Muslims never guilty of 'terrorist massacres,' Turkey's Erdogan insists

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly bizarre rhetoric continued this week when he told reporters Muslims have "never taken part in terrorist massacres" and appeared to blame the West for the recent Islamist attacks in Paris.
The NATO nation leader and western ally has moved his powerful nation further from its Constitutionally-mandated secularism in recent years, and has drawn criticisms for not doing more to stop the flow of foreign jihadis, who pass through Istanbul on their way to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. But Monday's comments, against the backdrop of near-universal condemnation of the Islamist attack on French satirical tabloid Charlie Hebdo, could further isolate Erdogan from the West.
“As Muslims, we've never taken part in terrorist massacres," Erdogan said. "Behind these lie racism, hate speech, and Islamophobia. French citizens carry out such a massacre, and Muslims pay the price. The West's hypocrisy is obvious.”

"Behind [terrorist massacres] lie racism, hate speech, and Islamophobia."- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan spoke a day after more than 40 world leaders, including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, joined in Paris to condemn the Jan. 7 attack and the related shooting of a police officer and siege on a Paris kosher supermarket, Islamist attacks that left a total of 17 innocent people dead. The attacks were motivated by Charlie Hebdo's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad.
“Take note that the acts of terror are not carried out in a vacuum," Erdogan said. "The acts follow a predetermined script and we should be [aware of a] a plot against the Islamic world.”
The comments also came against the backdrop of continuing slaughter of Muslims in Syria and Iraq by Islamic State and Al Qaeda and fresh reports that Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed an estimated 2,000 villagers in its latest atrocity. 
In recent months, Erdogan has cracked down on the press and made a series of bizarre statements, some of which seem to have been aimed at elevating his status in the Muslim world. Monday's speech came as he met Abbas at his new, 1,150-room palace amid a ceremonial spectacle that drew ridicule from critics. Sixteen men dressed as ancient eastern warriors, holding replica swords, maces and spears lined a staircase as Erdogan descended to greet Abbas.

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As a key Middle Eastern ally, Erdogan's swerve away from secular rule is concerning, say critics. (Reuters)

The pair saluted the Presidential Guard of Honor before walking to the bottom of the staircase, where they posed for a picture, shaking hands. The scene looked surreal with the costumed men — believed to represent Turkic-Mongolian and Ottoman warriors — standing proudly upright in the background, Al Monitor wrote in a column entitled "Is Erdogan Losing Touch with Reality?"
"The bizarre ceremony, unprecedented in Turkey’s history, instantly became the subject of lampoon on social media, blasted as shallow, ridiculous and problematic, while catching also the attention of foreign media for the same reasons," the publication's Turkey-based columnist Kadri Gursel wrote.
But a more practical concern of Turkey's neighbors and allies is its inability - or unwillingness - to secure its borders with Syria and Iraq has brought increasing international criticism, as jihadists have flocked to the killing fields in Syria and Iraq to fight alongside radical Islamist groups. No less worrying is that the Turkish border has also provided a return gateway to the battle-hardened killers to all too easily re-enter the West, posing massive security threats to democracies of the type seen last week in Paris.
“It’s no easy matter trying to secure extensive borders and stop everyone getting through, as the United States has found on its border with Mexico,” an Israeli government spokesman told FoxNews.com, “but Turkey could be doing more. We used to have very good relations with Turkey and we know just how beneficial those relations were, not only to both sides, but also to the U.S, but it’s disgraceful what Erdogan is saying.”
One of the last remaining supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey has also put out the welcome mat and provided logistical support to Hamas, the Gaza-based terror organization whose leader Khaled Meshaal was last week reported to have been asked to leave his base in Qatar and reportedly will be granted safe haven by Erdogan.
Erdogan, who did not attend the Paris rally but did send Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, slammed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for showing up, saying through his spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, it was "unacceptable that Israel’s Prime Minister dared attend" the rally "instead of being brought to account for the women, children and journalists killed in Israel’s offensives in Gaza.”
But Gursel believes there is an underlying explanation for Erdogan's sharp turn away from the West and an embrace of fundamental Islam and its history that at times seems to border on delusional. Last year, the Turkish president overcame a widespread corruption scandal that toppled four cabinet ministers involved his son to win the presidency in August. But all 550 seats of Turkey's legislature, the Grand National Assembly, are up in June, and Erdogan needs the Justice and Development Party that he founded in 2001 to maintain its grip on power. The West and the phantom of Islamophobia could provide a uniting straw man for a winning coalition of voters, not to mention a distraction from the failures of his party and administration 
"More Islam and more Islamism are meant to obliterate the deep marks left by the corruption allegations and evidence against his party and government," Gursel wrote. "The next general elections in June represent a key motivation in his efforts."

Nation's second-largest school district plans to expand dinner program

How about also feeding the parents of these children? 

The nation's second-largest school district is eyeing a move to offer dinner to students at every school.
Students at Kingsley Elementary in Los Angeles eat breakfast, lunch provided for them by the school as well as dinner. The trend around the nation is continuing as nearly 1 million students are served dinner or an after-school snack.
"When kids are hungry, they don't pay attention," said Bennett Kayser, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District board, which was announcing the expansion Thursday. "This is something that should have started years ago."
Washington and 13 other states began offering dunner as part of a pilot program expanded to all states after the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed in 2010. Schools where at least half the students are low-income and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch are reimbursed for each supper by the U.S. Department of Agriculture..
About 10 million suppers were served to students in the 2014 fiscal year.
Proponents say that since many students stay on campus until the early evening hours, it makes sense to provide an additional meal. In the case of the neediest students, they might not get anything to eat after class other than what is offered at school.
The LAUSD serves supper to 75,000 students and is planning to expand the program to about 150,000 over the next two years. School officials expect to generate $16.6 million in revenue, which would go to expanding the program even further.
Other large, urban districts with dinner programs include Philadelphia and District of Columbia public schools. Wayne Grasela, senior vice president for food services, said the School District of Philadelphia now serves 4,500 dinners each day.
At Kingsley Elementary School, several students said the roasted sunflower seeds, cheese sticks and, depending on the day, sandwiches, salads and chicken they are served function more like a snack than a meal. Some eat another meal at home.
But for others, it's one of the few things they eat after class. Ten-year-old Evelyn Ruballos said she usually only eats crackers when she gets home.
"And then I just go to sleep," she said.

Obama vs. Cameron: British PM takes hard line on ‘Islamist’ extremists, Obama avoids I-word

"Poisonous ideology." 
"Radical, death cult of a narrative." 
British Prime Minister David Cameron was unsparing in his condemnation of Islamist terrorists on Friday, as he stood beside President Obama in the White House. 
Like French officials last week following the deadly attacks in Paris, the PM bluntly described the problem as a "very serious Islamist extremist terrorist threat." 
Obama? The U.S. president stayed the rhetorical course. 
Despite the increasingly tough rhetoric from Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and others, Obama continued to describe the enemy as "violent extremism" and "violent terrorism" -- even "nihilism." 
The following are key remarks from each world leader. See if you can spot the differences: 
Obama: 
"We both recognize that intelligence and military force alone is not going to solve this problem, so we're also going to keep working together on strategies to counter violent extremism that radicalizes recruits and mobilizes people, especially young people, to engage in terrorism." 
"We also look forward to welcoming our British friends to our summit next month on countering violent terrorism, because whether in Europe or in America, a critical weapon against terrorism is our adherence to our freedoms and values at home, including the pluralism and the respect and tolerance that defines us as diverse and democratic societies." 
"This phenomenon of violent extremism, the ideology, the networks, the capacity to recruit young people, this has metastasized and it is widespread, and it has penetrated communities around the world." 
"I do not consider it an existential threat. As David said, this is one that we will solve. We are stronger. We are representing values that the vast majority of Muslims believe in -- in tolerance and in working together to build, rather than to destroy." 
"And so, you know, this is a problem that causes great heartache and tragedy and destruction, but it is one that ultimately we're going to defeat. But we can't just defeat it through weapons. One of the things that we spoke about is how do we lift up those voices that represent the vast majority of the Muslim world, so that that counter-narrative against this nihilism is put out there as aggressively and as nimbly as the messages coming out from these -- these fanatics." 
Cameron: 
"We know what we're up against. And we know how we will win. We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the world's major religions, Islam, and create conflict, terror and death. With our allies, we will confront it wherever it appears." 
"We will deploy additional intelligence and surveillance assets to help Iraqi forces on the ground, and we will ensure they are better trained and equipped to counter explosive devices. But most important of all, we must also fight this poisonous ideology starting at home." 
"We do face a very serious Islamist extremist terrorist threat in Europe, in America, across the world. And we have to be incredibly vigilant in terms of that threat." 
"It means countering this poisonous, fanatical death cult of a narrative that is perverting the religion of Islam." 
"But here's, I think, the really determining point: You can have, tragically, people who have had all the advantages of integration, who've had all the economic opportunities that our countries can offer, who still get seduced by this poisonous, radical, death cult of a narrative." 
"So, let's never lose sight of the real enemy here, which is the poisonous narrative that's perverting Islam. That is what we have to focus on, recognizing that, of course,  we help ourselves in this struggle if we create societies of genuine opportunity, if we create genuine integration between our communities."

Obama Chicken Cartoon

Obama takes heat for terror approach, Gitmo releases as threat spreads

The Obama administration drew fire Thursday from a growing list of frustrated lawmakers over the release of more Guantanamo detainees -- this time Yemeni terrorists to the volatile Arabian Peninsula -- as concerns mount over the spreading threat of Islamic terrorism, and the administration's refusal to publicly call out Islam's radical elements. 
The Department of Defense announced Wednesday that five Yemeni terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay were released -- with four of the five heading for Oman, Yemen's neighbor. 
The release comes despite knowledge that one of the two assassins who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris traveled to Yemen in 2011, and met with the radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. 
"The administration continues to transfer Guantanamo detainees while providing virtually no details to the American people regarding the risk the detainees present to our country and our allies, as well as the detainees' affiliations with terrorist groups and the conditions of their transfer," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement on the releases. 
They also cited reports that Oman may have been the entry point for the Paris attacker who traveled to Yemen. "We just sent four Guantanamo detainees, with potential ties to al Qaeda, to Oman -- the same country that reportedly served as the jumping off point" for that travel, they said. 
Amid the drive to release Guantanamo prisoners, more evidence is mounting that Islamic terrorism is spreading around the world -- including a claim of responsibility by Al Qaeda in Yemen for the Paris terror attacks, and the unchecked slaughter of thousands in Nigeria by Boko Haram. Police in Belgium also claimed Thursday to have stopped a "Belgian Charlie Hebdo," with government agents killing at least two in raids aimed at jihadists returning from Syria who were planning to launch terrorist attacks. 
The administration is taking heat not only for the Gitmo transfers, but for its refusal to publicly call out radical Islam as the common thread in these attacks. 
"The president of the United States has concluded that the War on Terror has reached a point that we can safely release people from Gitmo," Graham told Fox News on Wednesday. "The best I can say about him is he's unfocused. That's delusional thinking. The War on Terror has reached a lethal phase, and it is insane to be letting these people out of Gitmo to go back to the fight." 
The Defense Department stresses that most detainees released under this administration "live quietly" in locations around the world. Asked about the latest transfers to Oman, a Defense spokesman said such a decision is only made after "detailed, specific conversations with the receiving country about the potential threat a detainee may pose after transfer and the measures the receiving country will take in order to sufficiently mitigate that threat.
"If we do not receive adequate security and humane treatment assurances, the transfer does not occur," the spokesman said.
Though Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and militants in that region are asserting themselves once again as a global threat, other Islamist groups and self-radicalized operatives are posing grave security risks to dozens of countries. In Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State continues to hold ground in its war against the governments there and its quest for its own nation state. 
In Nigeria, the terror group Boko Haram has seized territory said to be the size of the Islamic State's, while committing mass murders against the civilian population. Earlier this month, as many as 2,000 people were slaughtered by the terror group, rights groups say. 
The Paris terror attack and the raid in Belgium were reminders of the threat from cells in Western Europe. 
But other recent plots and attacks by lone-wolf types have occurred in Canada, Australia and the United States. An alleged sympathizer of the Islamic State terror group was arrested in Ohio on Wednesday after authorities learned that he was plotting a shooting and bombing attack on the U.S. Capitol. 
Yet the administration has been loath to term the problem as radical Islam. 
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained that, in their view, "these terrorists are individuals who would like to cloak themselves in the veil of a particular religion." 
He added, "But based on the fact that the religious leaders of that religion have roundly condemned their actions, those religious leaders have indicated that their actions are entirely inconsistent with Islam." 
Earnest said he wouldn't criticize anybody who does use that label. 
This would include the French government, whose ambassador to the U.S., Gérard Araud, told Fox News on Wednesday that "we are at war with radical Islam." 
Graham, also speaking on Fox News, said that "when our president doesn't acknowledge this is a religious-driven war, it's going to be very hard to win it." 
Meanwhile, four of the latest Guantanamo transfers will be going to Oman, and one will be going to Estonia. 
In a statement, the Defense Department said the transfers were "unanimously approved" by all agencies responsible for reviewing them. 
"The United States coordinated with the Government of Oman to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures," the DOD said. 
Several Republican senators including Ayotte have introduced legislation to clamp down on Obama's ability to transfer terror suspects out of the detention facility. These senators called for a "time out" on releasing more detainees after the Paris terror attacks. 
The bill would prohibit transfers of terror suspects to foreign countries if there has been a confirmed case where an individual was transferred from Guantanamo and engaged in any terrorist activity. Any transfers to Yemen would be shut down for two years.

Christie discusses possible run for president, tells would-be backers to 'relax'

NEWARK, N.J. –  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he's been delivering a message to potential donors and staffers urging him to jump head-first into a campaign for president: Relax.
Speaking far more openly about a potential White House bid than he has publicly in the past, Christie on Thursday evening did not dispute reports that his team has been working to establish a political action committee that could launch as early as the end of the month. But he said that, despite signs he is moving forward, he has yet to make up his mind.
"I have not yet decided," Christie said during his monthly "Ask the Governor" radio program when asked whether he plans to run.
Christie said he discussed the prospect with his family during the holidays, and that their opinions are central to his decision process.
"What they think matters deeply to me, and just as importantly, what the potential impact of something like this would be on each and every one of them is something that weighs enormously on me," he said.
Christie has been under pressure to begin locking down donors since former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched his own PAC earlier this month. That pressure heightened last week when 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney surprised even close confidantes by saying he is seriously considering another run.
Multiple Republican donors who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Christie's internal moves have told The Associated Press that Christie's team is in the early stages of putting together a political action committee to begin raising and spending money. Christie did not dispute the reports.
"Listen, there's lots of people making lots of suggestions to me about the best way for me to get to continue to get to know the country better and to get input from people around the country about both me and those folks around me," he said. "So there's a whole bunch of different options on the table, but I haven't made any final decisions about what to do."
But Christie insisted that the moves by Bush and Romney have not had an impact on his timeline or decision-making and urged his would-be backers to stay calm.
"What I've told everybody -- supports of mine, potential donors of mine, staff -- is relax. You know, no one's voting for another 12-and-a-half months," he said. "Everybody just calm down, you know?"
Christie has been traveling across the country attending inauguration events for Republican governors he helped elect as chair of the Republican Governors Association. He has been criticized for spending so much time out of the state.
"The people who do that are just the same partisan hacks who wake up every morning wanting to criticize me about something," he said.

Fox News Poll: Voters say White House has mostly failed on priorities

A new Fox News national poll finds that majorities of American voters think the Obama administration has mostly failed at handling illegal immigration, improving the country’s image around the world, handling race relations, improving health care and growing the economy. 
The assessment of the Obama administration’s performance mostly splits along partisan lines, with Republicans heavily critical and Democrats heavily supportive.  Yet half or more of independents say the White House has mostly failed in each of the areas tested in the poll, which was released Thursday.
The worst perceived failing is immigration: 64 percent of voters think the White House has mostly failed on handling illegal immigration, while just 28 percent feel it has mostly succeeded.
Click here for full results of the poll (pdf).
The poll also finds 59 percent feel the administration has failed on improving race relations -- nearly twice as many as say it has succeeded (30 percent). Black voters (60 percent) are much more likely than white voters (24 percent) to say the White House has succeeded at improving race relations.
The administration’s most positive ratings are on national security, where 43 percent of voters say the White House has mostly succeeded at making the country safer.  Yet that’s down 12 points from a record-high 55 percent who felt that way in June 2012. 
More voters -- 49 percent -- currently think Obama has “mostly failed” to make the U.S. safer. 
President Obama pledged to improve the country’s image around the world.  Most voters think his administration has failed on that.  In fact, this area shows the biggest decline: In June 2012, 48 percent felt the White House had mostly succeeded on improving the country’s image. 
Now it’s 32 percent, while 60 percent say the administration has mostly failed to improve the nation’s image.
Another Obama campaign promise was to have the most transparent administration ever.  A 57-percent majority says the White House has mostly failed on this as well.  Just 31 percent feel it has mostly succeeded.
On health care, a signature priority for Obama, 39 percent say the administration has mostly succeeded in improving things, while 55 percent feel the opposite.
Some 40 percent say the administration has improved the economy, while 52 percent think it has failed here too.
Perhaps predictably, more than three-quarters of Republicans say the White House failed in every area tested.  As many as 89 percent feel the administration has mostly failed on handling illegal immigration and as few as 75 percent feel that way on making the country safer.
Among Democrats, on the other hand, half or more say the White House has mostly succeeded in each of these key areas.  The best issues for Democrats are making the country safer and improving health care, as 70 percent say Obama has mostly succeeded at each.  The lowest is race relations: 50 percent of Democrats say mostly succeeded, while 36 percent feel the administration has mostly failed. 
And while half or more of independents say the administration has mostly failed in each of these areas, 66 percent feel that way on handling illegal immigration and 64 percent on improving America’s image.
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,018 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from January 11-13, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Police in Paris, Berlin make arrests in anti-terror raids after Belgian plot thwarted

French police have arrested 10 people in anti-terrorism raids in three towns around Paris, the city prosecutor's office said early Friday.
The prosecutor's office said that the raids were targeting people with links to Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who attacked a kosher supermarket Jan. 9 and claimed ties to the Islamic State terror group. 
Coulibaly was one of three gunmen who carried out a series of terror attacks that resulted in the deaths of 17 people. Authorities in France and several other countries are looking for possible accomplices. One suspect, Coulibaly's common-law wife Hayat Boumeddiane, is believed to have fled to Syria earlier this month. 
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Friday morning that the Gare l'Est train station in Paris had been closed and evacuated due to a bomb threat. A police official, who was not authorized to be publicly named, told the AP that the station was closed "as a precaution," but would not give further details. The Gare l'Est is one of the major stations in Paris, serving cities in Eastern France and countries to the east. 
Also Friday, Berlin police said that they had taken two men into custody on suspicion that they were recruiting fighters and procuring equipment and funding for the Islamic State group, better known as ISIS, in Syria. 
The two were picked up in a series of raids involving the search of 11 residences by 250 police officers. Authorities said the raids were part of a months-long investigation into a small group of extremists based in Berlin. However, they also said there was no evidence the group was planning attacks inside Germany. 
The group's leader, identified only as 41-year-old Ismet D. in accordance with privacy laws, is accused organizing the group of largely Turkish and Russian nationals to fight against "infidels" in Syria. Emin F., 43, is accused of being in charge of finances.
Those recruited include Murat S., a 40-year-old Turkish man who was arrested in September after returning from Syria where had allegedly gone to fight.
In an unrelated raid, German police arrested 26-year-old German-Tunisian dual national into custody Thursday on suspicion he had gone to fight with the terrorist group in Syria. Police made the arrest in Wolfsburg, 120 miles outside Berlin.
The fresh arrests come one day after Belgian police said they had preempted a major terror attack by a matter of hours Thursday, killing two suspects in a firefight and arresting a third in a vast anti-terrorism sweep that stretched into the night in the town of Verviers, located near the German border east of Liege. 
Officials said the militant group targeted in the raid included some who had returned from Syria. Federal magistrate Eric Van der Sypt said the men were "extremely well-armed" with automatic weapons. Belgian media reported that the suspects were targeting police installations. Authorities have previously said 300 Belgian residents have gone to fight with extremist Islamic formations in Syria; it is unclear how many have returned.
Authorities in Belgium signaled they were ready for more trouble by raising the national terror alert level from 2 to 3, the second-highest level. Prime Minister Charles Michel said the increase in the threat level was "a choice for prudence."
"There is no concrete or specific knowledge of new elements of threat," he said.
Earlier Thursday, Belgian authorities said they were looking into possible links between a man they arrested in the southern city of Charleroi for illegal trade in weapons and Coulibaly.
The man arrested in Belgium "claims that he wanted to buy a car from the wife of Coulibaly," Van der Sypt said. "At this moment this is the only link between what happened in Paris."
Van der Sypt said that "of course, naturally" we are continuing the investigation.
At first, the man came to police himself claiming there had been contact with Coulibaly's common-law wife regarding the car, but he was arrested following a search of his premises when indications of illegal weapons trading were found.
A Belgian connection figured in a 2010 French criminal investigation into a foiled terrorist plot in which Coulibaly was one of the convicted co-conspirators. The plotters included a Brussels-area contact who was supposed to furnish both weapons and ammunition, according to French judicial documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Spain's National Court said in a statement it was investigating what Coulibaly did in the country's capital, Madrid, with Boumeddiene and a third person who wasn't identified but is suspected of helping Boumeddiene get from Turkey to Syria.