We have watched the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS target Egypt ever since secular President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi brought stability back to the country.  Now with the clear outlines of the al-Sisi “freedom alliance” in place, ISIS strikes back in an attempt to destabilize the country.

Today, Palm Sunday, ISIS targeted two Christian communities in Egypt with suicide bombings.  The first bombing, targeted Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100 km (60 miles) north of Cairo.  The terrorists attacked St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, the Ministry of Health said.

The second bombing was just a few hours later in Alexandria.  The terrorists targeted a more consequential Christian venue, Saint Mark’s Cathedral; the historic seat of the Coptic Pope.  This is where President al-Sisi previously attended Christmas Mass in a visible display of historic secular solidarity toward the Christian ministry in Egypt.

During the St. Mark’s mass attack today the terrorists killed 17 people, including three police officers, and injuring 48, according to the Coptic the ministry. Coptic Pope Tawadros was leading the mass and thankfully, according to the ministry, he was not injured.

ISIS is trying again to create chaos and destabilize Egypt through religious extremism and terrorism.    President al-Sisi has initiated an immediate nation-wide state of emergency, calling upon the Egyptian military to protect the civilian population.  (more…)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared on two Sunday news programs today ABC (Stephanopoulos), and CBS (Dickerson) to describe the seismic foreign policy events of the past week.

The first interview, T-Rex explains the U.S. policy directly to John Dickerson:

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T-Rex outlines the appropriate distribution of responsibility for the chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Metaphor – A dangerously moldy red book keeps reappearing on the boardroom desk (the mid-east).  No-one in the room will take responsibility for its origination. U.S. President Trump walks into the room, picks up the book and angrily, publicly, throws it in the trash.

Trump then looks sternly at the most influential task management in the room (Putin/Assad) and tells them deliberately: ‘if the book reappears they will be held to account’. 

The entire organization (world) watched, and saw, the event.  President Trump has assigned responsibility for the future, and accountability for the consequence.

The second interview delivered the same message. T-Rex appears on ABC with George Stephanopoulos.

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We are seeing a lot of media reports about the U.S.S. Carl Vinson carrier group being re-routed back toward North Korea.

However, stunningly, what we are not seeing is any media pointing out the specific conversation between President Trump and President Xi Jinping about North Korea (as shared by Secretary T-Rex).

First, the latest media report via Reuters:

A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program.

Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.

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The FBI and U.S. Marshals have dozens of agents and officers involved in a nation-wide  manhunt for a Wisconsin man who mailed a 160 page threatening manifesto to the White House.   In addition a seriously disturbing video (below) has surfaced showing the man proclaiming he is part of the left-wing “revolution” movement.

Joseph Jakubowski has been on the run since Tuesday, when police say he broke into the Armageddon Gun Shop in Janesville, south of Madison, and stole 16 high-caliber rifles and handguns. He is believed to be armed and dangerous, and traveling with a bulletproof vest and helmet, according to authorities.

Jakubowski is described as 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds with green eyes and brown hair, is considered extremely dangerous.  He is well known to Wisconsin law enforcement and has served time in prison for trying to disarm a police officer.

Since Tuesday, authorities have responded to more than 200 leads in their search, and the FBI is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information leading to Jabukowsi’s arrest. (video below)

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There is a predictable disconnect amid political followers who have not paid close attention to the direct Mid-East visitors to the Donald Trump White House regarding the origin of the chemical weapons use in Syria.

Focusing on who used chemical weapons is a moot point in the larger issue of the Syrian conflict. It doesn’t matter whether ISIS “rebels” deployed them or whether Bashir Assad used them against the “rebels” when contemplating President Trump’s response to stop using them. The victims are Syrians. The regional alliance members don’t care who used them. The message is to stop.

We could make a solid argument that either interested party: Bashir Assad or “the rebels” (al-Qaeda, ISIS, al-Nusra et al) had motive and opportunity to use chemical weapons.

We’ve written for several years about the manipulative intentions of both sides, all sides, in the Syrian conflict. We’ve written about President Obama’s policies toward Syria and how his administration armed and equipped all elements; gaining nothing except a horrific death toll and chaotic civil war as an outcome.

We’ve provided lengthy and cited research on arms into Syria from Obama, Clinton and Kerry. The Benghazi Brief outlined Man-Pads and chemical weapons delivered to Syria as an outcome of the collapse within Libya.  We’ve outlined the Libyan weapons caches that became the Jihadist market/yard-sale. We’ve also documented weapons deliveries directly from the State Department using actual recorded audio admissions of Secretary Kerry to his Syrian benefactors.

Additionally, no-one questions whether Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Assad’s BFF, delivered stock piles of his own chemical weapons to Syria, because it was well documented.  Both Bashir Assad and Saddam Hussein previously used chemical weapons.   Historically Hussein used Chemical Weapons to kill up to 300,000 Kurds in Northern Iraq.

None of this is in doubt.

To argue if Assad used chemical weapons again last week is really an irrelevant issue when you stop and think about Bashir Assad’s political position in 2017. (more…)

As President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping wrapped up the summit in Mar-a-lago, overshadowed in media reports by U.S. missile strikes in Syria, President Xi joined with President Trump and focused on stressing the positive mood of the meetings between the world’s two biggest economies.

Team U.S.A insisted both President Trump and their delegation had made good on the pledge to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and said there was some headway. Team China and President Xi agreed to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting U.S. exports and reducing China’s trade surplus with the United States.

Secretaries Tillerson (State), Mnuchin (Treasury) and Ross (Commerce) held a debriefing session with the media at the end of the summit.  What a stunning difference in the approach and level of direct and concise communication.  (Oh, and side note – Wilburne continues to crack me up, even in the reading of his responses.)  Here’s the transcript:

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[Transcript] My Fellow Americans,

We’re only 11 weeks in, but already my administration has achieved historic progress for the American people – in fact, 93% of our domestic manufacturers have expressed optimism in the future, a record.

The confidence we are seeing in our Nation is about jobs and opportunity – but it’s also about safety and security.

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The launch of Tomahawk missiles by President Trump has displaced the gravitational center of twitter purists, litmus nuts, conspiracy loons and the even creepier goons that orbit the remnants of the Ted Cruz #NeverTrump camp.

Their latest anti-Trumpism du jour targets Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and spouse of Ivanka Trump.   Every loon campaign needs a hashtag, and their chosen identifying moonbattery is scribed under #FireKushner.

The concern, as it is openly expressed by those pushing the hashtag, is that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will sneak into President Trump’s bedroom and place a pod under his bed which will envelop the elder Trump overnight, replicate him, and simultaneously turn him into a left-wing liberal globalist.  Yes, that appears to be the general concern.

To validate this concern the current consensus conspiracy theory evidence points to Steve Bannon being dispatched from the White House (which he’s not) in combination with Jared Kushner sitting at a table and Steven Miller’s physical proximity to the corner of the room as reflected in a photograph taken during the aftermath of the Syrian missile launch.

Uh huh.

Like all similar ideological moonbattery that has come before (primary race 2015/16), there is an echo-chamber of more than tinged antisemitism, combined with a dash of Cruzian litmus testing of all activity.   In essence, this is yet another outcropping of the continuing evolution of #NeverTrump.   It’s silly, but, alas people take this stuff seriously.

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Sweden becomes the latest country to be attacked by terrorists using trucks and vehicles as deadly weapons.  Similar attacks have taken place in London England, Nice France, Berlin Germany; and now Stockholm Sweden.

At least four people are dead and dozens injured as the terrorist hijacked and used a beer delivery truck to drive through the crowed street in Stockholm and plow over victims.

(Via CNN) […] The Swedish Security Service said the attack happened just before 3 p.m. local time. People were seen fleeing the area in panic.

A beer truck was hijacked as it made a delivery nearby, according to the company that owned it. Eyewitnesses reported it being driven at speed along Drottninggatan (Queen Street) before it crashed into the front of a department store.

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A funny thing happened today en route to CNN pundit Brooke Baldwin assembling an anti-Trump narrative.

To understand the epic level of today’s fail by Ms. Baldwin, it’s important to note her earlier interview of a 2013 Syrian chemical attack survivor, Kassem Eid, three days ago.  He was brought on CNN to express his anxiety about ongoing attacks against the Syrian innocents and frame the liberal R2P humanitarian perspective.

Today, in the aftermath of last night’s airstrike, Ms. Baldwin brought Kassem Eid back to frame a narrative about President Trump launching an airstrike in Syria, but being unwilling to accept Syrian refugees.  The objective was to frame Trump’s hypocrisy.

To drive the point home the CNN producers assembled a Hillary Clinton carefully scripted speech soundbite as the lead-up to the question:  “we cannot speak of protecting Syria’s babies, and in the next breath close America’s doors to them“.

However, what happened next wasn’t expected by Baldwin.  She couldn’t shut down the segment fast enough.  This is funny.  Stay with it.

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