Turkey Cracks Down on Islamic State Militants

In-Depth Coverage

by Dorian Jones July 17, 2015
Turkish security forces are engaging in what is being seen as an unprecedented crackdown on the Islamic State militant group – an indication that Ankara's policy towards the Islamic group has changed.
July has seen Turkish security forces step up operations against Islamic State supporters in Turkey.
Last week, 21 alleged members were detained in dawn raids spreading across several cities. Security forces claimed large amounts of ammunition were found along with uniforms.
Local media this month also reported large numbers of arrests of would-be jihadists seeking to enter Syria through Turkey.
Ankara has been under considerable pressure from its Western allies to crack down on the Islamic State group. Turkey, which borders both Syria and Iraq, is routinely described by its critics as being a jihadist superhighway.
The raids indicate a change in Ankara's stance towards Islamic State, said Semih Idiz, columnist for Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper and al-Monitor website.
'There has been much talk they were a little cautious ... not only because of the blowback threat, but because they felt initially groups like this might help topple Assad and then they would be able to be controlled," he said. '... Ankara is gradually shifting to the other side of the fence.'
Soli Ozel, an international relations expert at Istanbul's Kadir Has University, said the crackdown on the Islamic States is a response to growing international pressure.
'Turkey is very unhappy - maybe a bit too late - to be identified as a party to the sectarian fighting in Syria," he said. "And it is very rapidly trying to disassociate itself from that label. And its attitude vis-a-vis IS seems to have changed rather drastically in the past two, three week.'
The crackdown on the Islamic State comes after the Islamist-rooted AK Party lost its majority in parliament in last month's general election. Following that setback, there have been growing calls within the party for a reassessment of its foreign policy.
Last week, former President Abdullah Gul, a founding AK Party member, strongly criticized his party's foreign policy - claiming it had isolated Turkey.
Columnist Idiz said hard pragmatism is also a factor behind Ankara's IS policy change.
'Especially when the tide is generally internationally moving against ISIS and you want to be on the right side of fence in that regard," he said. "So it's a combination of this new atmosphere that is probably developing vis-a-vis foreign policy, but also it's a result of developments on the ground.'
Observers warn that the threat of IS retaliation remains real, given that the groups is believed to have many Turkish members. Turkish security forces are expected to be on high alert.

  

Ukraine

Damning Video Shows Pro-Russian Rebels Surprised MH17 Was Civilian

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By RFE/RL

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 17.07.2015 15:28

Damning video obtained by Australian media shows pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine sifting through the wreckage of MH17 and finding to their surprise that the aircraft was civilian rather than military.
Part of the 17-minute video, published one year after the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, appears to include the moment rebels realize a civilian airplane rather than a Ukrainian military jet has crashed.
The video, taken on mobile phones by the rebels themselves, could support initial evidence that the civilian airliner with 298 passangers on board was shot down mistakenly by rebels who believed they had destroyed a Ukrainian Sukhoi air force fighter jet.
News Corp Australia, owner of the newspaper, called the video exclusive footage that was taken by the rebels and smuggled out of Donetsk just this week after months of efforts to obtain it.
The newspaper said that the video shows a rebel unit dispatched from Donetsk to the crash site to hunt for Ukrainian military pilots that the rebels believed had parachuted out after rebels shot their jet fighter down.
But at least parts of the clip appeared in BBC coverage in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
News Corp said that in one frame a man wore a clearly visible identification tag from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic around his neck.
The rebels, holding guns and dressed in army camouflage as they wandered around the still-smoldering wreckage, can be heard in the video talking about looking for the Ukrainian pilots and then expressing surprise and confusion as they discovered the aircraft and its passengers were civilian.
“It’s a civilian!” said the commander. And then, in a revealing admission: “They [headquarters] say the Sukhoi brought down the civilian plane and ours brought down the fighter."
Speaking in both Russian and Ukrainian, the rebels ask how this passenger plane was allowed to fly over Ukraine. An unidentified commander is heard receiving calls from rebel leaders trying to find out what is going on.
Rummaging Through Luggage
The rebels express surprise and dismay as they find dismembered bodies of civilians with luggage tags showing they were from Australia and Malaysia.
Despite their macabre discoveries, the rebels are seen rummaging through luggage and gathering phones, wallets and other items of value.
"It is sickening to watch, and 12 months on from the downing of MH17, it is deeply concerning that this footage has emerged now," said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Australian TV.
"It is certainly consistent with the intelligence advice that we received 12 months ago, that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile," she said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tragic Scenes At MH17 Crash Site
A child's doll is seen among the victims' belongings scattered near the village of Grabovo http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-video-shows-rebels-surprised-mh17-wreckage-civilian/27133474.html

 

Minute-by-minute coverage of the Chattanooga shooting that killed four Marines.

Minute-by-minute coverage of the Chattanooga shooting that killed four Marines 

 

All of the new details we're learning today about the attacks at Chattanooga's military facilities will be compiled here. Please refresh this page for updates throughout the day.
* Governor orders lags over the state capitol and all state office buildings to be flown at half-staff .
* One of four Marines killed in Chattanooga has been identified as 40-year-old Thomas J. Sullivan, according to MassLive.com.
* The Second Marine has been reported by CBS46 in Atlanta to be Skip Wells, a Marine from Atlanta.  He was 21.
* The third Marine identified was David Wyatt of Chattanooga, according to the Tennessean.
* Sources tell the Tennessean that the suspect worked at Superior Essex Inc. in Franklin, Tenn., as a supervisor.
* Hussnain Javid, a 21-year-old senior at UTC, said he occasionally saw Abdulazeez at the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, but the last time was roughly a year ago.
* Former coach Almir Dizdarevic tells CNN he heard that his former athlete moved out of the USA to spend time in the Middle East a year or so ago.
* The New York Times says Abdulazeez had a blog where he discussed his religious beliefs.
* The Tennessee Riverpark from the CB Robinson Bridge to the west entrance across from the Coca-Cola plant will be closed to the public today as the FBI Investigation continues. This closure includes the playground and Fry Center. The public is encouraged to access the open section of the Riverpark from the Riverpoint entrance, which is near the BASF plant.
* A news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. today. Full coverage at TimesFreePress.com.

UGLY DAY IN TENNESSE

Chuck Hartung holds his daughter Haley, 8, during a prayer service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church Thursday night for the victims of shootings at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site in

Chad Harris presses against a pew as he prays during a prayer vigil at Redemption Point Church for the victims of shootings at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site a few miles apart in Chattanooga, Tenn.  Doug 

 

Gunman attacks 2 military sites in Tennessee; 4 Marines and shooter are killed

Gunman attacks 2 military sites in Tennessee; 4 Marines and shooter are killed

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A gunman unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site a few miles apart in Chattanooga on Thursday, killing at least four Marines before he was shot to death by police, and sending service members scrambling for cover as bullets smashed through the windows.

Federal authorities said they were investigating the possibility it was an act of terrorism, but have no evidence yet that anyone but a lone gunman was involved. They also said there was no indication that the general public was in danger. The FBI has taken charge of the case.

Authorities identified the gunman as Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tennessee, though the spelling of his first name was in dispute, with federal officials and records giving at least four

http://bcove.me/rsrs5fzp  (Video)

Sheriff: Man went to Ariz. for 'sex acts' with horse.

 

PHOENIX — Undercover sheriff's deputies arrested a Pennsylvania man Friday night on suspicion he traveled to Arizona to have sex with a horse.
Michael Crawford, 68, landed in Phoenix believing he would meet with a horse owner he'd been corresponding with online, according to a statement released by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Crawford hoped the fictitious owner would allow Crawford to engage in "perverted" sex acts with an animal, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said at a press conference Sunday.
Crawford posted an ad on a popular website soliciting a willing horse owner, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Rollicking night of damaging storms from W. Minn. to Twin Cities

Rollicking night of damaging storms from W. Minn. to Twin Cities:

 There were unconfirmed tornadoes in western and central Minnesota, much sogginess in the metro and significant damage in the Brainerd lakes area.

 

Sunrise Monday brought a better view of the damage from the previous night’s stormy weather that stretched from western Minnesota, through the Brainerd area and into the Twin Cities.

Trees were down and thousands of people were without electricity in the Brainerd lakes area, and a barn was destroyed about 6 miles southwest of Staples, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Thunderstorms brought down power lines in several parts of Todd County, the weather service added.

The Gull Lake Dam and Recreation Site near Brainerd was evacuated of campers, and ordered closed immediately and indefinitely, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Hundreds of trees are down” in and around the campground, the corps said in a statement. Campers are being ordered out so crews can begin tree removal. The camp’s boat ramp is also closed, the corps added.

There also were reports of damage at Brainerd International Raceway, in particular a section of metal grandstand.

In the Twin Cities area, Lakeville was among locations reporting house fires due to lightning strikes, one of those a duplex on 170th Street.

Baltimore Mayor Attacked: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Doused With Liquid At Community Event

Brad Ryder
July 12th, 2015 1:54pm EDT

The mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is well after coming under attack at a community event over the weekend. The suspect in the water-throwing assault is in custody.
As Mayor Blake greeted locals at the Mondawmin Festival on Saturday morning, a woman charged the city leader and doused her on the head and face with a large cup of liquid.
Aides of the Baltimore mayor rushed to her side and helped dry her off with towels. Meanwhile, Rawlings-Blake's security detail subdued a woman suspected of throwing the liquid, presumably water, on the mayor.
Baltimore police took the woman into custody and booked her with second-degree assault for dousing the Baltimore City mayor with water. Sources identified the arrested woman as 37-year-old Lacheisa Pailin-Sheffer. Reporters interviewed the Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake shortly after the water attack.

"I didn't know what it was that she threw at me. I hope it was water. It was more shocking than anything else."

Howard Libit, the mayor's spokesperson, elaborated on the incident.

"Fortunately, the mayor is fine. She went on and had a great time at the festival." Libit said the Baltimore mayor remains focused on the business at hand of representing the people.
"She enjoys opportunities like this to engage with the people of Baltimore. This was an odd, random incident. Things like this happen."

The Baltimore City event attended by the mayor is a daylong celebration for residents that offer community outreach and gestures of solidarity. Not-for-profit organizations and city agencies were on-hand to help those in need.

The festival comes on the heels of the Baltimore riots. The spring unrest was a response to the alleged police brutality and death of Freddie Gray. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake came under fire for the city's role in addressing the violence and looting.
New Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby was hailed a local hero when she pursued indictments of six police officers in Gray's death. They now await trial. Recently, Commissioner Anthony Batts was fired days ago over rising violent crime in the city.
Despite the dangers imposed on the mayor of Baltimore, as with any public official, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake realizes the mission for the greater good often outweighs personal safety. It's a tradeoff, but one in which the mayor took on with grace. Thankfully, she is safe from the weekend water attack.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell Loses Appeal On Corruption Conviction









Yesterday, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell lost his appeal of his conviction last year on corruption charges:
A three-judge federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously affirmed the public corruption convictions against former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, thoroughly rejecting each argument from the onetime Republican rising star and declaring that it had “no cause to undo what has been done.”
The 89-page opinion from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit brings to a close an important chapter in the story that emerged more than two years ago when The Washington Post first reported on the governor’s strange relationship with a Richmond businessman. It also means that the first Virginia governor to be convicted of a crime will probably have to go to prison in the coming months.

First Milwaukee cop killed on duty was buried 131 years ago — but where?








The Milwaukee Police Department hopes to respectfully mark the final resting spot of Frank Piszczek, the first officer here known to have died in the line of duty.
There's just one problem: The policeman's grave from 1884 is lost.
Piszczek lies in peace, if anonymously, at Holy Trinity Cemetery on the city's south side. That much we know from news accounts of his murder at the hand of a suspect he was trying to arrest.
"Every lead was a dead end," said the police department's media producer, Jon Riemann, who is coordinating the effort to find Piszczek. "We all know it's a relatively small area that's the original section of that cemetery. So, we all know it's there somewhere, but we just can't pinpoint where."
Records of 19th-century burials at the cemetery have been lost, supposedly in a fire many years ago, said Wayne Haase, the superintendent at Holy Trinity and also nearby St. Adalbert and Mt. Olivet Catholic cemeteries. He went through every dusty burial book he could find but did not locate the exact grave spot.
That means perhaps hundreds of other graves in that old section, blocks one through four along S. 13th St., also are not listed in any surviving cemetery records. Many of the grave markers are so weathered or damaged as to be unreadable.
Riemann walked the rows along with police department spokesman Lt. Mark Stanmeyer, but they could not spot the officer's grave. I also searched. There are graves from the 1870s and 1880s, but I did not find Piszczek's name carved in stone. A more exhaustive search is needed.
Piszczek was just 33 with eight years on the force when he died on June 22, 1884. Early on the previous day, the officer — or roundsman, as the job was termed back then — was questioning a Chicago man "on suspicion of being a crook" near the Union Depot at what is now the area of 2nd and Seeboth streets, the Milwaukee Daily Journal reported.
Piszczek arrested the man and began walking him toward the police station at 1st and Florida streets. The suspect broke free and fired two shots from a revolver at Piszczek, hitting him in the abdomen. The officer fired back, but the man got away. Police had a possible identification for the man, but despite a massive manhunt and a $500 reward offered by Wisconsin's governor, he was never brought to justice for the murder.

 Retired sheriff's book details Posse Comitatus ousting.

On May 29, 1984, Portage County Sheriff Dan Hintz locked his pistol in his car and walked into a compound of a right-wing extremist group called the Posse Comitatus.
He had arranged a meeting with Posse leaders, including Don Minniecheske, the military leader of the group. Hintz's goal was to convince those leaders to remove a cluster of mobile homes they had congregated on a rural parcel of land near Tigerton. The Posse, with its racist, anti-Semitic, anti-tax and anti-government ethos, had been a thorn in the side of elected and law enforcement officials for years, and state and local officials were planning to use zoning violations to break up the camp.

But the pressure rose nearly to the breaking point when Minniecheske reached behind his back, pulled out a .45 caliber pistol and slammed it down on a coffee table.
"He said that we would wade knee-deep in blood if we attempted to remove them," Hintz, now 69 and living in Dunedin, Fla., said in a phone interview. Barbara Wickstrom, the wife of another Posse leader, James Wickstrom, who at the time was jailed in Milwaukee County, intervened and calmed the situation down.


http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/local/2015/07/12/dan-hintz-posse-comitatus/30009027/