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War Crimes Complaint Filed Against Abbas in ICC
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Civil rights firm accuses PA of war crimes, using Abbas's Jordanian citizenship - and on evidence Fatah was involved in Gaza war.

Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the International Criminal Court (ICC) have made headlines again Monday - but this time, it is Israel who is being vindicated on the global scale.

Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, an Israeli based civil rights organization announced today that they filed an unprecedented war crimes complaint against Abbas in the ICC.

The complaint states that the Fatah faction was responsible for numerous rocket attacks on Israeli cities during this past summer's Gaza war, making Abbas personally liable for the terrorist groups' criminal acts.

In a groundbreaking approach, Shurat HaDin Chairperson Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner stated that the Fatah leader can be prosecuted in the ICC because, “Abbas is a Jordanian citizen and Jordan is a current member of the ICC. The ICC is empowered to exercise its jurisdiction over all acts committed by the citizen of a member, wherever those acts are committed. Abbas should be immediately investigated and prosecuted for these rocket attacks against Israel.”

According to the complaint, Abbas commanded Fatah throughout the summer's war with Israel, during which time Gaza-based terrorists from the group fired multiple rockets at Israeli civilian population centers. Targeting civilians with deadly weapons constitutes as a war crime under international law.

The complaint states that, “Abbas is liable for the acts of these organizations because he is their responsible superior exercising effective command and control of them."

During the course of the Gaza war, the Fatah faction proudly boasted that it launched 122 millimeter and 107 millimeter rockets towards numerous civilian centers in Israel.

On July 10, 2014, a Fatah military force launched two Grad rockets and four mortar shells at Kibbutz Nir Or, another location within Israel, and fired 112 millimeter and 107 millimeter rockets at Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha and the Sufa Crossing from Gaza.

On July 25, 2014, Fatah terrorists launched three 107 mm rockets at Nirim.

On July 27, 2014, Fatah claimed credit for launching three model 107 rockets at Kfar Aza.

On August 8, 2014, the Fatah terrorists in Gaza fired four N103 rockets at Ashkelon and four 107 mm rockets.

In September, the Shurat HaDin law center filed a similar ICC complaint against Hamas leader Khaled Mashal concerning the terrorist chief's responsibility for the extra-judicial execution of thirty nine Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Like Abbas, Mashal also possesses Jordanian citizenship.

The complaint against Abbas notes that Jordan is either unable or unwilling to extradite and prosecute Abbas who resides in the Palestinian territories.

The complaint notes that "although Jordan has wide-ranging anti-terror laws, these laws are applied in a patently unfair and politically-motivated fashion." Jordan has never prosecuted any Palestinian citizen for terrorism and it "has no means of obtaining custody of Mahmoud Abbas."

As such, Shurat HaDin’s war crimes complaint gives the ICC the jurisdictional basis to prosecute Abbas over allegations that the PLO itself perpetrated heinous crimes against Israeli civilians.

“We believe the complaint being filed directly addresses Prosecutor Bensouda’s jurisdictional concern for prosecuting war crimes in Gaza,” said Darshan-Leitner. “Shurat HaDin will not allow Fatah to carry out rocket attacks on Israeli population centers, while hypocritically advocating Palestinian membership in the ICC. Abbas falsely believes that alleged crimes against Arabs are the only ones that should be prosecuted.”

In recent days, Abbas and other Palestinian leaders have reiterated their threat to become members of the ICC and to charge Israeli government officials with war crimes.

But even the PA knows its number is up in the ICC, after the PA's envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) admitted in a recent interview that the PA has no hope of pressing charges against Israel in international courts - because Palestinian terrorist groups are far worse violators of international law themselves.

U.S. Cardinal Opposed to Abortion, Gay Marriage Loses Top Job At Vatican
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily Newsthestar.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Raymond Burke was the head of the Vatican’s supreme court and a vocal hardliner who called for Catholic politicians supporting legalized abortion to be denied Communion.

.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a vocal hardliner against abortion and gay marriage, was removed by Pope Francis as head of the Vatican's supreme court Saturday. (Mar. 11, 2013 file photo)

VATICAN CITY—American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a fervent opponent of abortion and gay marriage, was removed by Pope Francis from another top Vatican post on Saturday.

The removal of Burke as head of the Holy See's supreme court was widely expected in church circles.

While he was archbishop of St. Louis, from 2003-2008, Burke led fellow American bishops in campaigns to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion. He has also questioned some of the pontiff's pronouncements and approaches.

Last year Francis took Burke off the Vatican's powerful Congregation for Bishops, dealing with appointments of bishops worldwide.

On Saturday he transferred Burke from the Vatican court job to the largely ceremonial post of Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a charity whose activities include hospitals and residences for the elderly around the world.

Burke, at 66, would have still had a good decade to continue serving in high-profile Vatican posts.

His strident discourse and preference of fancy, old-fashioned vestments contrast starkly with the informal, chatty tone and simple, almost Spartan style Francis has established for his papacy.

Last month, Burke marshaled conservative criticism against the possibility the Vatican may loosen up rules that ban Communion for divorced, remarried Catholics.

Francis has said that church hierarchy should not focus so much on abortion and same-sex marriage but instead concentrate on making the church a more welcoming place. Meanwhile, Burke has said to a Catholic broadcaster that “we can never talk enough” against abortion and same-sex marriage.

He has also questioned Francis' denunciation of excesses of capitalism.

Trump: No Greater Enemy to Israel Than Obama
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

'I speak to my Jewish friends. I say, how we are supporting this man? He’s the worst thing that ever has happened to Israel.'

In response to FOX News’ Judge Jeannine Pirro’s question concerning Obama’s nuclear concessions to Iran, real estate mogul and former US presidential candidate Donald Trump said last week, “Probably, maybe from the beginning, there has never been a greater enemy to Israel than Barack Obama. It’s incredible.”

Trump then added, “The way he treats them. The way he’s speaking to them. I think, he treats our known enemies much better.”

Upon additional questioning by Judge Pirro, with regard to the United States Ambassador Susan Rice’s walking out of the UN before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s General Assembly speech, and the Obama administration's reported “chicken***t” remark, Trump went on to explain:

“Look, they don’t like him, and they don’t like Israel. And, that’s what I say. I speak to friends of mine that are Jewish. I say, ‘How are you supporting this man?’ He’s the worst thing that ever has happened to Israel... What’s going to happen is, the way it’s going, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And it’s very close. And, as soon as that happens, it’s a new ballgame.”

“The United States is so poorly run,” he said. “When you look at relations with other countries, in history it’s never been like this. Not one country do we get along with anymore. And, it’s not like we don’t get along because we are taking advantage of them. We don’t get along, and they’re taking advantage of us.”

The State of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal is Slowly Getting Worse No Plan to Fix it
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily NewsThe National Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In this June 24, 2014 file photo, Capt. Robby Modad closes the gate at an ICBM launch control facility in the countryside outside Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, FileIn this June 24, 2014 file photo, Capt. Robby Modad closes the gate at an ICBM launch control facility in the countryside outside Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base.

WASHINGTON — The foundation of America’s nuclear arsenal is fractured, and the government has no clear plan to repair it.

The cracks appear not just in the military forces equipped with nuclear weapons but also in the civilian bureaucracy that controls them, justifies their cost, plans their future and is responsible for explaining a defense policy that says nuclear weapons are at once essential and excessive.

It’s not clear that the government recognizes the full scope of the problem, which has wormed its way to the core of the nuclear weapons business without disturbing bureaucracies fixated on defending their own turf. Nor has it aroused the public, which may think nuclear weapons are relics of the past, if it thinks about them at all.

This is not mainly about the safety of today’s weapons, although the Air Force’s nuclear missile corps has suffered failures in discipline, training, morale and leadership over the past two years. Just last week the Air Force fired nuclear commanders at two of its three missile bases for misconduct and disciplined a third commander.

Rather, this is about a broader problem: The erosion of the government’s ability to manage and sustain its nuclear “enterprise,” the intricate network of machines, brains and organizations that enables America to call itself a nuclear superpower.

What have been slipping are certain key building blocks — technical expertise, modern facilities and executive oversight on the civilian side, and discipline, morale and accountability on the military side.

The shortfalls are compounded by tight budgets and what experts call a decline in political support for the nuclear system. In the absence of a headline-grabbing nuclear accident in recent decades and receding fears of nuclear war, these problems generally are paid little heed.

The scientific and military capability is arguably the best in the world, but its underpinnings have weakened gradually.

The White House and Congress have paid little attention, allowing the responsible government agencies to “muddle through,” according to a congressional advisory panel. This is the case despite the fact that the U.S. still has thousands of nuclear weapons – more than it says it needs – and is approaching decision points on investing enormous sums to keep the arsenal viable for future generations.

“This lack of attention has resulted in public confusion, congressional distrust and a serious erosion of advocacy, expertise and proficiency in the sustainment” of the nation’s nuclear weapons capabilities, the panel on “Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise” said in a report in April that is expected to be updated soon.

The panel was led by retired Adm. Richard Mies, a former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, in charge of all U.S. nuclear forces, and Norman Augustine, a retired chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Nuclear weapons, the panel said, have been “orphaned” by Washington. Although today’s weapons are technologically sound, “there is no affordable, executable (government) vision, plan or program for the future of nuclear weapons capabilities.”

The atrophy gets little public notice because it’s largely hidden.

Some aspects of the problem will emerge with the expected release this month of an in-depth study of “gaps or deficiencies” in the nuclear force that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered in February. He also asked for immediate and long-term solutions after declaring in January that “something is wrong” in the nuclear force.

Hagel acted in response to a series of Associated Press stories detailing failed nuclear security inspections, leadership lapses, training gaps and morale problems in the nuclear Air Force. The Navy has since disclosed that a cheating ring operated undetected for at least seven years at a nuclear power training site and that at least 34 sailors were being kicked out for their roles in the long-hidden misconduct.

But the problem goes beyond the military and Hagel’s responsibility for nuclear weapons. It extends to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). This office within the Energy Department is in charge of ensuring that nuclear warheads attached to Navy and Air Force missiles and bombs – as well as those in storage – are safe and work properly.

It also administers a network of nuclear weapons plants and nuclear laboratories.

The government splits nuclear management responsibilities between agencies. The Energy Department, through the NNSA, develops, produces and maintains nuclear weapons as well as dismantles and disposes of those that are retired. The Defense Department sets weapons requirements and operates them in the field.

Augustine told Congress last April that the NNSA “is on a trajectory toward crisis,” having “lost credibility and the trust of the national leadership (and the Pentagon) that it deliver needed weapons and nuclear facilities on schedule and on budget.”

Frank Klotz, the head of the NNSA and a former commander of the nuclear Air Force, says his agency is taking steps to fix its shortcomings. He believes its management of the nuclear weapons stockpile is a “phenomenal achievement,” considering it has not conducted an underground nuclear test for more than 20 years.

In an interview with reporters Oct. 29, Klotz did not dispute that the government has allowed cracks to form in the civilian and military underpinnings of its nuclear weapons complex.

“My generation came of age in the Cold War, when nuclear deterrence and the nuclear deterrent force were center stage,” he said. “At the end of the Cold War it was almost as if we had all heaved a sigh of collective relief and said, `Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that anymore.’ … Quite frankly, we lost focus.”

The nuclear weapons laboratories say they have been losing ground and fear for the future.

Charles F. McMillan, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, told a Senate panel in April that the country is spending too little on the science, technology and engineering base that supports the nuclear program.

Congress is supposed to oversee both the military and civilian sides of the nuclear enterprise, but it has shown limited interest in addressing the problems. The most vocal lawmakers on nuclear weapons issues are usually those seeking to protect home-state interests – nuclear missile bases, nuclear weapons labs and the like.

Those who see nuclear weapons as a necessary deterrent to attack from other nuclear-armed countries worry about the looming obsolescence of the current Cold War-era arsenal and about the jaw-dropping cost, of up to $1 trillion, of replacing it with a new generation of weapons and their support systems.

“Unaffordable,” is the blunt conclusion by a panel of defense experts who reviewed the Pentagon latest defense plan.

John Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former deputy defense secretary, says post-Cold War decisions that downgraded nuclear weapons as a national priority may come back to haunt the U.S., in light of efforts by several countries to expand or begin building nuclear arsenals.

“It was always the backdrop of the competition with the Soviet Union that undergirded the nuclear enterprise. Now the Russians are coming back, the Chinese are expanding their inventory, and we are on the rim of a potential cascade of nuclear weapon states,” Hamre said. “But the American establishment is in serious decline.”

Syrian Jihadists Capture Key Town Near Golan Heights
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Syrian insurgents, including fighters from Al-Nusra Front, seize a key city and other areas of Deraa province.

Nusra Front fighter in Syria

Reuters

Syrian insurgents, including fighters from the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, seized a key city and other areas of Syria's southwestern Deraa province on Sunday after five days of fierce battles, fighters in the area told Reuters.

A source close to government forces confirmed the advance and said the army had pulled out of Nawa city.

The capture of Nawa and surrounding areas will help the insurgents consolidate control of territory stretching to near the Golan Heights.

"Some of the (government) soldiers escaped at night, the rest escaped today," one insurgent told Reuters. "They left their heavy weapons and their military vehicles behind."

The insurgents also seized the surrounding areas of Sheikh al-Maskin, Tal Hauran and a military headquarters known as the 122 Brigade in the major offensive, the sources said.

Some of the fighting in Syria has already several times spilled over into Israel. The most recent incident was in early October, when an explosion was heard close to an IDF post near the Syrian border in the Golan Heights, causing no injury or damage.

That explosion occurred days after Israel shot down a rogue Syrian Army fighter jet near the Golan Heights with a patriot missile - and after it shot down a Syrian drone after it strayed into Israeli airspace in August.

Al-Nusra Front, whose leader pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, has been heavily involved in the fighting in Syria as well as in neighboring Lebanon, where it has claimed responsibility for several bombings and has also threatened local Sunnis.

The head of the group has threatened attacks against the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, due to its involvement in the Syrian civil war, fighting alongside government troops.

Russell Moore, Rick Warren to Join Pope Francis With Muslims, Buddhists for Interfaith Conference
Nov 10th, 2014
Daily NewsChristian News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Apostasy

ROME – Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Saddleback megachurch leader Rick Warren will team up with Roman Catholic Pontiff Francis later this month for an interfaith Vatican conference on marriage and family.

“Complementarity of Man and Woman,” will be held Nov. 17-19 at the Vatican, and is expected to feature more than 30 speakers from over 20 countries. According to the Catholic News Service, those of the Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jaina Shasana, Taoist and Sikh religions will be present, as well as Roman Catholics and professing Christians.

The event is sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

“I hope that this gathering of religious leaders can stand in solidarity on the common grace, creational mandate of marriage and family as necessary for human flourishing and social good,” Moore wrote in a blog post this week entitled “Why I’m Going to the Vatican.” “I also hope that we can learn from one another about where these matters stand around the world.”

While acknowledging his doctrinal disagreements with the pope and the others in attendance, Moore stated that he is “willing to go anywhere, when asked, to bear witness to what we as evangelical Protestants believe about marriage and the gospel, especially in times in which marriage is culturally imperiled.”

Rick Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” has spoken glowingly of Pope Francis during several public interviews about the pontiff and the Roman Catholic religion.

“[Pope Francis] is doing everything right. You see, people will listen to what we say if they like what they see,” Warren stated on Catholic television network EWTN earlier this year. “His kissing of this deformed man, his loving the children, this authenticity, this humility, the caring for the poor; this is what the whole world expects Christians to do. And when they go, ‘Oh, that’s what a Christian does.’—In fact, there was a headline here in Orange County—and I loved the headline—I saved it. It said, ‘If you love Pope Francis, you’ll love Jesus.'”

Last year, Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries called Warren’s ecumenism with the Roman Catholic Church a “real tragedy.”

“Right now, the Body of Christ doesn’t know whether to evangelize Roman Catholics or to join hands with them to go out and evangelize the world, [and] it’s because of people like Rick Warrren who either don’t know how exclusive the gospel of grace is, or he’s not aware of the false and fatal gospel of the Roman Catholic religion,” Gendron stated.

In addition to Warren and Moore, the upcoming Vatican conference will feature Wael Farouq, a Muslim and president of the Tawasul Cultural Center, top-ranking Mormon Henry B. Eyring and Manmohan Singh of the World Sikh Council. Conferences will include “The Cradle of Life and Love: A Mother and Father for the World’s Children” and “The Sacramentality of Human Love According to St. John Paul II.”

The meeting follows a recent synod featuring over 200 Roman Catholic bishops who gathered in Rome for two weeks to discuss marriage and family issues, such as homosexuality, cohabitation and divorce. The initial relatio released by the synod generated controversy and concern over its inclusive tone, as it stated that “[h]omosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.” It was later left out of the submitted draft as a consensus could not be reached on the matter.