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Tag Archives: terrorists

Apple and Privacy: The FBI Request for Support

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Greg in Apple, espionage, FBI, Uncategorized

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Tags

Apple, espionage, FBI, iPad, iPhone, phone, terrorists, Tim Cook

The FBI has approached Apple to retrieve information from a terrorist’s iPhone.  The FBI submitted a request to the classified court that handles security related matters, and received a warrant to request that Apple assist in recovering information. Simple idea, eh?

Apple is attempting to take the high road, and blasting out that the US government is attempting to force them to insert a “backdoor” into the iOS software to allow the government unlimited access.  Apple says that’s a violation of privacy for Apple and its users. Apple vehemently, through Tim Cook, defended its rejection of the government’s attempt.

Problem is, Apple, knowingly, lied about what the government wanted, and also about what it can do.  Tim Cook knows that the FBI only requested either that Apple unlock the terrorist’s phone, or that Apple retrieve and turn the data over to the FBI.  Apple has the capability, and to say it doesn’t, especially considering the many users they’ve done this for, is an outright falsehood.  Apple has, over the last few years, through their Apple stores, unlocked and/or retrieved data from iPhones and iPads of all types. Tim Cook knows that the FBI is only interested in the data, and not in any “backdoors” to be able to access Apple phones and tablets and computers in the future.

Apple, and Tim Cook, are leading a campaign of deception, both against the users of its computers and phones, and against the US government.  I believe that Apple should be bought up on charges of obstruction of justice, perverting the course of justice, and impeding the course of a federal investigation, in an effort to increase its market share and drive up its profits.  Apple has the capability, and no one can deny this, to retrieve the information.  Apple and Tim Cook are attempting to use this request to pretend it has the high ground in privacy.  The reality is that Apple has the capability, and it states this information in its User Agreements and EULAs, to retrieve the information if requested by proper authorities.  And this was a request by proper authorities.  For reasons known only to Tim Cook, Apple has decided to take this public, attempting to model themselves as savior of the public interest.  Apple has never, under Jobs or Cook, been a savior of the common man.  Apple has always been an elitist organization.

Apple should do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing for Apple and Tim Cook.  Working with and supporting the FBI can only serve to gender support for Apple in the US government, and conversely, snubbing the FBI and pretending to be something that Apple is not, will only serve to condemn Apple as another elitist system that believes in one law for the  common man, and another for itself.

 

“We Should All Stand Together, Or Most Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

Israel’s Right to Live in Peace

22 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

adults, atrocities, children, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israeli, Middle East, Palestine, Palestinians, peace, terrorists

For the past week, the eyes of the world have been on the Middle East. The brief respite offered by the catastrophe of the civilian jet shot down over the Ukraine did not divert the world’s interest. Israel is in a fight for its right to be a free and sovereign country. The Palestinians say they want a free and sovereign country. But the efforts of Hamas to destroy the peace and security of Israel points to the larger problem: Unless the Palestinians denounce the atrocities committed by Hamas, the Middle East will continue to be a hot spot for terrorism, and Israel will not have peace.

Many people moan about the deaths of the Palestinian people, bemoaning Israel’s attacks on civilian population areas. Yet, I hear no bemoaning, no beseeching, no cries of horror by the Palestinian people or the main stream media about Hamas using civilian populace areas, civilian schools, and civilian medical facilities to launch their rockets against Israel. This makes the Palestinian people the biggest hypocrites on the planet, next to Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama. If you allow a military asset to be used from your area of responsibility (AOR), your AOR is no longer a protected site. You have forfeited any protection for you and any other civilians in the area. The Geneva Convention specifically prohibits such use, and removes protection from those places under the International Laws of Armed Conflict. What was once a medical facility for all, becomes a legitimate target if you allow rockets and mortars to be launched from your facility. What was once a civilian residential district, where children played and families live, becomes a legitimate strike object when you allow murderous terrorists to stockpile weapons and war-making material in the basements and inside apartments. At such a time, you must expect counterstrikes against the war-making capabilities of those you harbor in your facilities.

The world blames Israel for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. The world, as usual, is wrong. Once a people submit to having their holy institutions, their medical facilities, and their homes, to be places of maintaining war-making material, those people, and, yes, unfortunately, their children, are no longer innocent bystanders. The adults have, themselves, place their families, their livelihoods, and their homes in harm’s way by their actions. The responsibility falls on the Palestinians, not the Israelis, for the deaths. In war, those who would wage war, and permit the war-makers asylum, are directly responsible for any actions that may befall them. To lay blame on others is disingenuous, and disgusting.

If the Palestinians wish to have peace, to stop the deaths of their young people, their children, and their families, and wish to stop the destruction of their property, they need do only one thing. They need to stand up to Hamas and say, Enough! No More! We sacrifice no more of our lives, our families, for your misbegotten war. By denouncing and running the terrorists, the Palestinians can take the first step to peace. It would not be easy. The right thing never is. But, that is the right thing, and the Palestinians know this.

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

Obama’s Foreign Policy Doctrine and the Rise of the New Caliphate

01 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

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Tags

9/11, administration, caliph, caliphate, foreign policy, inclusive government, iraq, ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, muslim, obama, sharia, sharia law, syria, terrorists

obama’s foreign policy doctrine has always been, take our hands off the wheel, do not become enmeshed in international politics. The administration’s hands-off approach determined our departure from Iraq, and our ensuing departure from Afghanistan. With this idea that the US should not involve itself in other countries’ issues, obama made his famous “Red Line in the sand” speech about Syrian use of Chemical Weapons, or Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), and then subsequently backing off, further delineating what he means about lines.

Now that the world understands the obama foreign policy doctrine really means “We’re not helping anyone, but we will throw money at you because we feel guilty”, the terrorists known as the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant (ISIL) as well as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has decided to declare itself the Islamic State. This is better known as the Caliphate, and the terrorists have declared Al-Baghdadi as the Caliph, and all muslims must swear to him. What does this mean? Simply this: Every nightmare scenario that can be thought of, pales to insignificance to the reality of a true caliphate.

Under a caliph, in a caliphate, no one who is not a muslim, is considered a citizen. Every christian, buddhist, you name it, is a second class citizen, if not considered a slave. Despite what the UN bleats from their safe haven in New York, in the caliphate, if you are not a true muslim, proven by your imam, you are not worthy of note. You can be bought and sold, and your children can be bought and sold. If you are not a slave, you will be taxed until all of your money is gone, and your goods and any personal items can be confiscated by anyone who deems you owe them anything. Your daughters can be raped, as well as your sons, and there is nothing you can do about this. If you protest, you can be beaten, possibly to death, and your family confiscated and sold as slaves to the greater glory of the caliphate. If you are muslim, your life isn’t much better. Women can be raped, if they are found outside without at least one male member of their family. And to prove they have been raped, they must produce four, count them, four male persons to verify this. If the woman cannot, she will be accused of adultery. This is actually sharia law, and the woman can be whipped, or stoned to death. A muslim man can divorce his wife by announcing in front of male witnesses “I divorce you” three times. An imam should be present, however, someone of high (sic) character can also be used to vouch for the man. Although adultery is frowned upon, a muslim man can have a quick marriage of convenience performed by an imam or mullah, to allow him to have his way with any young woman (and the ages can range as low as 8) he wishes. Homosexual sex is not condoned, publicly, however, young boys, especially blonde boys, are considered, in the caliphate, a particular desire.

Why am I detailing this? Because this is happening in Iraq and Syria now. With the declaration of a caliphate, millions of people in these areas are about to partake of a humanitarian disaster not seen since the collapse of the last caliphate. And how is this the fault of obama? Let us take a look at the path that he trod to this.

obama was elected in 2008 on a platform of hope and change. His role, as leader of the greatest nation, and the last superpower on earth, was to chart a path to stability for the planet. He immediately stumbled. After his coronation, excuse me, inauguration, obama made plans to go, not to Iraq to sit down with Maliki about the resolution of the war. He headed for Chicago to boost the city for the Olympics. obama began a tour of the world, meeting leaders. His message should have been, We are firm but resolute. Bush had laid a path, that any reasonable person could follow, in providing a secure foundation for democracy in the middle east. obama only had to secure a Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to allow 10,000 US troops to remain in Iraq. This group would have been able to train the Iraqi military, shore up and support them in actions throughout Iraq, and work to establish a true democracy and setting for the growth of peace and stability in the region. Instead, obama toured the middle east, apologized for US agression in the area, promised to remove our troops as fast as possible, and ignored Maliki and the Iraqi government. The US State Department, the diplomatic arm of the US government, was supposed to work on the SOFA, and work to help stabilize the government, and was supposed to be working to make sure the Iraqi government was inclusive. The problem with this is that personnel in the embassy and the consulates seldom ventured out of either. With 5,000 people assigned to the embassy alone, there should have been an over abundance of assistance for the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to be able to work through issues. The reality is, the embassy personnel didn’t provide a lot of assistance, or even little assistance, to either Iraqi government people, or to US business personnel trying to work with the Iraqi people. Business people I actually spoke to told me that they were told the embassy could not provide any direct assistance in meeting either Iraqi government people or Iraqi business people. I attended several meetings at the embassy, and this was borne out. The best the embassy people would offer is to try and bring someone that the group could meet. In contrast, the Chinese and Russian embassies provided direct connections between their industry people and the Iraqi government and industry personnel. And these embassies were not the only ones.

So, with a concrete effort to take all the US military out of the country, along with an embassy that wouldn’t engage with the fledgling government, the recipe for a disaster was there in the making. Nouri Al-Maliki, the prime minister, wasted no time in pushing out those who were not part of his sect of muslim faith. With Talabani, the one vice-president who could handle Maliki, suddenly ill with heart issues, and, for Maliki, safely out of the country in Germany, Maliki began his push to turn Iraq into a Shia-led country. With no real US counsel sitting next to Maliki, Maliki felt no problem about cosying closer to the Shia’s ultimate religious leader, the ayatollah of Iran. This led to more and more power being fed to Maliki’s supporters, and the Sunnis being more and more marginalized. The Kurdish people continued to build their area up, and reinforcing their own Peshmarga forces, in anticipation of a civil war with Maliki and his followers. What happened, however, is much, much worse.

While Iraq was busy fomenting itself into a sectarian civil war, bit by bit, across the border in Syria, a rebellion was gaining serious momentum. Moderate muslims began an attempt to overthrow the government of Assad, because of his barbaric tactics, and his not-inclusive government. Libya had already overthrown Gaddafi, and the Syrians were ready to follow suit. Unfortunately, unlike with Libya, obama refused to provide direct support. No missiles launched, no arms provided. Assad decided to up the ante, and still obama did nothing. The Syrian rebels were soon taken over by ISIL members, and then the rebellion really started getting ugly. ISIL declared any area they overtook to be under sharia law. Before anyone knew it, the extremists terrorists ran over the Syrian border, and ousted the Iraqi military. Since Maliki had the opportunity, and took it, to purge the military of any strong leaders, the military collapsed faster than a house of cards in a chicago wind. obama still had a chance to do something, by sending troops in to support the Iraqi military, but he held his hand back, preferring to ignore the middle east. Rapidly, ISIL/ISIS began taking over towns, developing their own areas, and “cleansing” the area. Read: beheading, killing, etc. With everyone demanding he do something, obama did: he went on vacation. And ISIS/ISIL kept moving forward.

Now that ISIL/ISIS have declared a caliphate, and anointed a caliph, what can be done? What must be done is to have a real US military division dropped in, have the Iraqi military attached to it, and begin the campaign to push the terrorists out. At the same time, the president must send a high-level person to Baghdad, and bring the heads of the three main groups, the Shia, the Sunni, and the Kurds, together and force an inclusive government. We must establish bases in Iraq, to protect the people until such time as they can truly have a safe government, push Iran back across the border, and insure free flow of commerce for the people. We must make sure that all understand that Iraq is one country, with many peoples living there, not three states, in contention with each other.

If we don’t do this, the match to ignite the middle east will not be lit by Israel. It will be lit by someone who decides he has the right and the moral authority to create one nation out of many, and rule as if he were a god. And heaven help those who try to turn a blind eye…

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

 

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