U.S. Alliance with FSA and ISIL in Six Photographs

U.S. Alliance with FSA and ISIL in Six Photographs

By funding “moderate rebels," the US is in effective alliance with ISIL

by Rick Sterling | Washington’s Blog | October 3, 2014The following six photographs confirm that a favorite “moderate rebel” leader, Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, is allied with ISIL.

The first photograph is from Spring 2013 and shows Okaidi with the American who has been the principal coordinator of US policy on Syria. The last two photographs are from a meeting days ago when Congressmen Adam Kinzinger (Rep Illinois) and George Holding (Rep. North Carolina) met with Okaidi and other “moderate rebels” in Turkey.

Other photos show Okaidi with ISIL fighters and being interviewed about his relationship with ISIL. The photographs are from videos identified at bottom.

Photo 1 / May 2013/ Okaidi with Robert S. Ford, US Ambassador and Coordinator of the “Friends of Syria”

Photo 2 / August 2013 / Okaidi with ISIL fighters at Menagh Air Base, Syria.  ISIL leader is Abu Jandal to Okaidi’s left.

Photo 3. / August 2013 / ISIL Leader Abu Jandal at Menagh Air Base, Syria.

Photo 4 / November 2013 / Interview with Okaidi “My relationship with the brothers of ISIL is good.”

Photo 5 / Sept 24, 2014/ Okaidi at meeting with US Congress members

Photo 6 / Sept 24 2014 / Congressman Kinzinger after meeting Okaidi and other “moderate rebels” who the US is arming, supplying and paying salaries.

By funding “moderate rebels” like FSA Colonel Okaidi, the US is in effective alliance with ISIL.

Under international law it is illegal to encourage, support and aid military and paramilitary activities against another State.

See the full videos here:

1) FSA leader Okaidi with US Ambassador Ford and ISIL leader plus interview with Okaidi:

2) Okaidi and Representative Kinzinger in Turkey:

Scott Bronstein and Drew Griffin, CNN, “Syrian Rebel Groups Unite to Fight ISIS“, September 29, 2014

Rick Sterling is active with the Syria Solidarity Movement and Mt Diablo Peace and Justice Center. He can be emailed at: rsterling1@gmail.com.

Syrian rebel groups unite to fight ISIS

By Scott Bronstein and Drew Griffin, CNN

September 26, 2014 — Updated 0955 GMT (1755 HKT)

Source: CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/09/26/pkg-griffin-syrian-rebels-unite-against-isis.cnn.html

• Two U.S. congressmen met with members of Syria’s rebel groups
• The groups agreed to unite in their fight against ISIS and President Bashar al-Assad
• CNN was the only news agency present at the meeting
• It’s unclear when the rebels might receive arms and training

Antakya, Turkey (CNN) — More than 20 Syrian rebel commanders, including members of Christian opposition groups, have signed off on what they called a historic agreement to unite in the fight against ISIS and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The deal came out of a meeting Thursday in Turkey facilitated by staff from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force. Two U.S. congressmen sat in on the final negotiations between the groups, just days after Congress signed off on President Barack Obama’s call to arm and train moderate rebels to fight ISIS.

Under the agreement, moderate Muslim rebel groups fighting under the Supreme Military Council of Syria agreed to form an alliance with the predominantly Christian Syriac Military Council. It marks the first meeting between Syrian rebels and members of Congress since Obama announced the new policy.

Can moderate Syrian rebels be trusted?

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W.H. defends plan to arm Syrian rebels

Envisioning a free Syria

The agreement calls for the groups to work together to assure any free Syria will be inclusive of all ethnic, religious and political parties. While the group called it historic, it may at this stage be only a symbolic gesture given that these groups are already fighting alongside each other against al-Assad’s forces and ISIS.

Among the groups that met with Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Rep. George Holding, R-North Carolina, was the Supreme Military Council of Syria and the Syriac Military Council, made up of Christians. CNN was the only news agency present at the meeting.

It is unclear when the groups might receive the arms and training they’ve been promised. It’s also unclear if all of the groups present will benefit.

This is not the first time that groups opposed to ISIS have agreed to fight together. Previous efforts faltered, sometimes over ethnic and religious divides.

U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIS in Syria: Who’s in, who’s not

While the Supreme Military Council of Syria includes the Free Syrian Army, which is considered one of the leading moderate forces, there are questions about other members of the alliance.

The Syrian Revolutionary Front reportedly signed a deal with ISIS in one suburb in Damascus, and another — the Hazzam group — put out a statement this week condemning U.S. airstrikes.

"Well, I think the question has been answered," said Khalid Saleh, the spokesman for the National Coalition for Syria.

How Obama came to launch strikes in Syria

He said the Free Syrian Army brigades, which have been receiving aid for months, have been vetted, and he called for an increase in the flow of aid and support to them.

Airstrikes are not enough

The rebel groups told CNN that coalition airstrikes against ISIS targets were not enough. The strikes must also hit al-Assad’s forces, they said.

"This is a partial strategy. It’s a containment policy that did not work and will not work," Saleh said.

"We need to deal with this problem at its root cause: Assad, the gangs that support him and ISIS. Those are the three problems every Syrian deals with."

The groups were also critical of the way the strikes were being carried out.

"We also delivered a message how Syrians are upset about the killing of civilians from these strikes," said Abdul al-Bashir, head of the Supreme Military Council.

How far does ISIS’ global reach extend?

Notably absent at the meetings, but very present on the Syrian battlefield, were jihadist groups who have also been fighting ISIS and al-Assad’s government, including the Islamic Front and the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.

The groups have been blacklisted and sidelined by the United States, but critics have said cutting them out will weaken the effectiveness of the coalition on the ground.

"We do want to make sure that we don’t put weapons in the hands of the wrong people," Kinzinger told CNN.

Pentagon spokesman on fighting ISIS: ‘I think we are in this for a matter of years’

Ebola Friday October the 3rd 2014.

The Pandemic’s First Casualty — The Truth

Truth succumbed to Continuity of Government, Continuity of Career

by Infowars.com | October 3, 2014The government lies about risks, about border control and immigration, about preparedness and even about how Ebola is transmitted.

 

PRESIDENT EBOLA: In 2010 Obama Administration Scrapped CDC Quarantine Regulations Aimed At Ebola

12:11 AM 10/03/2014

In October 2014, the first patient on American soil infected with the Ebola virus sits in isolation in a Texas hospital, prompting calls for travel restrictions between the United States and Ebola-stricken countries.

Meanwhile, four years ago, the administration of President Barack Obama moved with virtually no fanfare to abandon a comprehensive set of regulations which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had called essential to preventing international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the United States.

The CDC had proposed the regulations in 2005 under the administration of George W. Bush, reported USA Today in 2010. The original impetus for the regulations was fear that avian flu would spread unchecked.

The regulations proposed under the Bush administration would have granted the federal government a power of “provisional quarantine” to confine airline passengers involuntarily for up to three days if they exhibit symptoms of certain infectious diseases. Federal officials would also have been able to quarantine passengers exposed to people with those symptoms.

There was a fairly long list of diseases. It included smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria, pandemic flu, infectious tuberculosis, cholera — and viral fevers such as Ebola.

Before the Obama administration withdrew the proposed new rules, CDC officials had emphasized that they would only invoke the involuntary “provisional quarantine” when someone exhibiting a set of symptoms refused to work with federal officials voluntarily.

The proposed rules also would have compelled airlines to inform the CDC about sick passengers and to maintain contact information about all fliers in case the CDC and other federal agencies need to investigate a serious disease outbreak.

Airline lobbyists vehemently opposed the regulations. It would be too expensive, they said.

“We think that the CDC was right to withdraw the proposed rule,” Air Transport Association spokeswoman Elizabeth Merida told USA Today in March 2010. Merida also called the regulations “unprecedented” in terms of cost and red tape.

Civil liberties advocates also strongly opposed the CDC regulations.

“The fact that they’re backing away from this very coercive style of quarantine is good news,” ACLU legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese said in 2010, according to USA Today.

Other critics suggested that air travel regulations make no difference concerning disease outbreaks.

“They probably learned during H1N1 that this hope of preventing diseases from entering the country by stationing people at airports is unrealistic,” Jennifer Nuzzo of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center told the newspaper.

The H1N1 flu virus caused a worldwide pandemic in 2009.

The first man in the United States to be diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus is Thomas Eric Duncan. He picked up the virus after traveling to Liberia in September.

The State Department has dismissed calls for restricting travel from West Africa.

“I don’t believe that’s something we’re considering,” a Foggy Bottom spokeswoman said this week, according to The Washington Times.

Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, among others, has a called for such restrictions. Grayson, one of the earliest proponents for federal action on Ebola, wants a 90-day ban on travel from countries where the virus has broken out.

Other critics of the tepid Obama administration response have warned of “Ebola tourism.” The concern, as the Times explains, is that people will become infected with Ebola and come to the United States seeking its exceptional level of medical care.

http://launch.newsinc.com/?type=VideoPlayer/Single&widgetId=1&trackingGroup=69016&siteSection=dailycaller_nws_us_sty_vmpp&videoId=27443530

Report: Liberians Flood Airport Attempting to Flee Ebola-Struck Country

Africans infected with Ebola may be trying to seek treatment in U.S., other countries

by Kit Daniels | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014

Liberians are apparently flooding Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Liberia, in an attempt to flee the Ebola-struck country, raising fears that more people infected with Ebola will fly into America.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the 40-year-old Liberian national who was diagnosed with Ebola a few days after arriving in Dallas, Texas, may have started a trend of “Ebola tourism” in which Liberians leave their country to seek better treatment for the disease.

“That’s not something we should be encouraging or allowing,” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Times.

Overall, around 200,000 people from the West African countries hit hardest by Ebola hold temporary visas to the U.S., but the Obama administration has rejected calls to enact a visa ban.

“Based on State Department nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people in Guinea, 5,000 people in Sierra Leone, and 3,500 people in Liberia who possess visas to come to the United States today,” Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Examiner.

Temporary visas given to Nigerians have recently skyrocketed, with nearly 195,000 Nigerians currently holding visas, she added.

The Obama administration has similarly refused to impose a ban on travel from the Ebola hot zone into the U.S., despite pressure from a Florida Democrat and the fact that other countries have enacted similar bans.

Back in July, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) suggested the State Dept. ban citizens from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone from entering the U.S. and foreign travelers who have visited those countries in the previous 90 days.

Grayson grew concerned after an American who contracted Ebola in Liberia died in Nigeria after flying into the country through an international airport.

“This latest case is particularly troubling because Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, is the third busiest airport in Africa, and it offers direct flights to the United States,” Grayson wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry. “I urge you to consider the enhanced danger Ebola now presents to the American public, and therefore request that appropriate travel restrictions be implemented immediately.”

The administration ignored Grayson’s plea but, in contrast, British Airways, Air France, Korean Air and Kenya Airways decided to suspend flights to the Ebola hot zone in August.

“If [the Obama administration] instituted the travel ban when Alan Grayson, of all people, demanded it, [Duncan] wouldn’t be here,” Krikorian added.

 

Ebola Patient’s Family Under Armed Quarantine

Disobeyed request from authorities not to leave home

Image Credits: Facebook

by Steve Watson | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014The family of Thomas Duncan, the Dallas man diagnosed with Ebola, are now under armed guard, quarantined in their home, following an attempt to breach the restrictions and leave the apartment building, reports the AP.

“We didn’t have the confidence we would have been able to monitor them the way that we needed to,” Texas State Health Commissioner David Lakey said when asked about the controversial control order.

Those under armed guard include a woman identified as Louise Troh, thought to be in a relationship with Duncan, a 13-year-old boy, said to be the woman’s son, and two nephews in their 20s.

The family were ordered by state health officials Wednesday to stay in their apartment for 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola. However, it seems that the family are not keen to comply.

“Who wants to be locked up?” miss Troh, told the AP.

“I’m not sick with Ebola,” she informed CNN in an interview, adding that she wanted “for [health officials] to leave me alone, leave my kids alone.”

The AP also reports that the family are due to be moved from the apartment so it can be decontaminated, a process that has still not been carried out, days after the diagnosis was made.

Troh told the AP that there are still towels and sheets in the apartment that were used by Duncan while he was there.

Officials have not made it clear where the family is to be moved to. An attempt to clean the apartment was thought to have been made Thursday night, but did not occur as proper permits had not been obtained.

On Thursday, it also emerged that five members of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department who were briefly inside the apartment have been temporarily put on leave.

According to reports, the officers were forced to enter the apartment on the orders of Sheriff Lupe Valdez in an effort to get the family to sign a court order forbidding them from leaving the building.

Patient Being Evaluated for Possible Ebola at D.C.’s Howard University Hospital

Patient had traveled to Nigeria recently; is being isolated

Howard University Hospital is evaluating a patient for Ebola. Meanwhile, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, a patient is in isolation with "flu-like symptoms and a travel history that matches criteria for possible Ebola." News4’s Derrick Ward reports.

Friday, Oct 3, 2014 • Updated at 5:43 PM EDT

A patient is being evaluated for Ebola at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., a hospital spokesperson confirmed Friday.

That person has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition and is isolated. The medical team is working with the CDC and other authorities to monitor the patient’s condition.

• What You Need to Know: How the Ebola Virus Is Spread

"In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient," said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. "Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health."

Hamilton did not share further details about the patient, citing privacy reasons, but said the hospital will provide updates as warranted.

In a White House briefing Friday, Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said of the Howard case,  "What you see are people taking precautions."

The D.C. Department of Health released a statement shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, saying that the department has been working with the CDC and Howard University Hospital to monitor "any patients displaying symptoms associated with the Ebola virus."

There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in D.C., said the statement.

• Ebola in Dallas: What We Know About the 1st U.S. Case

Meanwhile, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, a patient is in isolation with "flu-like symptoms and a travel history that matches criteria for possible Ebola," according to a statement from the hospital. Lab results indicate the patient has another illness, though the patient’s Ebola status is not known.

"We are working closely with the Montgomery County Health Department and State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) as well as the CDC to manage this case and to ensure we continue to be prepared to care for patients with Ebola symptoms," the statement said.

“We will only be making an announcement if and when there is a laboratory confirmed case, and that announcement would be made in conjunction with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the CDC,” Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Mary Anderson said.

U.S. officials said at the White House briefing Friday that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was not just an international health crisis but a national security priority.

The health systems of some West African countries are "inadequate" and not capable of stemming the outbreak that they face, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, who runs the infectious disease division of the National Institutes of Health. But, he said, the U.S. system is able to handle any cases of Ebola that emerge safely.

Between July 27 and Oct. 1, there have been 100 consultations between the CDC, state and local health departments, and healthcare providers regarding persons suspected of Ebola, according to a CDC spokesperson. Only 15 warranted testing by CDC or one of the labs certified to do Ebola testing because they met the profile and symptoms were consistent.

Fourteen labs in the U.S. can test for Ebola, and most will still send a sample to the CDC for confirmation.

So far, only one of those 15 cases tested by the CDC has tested positive for Ebola.

• Dallas Ambulance Crew Who Brought Ebola Patient to Hospital Is Quarantined

Ebola is contagious only when infected people are showing symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who have been exposed to Ebola will show signs of it within 21 days of exposure, the CDC said.

"There is no risk to people who have been in contact with those who have been sick with Ebola and recovered, or people who have been exposed and have not yet shown symptoms," said Dr. Thomas Frieden of the CDC.

On Tuesday, the CDC confirmed the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the United States. The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, flew from his hometown of Monrovia, Liberia, and through Brussels, Belgium on Sept. 20 before entering the United States via Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He then traveled on to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Duncan, a Liberian man with family in the United States, first went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Sept. 25 but was sent home. He returned to the hospital via ambulance Sunday.

On Friday, he was listed in serious but stable condition.

Thursday, news broke that a freelance NBC cameraman covering the outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia had tested positive for Ebola after experiencing symptoms of the disease.

The cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, had been working with chief medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman. NBC News is flying Mukpo and the entire team back to the U.S. so Mukpo can be treated and the team can be quarantined for 21 days.

Snyderman told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that she and the rest of her crew have shown no signs of the disease and have taken precautions while covering the outbreak, including washing their hands with bleach.

The crew are quarantining themselves as a precautions

Dallas Schools to Install Remote Temperature Monitors to Detect Ebola

Five schools to be monitored until further notice

by Mikael Thalen | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014

Five schools in Dallas are set to install remote temperature monitors in order to detect fevers among students as the fear of an Ebola outbreak spreads among residents.

Produced by Wello Inc., the “WelloStation” devices will provide “fever surveillance” detection in order to alert school faculty to possible fluctuations in body temperatures according to the company’s website.

“The WelloStation measures your body’s core temperature using a patented, non-contact and non-invasive process,” the product description reads. “An elevated body temperature is the number one indicator of infection. WelloStation quickly screens for fevered individuals so you can either prevent them from entering or perform additional medical checks.”

The announcement follows more than a week of countless fumbles by local and federal authorities as suspected Ebola cases begin popping up across the country.

Law enforcement officers were outraged Thursday after finding out that five unprotected employees with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department were ordered to enter the apartment of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan to present his quarantined family with a court order barring them from leaving their home.

Later that day, Americans were shocked to find an unprotected cleaning crew using pressure washers to blast potentially tainted vomit off the sidewalk outside of the Ebola patient’s home.

Texas health officials also admitted Thursday that the apartment had not yet been cleaned despite protocol. A Hazmat crew finally called out to the scene more than three days after the initial prognosis was delayed further after being ordered to obtain a permit in order to clean the apartment.

A growing number of experts including the United Nations’ Ebola response chief and professors at the University of Illinois are warning that the current situation could spiral out of control if federal authorities do not begin taking more drastic measures.

 

Missouri Doctor: ‘It’s Just A Matter Of Time Before [Ebola] Is Carried To Every Corner Of The World’

October 3, 2014 12:26 PM

In this handout from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a Ebola virus virion is seen. (Photo by Center for Disease Control (CDC) via Getty Images)

Dom Giordano

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Dom Giordano talked with Dr. Gil Mobley, who believes the CDC is lying about the threat posed by Ebola and staged a protest at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to expose it.

Mobley, a doctor in Missouri, is convinced that Ebola will soon be infecting people all over the globe.

“For months, doctors in my community — since we had a meeting six weeks ago — have been convinced that the United States will be importing clusters regularly. Right now, on the continent of West Africa, there are a million people in isolation, in quarantine, because of Ebola, and ten thousand passengers leave West Africa every single day. It’s just a matter of time before this disease is carried to every corner of the world.”

READ: University Of Pennsylvania Alum Dr. Nancy Snyderman Quarantined Over Ebola

He insists the CDC is underplaying the threat posed by the disease and is intentionally misleading the public.

“They said the chance of importing a cluster — just two weeks ago — was extremely small, yet we knew that it was a sure thing. And the very same day that the President echoed [Director Tom] Frieden’s sentiment at the CDC that it’s very small, that very same day, they made the misdiagnoses in Dallas and sent this infectious guy home to infect these other people.”

READ: NJ Man Accused Of Shooting Down Neighbor’s Remote Control Drone

Mobley said it is inevitable that an Ebola crisis will break out in the United States.

“That disease is going to consume every third world country on the planet, and then we will be importing these clusters on a regular basis. I have no question that we will be able to stomp out this cluster in Dallas, but what happens when it happens on a weekly basis? Already the Dallas Health Department is overwhelmed; they’re flying people to Atlanta. I don’t care how advanced any industrialized nation is, there is a threshold where we will outstretch the resources and it becomes uncontrolled.”

Doctor Dons Ebola Protection Suit to Protest CDC

Microbiologist calls out CDC lies

by Infowars.com | October 3, 2014Two days after a man in Texas was diagnosed with Ebola, a Missouri doctor Thursday morning showed up at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport dressed in protective gear to protest what he called mismanagement of the crisis by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

‘I’m Going to Shoot Him in the Penis,’ Says Cop Before Executing Camper

‘I’m Going to Shoot Him in the Penis,’ Says Cop Before Executing Camper

Dash cam captures officer’s intentions before fateful shooting

by Mikael Thalen | Infowars.com | September 30, 2014

An Albuquerque police officer who killed a mentally ill homeless man last March expressed his desire to shoot him in the penis, new dash cam footage reveals.

The video, obtained by KOB4 News, details a conversation between APD Officer Keith Sandy and another officer shortly before the fateful shooting of James Boyd.

During the conversation, Sandy can be heard discussing his desire to shoot Boyd, who he refers to as a “f*cking lunatic,” in the penis with a shot gun.

“For this f***ing lunatic?  I’m going to shoot him in the penis with a shotgun here in a second,” Sandy said.

Only two hours later, Sandy would do just that, taking Boyd’s life in the process.

According to civil rights attorney Shannon Kennedy, Sandy’s statement reveals a premeditated decision to violently engage Boyd.

“Two hours later he’s escalating the situation so he can do just that,” Kennedy told KOB4.  “It’s chilling evidence and stunning that he has not been criminally indicted…  It’s crystal clear and he says it with contempt in his voice.’”

According to KOB4, internal investigators asked Sandy about his comment only one month after the shooting.

Interestingly, Sandy claimed the comment was never made only moments after telling investigators that the statement was nothing more than “locker room banter.”

Sandy attempted to belittle the incident by arguing that officers regularly make crude and cruel jokes, so much that a group of officers had to create a safe word to signal when inappropriate jokes have gone too far.

“Of course it’s not a joke because he went forward and actually shot him,” Kennedy said. “Clearly he has complete disregard for people suffering from mental disabilities.”

“What is so mortifying about this shooting, and thank goodness we have a tape to show exactly what he did– which is instead of shooting him in the penis, he shoots him in the lower back.  So had James Boyd not turned around at that moment to set down his bags, he would have been shot in the penis.”

Although currently on administrative leave, Sandy continues to carry his gun and badge according to an APD spokeswoman.

Boyd’s death sparked international outrage earlier this year and has continued to fuel the debate over appropriate uses of force by law enforcement.