The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
Rigging pagers so that they explode in the hands of hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and operatives simultaneously from Beirut to Damascus is obviously something not done overnight.
People gather outside a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, September 17, 2024(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)
At 2:36 am on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office sent out a
statement saying that the security cabinet updated the objectives of the
current war to include “returning the residents of the North securely
to their homes.”
The brief statement concluded: “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.”
Fourteen hours later, hundreds of wireless pagers exploded across Lebanon
and even in Damascus in the pockets and bags carried by members of
Hezbollah, wounding more than 2,800 and delivering a substantial
physical and morale blow to the terrorist organization.
Coincidence? Probably not.
As of Tuesday evening, Israel has not taken responsibility for the attack,
which is the stuff of which action movies are made, yet Lebanon,
Hezbollah, and others are pointing their fingers squarely at Israel.
If
indeed Israel was behind the innovative attack, and even before it
becomes clear whether this is a prelude to a much bigger Israeli
military action – this sowed chaos inside Hezbollah,
neutralized hundreds of their fighters for at least several days if not
longer, and created disarray regarding the organization’s ability to
communicate – it does demonstrate several factors:
First, the security cabinet updating the war’s aims was not without significance.
Israel
did not need to declare that returning the 60,000 displaced Israelis to
their homes was a war aim to go after Hezbollah men carrying pagers via
those pagers, but that declaration does put the attack into a certain
context: what was for the last 11 months is not what will be.
After
nearly a year of tit-for-tat exchanges with Hezbollah – during which
Israel has had the upper hand, killing more Hezbollah fighters and
inflicting far greater damage on their strategic and military sites than
they did on Israel – this action signals that Israel is taking off the
gloves and escalating to a new level of operation.
The
public’s patience with the status quo in the North has run out, and the
government understands this – one of the reasons why it updated the
aims of the war – and this action, so soon after the war aims were
updated, sends a message to Hezbollah that the government is serious
about more aggressive steps to return its citizens home.
That message is not only for Hezbollah but also for the international
community, first and foremost to the US: get Hezbollah to stand down,
meaning to move significantly north of the border with Israel and cease
firing missiles and drones, or Israel will indeed take the steps it has
been threatening to take for months.
Second, this action shows awesome, jaw-dropping capabilities that will be seen throughout the region.
Rigging
pagers so that they explode in the hands of hundreds of Hezbollah
fighters and operatives simultaneously from Beirut to Damascus is
obviously something not done overnight.
This
shows that whoever was responsible for this had been planning it for a
long time. The message in that is also clear: even though Hezbollah may
be expecting an Israeli attack, they have little idea of what form it
will take.
An early warning?
Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant said months ago that Israel has new capabilities
that will surprise Hezbollah and Israel’s enemies. This comment was lost
among endless other “we-will-send-Lebanon-back-to-the-stone-age”
threats he has issued since Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October
8.
Yet this attack, if carried out by Israel, shows that Gallant’s words about surprises were not empty.
The
level of pre-planning involved is also significant. Given that this war
of attrition has dragged on for months and the government has now
declared its readiness to go to war to change the situation in the
North, Israel has lost the element of surprise in any conventional
attack on Hezbollah.
In
other words, if the IAF were to strike Beirut tomorrow or tanks rolled
into southern Lebanon, it would neither be surprising nor preemptive.
The enemy is expecting something.
Tuesday’s
pager explosions, however, show that there are other, non-conventional
ways to surprise the enemy and gain a tactical advantage. And this leads
to a third lesson: the next war is never fought like the previous one.
Following
the security cabinet’s declaration Tuesday night, the mind immediately
went to tanks moving into Lebanon like they did during the First Lebanon
War in 1982, or planes bombing Hezbollah’s Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut
as they did in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. And all that still might
materialize if a full-blown Third Lebanon War now erupts. But those are
both elements of yesterday’s war.
Monday’s
action shows that the next war with Hezbollah will be fought
differently and in an innovative and creative way: two traits with which
Israel has been amply blessed.
Hezbollah, a highly trained and disciplined terrorist group, is now facing chaos and vulnerability after a large number of its members were injured by exploding communication devices.
An ambulance vehicle drives as hundreds of members of Hezbollah were seriously wounded, in Sidon, Lebanon September 17, 2024(photo credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)
Hezbollah is known
as a disciplined group. Highly trained, the group invests heavily in
its recruits. It is not known to waste them as cannon fodder. It views
itself as an elite organization, and within its own structure, there are
centers of terrorist excellence, such as the Radwan force.
Hezbollah
has achieved this through decades of fine-tuning its capabilities. It
has built itself up slowly, first in the 1980s and then in the last two
decades as it came to dominate Lebanon. Now, the group faces its worst
nightmare: Chaos.
Hezbollah is facing chaos because a large number of its alleged members were wounded on September 17 by exploding communications devices.
The full details of this incident are not yet known, and they will only
be known over time. However, video and images from Lebanon show men,
many of them in their forties, wounded in the hands and faces by
exploding communications devices.
The
devices are alleged to be pagers. The video shows at least one man
pulling his pager from his pocket, only to have it explode in his hand.
Gruesome videos, apparently from hospitals in Lebanon, show a large
number of men missing parts of their hands or wounded in the legs,
stomach, or face.
Suffering
so many casualties to key members of the terrorist group may not be
crippling, but it clearly will harm a swatch of the group’s key members.
This will put the men in hospital for a period of time. Some of them
can go back to serving Hezbollah, but they will not have access to one
of their hands.
Hezbollah
members in Lebanon take part in a funeral procession for their comrade
Akram Sadek Hourani, who was killed in the recent battles in Syria's
Qalamoun region. (credit: REUTERS)
These will
most likely be their dominant hand, meaning the hand they’d also use to
hold the trigger of a rifle or push the button to launch a missile. The
men will also be marked going forward, so many men with bandages on
their hands will be a mark of working for the terrorist group.
Hezbollah
has already lost around 450 fighters in its eleven-month confrontation
with Israel. This is a significant loss for the group. While Hezbollah
can replace losses, it doesn’t have an endlessly deep batting order.
This is not only because it has to invest in training and security ahead
of recruitment, but it also draws its recruits from a narrow spectrum
of Lebanese society.
Hezbollah is based on the Shi’ite
population of Lebanon, and even among Shi’ites, it can’t recruit all of
them. There are other Shi’ite movements, principally the Amal movement.
Amal has 14 seats in Lebanon’s parliament, and Hezbollah has 15.
The
overall challenge for Hezbollah is not just replacing wounded and dead
fighters. The group will be challenged to rapidly roll out some other
way to communicate with its men. The use of pagers may seem archaic, but
Hezbollah apparently chose to use this system because it assumed the
network could not be penetrated. It issued the pagers, the way a drug
gang might do so, and secured the network itself.
Hezbollah
has long sought to maintain its own complex and secure communications
network in Lebanon. Back in 2008, this became controversial. Hezbollah
was accused of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and
then dragging Lebanon into the 2006 war with Israel.
At the time, France24 noted that “security sources say Hezbollah has
an extensive fixed-line telecommunications network that covers south and
east Lebanon as well as Beirut's southern suburbs.” Lebanon’s
government, which at the time had elements opposed to Hezbollah’s
increasing control of Lebanon, opposed the private communications
network. In the end, Hezbollah won out and continued its march to
control Lebanon.
In
2011, reports indicated that phone records of Hezbollah terrorists had
led to indictments of Hezbollah men for the murder of Hariri in 2005.
“Four Hezbollah suspects in the killing of Rafik Hariri were linked to
the attack largely by circumstantial evidence gleaned from phone
records, according to an indictment published on Wednesday after a
six-year investigation which polarised Lebanon,” Gulf News reported.
Hezbollah
would have known from the 2005-2011 experience that its communications
systems were in the spotlight. The group prides itself on operational
security. Hezbollah has also been viewed by experts as one of the more
successful Arab military structures in the region. Kenneth Pollack, in
his 2019 book Armies of Sand, examined the relative success of Hezbollah
compared to other Arab armies in the region.
Strong military structure
In
essence, Hezbollah is a more successful military structure, even though
it is a terrorist army in Lebanon, than many Arab armies in the region.
This is evident from how it has not only been able to confront Israel
but also stockpile more rockets, missiles, and drones than many armies
in second or third-world countries. Hezbollah has pioneered drone
threats against Israel and carried out numerous attacks in this war, for
instance.
The
chaos that will follow the exploding pagers is already evident in
Lebanon. Reports say the Iranian-backed terrorist group is scrambling to
tell its members not to use communications devices. Hospitals have
numerous injured men. The group will have to scramble to put its
organization back together.
Effective
groups, whether militaries, terrorist groups, cartels, gangs, or
corporations, need to have good communication. A group like Hezbollah
needs this to mobilize people and coordinate attacks. It can’t
coordinate the launch of large numbers of missiles if it can’t get men
to the launchers. Hezbollah requires a way to get in touch with its
fighters. It will need to scramble now to replace its pagers or other
devices.
It
will also now be concerned about the penetration of its operational
security. When groups like Hezbollah are in chaos, they are more
vulnerable to making mistakes. This reminds us of the story of the
penetration of the KKK in the film Mississippi Burning. It took time for
the FBI to cause the “rattlesnakes to commit suicide,” but in the end,
the KKK was defeated. Similarly, when the US-led coalition defeated
Saddam’s army in Iraq in 1991, it set about destroying its command and
control nodes. This is how terrorist groups and militaries are defeated.
Hezbollah
faces a difficult challenge now. It is in chaos. It may want to lash
out and strike back. But it has suffered a major setback. This is also
an embarrassing setback. Hezbollah rests on its allure, its sense of
being an elite group that is not vulnerable. Now, it feels vulnerable.
The plan aims to stem illegal fishing and may be included in a joint statement issued at a summit of the four nations, known as the Quad, for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, on Saturday in Delaware, the agency reported.
Editor’s Note: This piece by Seth Robson features quotes from CSP Senior Fellow, Grant Newsham.
The United States, Australia, India and Japan are planning joint
coast guard and maritime police patrols amid growing Chinese activity in
the region, according to unnamed diplomatic sources cited Monday by
Japan’s Kyodo News.
The plan aims to stem illegal fishing and may be included in a joint
statement issued at a summit of the four nations, known as the Quad, for
the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, on Saturday in Delaware, the
agency reported.
It comes as clashes grow in number between Manila and Beijing over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
If the four nations pool efforts, especially surveillance and
intelligence resources, and target and locate “high value” targets, such
as fishing boats that have turned off electronic identification
beacons, and inflict real punishment, that would be helpful, said
retired Marine Col. Grant Newsham, a senior researcher with the Japan
Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.
“They might also target particular areas where the illegal fishing is
most pronounced — and help out certain countries that have particular
problems,” he said by email Monday.
New Zealand-based security expert Paul Buchanan said he doesn’t
expect the Quad patrols to have a major impact on illegal fishing,
especially if China’s military starts escorting fishing boats.
The move signals intent, he said by email Monday, “perhaps with the
idea of curtaining illegal Chinese fishing in the first place,
particularly in the Indian Ocean and blue water Western Pacific.”
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The United Nations is currently made up of 193 member nations and two permanent non-member observer states: Vatican City and the “State of Palestine.” The Palestinians, however, are on their way to full member status. TheTimes of Israelreported Wednesday that “Palestinians
took a seat among member states at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, a
new right accorded to the Palestinian Authority’s delegation despite it
not being a full member of the body.” This is how the UN responds to jihad terrorism: by rewarding those who engage in it.
The initiative to give the “State of Palestine” a
seat in the General Assembly began six months after Palestinians
murdered 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. “In May,” the Times of Israel notes,“an
overwhelming majority of the General Assembly asserted that
Palestinians deserved full membership, a move that has been blocked by
the United States, which along with Israel says recognition of
Palestinian statehood must come through a peace agreement.”
One of the conditions of Palestinian statehood has always been that the
“State of Palestine” recognize Israel’s right to exist, and pledge to
live in peace with it. That is something that Palestinian leaders have
never been willing to do.
Nevertheless, the UN charged ahead with the plans to
reward the Palestinians, apparently under the delusion that a
Palestinian state will end all the strife. Thus, “starting with the 79th General Assembly session, which began Tuesday, the Palestinians can submit proposals and amendments, and sit among member states.” Riyad Mansour, the envoy of the “State of Palestine” to the UN, “took his place on Tuesday afternoon at a table marked “State of Palestine” between Sri Lanka and Sudan.”
Egyptian Ambassador Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud was thrilled, saying: “This is not merely a procedural matter. This is a historic moment for us.” Jonathan Miller, deputy Israel ambassador to the UN, was more realistic, observing that “any
decision and or action that improves the status of the Palestinians,
either in the UN General Assembly or bilaterally, is currently a reward…
for terrorism in general and the Hamas terrorists in particular.”
Indeed. Any doubts about what kind of state the “State of Palestine” might be were removed in late July, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, Mahmoud Al-Habbash,declared:“Our
religion is the religion of tolerance and the religion of human
brotherhood. But we are also the people of Jihad and the people of force
against those who deserve it from us and against those who want to harm
our dignity, desecrate our holy sites, or deprive our rights…Palestine
is giving its blood abundantly for your sake, nation of Islam.”
Then in early August, al-Habbash amplified his call for jihad against Israel: “Your best Jihad is Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic), and your best Ribat is
Ashkelon. Where is Ashkelon? Ashkelon is a city in Palestine (sic., an
Israeli coastal city), and the land of Palestine is a land of Ribat and
Jihad until Judgement Day. His [Prophet Muhammad’s] dear followers came
while carrying out Jihad for Allah to Palestine and Greater Syria, and
they liberated it from the Byzantine occupation.
Saladin liberated it from the Crusader occupation. And today it will be
liberated [again], Allah willing. Palestine will return and be
liberated, sooner or later.”
Does this sound as if al-Habbash and his comrades will be pacified with a “State of Palestine” and stop making war against Israel? No. Al-Habbash’s jihad will continue “until Judgment Day,” and he is by no means the only one.
The Qur’an commands Muslims to “drive them out from where they drove
you out” (2:191), and even though it is a historical myth that the
Israelis drove the Palestinian Arabs out of Israel, that is the guiding
principle of the entire conflict. The Palestinian struggle (in Arabic,
“jihad”) will continue until all of Israel is destroyed.
That holds true no matter what the United Nations
does. No number of rewards for the Oct. 7 jihad massacre will blunt the
force of the jihad against Israel; in fact, such rewards will only
embolden the jihadis. When the “State of Palestine” took its seat in the UN General Assembly, the message to the “Palestinians” was clear: murder more Jews, and you’ll get even more of what you want. The “State of Palestine” isonly a stepping-stone to the total eradication of Israel and a new genocide of the Jews.
The Times traveled to Doha to interview the senior Hamas for two-hours in his home
Sen. John Fetterman,
D-Penn., accused the New York Times of spreading Hamas propaganda after
the paper quoted Khaled Meshal, one of the terror group's most senior
officials, in a new report Tuesday.
The Times story,
headlined "Hamas is surviving war in Israel. Now it hopes to thrive in
Gaza again," centers around an interview with Meshal, who insisted Hamas
"is winning the war and will play a decisive role in Gaza’s future"
despite Israel's commitment to eradicate the terror group responsible
for killing 1,200 people on October 7.
The Times interviewed
Meshal for two-hours in his living room in Doha, Qatar, where he
"offered rare insights into the thinking of Hamas officials," the report
reads.
AMMAN,
JORDAN- SEPTEMBER 4: Khaled Mashal, the leader of the Islamic
Palestinian organization Hamas, on September 4, 2016, in Amman, Jordan. ((Photo by Jordan Pix/ Getty Images))
"In
the interview, Mr. Meshal made clear that Hamas officials are not in a
rush to conclude a cease-fire with Israel at any price, and will not
give up on their main demands for an end to the war and an Israeli
withdrawal," the Times wrote.
Fetterman posted a screenshot of the
story's headline on X, rebuking the outlet for giving one of Hamas'
most senior leaders a platform to promote the group's message.
"No
idea why NYT would platform this propaganda from a terrorist.
Undoubtedly, Israel will hold him accountable," the lawmaker wrote.
"Hamas is no different than WWII Nazis and I fully support Israel’s
commitment to neutralize them."
No idea why NYT would platform this propaganda from a terrorist.
Undoubtedly, Israel will hold him accountable.
Hamas is no different than WWII Nazis and I fully support Israel’s commitment to neutralize them. pic.twitter.com/0plnT17eRg
The Times report notes that the U.S. accused Meshal and other Hamas
leaders of playing "a central role in planning and carrying out the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel." Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.
Still,
the paper features quotes from Meshal insisting that the terror group
"has the upper hand," and "has remained steadfast" while bringing the
Israeli military into 'a state of attrition."
"Hamas’s reasoning
is simple — winning simply means surviving and, at least for now, the
group has managed to do that, even if it is severely weakened," the
Times writes.
Former
political bureau chief of Hamas, Khaled Mashal speaks as he attends the
Baitul Maqdis Opinion Leaders Forum on October 12, 2018 in Istanbul.((Photo by Momen Faiz/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
Meshal
told the paper that President Biden's seemingly changed position - from
initially supporting Hamas eradication to demanding a cease fire in the
region, sends a message that the U.S. is "practically recognizing" the
terror group.
"Despite Hamas’s immense losses, including many
senior commanders killed by Israel, Mr. Meshal said he was confident
that the group would play a dominant role in Gaza following the war. He
dismissed alternative American and Israeli proposals for administering
the territory without Hamas," the Times report reads.
2024/07/03: Hamas terrorists in the West Bank. (( Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))
"All their illusions about filling the vacuum are behind us," Mashal said.
The
Times report states that many in Gaza are upset at Hamas for the
October 7 massacre, which launched a full-scale war in the region. But
Meshal "dismissed criticism of Hamas’s decision. Palestinian critics of
Hamas represented a minority, he said," according to the Times report.
"He acknowledged that the assault had caused enormous destruction but said it was a ‘price’ Palestinians must pay for freedom."
"As a Palestinian, my responsibility is to fight and resist until liberation," he told the Times.
The New York Times did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yael Halon is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to yael.halon@fox.com.
The total weaponization of the federal government is happening.
Kamala claimed that if Trump wins, he’ll weaponize the government
against his political opponents. That’s the most obvious case of
projection since the Kinsey report. The Biden-Harris administration uses
every part of the government to run investigations of its political
opponents on the most implausible of pretexts.
Like trying to put Trump on trial over a law created to stop the KKK from wearing masks on highways.
Or an investigation of RFK Jr over something that happened decades ago.
In 2012, Kick Kennedy, RFK Jr’s daughter, told a story to Town and Country Magazine about something her dad had supposedly done when she was six years old.
Kick’s taste for the extreme was fed by her dad’s
eccentric environmentalism. Exhibit A: When she was six, word got out
that a dead whale had washed up on Squaw Island in Hyannis Port. Bobby —
who likes to study animal skulls and skeletons — ran down to the beach
with a chainsaw, cut off the whale’s head, and then bungee-corded it to
the roof of the family minivan for the five-hour haul back to Mount
Kisco, New York. “Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice
would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on
the planet,” Kick recalls. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with
mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the
finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”
Since Kick was supposedly born in 1988, this would have happened in
1994. Or 30 years ago. (RFK Jr describes it as being 20 years ago so
maybe my math is off or his daughter’s age is.)
No one cared. Certainly no one launched investigations of RFK Jr.
Then RFK Jr not only campaigned against Biden, but endorsed Trump.
And suddenly the event from 1994 was interesting again in the same way
that Justice Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook was suddenly big news.
If there’s any ambiguity about this, let’s look at the timetable.
On Aug 23, RFK Jr dropped out and endorsed Trump.
On Aug 27, the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, a
Democrat PAC attached to an environmentalist leftist nonprofit, which
has endorsed Kamala, demanded that the Biden administration investigate
RFK Jr over the whale.
“NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially
bring charges against him,” the Center demanded, four days after RFK Jr
had endorsed its political opponent.
The Biden administration’s NOAA waited a few weeks (the wheels of
government grind slowly even when AG Garland is screeching on the phone
and demanding action) before giving CNN the good news.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
confirmed on Monday it is investigating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for
allegedly decapitating a dead whale carcass and transporting it home two
decades ago.
On Saturday, Kennedy said at a campaign event in Arizona he received a
letter from the National Marine Fisheries Services, an organization
that falls underneath NOAA, informing him he was under investigation for
an incident he said occurred 20 years ago in which he collected a dead
whale specimen.
A spokesperson for NOAA confirmed to CNN on Monday that Kennedy is under investigation for the incident.
“It is long standing NOAA practice not to comment on open investigations,” the spokesperson said.
Except to CNN. While investigating its political opponents for events that happened decades ago.
The Endangered Species Act has a 5-year statute of limitations. This
isn’t an investigation, it’s government weaponization and election
interference.
Congress could put a stop to this by zeroing out the NOAA’s
enforcement budget. But that would require a spine. And that’s exactly
why the NOAA decided to listen to the Biden-Harris administration
instead of warning that it’s not a political organization.
The total weaponization of the federal government against political opponents is happening.
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is
an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and
Islamic terrorism.
Will the Left stop sending unambiguous messages to would-be assassins?
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Just two months after the failed Trump assassination attempt of one
Thomas Matthew Crooks, we witnessed on Sunday yet another foiled one by
Ryan Wesley Routh—a would-be assassin and anti-Trump/radical pro-Ukraine
War social media addict. Somehow he too once again got within
relatively easy shooting range of ex-President Trump.
Is there a continued pattern here of lax Trump Secret Service
protection, coupled with a general social media and televised climate
that equates Trump with Hitler and lowers the bar of the assassination?
That is, are we sending unambiguous messages to would-be assassins
that a) lots of Trump-hating people would welcome an assassination
attempt and canonize the wannabe assailant; b) it would not be that
difficult to pull an assassination off given security laxity and
incompetence; and thus c) we will likely witness a series of such
unhinged attempts?
On August 14, almost exactly two months ago, I predicted the following:
If Donald Trump all summer has been compared by his enemies to Hitler
and his murderous Third Reich, and if a 20-year-old would-be assassin
and murderer with ease took up a sniper’s position to kill Trump—without
a notified Secret Service or other law enforcement attempting to abort
the shooter’s attempted assassination—what signal does that send to
other would-be assassins for the next 80 days of the 2024 campaign?
Is the message that if a 20-year-old amateur sniper can brazenly and
visibly for nearly an hour breach all Secret Service security perimeters
to shoot eight times at the president, hit him in the ear, kill one
innocent bystander, and wound two others, then almost any future,
more-experienced serious shooter could match or exceed the ability of
that disturbed amateur to get close enough to Trump to fire more than
eight shots at his head?
And that shooting Donald Trump in many leftist quarters would
subsequently earn the unhinged killer eternal fame, applause, and
immortality?
And that if there are such anticipated rewards and perceived
opportunities, then we may well see more attempts on candidate Trump’s
life?
————————-
And here is just today’s example of the usual leftwing daily vitriol
equating Trump with some sort of existential enemy that must be somehow
stopped—expressed on both television and social media:
After the would-be assassination attempt, the Democratic House
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted this: “Extreme MAGA Republicans
are the party of a national abortion ban and Trump’s Project 2025. We
must stop them.”
Jeffries is spreading untruths: Trump has never supported a national
abortion ban and has consistently distanced himself from the Heritage
Project 2025. And after such deliberately lying what exactly does the
House Minority Leader mean by “We must stop them”?
And after today’s failed assassination attempt, Rachel Vindman, wife
of Alexander Vindman of Trump first impeachment notoriety, and
sister-in-law to current Congressional candidate Eugene Vindman, posted
“No ears were harmed. Carry on with your Sunday afternoon.”
What does Ms. Vindman mean? Another weekend, just another attempt to kill Trump, so no big deal?
And also, just today on MSNBC Democratic activist Rev. Dr. Jacqui
Lewis ranted (to the silence of the network’s host Jonathan Capehart),
“Let’s not pretend that Donald Trump isn’t exactly like Mussolini,
exactly like Hitler…You nice Christians, kind, loving Jewish people –
we’re not these people. We’re not these people. And we’re not going to
get what we want if we elect this fascist, authoritarian weasel.”
So, what does the Reverend suggest to Americans that they do with such a Hitlerian weasel?
And we should remind Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, for yet the nth
time, that Donald Trump did not call for a “bloodbath” (he was talking
about the economic consequences to the U.S. automobile industry of
mandating EVs, and outsourcing automobile plants and jobs to Mexico).
Nor did he claim that white supremacists were good people at
Charlottesville—but, as the liberal Snopes fact checked, just the
opposite: “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white
nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”
These serial assassination attempts, unfortunately, occur in a weary
context of Russian collusion, laptop disinformation, state ballot
removal, and lawfare. And they are starting to reflect a larger
environment of justifying extra-legal means to achieve the ends of
ending Trump’s presidency and later reelection by any means necessary.
So, it is all that hard over the next fifty days for President Biden
and Secretary Mayorkas to extend adequate Secret Service security for
ex-president and Republican presidential nominee Trump—which some
congressional Democrats, led by January 6th Committee co-chairman Benny
Thompson, had sought to stop entirely in April of this year?
And can we just stop with the demonizing of Trump as a
Hitler/fascist/bloodbath/weasel/dictator that must be stopped—before we
see third, fourth, and fifth such assassination attempts?
The military is discussing an expanded operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Firefighters at the site of a wildfire following a missiles attack from
Lebanon, near Kibbutz Snir, northern Israel, September 16, 2024. Photo
by Ayal Margolin/Flash90.
Israel’s Security Cabinet overnight Monday
added returning Israelis displaced from their homes in the north to the
country’s war goals, bringing a potential major confrontation with
Hezbollah in Lebanon closer to reality.
“The Security Cabinet has updated the
objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents
of the north securely to their homes,” the Prime Minister’s Office said
in a terse statement on Tuesday morning. “Israel will continue to act to
implement this objective.”
According to government figures, over
60,000 people have been evacuated from their residences near the
Lebanese border since last October, when the Iranian-backed terror army
began near-daily rocket and drone attacks in support of Hamas, after the
Gaza-based terror group initiated a war by invading the northwestern
Negev.
Communities in the Galilee and Golan have
become increasingly frustrated at the ongoing attacks and the
government’s response in Jerusalem.
A
drone fired from Lebanon into Israel flies over the Israeli border with
Lebanon on Sept. 15, 2024. Photo by Ayal Margolin/Flash90.
According to Channel 12, the military is discussing an expanded operation in Lebanon, including the timing and the details.
“In the military, there’s a reluctance to
repeat the precedent set in Gaza, where the objectives of the war were
not clearly defined” ahead of time, according to the report.
“Instead, they have established several
clear targets for defining the success of the operation. Among these
targets are: the return of residents, a significant buildup of forces
along the border, and pushing Hezbollah forces away from the border. A
senior security official stated that preparations should be made for a
prolonged campaign that will exact a heavy toll.”
According to the Channel 12
report, “In the IDF, they are convinced that the State of Israel has
passed the [tipping point]—that there is no resolution and the situation
is escalating, and no one is saying anything different.
“This has enormous implications, but in
the security establishment, there is a firm belief that Israel cannot,
at this stage, be satisfied with a ‘targeted operation’ like those seen
in previous years in Gaza, for example. They believe that a broad and
comprehensive action throughout Lebanon, including Dahieh [a Hezbollah
stronghold in Beirut], is necessary.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein
on Monday that the thousands of displaced Israelis will not be able to
return without military or diplomatic action against the terror group.
Netanyahu “made it very clear that it will
not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in
the security situation in the north,” according to a readout from the
Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with US Presidential Special Envoy Amos Hochstein.
The Prime Minister made it very clear that it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.
While Jerusalem “appreciates and respects”
the Biden administration’s support, it will “ultimately do what is
necessary to safeguard its security and return the residents of the
north securely to their homes,” he told Hochstein during a meeting at
Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The additional war goal comes amid reports that Netanyahu is considering replacing Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar.
Gallant for his part publicly supports an
expanded military operation to remove the Hezbollah threat in the north,
telling his American counterpart Lloyd Austin during a call on Monday that time was running out for an agreed-upon de-escalation with the terror proxy.
“The possibility of a settlement in the
north is passing. Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas. The
direction is clear,” Gallant told Austin in an overnight phone call,
according to the Defense Ministry.
Gallant also met with Hochstein on Monday.
The Biden envoy reportedly warned that a major military operation
against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon will not bring about the return of
Israel’s displaced residents.
בפגישה עם עמוס הוכשטיין, יועצו המיוחד של נשיא ארה״ב. הדגשתי בפניו כי חיזבאללה ממשיך לקשור עצמו לחמאס, ולכן - הדרך היחידה שנותרה עבורנו כדי להחזיר את תושבי הצפון לביתם, תהיה באמצעות פעולה צבאית. pic.twitter.com/MN0k7n0zpC
Hochstein informed Gallant that the United
States supports a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah, including through a
truce with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a source familiar with the
conversation told local media. The United States envoy warned that
military action would raise the risk of all-out regional war.
Gallant was said to have informed the
White House envoy that only Israeli military action against Hezbollah
can create conditions that will allow Israel to return the evacuees to
their homes safely.
The error has occurred for about 20 years and over four administrations, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian
Fontes (D) said Tuesday that nearly 100,000 voters were incorrectly
registered in the state as providing proof of U.S. citizenship, even
though they had not done so.
Fontes explained that there was an error in state systems that
labeled the roughly 97,000 voters as providing documented proof of U.S.
citizenship, Votebeat reported.
The Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) provides the state’s voter
registration system with driver’s license information, and the error
occurred in that process. Affected voters had first obtained Arizona
driver’s licenses before October 1996 and were issued duplicate
replacements before registering to vote after 2004, Fontes said.
The error has occurred for about 20 years and over four administrations, he noted.
Arizona is a state with the unusual situation of
bifurcated elections, in which residents who provide proof of U.S.
citizenship can vote in all elections while the others may vote only in
federal elections, resulting in ballots cast by voters who haven’t
proven their U.S. citizenship.
However, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that
Arizona must accept U.S. voter registration forms because of federal
requirements under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, the state
allows residents registering to vote who don't provide proof of
citizenship to receive ballots for federal races only.
Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) said she ordered the MVD to fix the
error and is ordering “an independent audit to ensure that MVD systems
are functioning as necessary to support voter registration.”
The error was discovered by a Maricopa County worker who
found a registered voter who hadn't provided proof of U.S. citizenship
but was listed as a voter who could cast ballots in both federal and
state elections. The voter had a green card but never cast a ballot,
Fontes said.
"My office discovered this issue last week, and we have
been working with the Governor's Office, the Secretary's Office, the
MVD, and the Attorney General to fix this moving forward," Maricopa
County Recorder Stephen Richer posted on his X account Tuesday.
Counties are scheduled to send out military and overseas voter ballots on Thursday.
Richer said that his "office (@RecordersOffice) is suing the Secretary's office (@AZSecretary) regarding how to handle certain voters who need to provide documented proof of citizenship."
"Moving forward (2025 onward), everyone agrees we need
[documented proof of citizenship] for those voters for them to vote a
full ballot," he added. "But the Secretary and I have different opinions
on what the law requires for the November 5, 2024 General Election. It
is my position that these registrants have not satisfied Arizona's
documented proof of citizenship law, and therefore can only vote a 'FED
ONLY' ballot. The Secretary argues that it is too close to the election
to implement such a change and that it would be unduly burdensome on
voters and deprive them of their voting rights. That is why we are going
to the courts. To get a clear answer."
The UK government worries about Red Cross access to terrorists who participated in the most gruesome crimes, while the ICRC's blatant lack of interest in the Israeli hostages held by Hamas did not even merit a mention by Lammy.
[T]he UK government announced
that it is imposing an "immediate" weapons embargo against Israel. The
statement followed almost a year of relentless attacks on Israel, not
only by Iran's proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis -- but by
Iran itself, and probably several tons of unverified propaganda by Hamas
that Israel is supposedly committing "war crimes."
Even South Africa is seeking to extend the deadline for
presenting evidence against Israel at the International Court of
Justice, for lack of evidence of its allegations of genocide. So far,
all evidence points to Israel being "the world's most moral army."
Meanwhile, the same cannot be said for the entities attacking it.
The UK suspended "around 30 licenses for items used in the
current conflict in Gaza which go to the IDF, from a total of
approximately 350 licenses to Israel" allegedly because of Hamas-induced
fear that they "might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law." [emphasis added]
Hamas, on the other hand, continues to receive Britain's support:
Although UNRWA has proven itself to be identical with Hamas, with
roughly 10% of its members proven to have been terrorists or with ties
to terror groups, and having used its entire Gaza infrastructure,
including schools and hospitals, for the purpose of facilitating terror
and missile attacks against Israel and its civilians...
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in his announcement of the
weapons embargo to the House of Commons, said, "in July, I told this
House that this government's priority in the region would be to advance
the cause of peace" -- apparently because nothing spells peace more than
emboldening terrorists.
The UK government worries about Red Cross access to terrorists
who participated in the most gruesome crimes, while the ICRC's blatant
lack of interest in the Israeli hostages held by Hamas did not even
merit a mention by Lammy.
The UK's arms embargo appears to represent nothing so much as
pure racist perfidy. Lammy completely ignores the extreme lengths to
which Israel has gone to avoid civilian casualties, as well as the huge
amounts of humanitarian aid it has facilitated into the Gaza Strip.
Spain has also suspended arms export licenses to Israel since
October 7. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the Gaza
war "made us realize the importance of a fair and lasting solution" to
the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Fair and lasting, evidently, means
siding with terrorists. It is particularly unbecoming of Spain, after
60 years of having combated the terrorist group ETA, to throw the first
stone.
By contrast, Germany is massively arming Qatar, which, alongside
Iran, is the most significant backer of Hamas, and effectively every
other Islamic terrorist group.
What will be the result of the embargoes? Western leaders claim
to want de-escalation, but placing Israel under arms embargo only serves
to strengthen and empower Qatar, Iran and Iran's terrorist proxies --
which in turn can lead only to further destabilizing the Middle East,
particularly after Iran regime succeeds in acquiring nuclear weapons.
Arming Israel's enemies, whether through Iran or Qatar,
while limiting Israel's ability to defend itself, is setting up a
disaster that is likely to end up in Europe, on the heads of British
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Pictured: Starmer (L) and Trudeau at the
NATO 75th anniversary summit on July 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo
by Stefan Rousseau - Pool/Getty Images)
On September 2, the day that Hersh Goldberg-Polin -- one of the six
hostages recently murdered by Hamas -- was buried, the UK government announced
that it is imposing an "immediate" weapons embargo against Israel. The
statement followed almost a year of relentless attacks on Israel, not
only by Iran's proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis -- but by
Iran itself, and probably several tons of unverified propaganda by Hamas
that Israel is supposedly committing "war crimes."
Even South Africa is seeking to extend the deadline
for presenting evidence against Israel at the International Court of
Justice, for lack of evidence of its allegations of genocide. So far,
all evidence points to Israel being "the world's most moral army" (here, here, here and here). Meanwhile, the same cannot be said for the entities attacking it.
The UK suspended
"around 30 licences for items used in the current conflict in Gaza
which go to the IDF, from a total of approximately 350 licences to
Israel" allegedly because of Hamas-induced fear that they "might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law." [emphasis added]
Hamas, on the other hand, continues to receive Britain's support:
Although UNRWA has proven itself to be identical with Hamas, with
roughly 10% of its members proven to have been terrorists
or with ties to terror groups, and having used its entire Gaza
infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, for the purpose of
facilitating terror and missile attacks against Israel and its
civilians, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government announced
in July that it was going to "restart funding to UNRWA in order to get
aid as quickly as possible to those who need it in Gaza" as a "moral
necessity in the face of such a catastrophe."
Starmer seems unperturbed that all funding goes straight to the
terrorist group, Hamas, and not to the needy civilians of Gaza, who are shot if they try to approach the trucks. The UK, which is taking away
the annual winter fuel allowance for British pensioners, already sent
the first £21 million (approximately $28 million) to the terrorists in
Gaza.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in his announcement of the weapons
embargo to the House of Commons, said, "in July, I told this House that
this government's priority in the region would be to advance the cause
of peace" -- apparently because nothing spells peace more than
emboldening terrorists. He then went on to explain:
"These [suspended licenses] include equipment that we
assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important
components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft,
helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground
targeting."
Lammy went on to admit
that the UK government hasn't the faintest idea whether Israel is, in
fact, committing any war crimes, but just in case, better to boycott:
"In many cases, it has not been possible to reach a
determinative conclusion on allegations regarding Israel's conduct of
hostilities, in part, because there is insufficient information either
from Israel, or other reliable sources to verify such claims.
Nevertheless, it is the assessment of His Majesty's Government, that
Israel could reasonably do much more to ensure lifesaving food and
medical supplies reach civilians in Gaza in light of the appalling
humanitarian situation."
Aid in trucks is received at the border, then distributed by Hamas.
Lammy might have pointed out that so far, Gaza has received more than 1 million tons
in humanitarian aid. It is not known how much, if any, aid ever reaches
Gazan civilians, or at what prices it is sold on the black-market.
The ghastly humanitarian situation of the Jewish hostages in Hamas'
terror tunnels, on the other hand, evidently concerns no one. They have
received exactly zero grams of humanitarian aid.
Lammy concluded that the Labour government "is also deeply concerned by credible claims of mistreatment of detainees" (by which he meant terrorists) "which the International Committee of the Red Cross cannot investigate after being denied access to places of detention."
In March, the former UK government, led by Rishi Sunak, reportedly
conditioned continued arms supplies to Israel on Israel allowing the
Red Cross or international diplomats to visit the detained terrorists of
Hamas's elite Nukhba force, which led the October 7 massacre. Then
Foreign Secretary David Cameron had even warned Israeli officials at the time that Europe as a whole would impose a weapons embargo on Israel.
The UK government worries about Red Cross access to terrorists who
participated in the most gruesome crimes, while the ICRC's blatant lack of interest in the Israeli hostages held by Hamas did not even merit a mention by Lammy.
The UK's arms embargo appears to represent nothing so much as pure
racist perfidy. Lammy completely ignores the extreme lengths to which
Israel has gone to avoid civilian casualties, as well as the huge
amounts of humanitarian aid it has facilitated into the Gaza Strip.
According
to Major (ret.) John Spencer, head of urban warfare studies at the
Modern War Institute at West Point, who also served for 25 years in the
US Army as an infantry soldier and served two tours of duty in Iraq:
"In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare
for the U.S. military, I've never known an army to take such measures
to attend to the enemy's civilian population, especially while
simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings. In fact,
by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent
civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what
international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan."
The embargo accomplishes one thing only: Emboldening and
strengthening Hamas -- not only by withholding necessary military
equipment from Israel, but by showing Hamas that its propaganda and lies
are working exactly according to plan: to isolate Israel, while
emboldening and encouraging Iran.
The UK, unfortunately, is not an isolated case. In March, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Canada would cease arms exports to Israel, telling the Toronto Star, "It is a real thing."
On September 10, Joly announced
that Canada had suspended 30 export permits of Canadian companies
exporting military matériel to Israel, adding that Canada will also
block the sale of any Canadian arms or parts to a third country that
could end up being used by Israel's military in Gaza. This means that US
plans
to sell 50,000 120mm mortar rounds to Israel are no longer viable,
because "[the] principal contractor will be General Dynamics Ordnance
and Tactical Systems Inc., located in Quebec, Canada"; such a sale is
presumably now prohibited by Canada.
"As for the question regarding General Dynamics, our policy is clear." Joly said. "We will not have any form of arms or parts of arms be sent to Gaza, period."
Israel's Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said
that the move would "actually weaken our possibility to defend
ourselves against terrorism of Hamas. That is exactly what it would
entail."
Perhaps that is exactly what the UK and Canada want?
Not everyone has made an official announcement of their arms boycotts
of Israel. In January, Italy's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Antonio Tajani, said, "Since October 7, [2023] we decided not to send any more arms to Israel, so there is no need to discuss this point."
Spain has also suspended
arms export licenses to Israel since October 7. Spanish Foreign
Minister José Manuel Albares said the Gaza war "made us realize the
importance of a fair and lasting solution" to the Palestinian conflict
with Israel. Fair and lasting, evidently, means siding with terrorists.
It is particularly unbecoming of Spain, after 60 years of having combated the terrorist group ETA, to throw the first stone. Albares continued:
"Starting on 7 October, we have stopped giving any licences for exporting weapons to Israel.
"The Middle East, the last thing they need right now is weapons. What
we need is to try and stop this violence that is spreading all over,
bringing weapons into the region is the opposite.
"What we need is medicines, foodstuff, fuel, energy, water and, above all, we need peace."
Belgium, in May, called for an EU-wide arms embargo on Israel. "Stop
arms deliveries to Israel," Belgian Development Minister Caroline Gennez
urged European ministers.
Most recently, according to a September 15 report by the German magazine Bild,
Germany has not granted approvals for arms exports to Israel since
March, while Scholz has continued to declare his support for Israel
publicly, and promised continued military aid. According to Bild:
"Last year, the Israeli government had already requested
the purchase of several thousand pieces of ammunition for its main
battle tanks, and there were further requests for other types of
armament. For the Jewish state, which is currently fighting on several
fronts against the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, the purchase of
certain military equipment from abroad is particularly important."
By contrast, Germany is massively arming Qatar, which, alongside Iran, is the most significant backer of Hamas, and effectively every other Islamic terrorist group. Bild journalist Björn Stritzel noted:
"In the first half of 2024, the federal government
approved arms sales worth just over 100 million euros to the rulers in
Doha, who are probably the most important supporters of the terrorist
organization Hamas."
What will be the result of the embargoes? Western leaders claim to
want de-escalation, but placing Israel under arms embargo only serves to
strengthen and empower Qatar, Iran and Iran's terrorist proxies --
which in turn can lead only to further destabilizing the Middle East,
particularly after Iran regime succeeds in acquiring nuclear weapons.
Arming Israel's enemies, whether through Iran or Qatar, while limiting
Israel's ability to defend itself, is setting up a disaster that is
likely to end up in Europe, on the heads of Starmer, Trudeau, and
Scholz.
Authorities announced they had arrested a 58-year-old man who reportedly took a deep interest in the Ukraine war.
Secret Service agents disrupted
the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life in two months,
but difficult questions remain on how a would-be assassin with an AK-47
rifle got within 500 yards of the former president while he was golfing
and why anti-Trump vitriol in America rages on.
The Sunday incident at Trump’s golf course near Mar-A-Lago drew new
calls for civility and repudiations of political violence as authorities
announced they had arrested a 58-year-old man who reportedly took a
deep interest in the Ukraine war and had a lengthy criminal record.
The episode also sparked new calls for investigations into the
ability of the Secret Service to protect candidates, from Congress to
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he
was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP
nominee," DeSantis said.
Congress is already investigating significant Secret Service lapses
that led to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pa.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said Sunday night
the new episode in Florida would also have to be investigated.
“Thanks to the swift action of Secret Service agents on the ground,
President Trump was unharmed today. However, new questions present
themselves and we must and we will get answers,” Green, R-Tenn., posted
on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 ranking Republican in the House, was more blunt.
"We must ask ourselves how an assassin was allowed to get this close
to President Trump again? There continues to be a lack of answers for
the horrific assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and we expect there
to be a clear explanation of what happened today in Florida," she wrote
on X.
Authorities said a Secret Service agent disrupted the assassination
attempt as he was scouting out the next hole where Trump planned to play
golf at about 2 p.m. Sunday and saw the barrel of a gun protruding from
the bushes between 400 and 500 yards from the former president.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the man was hiding in the
bushes on the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club when the agent
took action.
“He was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and
immediately engaged that individual,” Bradshaw told a news conference.
The man fled in a car but was stopped quickly by local law
enforcement without incident in nearby Martin County. The AK-47 was
found near the bushes where the initial encounter occurred, authorities
said.
The FBI and the Secret Service said they are investigating the incident as an assassination attempt on Trump.
Authorities had not officially identified the suspect by late Sunday
evening but multiple news agencies reported that law enforcement sources
identified the man as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
Routh reportedly lived in North Carolina for most of his life before
moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018 and he and his son operated a company
building sheds, the Associated Press reported.
Routh posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a
website on which he tried to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to
the country to join the fight against the Russian invasion.
The New York Times reported
its reporters interviewed Routh last year during a story on Americans
seeking to join Ukraine's fight against Russia. Routh reportedly told
the paper he was trying to recruit former Afghan soldiers to fight in
Ukraine.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s
such a corrupt country,” he was quoted by the Times as saying last
year.
NBC News reported
Rouse faced as many as 100 criminal charges over the years in North
Carolina, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction, a
machine gun.
Routh also made a post in June 2020, on the social media platform X,
suggesting then-President Trump could win reelection by issuing an
executive order directing the Justice Department to prosecute police
misconduct and another in support of the Democratic presidential
campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
However, in recent years, his posts appear to have soured on Trump
and expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala
Harris, the wire service reported.
Voter registration records show he registered as an unaffiliated
voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in-person during
the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024.
Routh also made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019
using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that
supports Democratic candidates, according to the federal campaign
finance records reviewed by the Associated Press.
Trump told his supporters he was fine and thanked Secret Service
agents for their quick actions while making clear he would not recoil
from the campaign trail, even after a second attempt on his life.
"My resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life!" he
wrote in an email to supporters Sunday evening. "I will never slow down.
I will never give up. I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"
Across the country, leaders on both sides of the political aisle called for an end to acrimony and political violence.
"I am relieved that the former President is unharmed. There is an
active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more
details about what happened," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
"As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or
for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to
continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability
and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s
continued safety.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer credited quick action
from agents for saving Trump's life and echoed Biden's calls for more
civility.
"Incredibly thankful for the brave Secret Service agents and local
law enforcement members in Florida who acted swiftly today to protect
President Trump," Comer wrote on X. "While details regarding this second
assassination attempt come forward, Republicans and Democrats must
stand together united against extremism and political violence of any
kind. There is no place for these kind of actions in our great country."
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, expected to become
the next governor of his state, urged the news media to do more to lower
the temperature of political rhetoric in America.
"Our former
President, and likely next President — Donald Trump — has now survived
two attempts on his life. All of the vile and violence-inciting
rhetoric against him and anyone else — for that matter — must end,"
Morrisey wrote.
"The media has a duty to call out politicians and advocates who fan
the flames of violence. As West Virginia’s next Governor, I will be a
staunch advocate for free speech but will never be afraid to call out
the haters who want to employ violent means to achieve their ends," he
added.
