US military begin mission to clear mines in Strait of Hormuz, says CENTCOM

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121)
(Photo US Navy)

In a region long accustomed to the theatrics of revolutionary bluster and the quiet calculus of power, the United States has once again demonstrated that freedom of navigation is not a slogan but a necessity enforced by steel and resolve. While negotiations between Washington and Tehran stutter onward in Pakistan, U.S. Central Command has moved with characteristic directness: its forces have begun the deliberate, painstaking work of clearing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow artery through which a fifth of the world's oil once flowed, now choked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as an act of economic self-harm.

“USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” CENTCOM stated plainly.

This marks the first transit by American guided-missile destroyers through those contested waters since the current hostilities with Iran erupted, a quiet but unmistakable signal that the era of Iranian impunity in international sea lanes is drawing to a close.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, put the matter with naval understatement: “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce.”

The two destroyers had been operating in the Arabian Sea before making their crossing. CENTCOM was at pains to remind the world what should require no reminder: the Strait of Hormuz is “an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor that supports regional and global economic prosperity.” Additional American forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance operation in the coming days.

One cannot help but note the irony. The regime in Tehran, which has spent decades railing against “imperialist” interference while happily profiting from the very global commerce it now seeks to disrupt, has once again overplayed its hand. By sowing mines in waters that belong to no single nation, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have not only endangered innocent mariners and spiked energy prices worldwide; they have invited the very response they claim to dread. The United States, for its part, is not engaged in conquest but in restoration, reopening a chokepoint that serves Arabs, Europeans, Asians, and yes, even the Iranian people far more than it serves the clerical elite clinging to power through provocation.

As the destroyers cut through those historically fraught waters, the message is clear: chokeholds on global trade will not be tolerated indefinitely. Civilization, after all, runs on predictable lanes of commerce, not on the capricious threats of a theocracy that mistakes mine-laying for strategy.

The work of clearing the strait is technical and dangerous; the principle behind it is simple and ancient. The seas must remain open.

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House passes resolution condemning blasphemy laws

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, apostasy and heresy laws. It was overwhelming passed on Monday, Dec. 7, with a vote of 386 - 3 under House Resolution 512.

As anyone who doesn't merely watch CNN or MSNBC, and reads beyond The New York Times or the Washington Post, there are Islamic majority countries in the world who imprison and even execute people for violating their theocratic laws against blasphemy of their majority religion or even observing the fact that their prophet married a 6-year-old girl [Aisha] and consummated the marriage when she turned nine.

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, was on death row for eight years following an incident in which she was accused of insulting Muhammad, their prophet and war leader. 

Just being accused of this violation of sharia law, is often a death sentence, and can be initiated by an angry husband, for example. Other religious violations that can be punished by death are homosexuality, lesbianism, converting out of Islam, and even burning a Koran.

“Blasphemy laws have affected Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Baha’i, secularists, and many other groups, are inconsistent with international human rights standards because they establish and promote official religious orthodoxy and dogma over individual liberty, and often result in violations of the freedoms of religion, thought, and expression that are protected under international instruments, including Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the resolution says. 

The resolution was introduced in 2019 by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). It cites a finding by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) pointing out that blasphemy charges are often based on false accusations, are used for sectarian or political purposes, and foster religious intolerance, discrimination, and violence. 

The commission found that at least 70 countries had blasphemy laws as of 2018, including 18 Middle East and North African countries, eight countries in the Americas, 18 Asia-Pacific countries, 14 European nations, and 12 Sub-Saharan African countries.

In Russia, these laws were used in 2018 to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization and fueled persecution of this religious group.

And we all know what's going on in China, where the laws have been used to arbitrarily detain an estimated 800,000 to 2,000,000 Uighur Muslims in internment camps because they followed Islamic rituals and practices.

In North Korea, they have been used to detain between 50,000 to 70,000 Christians in labor camps because they followed the tenets of Christianity.

The resolution calls on the President and the Secretary of State to prioritize the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws in the bilateral relationships of the United States with all countries that have such laws.

It's a good thing.

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Berlin tells Erdogan: we don't want to hear you

Berlin -- Germany said that it rejected a request by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speak to ethnic Turks in Germany next week while at the G20 summit.

Erdogan, you may recall, allowed (or ordered) his goons to brutally attack Kurdish protesters at the Turkish embassy in the U.S. He is also turning Turkey into yet another Islamic theocratic state.

Berlin-Ankara relations have deteriorated over Turkey's mass arrests of alleged state enemies after a failed coup last year along with other civil rights issues. That's what tends to happen when a dictator steps in, especially one using the guise of religion to gain power.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said they received a request for Erdogan to be able to address members of three million Turkish diaspora in the European Union.

"I explained weeks ago to my Turkish colleagues that we don't think that would be a good idea," Gabriel said while visiting Russia. He pointed to the lack of adequate police resources around the July 7-8 (G20) summit in Hamburg.

"I also said quite frankly that such an appearance would not be appropriate given the current adversarial situation with Turkey." However, he stressed that Erdogan would be "received with honors" at the summit.

Social Democratic Party candidate for chancellor Martin Schulz said that "foreign politicians who abuse our values must not be allowed to give inflammatory speeches in Germany."

"I don't want Mr. Erdogan, who is jailing members of the opposition and journalists in Turkey, to hold large-scale events in Germany," Schulz told the Bild. 

Ties have been extremely strained since the failed coup last July in Turkey. Tensions have worsened over a referendum campaign to expand Erdogan's powers, much like that of Egypt's Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi was finally removed from office when he tried to expand his power and rule Egypt like a theocratic nation. Hopefully, the same will happen to Erdogan.

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Palestinians make hypocrisy look easy

Jerusalem, Israel -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) has requested the United Nations begin an investigation into alleged not legally authorized killings by Israel. The term "extrajudicial" is the operant word here, because Israel does not follow Sharia. 

Under Sharia law, or Islamic law, Palestinians are allowed to kill Israelis (read: Jews). 

How do I know? The Koran tells them so. 

Here's the story: Last week, an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian terrorist (who, prior to the incident, had attacked Israelis) as he lay wounded on the ground). There is video evidence of the incident. The Israeli soldier appears to have killed the terrorist in cold blood and therefore needs to be put on trial for what clearly appears to be a crime.

He is also the exception to the way Israel behaves toward the Palestinians--they are remarkable in their efforts to avoid killing innocent non-combatants. However, Palestinians see no Israelis as innocent, including children. This is why they fire rockets at school buses and into Jewish neighborhoods, hoping to kill a Jew.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian official, claims that past Israeli investigations have failed to "serve justice" and says that Israel has been "rewarded with impunity." Most anti-Semitic neo Nazis agree, but do facts support the claim?

AL. Democrat Gov.George Wallace

Can an "Islamic-heavy" United Nations even be thought of as impartial body in adjudicating alleged Israeli war crimes? How different is that from a Jim Crow court in a George Wallace, Bull Connor, Alabama?

Remember, the PA is in bed with Hamas (don't vomit) and that terrorist organization offers absolutely no human rights to its people. In fact, they often use women and children as human shields because they know the Israelis won't shoot at them. There's video of that too.

So we can observe how a theocratic tyranny [Hamas] maligns a liberal Israeli democracy. Palestinians have more human rights in Israel than they do in so-called Palestine. And worse, we see how the UN community can rig the system for the Arabs do destroy Israel and they can feel guiltless and pat each other on the back.

Islamic law (Sharia) frees Hamas and other terrorist groups from the obligation of abiding by international standards which they demonize as "Christian," or "Western" and thus are considered by them to be "Satanic." 

A United Nations official report in 2009 stated that a systematic and deliberate targeting of civilians violates International Humanitarian Law which is considered to be a war crime. This is just one of several such reports.

So clearly, Hamas, which is sanctioned by the PA, is guilty of war crimes many times over, and this Israeli soldier is equally as guilty. But the shooting came about after a six-month wave of Palestinian initiated attacks that have killed 28 Israelis and 2 Americans. In the same period of time, 188 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli self-defense measures, either by jihadists attacking civilians or by Israeli forces.

The Palestinians claim that attacking Israeli civilians is justified, but not when Israel does the same because Israel doesn't have Sharia law on its side.

Sharia allows Muslims to "Kill them wherever you find them, and lay in ambush . . . "

Read all about it in the Koran, their so-called "Holy" book.



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