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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
9/19/2016 11:05:19 AM

US air raid on 'Syrian army post' sparks Russia tension

Russia and Syria say 62 Syrian soldiers killed by coalition aircraft near ISIL-held city of Deir Az Zor.



US-led coalition air raids reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday, endangering a US-Russian brokered ceasefire and prompting an emergency UN Security Council meeting as tensions between Washington and Moscow escalated.

The US military said that the coalition stopped its strikes against what it believed to be Islamic States of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group positions in the eastern city of Deir Az Zor on Saturday after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.

"We are investigating the incident," Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told journalists as the emergency Security Council meeting, called by Russia, got under way in New York.

"If we determine that we did indeed strike Syrian military personnel, that was not our intention. And we of course regret the loss of life."

If confirmed, it would mark the first known direct American strike on forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia said that 62 Syrian soldiers were killed and at least 100 more wounded in strikes by "warplanes from the international anti-jihadist coalition".

The Russian military said two F-16 and two A-10 jets flew into Syrian airspace from neighbouring Iraq to carry out the raids.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group gave a toll of 83 soldiers killed, as it confirmed the strikes were US-led coalition raids.

A US military official speaking to the AFP news agency appeared to confirm the attack, saying "we believe about a half-dozen vehicles, including what we think was a tank, were struck as well as personnel who were out in the open".

The Australian Department of Defence said on Sunday that its planes had participated in the strikes and offered condolences to the families of Syrian soldiers killed or wounded in the incident.

Russian 'stunt'

Power accused Russia of pulling a "stunt" by calling for an emergency Security Council meeting to demand an explanation from the US. She said Moscow should instead demand a meeting with the Syrian government to press for peace.

"Russia really needs to stop the cheap point scoring and the grandstanding and the stunts and focus on what matters, which is implementation of something we negotiated in good faith with them," Power told reporters before the meeting.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin responded by accusing the US of violating agreements that it would not target Syrian positions and said the action was a "bad omen" for a US-Russian deal on halting the fighting in Syria.

Washington and Moscow reached an agreement in September that calls for a ceasefire, the delivery of aid and the joint targeting of the ISIL, also known and ISIS, and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

The ceasefire came into effect on Monday and has largely held, despite dozens of alleged violations.

Al Jazeera's senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Moscow used the incident to underline the importance of communication between Russia and the US in military operations in Syria.

"What the Russians are saying today is you - the Americans - because you don't want to coordinate on the ground these sorts of mistakes are going to happen more often. It's quite foggy in terms of coordination on the ground. With the various violations of the ceasefire, you're going to see more friendly type fire going on," Bishara said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are due on Wednesday to attend a special Security Council meeting on Syria, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.



Inside Story - Could the latest deal on Syria bring peace?


Syria's army said the US-led strikes, which took place at around 5pm local time (1400 GMT), were "conclusive evidence" of US support for ISIL, calling them "dangerous and blatant aggression".

The US military said in its statement that Syria was a "complex situation" but that "coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit".

ISIL said via its Amaq news channel that it had taken complete control of Jebel Tharda, where the bombed position was located, which would have allowed it to overlook government-held areas of Deir Az Zor.

The city's airport and some districts have been entirely surrounded by ISIL since last year, with the airport providing their only external access.

However, Russia and Syrian state media said the Syrian army later recaptured positions it had lost.

Shaky truce

Earlier on Saturday, Russia and Syrian rebels cast doubt on the prospects for the increasingly shaky ceasefire, with Moscow saying that the situation was worsening and a senior rebel warning that the truce would "not hold out".

While the ceasefire has reduced fighting, low levels of violence have persisted across Syria. Meanwhile, there has been little movement on promised aid deliveries to besieged areas, and both sides have accused the other of bad faith.

Russia's defence ministry said conditions in Syria were deteriorating, adding that it believed the ceasefire had been breached 199 times by rebels and saying the US would be responsible if it were to collapse.

After the Deir Az Zor attack, it said Moscow had told the US to rein in the Syrian opposition and make sure it did not launch a new offensive, adding that it had informed Washington about a concentration of rebels north of Hama.

Rebels say they only reluctantly accepted the initial deal, which they believe is skewed against them, because it could relieve the dire humanitarian situation in besieged areas they control, and blamed Russia for undermining the truce.

"The truce, as we have warned, and we told the [US] State Department - will not hold out," a senior rebel official in Aleppo told the Reuters news agency on Saturday, pointing to the continued presence of a UN aid convoy at the Turkish border awaiting permission to enter.

Rebels have also accused Russia of using the ceasefire to give the Syrian army and allied Shia militias a chance to regroup and deploy forces ready for their own offensives.

Both sides have accused the other of being responsible for aid deliveries being stuck far from Aleppo, where army and rebel forces were supposed to pull back from the Castello Road, a key route into leading they city's besieged, rebel-held eastern districts.

Two convoys of aid for Aleppo have been waiting at the Turkish border for days. The UN has said both sides in the war are to blame for the delay of aid to Aleppo, where neither has yet withdrawn from the Castello Road.

Source: Al Jazeera News And Agencies

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
9/19/2016 2:24:04 PM

U.S. Attacks Syrian Military, Protects ISIS In Deir Al-Zour, Thardeh Mountains

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
9/19/2016 2:46:09 PM

Crazed Cop Shooter, 2 “Explosions” – Has Engineered End Of America Begun?

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
9/19/2016 5:02:42 PM
Police connect New York, N.J. bombings, seek same man for questioning in both



At least 29 people were injured in an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City Sept. 17. Here’s what we know so far. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post)

NEW YORK – Authorities on Monday announced they are seeking 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with two bombings Saturday — in Seaside Park, N.J., and in Manhattan — though the man’s role in the incidents remains unclear.

Rahami is a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent born in Afghanistan, according to the FBI. His last known address was in New Jersey, officials said.

Rahami is 5-feet-6-inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and brown facial hair, according to the FBI. He should be considered armed and dangerous, the FBI said.

Law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether Rahami could have been influenced by international militant groups or the ongoing conflict in his homeland.

New Jersey State Police on Monday released several additional images of Rahami, including surveillance footage.

The announcement came after authorities took “a number of people” into custody in connection with the bombing, and their counterparts in New Jersey worked to render safe “multiple improvised explosive devices” discovered at a train station in Elizabeth just across from Staten Island.

Authorities have not yet confirmed any connections between the devices discovered in Elizabeth and earlier bombings on Saturday.

FBI agents also launched Monday morning what they termed an “operation” at an address on Elmora Avenue in Elizabeth, about a mile away from New Jersey Transit’s Elizabeth station. Court records show members of the Rahami family live and work at the address. A restaurant called “First American Fried Chicken” is also located on the ground floor of the same structure.

“They are going to be here for hours as they search every inch [of the apartment and restaurant],” Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage told NJ.com.

Court records show that several members of the Rahami family had owned and operated the fried chicken restaurant since 2002. It is unclear when Ahmad Rahami himself lived there or what role — if any — he had in the business.

In 2011, the Rahami family sued the City of Elizabeth and several police officers, alleging they had been inappropriately cited for keeping their business open past 10 p.m. and harassed by police.

They alleged a man in the neighborhood told them “you are Muslims” and “Muslims make too much trouble in this country” and complained unfairly to law enforcement, who singled them out “solely on animus against [their] religion, creed, race and national origin.”

In one instance, they alleged, two Rahami family members were actually arrested for attempting to record a conversation with officers.

The developments Monday sowed further concern about terrorism in the region and across the country. Police already had been investigating three weekend incidents — explosions in New York and New Jersey and a stabbing attack in Minnesota — that took place within a 12-hour period on Saturday.

Speaking to Good Morning America on Monday morning, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the investigation into the Chelsea bombing “is definitely leaning” in the direction of terrorism.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said in an interview Monday morning, with CBS News, that “there may be a foreign connection” involving the bombing in Manhattan, though he did not elaborate on what that connection might be.

About 8:45 p.m. Sunday, the FBI and the New York Police Department stopped what the bureau’s New York field office called a “vehicle of interest” in the Manhattan bombing investigation, and took people into custody. As of early Monday, authorities said no one had been charged with a crime and the investigation was continuing.

An FBI spokeswoman, Kelly Langmesser, gave no further details on those detained. But the Associated Press, citing government and law enforcement officials, reported that five people were questioned.



An explosive device detonated as a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it Sept.18. This was one of multiple devices found in a suspicious package near a train station in New Jersey. (Reuters)

Law enforcement also combed an area around the train station in Elizabeth, where a backpack with “multiple improvised explosive devices” was found.

Bollwage, the mayor, said that up to five devices were discovered inside a backpack, and one of the devices — found around 8:30 p.m. Sunday — exploded as it was being disarmed, shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday. The New Jersey Transit rail system halted rail service near Newark Airport due to the police activity. Regular service was restored before dawn.

The mayor said Monday that two homeless men found the explosives. Thinking there would be something valuable in the backpack, they opened it — but found what appeared to be explosive devices and reported it to the police.

They were “on the side of the angels,” Bollwage said, noting that the men didn’t get blown up when they touched the bag. If the bombs had exploded hours later, during rush hour, “hundreds of people would have been killed and injured,” the mayor said.

Each of the weekend incidents — the discovery of the devices in Elizabeth, the bombing that injured 29 in Chelsea, an explosion along the route of a scheduled race in Seaside Park, N.J., and a stabbing that wounded nine in a St. Cloud, Minn., mall — raised the possibility of terrorist connections, prompting federal and local law enforcement to pour major resources into determining exactly what happened and why.

A news agency linked to the Islamic State claimed Sunday that the suspect in Minnesota, who was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer, was “a soldier” of the militant group, though there was no confirmation of what connection the man may have had.

A claim of responsibility is no guarantee that the terrorist group directed or even inspired the attack, and authorities said they were still exploring a precise motive. The terrorist group made no similar claims about the New York and New Jersey incidents.

One law enforcement official said that while it was looking like the New Jersey and New York blasts “might be connected,” investigators still didn’t have any hard evidence. The official also said that only one of the three pipe bombs in New Jersey detonated.

Those injured in the Saturday-night blast in Chelsea had been released from hospitals by Sunday.

The Manhattan explosion occurred about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, injuring 29 people as it hurled glass and debris into the air, officials said. Surveillance video showed passersby running to get away from the blast, and investigators said they would comb through that and older footage to try to identify those responsible.

Authorities said the explosion was produced by some type of bomb, and they posted on Twitter a photo of what appeared to be a mangled Dumpster or garbage container. Masum Chaudry, who manages a Domino’s Pizza near the scene, said the explosion “shook the whole building” and caused “total chaos.”

Cuomo said, “When you see the amount of damage, we really were very lucky there were no fatalities.”

A short time after the explosion, just a few blocks away, police found another potentially explosive device, which looked like a pressure cooker with wiring, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. Pressure cookers were used in the two bombs detonated at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

The New York police said that this pressure-cooker-type device was first rendered safe at a Bronx facility. This device and materials from Seaside, N.J., were sent to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Va., where they and the remnants of the device that exploded will be analyzed, authorities said.

Officials differed on whether to call the Saturday night explosion an act of terrorism. Cuomo said: “It depends on your definition of terrorism. A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to international terrorism.” Over the weekend, city, police and FBI officials said it was too early to determine any type of motivation, though they insisted they would not shy from labeling the crime an act of terror if it became appropriate to do so.


New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said officials will not jump to conclusions or offer "easy answers" in relation to a deliberate explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured nearly 30 people.
(Reuters)

The incidents came as foreign leaders, including many heads of state, were heading to Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly. Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived Saturday, while President Obama arrived in the city Monday.

The annual U.N. meeting — held more than two miles from the site of the explosion in Chelsea — is traditionally a challenging time for New York, as many roads are shut down and the heavy security leads to traffic jams. Officials said they had already prepared to beef up security, and now they would intensify those efforts.

Speaking in New York, Obama said there was no known connection between the stabbings in Minnesota and the incidents in New York and New Jersey. But the attacks only reinforced his resolve to continue fighting the Islamic State, both on the ground and online, he said.

“We will continue to lead the global coalition in the fight to destroy ISIL, which is instigating a lot of people over the Internet to carry out attacks,” Obama said. “We’re going to continue to enlist tech companies and community and religious leaders to push back against online extremist content and all messages of hate.”

The president also emphasized the need to be vigilant but cautioned citizens against giving in to fear.

“At moments like this, I think it’s important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do: They are trying to hurt innocent people, but they also want to inspire fear in all of us and to disrupt the way we live and to undermine our values,” he said. “We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure we don’t succumb to that fear. There’s no better example of that than the people of New York and New Jersey.”

President Obama sought to reassure the public Sept. 19, after a series of explosives were planted in New York and New Jersey over the weekend. (The Washington Post)

On the campaign trail, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates offered varied reactions to news of the incidents.

“I think this is something that will maybe get — will happen perhaps more and more all over the country,” Donald Trump told “Fox and Friends.” “It’s a mess and it’s a shame, and we’re going to have to be very tough.”

Trump also said he agreed with early reports of a possible foreign connection to the bombings, and argued that the stricter immigration policies he has proposed would better protect the U.S. from terror.

Speaking in White Plains, N.Y., Clinton told reporters that the United States should launch an “intelligence surge” to identify and thwart attacks before they are carried out.

“This threat is real, but so is our resolve,” she said. “Americans will not cower. We will prevail. We will defend our country. A lot of the rhetoric from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, particularly ISIS. They want to use that to recruit more fighters to their cause by turning it into a religious conflict. That’s why I’ve been very clear. We’re going after the bad guys and we’re going to get them, but we’re not going after an entire religion.”

The Chelsea explosion occurred about 11 hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a Jersey Shore garbage can, shortly before a scheduled charity 5K race to benefit Marines and Navy sailors. No one was hurt.

Officials said that device, too, would be sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, though Cuomo noted the pipe bombs used in New Jersey “appear to be different” than those in New York.

Two law enforcement officials said residue of tannerite — used primarily for making exploding targets for firearms practice — was found in material that had detonated in New York. The explosive material found in New Jersey was a black powder. The two officials said a cellphone was used to detonate the explosives in both New York and Seaside Park, N.J. Bollwage said there was no cell phone with the devices in Elizabeth.

Zapotosky, Wang and Berman reported from Washington. Philip Bump in New York and Brian Murphy, Kristine Guerra, Sari Horwitz, Sean Sullivan, Steven Overly, John Wagner, Julie Tate, Derek Hawkins and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report, which has been updated since it was first published on Sunday night.


(The Washington Post)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
9/19/2016 5:37:48 PM

Corporate Media Silent As States Declare Emergency In Aftermath Massive Pipeline Rupture

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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