the state’s requirements for security.

It is unconstitutional in Egypt for law enforcement to construct a barricade of churches and prayer on any basis other than intelligence of a planted bomb or other form of terror attack. Clearly, the latter was not the case in Al-Furn. Copts have decided not to accept the “irritating Muslims” excuse and the baseless “permit required” reason from the police. They have responded to this incident by petitioning President Al-Sisi, the prime minister, and the local governor, forcing them to confront the injustice. The petition signed by forty-four Christians from the village states,

“Are we required to stand on trial on the charges of praying after police officers insulted our dignity? On the morning of August 20, we were subjected to insults, and we were prevented from praying and performing religious services as usual. We were surprised by the presence of police forces in the village to prevent us from reaching our church. Furthermore, they later prevented us from leaving our homes. After our meeting we found that we were incriminated as criminals or outlaws.”

Despite hard evidence of the state’s guilt of harassment and discrimination using both legal and illegal means, Copts remain hopeful and convinced that Sisi is their champion bringing about the right change slowly. Impressions frozen in time on the day the military head consented to be the people’s man enable Copts to remain confident in Sisi doing what he promised. Copts trust the president.

From the onset of his political career, Sisi promised equality and freedom of worship. Viewing government through relativism — comparing Sisi to former President Morsi and the dreaded Muslim Brotherhood — blinds Christian Copts to Sisi’s record which is scant improvement, if any, over the Mubarak dictatorship.

08/30/17

Are The Markets Complacent About North Korea?

By: Kent Engelke | Capitol Securities

Equities rebounded from early morning losses sparked by North Korea firing a missile over Japan. Treasuries retraced some of their gains. To write the obvious, North Korea’s potential outcomes are infinite.

Radically changing topics consumer confidence is at the second highest level since 2000. The labor differential, or the gauge measuring those saying jobs are plentiful minus share saying jobs are hard to get, widened to 18.1 points, the most since July 2001, up from 14.5 the prior month. Share of households who expect incomes to rise in the next month increased to 20.9% in August, up from 20% in July, also a multi-decade high.

Wow! This data is incredible given the incredible vitriol in today’s society.

Today is the first revision of second quarter GDP. Analysts are expecting a slight decline to a 2.6% rate versus the previously reported 2.7% pace, the result of inventory destocking. How will this data influence economic forecasts?

Last night the foreign markets were up. London was up 0.37%, Paris was up 0.49% and Frankfurt was up 0.46%. China was down 0.05%, Japan was up 0.74% and Hang Sang was up 1.19%.

The Dow should open flat as Korean concerns are dissipating. Euro confidence rose to the highest level in a decade. The 10-year is off 3/32 to yield 2.14%.

08/29/17

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster: A legend or a lie?

By: James Simpson | Bomb Throwers

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster in an undated image

(Language warning) (CORRECTION as to casualty count appears near the bottom of this article)

Fresh on the heels of a successful offensive in Mosul, Iraq, the Iraqi military is now poised to retake Tal Afar, long a hotbed of ISIS and other insurgent activity. Before we pulled out of Iraq, Tal Afar, like Fallujah, had been the focal point of multiple large-scale, costly offensives to eject entrenched insurgents. In 2005, then-Colonel H.R. McMaster led the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR) in the largest of these offensives, Operation Restoring Rights. His reputation as a brilliant military strategist rests largely on the results of that one battle. Given the widespread support for McMaster in the media and Washington establishment, it is ironic that current reporting largely fails to mention this battle or McMaster’s central role in it.

McMaster’s widely-hyped strategic acumen has been called into question by high-level military sources with personal knowledge of his conduct in the field. These sources spoke with me on condition of anonymity.

McMaster rests his laurels on the counter-insurgency strategy he claims won the Battle of Tal Afar, Iraq. But sources say McMaster ignored counter-insurgency experts and that his reckless leadership killed between 70 and 85* Americans and almost lost the battle. The battle, the sources say, was won only through a valiant rescue mission during which most of those casualties occurred.*

Until today this information has been suppressed.

Today, National Security Advisor McMaster is facing sustained criticism for his seemingly relentless opposition to Trump policies, his purging of many competent, conservative Trump loyalists from the National Security Council staff, and “protecting and coddling” 40 Obama holdovers — almost one-sixth of the NSC staff — who are plainly out to sabotage the Trump agenda.

Yet he continues to enjoy President Trump’s support. Is President Trump reluctant to fire McMaster for fear of criticism? Has he decided that McMaster’s reputed military genius is worth the cost? Or has he been thoroughly misinformed about McMaster’s character and competence? Who is H.R. McMaster really?

Lieutenant General (three-star) Herbert Raymond McMaster is a career Army officer still on active duty. He came to the Trump administration as a quick replacement for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.), who resigned over controversies regarding his contacts with Russian officials. Whatever Flynn may have done wrong, his true sin was bucking the D.C. establishment, including many military leaders. And as frequently happens in Washington, when a strong conservative political appointee faces widespread (often manufactured) controversy, the knee-jerk reaction is to find a replacement the establishment likes. McMaster fits the bill.

On the surface, he appears to have the right resume. He has been awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and other medals, although John Kerry and many others have proved there are ways to get these medals without earning them. Most of this acclaim comes out of his service at the Battle of 73 Easting (1991), where in 23 minutes, McMaster’s nine M1A1 Abrams tanks and 12 Bradley Fighting Vehicles destroyed 30 Iraqi tanks and 14 armored vehicles. McMaster has been given credit for quick thinking and aggressive action, but his unit faced off against obsolete Iraqi T-55 and T-72 tanks operated by troops with inferior training. His unit was part of a larger operation that experienced similar success, ultimately destroying 85 tanks, 40 personnel carriers, and over 30 other vehicles. As George Dvorsky observes: “the [Republican Guard] didn’t have a chance.”

As the author of the 1997 book, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam, McMaster enjoys a reputation as something of a maverick, a fact which perhaps found favor in the unorthodox Trump administration. The book has been described as “the seminal work on military’s responsibility during Vietnam to confront their civilian bosses when strategy was not working.”

But, as noted above, McMaster’s reputation rests largely on the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy applied at Tal Afar. It was later hailed by President George W. Bush, who said it, “gives me confidence in our strategy because in this city we see the outlines of the Iraq that we and the Iraqi people have been fighting for…” For once, the media agreed with Bush, published glowing reports on McMaster’s feats. Mother Jones and the Washington Post called him the “Hero of Tal Afar.” The left-leaning Slate.com calls him “the Army’s smartest officer.”

Now leftists are coming out of the woodwork to defend McMaster against his conservative critics. Newsweek accuses the “alt-right” of attempting to smear McMaster, while genuine slime merchants like Media Matters for America are smearing his critics.

He is even being defended by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the propaganda arm of the Palestinian terrorist group HAMAS.

Okay, wait a minute.

When reflexively anti-American, anti-military outlets like Mother Jones, Slate and the Washington Post offer fawning praise for a Republican military commander, the reasons underlying those plaudits deserve further investigation. When anti-American, anti-military, George Soros-funded, extreme leftist smear operations like Media Matters go to war to defend a Trump political appointee, it casts a shadow on everything about the man. When the anti-American, terrorism-supporting, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated CAIR defends an American general, the alarm bells drown out all other sound. And officers who have witnessed his “leadership” in the unforgiving crucible of combat are now sounding the alarm.

It is not unusual in Army practice that studies and reports often gloss over leadership failures by simply not mentioning the leaders who failed. This seems to be the case in an official military report prepared for the U.S. Army’s Combat Studies Institute concerning the conduct of 3rd ACR in Operation Restoring Rights, according to Brave Rifles at the Battle of Tal Afar.[1] The 3rd ACR, also known as the “Brave Rifles,” is comprised of three ground squadrons, the 1st, 2nd and 4th, and a support squadron. Most of the fighting during this operation was conducted by the 2nd Squadron. Its commander, Lt. Col. Christopher M. Hickey, was the man on the ground leading the engaged combat forces.

Virtually all of the action described centers on decisions made by Hickey. McMaster barely gets a mention. The Washington Post‘s account of the battle puts McMaster in the middle of it, though the embedded reporter, Jon Finer, says he didn’t see McMaster until “the operation was winding down.” Brave Rifles does not describe where McMaster was at all, only that he responded to Hickey’s request for more troops by appealing to Task Force Freedom and Multinational Corps–Iraq (pp. 131-132). He likely oversaw the offensive from 3rd ACR’s operations base, FOB Sykes, 7.5 miles south of town (p. 130). Given that he had overall command of the regiment, that is probably where he should have been, except that he seemed to want people to believe he was in the heat of battle. He wasn’t.

The report is not especially critical of Hickey, but if the operation was an unqualified success, McMaster’s role presumably would have been highlighted. McMaster’s Tal Afar COIN strategy is also credited with inspiring Iraq’s 2007 “surge” operation. Yet Brave Rifles makes no such claim.

The report describes a halt in the advance to evacuate civilians that occurred little more than one day into the fight. In a “Frontline” video interview, [2] McMaster claims the pause was “about three days,” but according to Brave Rifles, it took a full week (p. 142). Officers on the ground during that battle claim that in fact the 2nd Squadron was surrounded and in danger of being annihilated. One Special Forces operative described it as a “goat fuck” (p. 142). A 1,150-strong Special Operations Group joined with other units to launch a rescue mission that would clear a path to McMaster’s beleaguered forces.

The following is an account of that effort provided for this article by the commander of the Special Operations Group. He is a highly decorated retired Special Forces flag officer with decades of service under his belt. His bona fides have been confirmed by other top-level military sources. All have requested anonymity. Given the D.C. establishment’s demonstrated hostility to whistleblowers, you can’t blame them.

Here is his story:

Mine was one of three units sent to rescue McMaster from Tal Afar. McMaster replaced most of the operations people upon assuming command with his admirers — most of whom had limited combat experience at best. The majority never had a troop command, even in peacetime. As an apprentice of David Petraeus, McMaster was recommended to command the 3rd ACR not because of his ability/experience to command a large armored formation but simply so he could get his ticket punched on the way to flag rank.

The strategy called for assault, clear and hold, but McMaster simply ordered the squadron to advance without securing positions taken. This allowed insurgents to come in behind his assault force and it was soon surrounded. It came to be known among the troops as “Little Stalingrad” because of McMaster’s arrogance and disregard of advice from COIN experts. McMaster was thoroughly briefed that Tal Afar was an insurgent stronghold but ignored this intelligence and attempted to take the city by coup de main (surprise attack) using a blitzkrieg strategy like Von Paulus used in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Use of armor in urban warfare is fraught with danger if not carefully coordinated with infantry and combat support. The insurgent force, commanded by former Iraqi officers, allowed McMaster’s column to enter the city, then sprung the trap. As with Von Paulus, McMaster soon found his tanks and tracks hopelessly bogged down in the streets and narrow alleys of Tal Afar.

The insurgents used the city like a giant maze. M1A2s (Abrams main battle tank) have vulnerabilities the insurgents used to their advantage. The Abrams was designed with no escape hatch underneath. The insurgents dropped Molotov cocktails on the tanks from tops of buildings. With the tank on fire, the crew had to exit thru the top of the tank, where they could be fired upon as they climbed out.

The M1A2 is also vulnerable to RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]. Tal Afar had been ringed with sand berms to make it difficult for insurgents to get away. However, to enter the city, the tanks had to drive over the berms. The M1A2 underbelly is not adequately armored. As the tanks came over the berms, insurgents shot at their undersides with RPGs. The insurgents learned these tactics from the experience of jihadis who fought the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s. McMaster apparently didn’t.

McMaster attempted to paint a rosy picture of the assault but it soon became apparent to others his unit was in trouble. McMaster estimated the assault would take one-and-a-half days to complete, but by that time the 2nd Squadron was trapped. The official record claims that they halted the assault to allow civilians to evacuate. The truth is that they had become surrounded and couldn’t move.

My SF unit, just off another operation, was ordered to re-deploy and fight our way in to open a supply route into the city to replenish ammo and supplies and Medevac the wounded. Earlier attempts to drop supplies by helicopter met intense fire and risked supplies falling into enemy hands. It took us three days to battle our way to them. I lost 40 men KIA [killed in action] in one day and a total of 50 lost from my unit alone during the pause, with many more wounded.

The operation which was supposed to last 2 days, turned into an 18-day battle, with the 3rd ACR being decimated. Many soldiers died later in field hospitals overloaded with wounded. Many civilians were not evacuated until after the forces engaged, and they too suffered many dead and wounded.

This fiasco was covered up by McMaster’s good friend, mentor and fellow West Pointer, David Petraeus, who worried that revealing the depth of McMaster’s mistakes would reflect badly on him as well.

McMaster is a political officer who took credit for the hard work and sacrifice of others. He advanced his own career and burnished his myth with the help of David Petraeus and John McCain. A deeper research into Army records including casualties and vehicle losses will paint an accurate picture of the debacle, not mythical accounts.

The truth about Tal Afar is that a major cover up has allowed an unqualified officer to occupy one of the most critical positions in our national security apparatus.

According to the Brave Rifles report, 2nd Squadron lost 8 men and 12 soldiers from other units who joined them in the fight and 38 friendly Iraqi soldiers and 6 Iraqi policemen also perished.** (p. 147). According to the Special Forces officer, however, losses actually included:

Approximately 250 killed in action, including 70 to 85 American troops* and approximately 165 to 180 friendly Iraqi forces

1 HH47 Chinook helicopter

4 Blackhawk helicopters

4 M1A2 Abrams Tanks

30 Bradley Fighting Vehicles

Heavy losses of 5-ton trucks and fuel tankers

McMaster’s reputation for arrogance and incompetence filtered down to the rank and file as well.

Mathew Bocian served in the U.S. Army as a cavalry scout with 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry (Stryker). He deployed to Mosul and Tal Afar in 2004 and to Baghdad for The Surge in 2007. He has written a book about it, The Ghosts of Tal Afar. Bocian’s unit was in Tal Afar when McMaster’s 3rd ACR showed up.

He had this to say about McMaster’s leadership:

[T]he regiment’s senior leadership thought they were hot-shit, and would teach us a thing or two. I was in a Squadron-wide officer call when good old H.R himself told the room not to worry – the real cav[alry] was here, and they brought the “big guns”. We deterred Hajj [the insurgents] by going into town every day – yes, even Al Sarai [the insurgent stronghold] because if you didn’t, Hajj took more and more control of the town; they were trying to drive a wedge between U.S. Forces and the Iraqi populous [sic]

3rd ACR’s idea of deterrence was to park a few tanks up at the castle and occasionally shoot main gun rounds over Al Sarai and into the empty desert. Yeah. That worked for all of about an hour until the Hajj (who are pretty fucking smart) got wise to the scheme and weren’t afraid of the sound. All that did was keep the residents in their homes so the only folks who went out were the bad dudes.

Not long after we returned to Mosul to take part of the Brigade’s new offensive to seal off all of Mosul, 3rd ACR launched an offensive of their own. They had opted to “assess” the situation for a week and had neglected certain parts of Tal’Afar – including Al Sarai. They lost a tank, a Bradley and an M-88 recovery vehicle in that initial push – and taking heavy fire and multiple casualties, were repelled by the Hajj, who had entrenched themselves in the area given plenty of time to prepare.

I don’t know how many soldiers 3rd ACR lost, or had wounded in Tal’Afar, but I look back in disgrace and wonder if their leadership had listened and were less cocky, if their losses could have been fewer.

Other sources I interviewed say that McMaster has very few admirers in the general officer corps and was considered to be just another typical “political general.”

He has not been given any battle commands since he was promoted to general. They say he would never have made general rank without the help of David Petraeus. He was passed over twice for promotion to flag rank, and didn’t get his first star until Army Secretary Peter Geren, a former Democratic congressman from Texas, took the unprecedented step of pulling General Petraeus from a combat command and appointing him to chair the Army’s promotion board, which Geren also hand-picked.

Petraeus, of whom it has been said, “throughout his military career had worn his ambition like a strong aftershave,” saw to McMaster’s star. Then-Army Chief of Staff General George Casey concluded, “If McMaster weren’t such a smart-ass, he would have been promoted a long time ago.”

General officers require Senate confirmation both for appointment and advancement. McMaster’s Senate champion was and still is Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). McCain advocated replacing Flynn with McMaster. McCain described McMaster as “a man of genuine intellect, character and ability.”

To obtain his fourth star, McMaster must please his Senate overlords and their allies in the military — i.e. the establishment. This virtually guarantees a NSC advisor beholden to the swamp. In a recent interview with Breitbart News, Erik Prince, founder of the military contractor Blackwater, said:

[T]he danger of appointing a serving general, a three-star general that wants to be a four-star general, means that that general will always go with his service. If it’s a long-retired guy that’s not worried about a promotion, I think it’s easier to give objective advice. That’s the danger of having a serving officer as the national security director.

It is worth noting that Trump had consulted Prince extensively regarding Afghanistan strategy and Prince had been invited to join him at Camp David deliberations, but McMaster allegedly took him off the list at the last minute.

It seems the height of irony that Iraqi forces are now entering Tal Afar again, this time with Iran-backed militias — responsible for killing many Americans in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Meanwhile, the “Hero of Tal Afar” counsels President Trump to certify Iran in compliance with a nuclear deal composed in secret that was never signed and never consented to by the Senate. On the home front he resists efforts to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, emboldening groups like CAIR, that have joined with other subversive groups in their efforts to destabilize our nation.

My source concludes: “With McMaster now as National Security Advisor, maybe some aspiring young Army officer will write a sequel to McMaster’s book and call it, LtGen McMaster: Dereliction of Duty II. We can only hope General Mattis and General Kelly, along with a very distinguished group on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, give our President competent and honest military advice and guidance, not tainted by ‘what’s in it for me’ from a man who is a legend only in his own mind.”

James Simpson is an economist, businessman and investigative journalist. His latest book is The Red Green Axis: Refugees, Immigration and the Agenda to Erase America. Follow Jim on Twitter & Facebook.

*The Special Forces flag officer who served as the primary source for this article acknowledged after the article was initially published that he had previously provided incorrect casualty figures from the Battle of Tal Afar. The resulting errors in this article have been corrected and where they have been corrected there now appears an asterisk (*).

**The Iraqi casualties from the Brave Rifles report were not stated in the original article but in light of the flag officer’s now-corrected information, we have included those figures.

[1] “Frontline-Counterinsurgency in Tal Afar Iraq.” YouTube. February 15, 2008. Accessed August 26, 2017. https://youtu.be/Zb7aR2xvOWU.

[2]  Ricardo A. Herrera, “Brave Rifles at the Battle of Tal Afar,” In In Contact! Case Studies from the Long War, Volume I, ed. William G. Robinson (Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2006), pp. 125-147.

08/27/17

WATCH: #Antifa in #Berkeley attack #PatriotPrayer leader Joey Gibson (video)

By: Renee Nal | New Zeal

Screenshot from video where Joey Gibson was attacked

Joey Gibson showed up at Berkeley on Sunday, perhaps seeking to find common ground with the lunatics that the mainstream media ignores known as Antifa.  Evidently, Gibson was attacked and is now out of the area.

This video was shared by Antifa-friendly people on Twitter. During the brief video, Gibson is clearly putting his hands up to illustrate that he was not intending to fight with the masked thugs, but is treated in a hostile manner despite his efforts.

Antifa has been left to roam:

And not surprisingly, use the lack of police presence to hurt people….

https://twitter.com/PoliticalShort/status/901915055213625344

The First Amendment applies to everyone.

Of course, Twitter fails to mention the one-sided nature of the violence, and refers to Antifa as “counter protesters”:

On YouTube:

This situation is developing.

08/27/17

Communists, Black Bloc, Antifa And Black Lives Matter Get Their Violence On In Berkeley [VIDEO]

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

And so it really begins. Antifa, Black Bloc, communists, Black Lives Matter and other radicals got their violence on today in Berkeley using Charlottesville as a rallying call. Thousands showed up. Some of the more moderate ones protested the violence, but they had to know this was coming. There were only a handful of Trump supporters there and they were vastly outnumbered. The police retreated and let the violence ensue. They came back somewhat later and arrested 14. A number of Trump supporters were beaten viciously by the mob and had to be rescued.

A confrontation between left and right broke out at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park. That’s where things really started heating up. The police used smoke bombs and didn’t use tear gas. It did little to quell the violence underway. The thugs started shouting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” Antifa started taking cameras away from journalists and beating up on them as well.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Thousands of counter protesters took to the streets of Berkeley on Sunday where they clashed with a handful of Trump supporters, leading to several violent clashes and at least 14 arrests.

The mostly peaceful demonstration started heating up about noon at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park, where the two rival groups faced off and several fights broke out.

Counter-demonstrators vastly outnumbered the president’s supporters. They surrounded their rivals and chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!”

There were shoving matches around well-known Orange County far-right figure Johnny Benitez. Some screamed “Go home Nazi,” as police tried to escort Benitez and Irma Hinojosa, a member of the Southern California group Latinos for Trump, through the crowd and out of the park.

Police in riot gear fired a rubber bullet at one demonstrator who attempted to cross a barricade into the park, which was closed to the public. Some protesters set off purple smoke bombs.

Dozens of anti-facists protesters, known as antifa, pounced when Joey Gibson, founder of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, showed up with his crew. Antifa protesters beat one man with a shield and another person wearing an American flag.

Some of the antifa protesters threatened to break the cameras of anyone who filmed them, including journalists. One reporter tweeted that he had been pepper sprayed in one scuffle.

In an Orwellian setting, the throngs of radicals were yelling for non-violence as they beat down Trump supporters into the pavement. Many were armed with sticks and bats. They literally chased Trump supporters out of the park. If they had their way, I’m sure somebody would have died today. There were no Nazis as far as I know there. Patriot Prayer was there and was violently attacked.

City officials said they denied at least three requests for permits from demonstrators on both sides of the political aisle for Martin Luther King Park. Amber Cummings, a supporter of President Trump who organized the canceled “Say No To Marxism” rally, had asked supporters not to show up. Gibson, the organizer of Saturday’s “Patriot Prayer” rally in San Francisco, did the same: first canceling a rally at Crissy Field, then a subsequent news conference in the city over what he claimed were unsafe conditions and threats of violence from anti-fascists.

SFGate is claiming no buildings or businesses were vandalized this year, so the protesters were tamer. That isn’t true either. Four people were hurt by this mob. They also spoke of fearing police over reaction. Well, most of the police were nowhere to be found, so that didn’t happen either. They actually blamed the violence on the police if you can believe it. They called Antifa anarchists… they are communists.

Thousands of protesters marched through San Francisco’s Mission District on Saturday afternoon. The media painted the protesters in California as noble warriors and called Trump supporters far-right radicals. The opposite is true. But the way the media is now spinning propaganda, they are in full support mode of the communists. This is a warning to Americans that violence is growing in our streets. The American Spring is now here and it looks to get ever more violent over the coming months.

https://twitter.com/JohnLGC/status/901915669918236673

https://twitter.com/PoliticalShort/status/901915055213625344

08/27/17

My First Political Fight in West Virginia

By: Lloyd Marcus

My wife Mary and I moved from Florida to West Virginia to be closer to our elderly parents. Its a tiny town, population 500. Because internet will not be installed at our home until later this month, I was at the local small library working on my computer.

Despite Mary and I burying our heads into our computers, the librarian approached our table insistent on conversing. He kept asking probing questions. Out of nowhere, he began trashing and calling Trump a racist. Because I am black, he probably assumed I agreed.

He was genuinely shocked and amazed by my defense of Trump. “You’re a black man telling me, a 76 year old white man, that Trump is not racist.” The librarian could not tell me one thing Trump has done to prove him racist. And yet, the librarian acted as though Trump being a racist was as obvious as the Pope being Catholic. Clearly, this 76 year old white man was totally infected with fake news media’s Leftist zombie-ism.

With the airways filled with people pandering to racists demanding the removal of historical monuments, I had very little patience for this idiot parroting fake news media’s bogus crap about Trump.

I ranted to the librarian about how blacks are murdering each other in record numbers every weekend in Democrat controlled cities like Chicago and Baltimore which cannot be blamed on Trump, historical monuments or white Americans. http://bit.ly/2s7i9zB Ninety percent of issues devastating the black community are due to an abandonment of morals and liberal Democrats’ destruction of the black family. And yet, every time anyone compassionately suggests how blacks can help themselves, they are attacked, called a racist white or an Uncle Tom black.

I informed him about the epidemic of blacks dropping out-of-school http://bit.ly/2g3vOpf and having babies out-of-wedlock (72%) which feeds a cycle of generational poverty and crime. http://bit.ly/1fo1iLd Blaming poor life choices on whitey, Trump and America only weakens blacks rather than empowering them.

I told the librarian that America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to go for it. He agreed that America does offer opportunities, but not for minorities. I asked him to explain why blacks are quitting high school which is free and how is that the fault of white America? The librarian’s only retort was to tell me to calm down.

For decades, I have been encouraging fellow blacks to forgot victim crap Leftists have filled their heads with and simply go for their dreams. Education, hard work and right choices always lead to success. I explained to the librarian that as a black American, I have been extremely successful throughout my life; much of my support coming from white teachers, businessmen and employers. My formula for success was simple. I performed my job well which profited my employers and I was well rewarded. The Bible celebrates my chosen path to success in the parable of the talents.

The librarian, Mary and I were the only ones in the library. After cautioning me to lower my voice, the walking dead Leftist zombie librarian continued attacking Trump; accusing him of being uncooperative with the press and refusing to help blacks. He appeared clueless to the truth that Trump reached out to so-called black civil rights leaders (Congressional Black Caucus) only to be rejected; given their middle fingers. http://bit.ly/2squ4Kt

The librarian praised Obama and lamented how poorly he was treated as president. He had no idea that cowardly Republicans treated Obama with kid gloves for 8 years. Fearful of the press calling them racists, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans would not impeach Obama no matter what illegal act he committed. Obama exploited Republicans giving him free reign to behave as king, becoming the most lawless president in U.S. history. http://bit.ly/2inDt2F

My liberal zombie librarian gave me a blank stare when I told him how blacks suffered and actually moved economically backwards during Obama’s reign. http://bit.ly/1VJG0jM Black unemployment which reached double digits under Obama has been already cut in half under Trump. http://bit.ly/2inaiwy

Again, the librarian cautioned me to lower my voice. Folks, I was a bit POed. I was not in the mood to be lectured by a man filled with Leftists’ poison; hate and lies. Leftists arrogantly spout their holier than thou brain dead arguments while ignoring facts and truth. They claim the moral high ground while their ideas and policies usually harm people. Minorities are so much better off when they stop sleeping with their Leftist enemies and join the rest of us decent, God-fearing, hard working and patriotic Americans.

Folks, facts did not matter to the librarian. This guy was a fake news media anti-Trump zombie. Finally, the librarian said, “Well, you’re in the right town. Folks around here will agree with you!” Then, he turned and hastened away.

Good! I was free to resume my work.

The librarian was a prime example of what we are up against folks. Despite zero evidence, this guy is totally convinced that Trump and his agenda to make America great again is racist and evil.

Trump standing up for America, making her great again has not been pretty. Like making sausage, the process is ugly, but the result is delicious. Powerful forces on both sides of the political isle are doing everything in their power to stop Trump. Democrats and Republicans seek to continue the status quo.

Trump needs us folks. Please stand firm in your support and defense of our president. I’m kind of looking forward to another political sparing session with the librarian. Prayerfully, another dose of truth might penetrate his Leftist zombie-ism.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American
Author: “Confessions of a Black Conservative: How the Left has shattered the dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black America.”
Singer/Songwriter and Conservative Activist
http://LloydMarcus.com

08/26/17

WATCH! #PatriotPrayer Speakers Explain Decision to Cancel Rally

By: Renee Nal | New Zeal

Patriot Prayer Rally Cancelled

UPDATE: Patriot Prayer Rally Cancelled

Patriot Prayer Rally SF

August 25, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Organizers of Patriot Prayer Rally SF official statement on cancellation of SF event at Crissy Field, Saturday, August 26, 2017

This letter is to inform the media, citizens, Nancy Pelosi, and Mayor Edwin Lee that the Freedom Rally scheduled at Crissy Field Saturday, August 26th, 2017 from 2pm-5pm, has been canceled by Patriot Prayer and the event organizers.

Although our rally was a peaceful event, we have concerns over the safety of people who wanted to attend. The security plan proposed by the Park Service and San Francisco PD fails to provide safety for people attending.

Their plan creates a situation where participants of the rally, and their opposition (Antifa/BAMN/BLM), will be forced to intermingle. We see this is an extreme safety issue. More details on this will be provided at our press conference held at the Alamo Park in San Francisco Saturday, August 26, 2017, starting at 2pm.

All media outlets are requested at the park for more details.

Regards,
Patriot Prayer & Event Organizers

Update Two:

Original Article Below:

Image used in Patriot Prayer / ‎Freedom Rally / San Francisco Facebook invitation

“I never thought I’d be having to prove daily I’m not a white supremacist…” Lindsay Grathwohl, speaker at Patriot Prayer Rally

A group called “Patriot Prayer” is organizing a  “Unity & Patriotism Rally” scheduled for Saturday, August 26 at Crissy Field in San Francisco.

With absolutely no evidence, “just about every elected official who has spoken on the issue has labeled the Patriot Prayer a hate group.”

From the local CBS affiliate:

“I’m talking about racists, people who are white supremacists, white nationalists,” said SF Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. “People who don’t agree that we should be a sanctuary city, people who do not agree with inclusiveness.”

Supervisor Mark Farrell went so far Wednesday to issue a statement calling the Crissy Field demonstrators Nazis.

Continue reading

08/25/17

Another Three Money Center Banks Have Forewarned

By: Kent Engelke | Capitol Securities

Yesterday, a trio of large money center banks warned of an impending bear market. Citi, Morgan Stanley and HSBC all warned of a “big reversal.” The reason for their bearishness is the “breakdown of the 10-year relationship between stocks and other asset classes. This trend of highly aligned and correlated markets has all but disappeared.”

Is this breakdown of the correlated trade the result of everyone using the same strategy… aka chasing returns and momentum? Is it the result of the massive proliferation of ETFs, indexing and algorithms? Is it the result of a tectonic change in geopolitical politics? Or is it the result of potential greater growth that increases inflationary pressures?

Only history will answer this question, but perhaps what I could potentially declaratively write is the cause of this breakdown is probably all of the above and several other reasons few have yet even considered.

Speaking of inflation, the Dallas Fed published a report indicating that inflationary pressures are actually higher than reported and the PCE is closer to target than currently reported. Will FRB Chair Yellen comment about such in today’s Jackson Hole speech?

Speaking of surging, the Bloomberg Weekly Comfort Index reached its highest level in sixteen years. As noted many times, sentiment indicators are the ultimate feedback indicators for they only tell us where we have been, not where we are going. However, given the incredible vitriol and animosity of the last 8 weeks, I think the consistency of these surging sentiment indicators is significant.

I again ask… is the breakdown of the correlated trade that has been in existence for 10 years partially the result of greater than expected growth that shatters current assumptions? All must remember the economy has not grown by a 3% annual rate for over 11 years, the longest stretch in history, far eclipsing the previous record of three years in the early 1930s.

The WSJ reported yesterday that the entire 45 member OECD, comprising the vast majority of the global economy, is growing in sync for the first time in a decade. It has only occurred three times in about fifty years and the last time prior to 2007 was in the late 1980s and for a few years before the 1973 oil crisis. Wow!

Consensus always believes the current trend will last to infinity, defined as the next 10 years, and will be a repeat of the previous 10.

Markets were relatively quiet yesterday, closing nominally lower.

Last night the foreign markets were up. London was up 0.36%, Paris was up 0.24% and Frankfurt was up 0.32%. China was up 1.83%, Japan was up 0.51% and Hang Sang was up 1.20%.

The Dow should open nominally higher ahead of two key speeches today at the Jackson Hole forum, perhaps the two most powerful central bankers in the known universe. The direction however can change significantly if FRB Chair Yellen or ECB Chief Draghi offers insight different than what is expected. The 10-year is unchanged at a 2.20% yield.