It should be noted Al-Shabaab -which is also known as AQNA (al-Qaeda in North Africa)- has previously been conclusively identified as maintaining training bases in Mexico (Report from 2011).  It is the same group responsible for the Kenya Mall attacks and has threatened the Mall of America. 

GARISSA, Kenya — Al-Shabaab gunmen rampaged through a university in northeastern Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing 147 people in the group’s deadliest attack in the East African country. Four militants were slain by security forces to end the siege just after dusk.

The masked attackers armed with AK-47s singled out non-Muslim students at Garissa University College and then gunned them down without mercy, survivors said. Others ran for their lives with bullets whistling through the air.

The gunmen had strapped themselves with explosives, Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said. When Kenyan officers shot at the four, the attackers exploded “like bombs” and shrapnel from the explosions injured officers, he said. (more…)

Let there be no doubt left !

From Lausanne: At 1:37AM, Secretary Kerry ends meeting with French and German Foreign Ministers; resumes US-EU talks with Iran.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 1, 2015

…US Secretary of State John Kerry postponed his departure from the talks for a second time and will remain through Thursday morning, the State Department said

Switzerland – French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is leaving the marathon negotiations that have gone into overtime led by the United States between world powers and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear technology activities.

A French official told France 24 today (Wednesday, April 1) that Fabius was leaving the talks and would return from France when it was “useful.”

Speaking at a joint news conference with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, French President Francois Hollande said it would be better to have no deal than a bad deal – the same opinion expressed last month by Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu while speaking to the U.S. Congress. (more…)

Democrat Senator Bob Menendez was one of the more openly public critics of the Obama administration’s acquiescence toward Iran gaining a nuclear weapon.

The negotiations are at a critical point.  Growing numbers of both Democrats and Republicans are openly criticizing the Obama/Kerry weak and inept diplomatic stumbling toward an agreement that IS NOT in the national interests of the U.S. or Allies.

How do Denis McDonough, Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett and Tony Blinkin remove the oxygen from the media firestorm of criticism. Why, via Eric Holder of course.

WASHINGTON DC – Sen. Bob Menendez has been charged with using his office to improperly benefit a Florida eye doctor and political donor.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the New Jersey Democrat on charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud.

(more…)

Yesterday the commander of the Basij militia of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards stated “erasing Israel off the map” is “nonnegotiable.” Militia chief Mohammad Reza Naqdi also threatened Saudi Arabia, saying the offensive it is leading in Yemen “will have a fate like the fate of Saddam Hussein.”

Against the backdrop of these latest threats, and with President Obama and Secretary Kerry willing to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds:

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have been extended until Wednesday, the State Department said Tuesday.

Iran nuke talks to continue tomorrow. "We've made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday," says @marieharf

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 31, 2015

"There are several difficult issues still remaining," says Harf in announcing extension of tonight's Iran nuke talks deadline.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 31, 2015

A few hours before the self-imposed midnight Tuesday deadline ran out, State Department acting Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters, ‎”We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining.” (more…)

Hillary Clinton said the construct of her secret communication network was specifically because she only wanted to carry one device – obviously she lied right out of the gate.

The Associated Press has gained a total of FOUR emails from a FOIA request regarding correspondence between Hillary Clinton and her personal aide Huma Abedin search term “drone strikes”.

The emails show the Clinton led U.S. State Department focused an inordinate amount of time and energy discussing articles written by the media. It would appear at least a substantive portion of time in/around the State Dept was spent reviewing what reporters were writing about U.S. foreign policy outcomes.

One of the emails (Sept 18th 2011 – last in the pdf below) shows Hillary answering a question about floral arrangements amid a chain email discussing Pakistan’s efforts to battle the Taliban. Ms. Abedin responds curiously. (more…)

From within a generally well constructed New York Times article the new Mid-East normal begins to surface.  The vacuum left in the wake of Obama’s policies are leading to alignments of self interest….. And as a direct consequence a nuclear arms race. 

New York Times […] Through Egypt, a major beneficiary of Saudi aid, the kingdom is backing plans for a combined Arab military force to combat Iranian influence around the region. With another major aid recipient, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia is also expected to step up its efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, potentially setting off an arms race in the region.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, left, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, center, and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, on Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

All this comes just a few weeks after the death of King Abdullah and the passing of the throne to a new ruler, King Salaman, who then installed his 34-year-old son Mohamed in the powerful dual roles of defense minister and chief of the royal court. (more…)

Al Nusra is a front for, and has openly aligned with, al-Qaeda in Syria – which is essentially ISIS.

It is not a secret that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has tried to deliver the maximum benefit to ISIS (in Northern Syria) in direct opposition to the Kurds who are trying to formulate their own independent nation of Kurdistan. Erdogan views Kurdistan as a proxy for Irans’ growing sphere of influence.

Erdogan opposes Iran for many ideological reasons, but arguably most of all because he sees Iran’s growing influence as a threat to his own political ambitions to lead a new Ottoman Empire.

In my opinion Erdogan views his envisioned construct as most possible with a constituency of: ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood, Al Nusra (al-Qaeda) and various other segments of Sunni Islam including the Palestinian Authority, vis-à-vis Hamas. Erdogan, like Obama, has more grand aspirations than his own territory – all of his prior behavior aligns with this perspective.

So it comes as no surprise to see Turkey’s Erdogan take the opportunity provided by the distractions of both Yemen and Iraq, to act against one of Iran’s benefactors in Syria, namely Assad. (more…)

INDIA – A Bangladeshi blogger was hacked to death in Dhaka on Monday, the second such attack on a critic of religious fundamentalism in the mainly Muslim country in less than two months.

Three knife-wielding attackers set upon 27-year-old Washiqur Rahman near his home on Monday morning, weeks after the murder of an American atheist blogger in Dhaka triggered international outrage.

Police said they had arrested two suspects at the scene and retrieved three knives, but a third escaped.  Deputy commissioner Wahidul Islam said Rahman had been “brutally hacked to death”.

“They hacked him in his head and neck with big knives and once he fell on the ground they then hacked his body,” he said. (more…)