Underground Stories 06-19-14

Apartment complex says U.S. flag a 'threat to Muslim community'

An apartment complex in Webster, Texas, has reportedly told a man that an American flag flying from his balcony presents a “threat to the Muslim community" and needs to be taken down. But, Houston's KHOU reported Wednesday, Duy Tran is not giving up without a fight and intends to continue displaying the flag.
"It means a lot to me," he told the Texas television station.
According to KHOU, Tran put the flag up when he moved in just a few days ago, but apartment managers told him he had to remove it. The reason they allegedly gave him left him baffled.
"What really stunned me is that she said it’s a threat towards the Muslim community,” Tran said. “I’m not a threat toward anybody."
Moreover, the complex did not explain how a U.S. flag on U.S. soil could be construed as a threat to Muslims. When confronted by KHOU, the apartment complex did not respond, instead handing the station a written statement and calling an officer to escort the news crew off the premises.
"While the Lodge on El Dorado admires our resident's patriotism, we must enforce our property rules and guidelines," the statement read. "Such guidelines maintain the aesthetics of our apartment community and provide for the safety of all residents. The apartment community already proudly displays our country's flag in a safe and appropriate manner at the entrances to our community."
"But," KHOU reported, "we saw other patriotic symbols hanging from other balconies in the complex, and Tran doesn't plan to budge."
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Utah county follows Cliven Bundy’s lead, refuses to recognize federal agencies

Utah’s residents have had a contentious history with the federal government when it comes to public lands. Now one county in the state has taken things a step further, passing a resolution refusing to recognize federal agents.
Carbon County, located on the eastern side of Utah and named for the coal deposits in the region, unanimously passed the resolution against federal agents on June 4. The county board of commissioners specially singled out officials from the Bureau of Land Management in its prohibition.

“Accordingly, the Board of Commissioners of Carbon County declares publicly in the interest of the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, that Carbon County does not recognize any attempt by a federal official to try to enforce state or local criminal or civil laws on any lands in Carbon County, including any BLM and Forest Service lands in Carbon County… including federal lands.”
“Any such attempted exercise of law enforcement powers by an official of a land management agency IS NOT RECOGNIZED by Carbon County,” the resolution stated (caps in original), “and shall be deemed AN IMMINENT THREAT TO THE HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE CITIZENS OF CARBON COUNTY.”
The resolution also demanded that any federal agent intending to take a law enforcement action “shall first declare his presence and intended action to the Sheriff of Carbon County.”
The resolution is the second repudiation of federal authority in Utah since Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy (known as the “last rancher in Clark County, Nevada”) took a stand in a recent showdown against the BLM over his refusal since 1993 to pay fees to the federal government for the right to raise cattle on land his family has ranched since the 1870s. In May, residents of the town of Blanding were joined by Bundy supporters as they rode ATVs on BLM land that has been closed to motorized vehicles since 2007.
“People are hugely frustrated,” San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams said to the Deseret News of the ATV ride. “People are ready to draw a line in the sand, they’re ready to push back.”
Although some in Utah see the board of commissioners’ move as not the most logical one (“Carbon County now joins LaVerkin in the tinfoil hat world. LaVerkin, you might recall, once passed a resolution banning the U.N. from the southern Utah city,” Paul Rolly wrote in a Salt Lake Tribune op-ed), Utah’s frustrations with the federal government aren’t limited to Blanding and Carbon County.
On Wednesday, state lawmakers vented their frustrations about grazing cutbacks and renegade federal law enforcement agents during a committee meeting with top BLM and Forest Service Officials, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“We as a state are heavily dependent on what you do in managing these lands. … It is very, very important we have a working relationship,” said Rep. Mike Noel, the chairman of the House’s Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee, according to the Tribune.
Noel represents seven rural counties, and said his constituents “have a very, very difficult time understanding some of the decisions that come down.”

Obama says he doesn't need Congressional permission to use military in Iraq

On Wednesday, Barack Obama met with leaders of the House and Senate to brief them on the situation in Iraq. He also informed them he does not believe he needs their permission to use the military in Iraq, if that's what he decides to do, Roll Call reported.
We had a good discussion,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the meeting. “The president basically just briefed us on the situation in Iraq and indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for the steps that he might take and indicated he would keep us posted.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed that Obama has all the authority he needs to take whatever unilateral action he desires.
“All of the authorities are there," she said "That doesn’t mean I want all of them to be used, especially boots on the ground.”
“But I definitely think the president has all of the authority he needs by dint of legislation that was passed in 2001 and 2003,” she added, apparently referring to the authorizations to use military force passed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and the 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq.
"Neither of those authorizations have expired," Roll Call said, even though the official White House position is that the Iraq authorization should be repealed.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called it a “a good meeting,” telling reporters that "everybody seemed satisfied."
Related: Obama to Congress: I don't need new permission on Iraq

Louie Gohmert says al Qaeda has camps with drug cartels in Mexico

 A Texas congressman stressing border security told an interviewer that a terrorist group is set up south of the Rio Grande.

Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said on C-SPAN’s "Washington Journal" April 17, 2013: "We know al Qaeda has camps over with the drug cartels on the other side of the Mexican border. We know that people are now being trained to come in and act like Hispanic when they’re radical Islamists. We know these things are happening and... it’s just insane not to protect ourselves."

We wondered about al Qaeda having camps with the Mexican drug cartels.

Gohmert's basis
To our inquiry, Gohmert spokeswoman Kimberly Willingham noted a 2006 interim report and November 2012 follow-up report, "A Line in the Sand: Countering Crime, Violence and Terror at the Southwest Border," prepared by the Republican staff of a subcommittee to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee that was chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
Both reports say terrorists can cross the U.S.-Mexico border, though neither mentions al Qaeda camps in Mexico.
More recently, McCaul suggested that a foiled assassination plot involving an Iranian American resident of Round Rock, north of Austin, suggests a growing link between Mideast terrorist groups and organized crime in Mexico. Manssor Arbabsiar pleaded guilty in October 2012 to participating in a scheme to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States after attempting to hire a hit man Arbabsiar believed to be a member of the Zetas Mexican drug cartel; the assassin was actually a paid Drug Enforcement Administration informant.

Libya slams Obama for violating its sovereignty during terrorist arrest

While President Barack Obama and his administration celebrated the capture of one of the Muslim terrorists responsible for the Benghazi terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission and its staff, The Libyan government on Wednesday described the arrest of terrorist group Ansar al Sharia's Ahmed Abu Khatallah as an international violation of Libya's sovereignty. The Libyan leaders are also demanding that President Obama returns the suspected terrorist.
The Libyan government condemned the United States even though Khatallah is suspected of masterminding the deadly raid in Benghazi that killed four Americans including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.
Even more surprising is Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani demanding that Ahmed Abu Khatallah be given back to the Libyan government in order to face Libyan justice.
Al-Marghani remarks came on Wednesday in response to President Obama boasting about the capture of Khatallah in what he claiimed was a covert operation pulled off by military special forces and the FBI over the weekend, according to an Examiner report.

Reports: U.S. trained ISIS fighters in Jordan

Citing what it called "informed Jordanian officials," WND reported Tuesday that members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, were trained by U.S. instructors at a secret base in Jordan. According to the report, the training was conducted in 2012 and was intended to help ISIS fight the Assad regime.
The officials said those receiving training were vetted for links to extremist groups like al-Qaeda.
WND first reported the training in February 2012. Since then, other media outlets have corroborated those reports. In March 2013, Reuters, citing Der Spiegel, said that some 200 men had received training. The goal was to train about 1,200 fighters of the "Free Syrian Army."
Those reports did not specify if the instructors were military or civilian, but some reportedly wore uniforms. The training, Reuters added, focused on the use of anti-tank weaponry. It is also unclear how many of those trained are now fighting in Iraq.
According to Reuters, the UK Guardian also reported the training, adding that British and French instructors participated in the U.S.-led effort. The Guardian, Reuters said, cited unnamed Jordanian security sources, who were also reportedly involved in the program, hoping to "prevent Salafists (radical Islamists) crossing from their own country into Syria and then returning later to stir up trouble in Jordan itself."
A Defense Department spokesman declined to comment on Der Spiegel's report, Reuters added. France and Britain have also refused to comment on the report.

BREAKING: Texas Launches Emergency Plan to Shut Down the Border on Their Own

Illegal immigration is a huge problem in the United States, and the federal government has dragged its feet on providing a real solution to end it.
The number of illegal aliens that make their way into the country on a daily basis is astounding, however the real baffling part of the issue is not only the lack of border security, but the fact that many who are here illegally receive welfare benefits without contributing any tax dollars back into the system.
The White House has made it clear they don’t plan on fixing the border, but are advocating amnesty instead. The Obama administration recently requested $1.9 billion in welfare benefits for illegals living in the country.


It doesn’t take a genius to clearly see the political maneuvering here. Load up illegals with free goodies and you get lifetime voters. Never mind the fact we have veterans who’ve laid their life on the line for freedom, yet can’t get access to basic health care.
Texas it seems has had enough of the lack of action taken by the federal government to secure the border and reduce the number of illegals making their way into America. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is putting a plan in motion to seal the border through law enforcement surge operations, opting to take matters into their own hands instead of waiting for Obama to do anything.

Sunni Extremists in Iraq Occupy Hussein's Chemical Weapons Facility

Washington—Sunni extremists in Iraq have occupied what was once Saddam Hussein's premier chemical-weapons production facility, a complex that still contains a stockpile of old weapons, State Department and other U.S. government officials said.

U.S. officials don't believe the Sunni militants will be able to create a functional chemical weapon from the material. The weapons stockpiled at the Al Muthanna complex are old, contaminated and hard to move, officials said.

Nonetheless, the capture of the chemical-weapon stockpile by the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS or ISIL, the militant group that is seizing territory in the country, has grabbed the attention of the U.S.

"We remain concerned about the seizure of any military site by the ISIL," Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a written statement. "We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move the materials."

The takeover underscores the chaos gripping Iraq and the possibility that the growing Sunni rebellion could further destabilize the Middle East. Not lost on U.S. government and military officials is the irony that the latest chapter in a war designed to strip Iraq of chemical weapons could see radical Sunni extremists take control of that same stockpile.

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