PrairiePundit

Jerusalem Post: ... The cost of acquiring more that 10,000 sophisticated missiles many of which are capable of reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as well as constructing hundreds of elaborate steel and cement lined tunnels and the recently revealed drones must be enormous. This raises the question as to how the funds, so generously donated by the EU and the USA for humanitarian purposes are supervised? If these funds had been used for creating businesses, building hospitals and improving infrastructure including sewage treatment and water and electricity supplies, Gaza would be a much happier place. ... This is a long piece that points out why the blockade was imposed and why it will remain as long as Hamas is in control of Gaza.

Matthew Continetti: Slandered, despised, insulted, degraded, Israel is nonetheless winning its war against Hamas. The number of rocket attacks launched by the terror group each day has been halved . The IDF is uprooting the underground tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle weapons, contraband, and terrorists in and out of the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday evening, Israel’s Channel Two newscast carried footage of Hamas terrorists surrendering to the IDF . The jihadists carried white flags. They stripped to their shorts, proving they were not wearing suicide belts. These are facts Hamas does not want you to know, images Hamas does not want you to see. And you probably won’t see them. Since the evening of July 17, when Israel launched its ground offensive, Western media has been filled with Hamas propaganda. In the United States, the debate over the conflict is invariably couched in terms favorable to Hamas: Are civilian casualties too high? Is it safe to fly into Ben-Gurion airport? Has the IDF tar...

NY Times: Taliban Making Military Gains in Afghanistan The insurgents’ increasing domination of key strategic areas has cast doubts on the government’s stability after the United States completes its withdrawal of combat troops. Obama lacks strategic patience and it is going to be costly for the Afghans who will again be under the domination of illiterate Islamic religious bigots who will impose harsh restraints on their freedom.

Con Coughlin: Hamas militants are attempting to negotiate a new arms deal with North Korea for missiles and communications equipment that will allow them to maintain their offensive against Israel, according to Western security sources. Security officials say the deal between Hamas and North Korea is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and is being handled by a Lebanese-based trading company with close ties to the militant Palestinian organisation based in east Beirut. Hamas officials are believed to have already made an initial cash down payment to secure the deal, and are now hoping that North Korea will soon begin shipping extra supplies of weapons to Gaza. “Hamas is looking for ways to replenish its stocks of missiles because of the large numbers it has fired at Israel in recent weeks,” explained a security official. “North Korea is an obvious place to seek supplies because Pyongyang already has close ties with a number of militant Islamist groups in the Middle East.” Using in...

Observer/Guardian: A pause in the bombing by Israeli forces – and the ruins of Gaza are laid bare  Repeated shelling has inflicted a terrible reality on Palestinians as they try to salvage something from shattered homes and lives It is a long story about some of the damage to buildings in a couple of Gaza neighborhoods, but what is missing is any meaningful discussion of the tunnels Hamas built that prompted the ground invasion.  Nothing.  They give the impression the Israelis just tore up houses for the heck of it.   Also absent is any discussion of the rockets fired from these neighborhoods at Israeli non combatants.  There is also little mention of Hamas's strategy of using the people as human shields which led to the destruction.  So a death cult made up of religious bigots launches rockets trying to hit Israeli non combatants and builds a network of tunnels for the purpose of terror attacks on Israeli non combatants and this reporter missed the st...

Sunday Telegraph: Vladimir Putin is facing a multi-million-pound legal action for his alleged role in the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. British lawyers are preparing a class action against the Russian president through the American courts. Senior Russian military commanders and politicians close to Mr Putin are also likely to become embroiled in the legal claim. The case would further damage relations between Mr Putin and the West, but politicians would be powerless to prevent it. Last week, lawyers from McCue & Partners, the London law firm, flew to Ukraine for discussions about how to bring the case and where it should be filed. Victims’ families will be invited to join the action. The case will inevitably highlight the role allegedly played by Russia in stoking conflict in eastern Ukraine. ... There is overwhelming, but largely circumstantial, evidence that Russian-backed rebels mistakenly b...

Fox News: CRISIS AT THE BORDER  Emanuel wants Chicago to take in 1,000 more children And I thought they were fleeing gang violence.

NY Times: Losing Support From Abroad, Netanyahu Finds It at Home Facing growing international outcry over the ground assault in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also hearing calls at home to finish the job he started. Hamas's genocidal ambitions are no secret.  They are right in their charter.  Their policy of using human shields is thinly disguised at best behind a propaganda machine that claims that its fighters are "civilians."   They make no secret of firing their missiles at Israeli non combatants.  So why is their an international outcry about how Israel is dealing with Hamas's attacks?  It makes no sense.  A "permanent" cease fire before Hamas's infrastructure of rockets and tunnels is destroyed would only mean a prelude to the next war.  I agree with those who say Israel should finish the job.

NY Times: Pentagon Plan Would Help Ukraine Target Rebel Missiles A proposal would let the U.S. give precise locations of surface-to-air missiles controlled by separatists so the Ukrainian government could target them. It could be of some help, but it is not clear that Ukraine has precision munitions for taking out the Russian weapons.  That would be a real problem if the separtist follow the Hamas model of placing weapons next to non combatants.

ABC News: US Military Dusts Off Decades-Old 'Readiness' Plans for Russia It demonstrates the administration's miscalculations about the threat posed by Russia to the US and its allies.

Globe and Mail: Russia has now amassed around 15,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Friday, offering a higher figure than one previously cited by the Pentagon. U.S. ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute offered the estimate during a security forum in Colorado, saying there were “now up again over about 15,000 Russian troops amassed along the border with Ukraine.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Friday that movement of Russian heavy-calibre artillery systems across the border into Ukraine is “imminent,” adding that Russia is escalating the military action there. A Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said the U.S. has seen the powerful rocket systems moving closer to the Ukraine border and they could be put into the hands of Russian-backed separatists as soon as Friday. U.S. officials warned this week that they had new evidence that Russia intended to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine...

Jerusalem Post: Operating behind enemy lines in Gaza during the conflict with Hamas, the elite Maglan unit has attacked dozens of terrorists cells that fired on the IDF, destroyed areas used to launch rockets at Israel, and killed and injured 40 terrorists in recent days. A senior source from the unit revealed that its members have targeted Hamas gunmen waiting in ambush for the IDF's Ground Forces, striking the threats right before Israeli forces pass by the ambushes. The Maglan unit has detected and destroyed forward Hamas posts and rocket launchers. It has detected a cross-border underground attack tunnel leading into Israel from Gaza, and found 20 bomb-laden, booby-trapped homes in Gaza. The unit also uncovered a very large quantity of weapons, and enemy intelligence files in raids. The source said the unit is operating in a heavily built up area, characterized by residential buildings, orchards surrounded by buildings, and tunnels. Hamas has planted its military assets deep ...

Breitbart: In an otherwise excellent article on the Hamas terror tunnel network in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post buries the lede. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier in the field told the Post that while Hamas fighters offered fierce resistance when the ground operation began, now Hamas operatives are fleeing, abandoning their positions, leaving behind weapons and other material that the IDF is using to expand its assault on the terror group. The source added that in recent days, a recognizable wave of demoralization has washed over Hamas's combat battalions. "They simply escape, leaving behind weapons and suicide bomb vests that were laid out for battle. This morning we stormed a position, and they just weren't there. I don't see a determined enemy. We have encountered stronger pockets of fighting in the past. But now, I would not give them a high grade for fighting spirit." Using further eyewitness reports, the article describes how Hamas has integrated the...

NY Times: National Guard in Texas Could Get Arrest Power By deploying Guard members himself rather than through Washington, Gov. Rick Perry has the power to order the troops to make arrests and apprehensions. Current plans call for the Guard to notify the Texas Department of Public Safety  if an arrest is deemed necessary.  Working closely with DPS should make for a smooth transition if he President orders troops to the border.

Fox News: Republican lawmakers are challenging the Obama administration over a newly announced plan to expand the use of U.S. military bases to house illegal immigrant children, warning that it will put a strain on troops and threaten military readiness. The Pentagon confirmed this week that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services to house an additional 5,000 minors at DOD facilities. The announcement has fueled concerns that what was initially described as a short-term measure is becoming an open-ended commitment. “It’s very evident that this is not a short-term solution,” Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told FoxNews.com. About 2,500 young border crossers currently are being housed in facilities at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and Naval Base Ventura County in California. Initially cast as a four-month mission, the timeline now has been extended through at least Jan...

Washington Times: Future U.S. Army soldiers sent into combat may have a brand new tool at their disposal: the pocket drone. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts is developing a “pocket-sized aerial surveillance device” for soldiers assigned to small units in dangerous environments. When the Army ’s efforts come to fruition, the Cargo Pocket Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance program will provide dismounted troops with real-time surveillance of threats in their environment. ... The drones are getting smaller and giving the troops a better opportunity for situational awareness.  I think they would be especially helpful for recon troops and special ops.

NY Times: Clashes Reach West Bank as 5 Protesters Die in ‘Day of Rage’ The Palestinians were killed on a “day of rage” over the war in Gaza, where more than 800 people are dead. Israel reportedly asked for changes to Secretary of State John Kerry’s truce plan. Protesting on behalf of a genocidal death cult suggest these people are letting their emotions over rule their common sense.  They are letting Hamas play on their emotions by using its human shield strategy.  They should be smarter than that. It also suggest that Israel probably can't trust them to make good decisions if they had their own state.

Jerusalem Post: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet has rejected proposals for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and is seeking changes to the plans, a government source said on Friday. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been pushing for a halt to 18 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Full details of the proposed truce have not been released, but the government official, who declined to be named, said Israel wanted modifications before agreeing to any end to hostilities. Hamas has yet to respond to the proposed ceasefire. Earlier Friday, Channel 10 cited sources in the diplomatic-security cabinet who said that Israel viewed Kerry's bridging proposals as "a Qatari proposal with ornaments." Qatar has been accused by Israel of providing financing and political support to Hamas. According to Channel 10, senior Israeli ministers have ruled as "out of the question" a cease-fire in which the IDF would be prevented...

Veronique de Rugy: Obamacare’s Architect Agreed That Only State Exchanges Could Offer Subsidies He later tried to deny he had said it, but de Rugy has him on YouTube saying just that.

Kimberley Strassel: One of the big questions out of the IRS targeting scandal is this: How can an agency that engaged in such political misconduct be trusted to implement ObamaCare? This week's Halbig v. Burwell ruling reminded us of the answer. It can't. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Halbig that the administration had illegally provided ObamaCare subsidies in 36 insurance exchanges run by the federal government. Yet it wasn't the "administration" as a whole that issued the lawless subsidy gift. It was the administration acting through its new, favorite enforcer: the IRS. And it was entirely political. Democrats needed those subsidies. The party had assumed that dangling subsidies before the states would induce them to set up exchanges. When dozens instead refused, the White House was faced with the prospect that citizens in 36 states—two-thirds of the country—would be exposed to the full cost of ObamaCare's overpriced insurance. The backlash w...