The management team of Face Activities extends our sincere condolences to the victims of Thursday’s terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain.
A van drove into a crowd at high speed on a popular street with many tourists, killing 13 people and injuring many more. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Photo: Wikimedia commons
President Trump’s early morning tweets are often controversial, and riddled with inaccuracies. His recent tweets about Iran are no exception.
In the wake of the latest tragic terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom, the President’s tweets have pointed a shaking finger of admonition at Iran, a country he perceives as an ally and sponsor of terrorists, including ISIS. Ironically, though, the truth is far from that.
Iran, first and foremost, is a Shi’a nation, while ISIS is based on an extreme perversion of Sunni Islam. Effectively they are enemies, for that reason alone.
In addition, Iran has recently suffered through its own terrorist attacks at the hands of ISIS operatives, and has thwarted other attacks from taking place. Iran has also taken military actions against ISIS targets in the recent past.
In the war in Syria, for example, Iran has supported the Syrian government against ISIS. This is a matter of public record.
President Trump often uses his twitter account to fire up his base, spreading poorly vetted information, better described as propaganda, than news.
He also uses strongly worded twitter posts to distract from pressing inconvenient issues, like the Russian election hacking scandal. His tweets about Iran and ISIS fall under these categories.
The press and the American People must both work together to hold President Trump accountable for his statements, including the more outrageous ones. His petty games, denials and accusations do not help.
As the investigation progresses into the Manchester Arena Bombing, new information has come to light, and sadly the death toll has risen. The management team of Face Activities offers our heart felt condolences and sympathies to the victims and their families of this terrible crime.
Authorities have learned a lot in a short time about the suicide bombing perpetrated at the Ariana Grande concert, on Monday, May 22nd, at the Manchester Evening News Arena, in the United Kindgom. The blast killed 22 people, and dozens more were injured, many seriously, just after the pop star finished her concert at 10:30 pm, local time.
The blast occurred in an less secure area, as concert-goers exited the venue, so the terrorists maximized the number of victims by hitting a “soft target,” with limited security compared to that inside the concert venue.
The attack occurred on the anniversary of the murder of Lee Rigby, a British army soldier who was hacked to death on May 22, 2013, by Michael Adebolajo and an accomplice. Abedi’s attack prompted authorities to up the threat level to “Critical,” and a second attack is thought to be imminent.
Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old UK citizen of Libyan descent, committed the atrocious act, which targeted very young teenagers and tweens, mostly girls (the youngest known victim was 8-years-old.) Abedi, the son of Libyan refugees fleeing the Gaddafi regime, appears to have been part of a terrorist network in Manchester, with links to Libya, and appears to have owed his allegiance to ISIS.
Abedi’s suicide vest was a sophisticated piece of technology, so it’s unlikely he fabricated it alone. Authorities believe he had received training from ISIS in years past. Abedi came to the attention of authorities years ago, when he expressed sympathy for terrorist acts, and suicide bombings, to classmates, who reported him to the security services.
In the wake of the bombing, the authorities have made five arrests, and at least two in Libya, including Abedi’s father and brothers, as police probe Abedi’s network.
Learn more about the state of the investigation (The Telegraph)
Photo: By David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
The management team of Face Activities extends our sympathies to the victims of today’s terrorist attacks in Egypt. We condemn this cruel act of barbarism, and this flagrant violation of human rights.
Early today, on Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, Coptic churches in Egypt were bombed by terrorists. ISIS has claimed responsibility for these outrages.
“ISIS claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 43 at two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday — brazen strikes against a vulnerable minority on one of the most important days on the Christian calendar.
The terror group’s Amaq media wing said “a security detachment” of the Islamic State carried out the attacks on churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria. The bombings also left scores wounded.” (CNN)
Learn more about this terrorist incident (CNN)
Photo: This image is in the public domainbecause it contains materials that originally came from the United States Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook
Sadly we face another terrorist attack in France, a nation that’s endured a great deal of violence at the hands of extremist jihadists in the recent past. The management team of Face Activities extends our sympathies and condolences to the victims and their families, and to the people of France. We mourn with you for your fallen comrades. We look forward to a day when the world, working together, can end the scourge of terrorism that plagues the peoples of the world.
A brazen terrorist attack rocked France Thursday night, as a driver intent on committing mass murder deliberately drove his truck through a dense crowd along a 2 km stretch of road at the Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, killing at least 77 people. President Hollande referred to the incident as an attack, and called for an extension of the nation’s state of emergency, due to expire within days, for another three months.
Before driving into the crowd, reports indicate that the driver first shot into the crowd with a gun. Police eventually shot and killed the alleged terrorist, and found the truck to be packed with firearms, explosives and grenades that fortunately didn’t detonate. It’s likely that the casualty rate would have been much higher if they had exploded, and would have included first responders to the crisis.
Now the painstaking investigative process begins, to piece together the course of events and bring perpetrators, if possible, to justice. There are many questions that need to be answered. Who was the driver? What were his organizational affiliations and motivations? Is there evidence of a broader conspiracy or was this the work of a lone wolf? Was ISIS involved, and was the driver a self-radicalized extremist, or someone who was deliberately trained and sent under the aegis of a specific terrorist organization?
Learn more about the Bastille Day terrorist attack in Nice, France (CNN)
Photo: By narje (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The world endures another terrorist outrage, as extremists armed with guns and explosives attack innocent, unarmed citizens in Bangladesh. As always, the management team of Face Activities extends our support and sympathy to the victims and their families.
Police have stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, rescuing a few people from the clutches of ISIS terrorists, who seized the cafe, taking as many as 20 hostages. The terrorists have thrown bombs at police, and exchanged gunfire. At least one officer has been killed. Even though some were rescued, the crisis is ongoing.
Bangladesh, to the north east of India, is 89% Muslim, and this monstrous attack happens as the holy month of Ramadan, one of Islam’s most challenging and important sacred ritual obligations, nears an end.
Learn more about ongoing terrorist hostage crisis in Bangladesh (CNN)
Photo: by Michael Reeve (MykReeve, CC BY-SA 3.0)
The management team of Face Activities extends our condolences to the victims, and their families, of the Istanbul airport attack.
Following a horrific terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk international airport, at least 36 are dead (earlier reports soared to as many as 50) and dozens were injured, possibly as many as 147. At this time official sources indicate ISIS terrorists are most likely to blame, though there’s been speculation that Kurdish separatists could be responsible.
Three attackers used automatic weapons to assault airport travelers in the bustling airport, but when police returned fire, they detonated explosive devices, killing themselves and many innocent bystanders. The police may have stopped the terrorists before they entered an even more crowded part of the airport, which could have lead to even greater casualties.
Learn about Istanbul airport attack (BBC)
Photo: by Josef Moser, (Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
The uncompromising extremism, and willingness to both kill and die for their cause, are characteristic of ISIS fighters, and terrorists. Though their barbarity is unconscionable, their will to fight is remarkably strong, rivaled only by the kurds, who meet them in battle with minimal weaponry, and an equal zeal for victory. But why are they so willing to go to such lengths ?
A study in Iraq, lead by anthropologist Scott Atran of the University of Michigan, attempts to get to the bottom of this vexing question by studying the will to fight on both sides of the conflict. The researchers identified two crucial components: closely held “sacred values” that a fighter is willing to die for, and a strong collective identification with his fighting group, often greater than the fighter’s own family.
These powerful motivators are present both in ISIS extremists, and defending kurds who have opposed them successfully in battle. They are noticeably absent, or present at much weaker levels, in a sample group of Europeans that Atran studied. It’s important to note that the sacred values can be negative, apocalyptic values, like those that drive terrorists to enslave others, or the positive, life-affirming values of defenders like the kurds, who possess a strong faith that they are right to protect their homes from invasion–a sacred charge.
There have been relatively few serious studies of the characteristics and motivations of those who join extremist and terrorist groups, but more are necessary. It’s vital to understand the motivations and tipping-points of those who join ISIS, who are often ordinary people from middle or upper class homes with no previous signs of radicalization, in order to help curb the spread of these violent jihadist organizations.
Learn more about study researching jihadist motivations (Science News)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Today, in the ongoing the aftermath of the tragic nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida, the media was filled with heated exchanges between President Obama, and Hillary Clinton, on one hand, and Donald Trump, on the other.
Both Democrats pounced on the presumptive republican nominee, who had doubled-down on his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. Trump has long cited potential dangers from terrorists that might sneak in with law-abiding refugees and other visitors as a reason to severely restrict Muslim immigration into the U.S., including refugees from Syria. Read more
The nation is still reeling from its latest mass murder at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, ruthlessly perpetrated by Omar Mir Saddique Mateen. In the wake of the tragedy, law enforcement officers are debriefing the killer’s wife, Noor Salman. At this time the FBI doesn’t think she’s a co-conspirator, meaning she didn’t help to plan the attack with him. Read more
