UPDATE: Allegation that Co-Pilot of Germanwings Catastrophic Crash was a Recent Islamic Convert Under Fire

pilotBy John Nelson. The author of the German source suggesting that the Germanwings co-pilot was a recent Muslim convert is Michael Manhiemmer. He writes for a blog called “German PI-News.” PI stands for “politically incorrect.” It appears the only news sites carrying the possibility of him being a Muslim convert are disseminating Manhiemmer’s original piece. There are also some other websites like the Gateway Pundit that are disseminating a Facebook fan page with an ISIS theme which are also of questionable sources. The Gateway Pundit screenshot revealed that the page had only been setup an hour before Facebook removed it. It too appears to be a hoax as no terror organizations have stepped up to take credit for the crash.

The German and French authorities whom have searched the premises of the Lubitz Household have revealed two doctor notes telling him not to go to work and prescription drugs consistent with mental illness. His ex-girlfriend also revealed his mental illness and suggested that Lubitz would do something that would change the airline industries forever. The New York Post is also saying that his ex-girlfriend had told Andreas Lubitz that she was also pregnant and likely carrying his baby. Other theories, of which there are numerous, suggest that he knew his flying career was over as soon as his company knew of his mental state (7). She had also revealed that he was disgruntled over pay with the value airline company, and Lubitz knew because of his psychological condition that he could never operate a long range flying aircraft.

As it stands, the potential for him being a Muslim-convert is very remote as nothing totally conclusive has been released to make firm that case. Furthermore, all the major indications are leaning towards him not being Muslim, and being mentally ill. That isn’t to mean that one should draw an unfair parallel between those ideas, but rather observe the potential for inexplicable acts of vengeance regardless of how they originate. Additionally, Lubitz was able to hide his medical information from his employer for years as he passed the airline psychological testing, and never informed his employer of his existing medical condition. Subsequently, the recent absense from his work appears to be the result of him receiving medical treatment for his eyes, and possibily time taken off for “burnout syndrome,” which sounds a kin to a nervous breakdown. At present, reports that anti-depression medication were found to be in his home.

It could be noted that people who are depressed don’t normally commit mass murder. However, given that his dreams of flying were likely to cease, previous existing conditions regarding his mental state, and girlfriend potentially being pregnant, this confluence of problems likely pushed him over the edge. What has become more clear is there is not anything consistent with an ideological or religious motive lending a terrorist label to be appropriate. Mass-Murder and homocide by means of suicide appear to be the most likely explanation.

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German PI-News: Co-Pilot Was a Recent Muslim Convert

By Speisa. According to Michael Mannheimer, a writer for German PI-News, Germany now has its own 9/11, thanks to the convert to Islam, [the plane’s co-pilot] Andreas Lubitz.

Translation from German:

All evidence indicates that the copilot of Airbus machine in his six-months break during his training as a pilot in Germanwings, converted to Islam and subsequently either by the order of “radical”, ie. devout Muslims , or received the order from the book of terror, the Quran, on his own accord decided to carry out this mass murder. As a radical mosque in Bremen is in the center of the investigation, in which the convert was staying often, it can be assumed that he – as Mohammed Atta, in the attack against New York – received his instructions directly from the immediate vicinity of the mosque.

Converts are the most important weapon of Islam, because their resume do not suggest that they often are particularly violent Muslims. Thus, Germany now has its own 9/11, but in a reduced form. And so it is clear that Islam is a terrorist organization that are in accordance with §129a of the Criminal Code to prohibit it and to investigate its followers. But nothing will happen. One can bet that the apologists (media, politics, “Islamic Scholars”) will agree to assign this an act of a “mentally unstable” man, and you can bet that now, once again the mantra of how supposedly peaceful Islam is will continue. And worse still, the attacks by the left against those who have always warned against Islam, will be angrier and merciless . . .

Hopefully we’ll know in a few days if this article is accurate. (Read more from “Co-Pilot of Germanwings Crash Was Recent Islamic Convert” HERE)

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Germanwings Crash: What We Know About the Flight’s Harrowing Final 10 Minutes

By Olivia Smith. Here’s a breakdown of what we know about Flight 9525’s last moments, based on information released by authorities:

At 10:30 a.m., the plane is flying at 38,000 feet.

At some point around this time, the pilot is heard asking the co-pilot to take over the controls. A chair is heard moving and a door is heard closing.

At 10:31 a.m., the plane starts losing altitude.

The co-pilot is alone at the controls, and the accelerated descent is made manually. The pilot is heard knocking on the door and asking over the speaker to enter the cockpit. There is no response from the co-pilot. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Germanwings Captain Tried to Break into Locked Cockpit Door ‘with an Axe’ as Plane Was Descending

German WingsBy Heather Saul. The captain of the doomed Germanwings plane reportedly used an axe to break down the cockpit door in the final moments before his co-pilot “intentionally” descended the plane, German media has suggested.

Evidence from the cockpit voice recorder suggested the captain of the Airbus A320, who The Independent understands is named Patrick Sondenheimer, left the flightdeck mid-journey, presumably to go to the toilet. Prosecutors say he returned to find his co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had barricaded himself inside and had sent the plane into descent over the French Alps.

French investigators said the captain can be heard asking “several times” for access after identifying himself, but received no response. He then banged on the door before trying to forcefully gain entry, with one investigator telling The New York Times: “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.” (Read more from “Germanwings Captain Tried to Break into Locked Cockpit Door ‘with an Axe’ as Plane Was Descending” HERE)

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Germanwings Crash Co-Pilot Hid Illness from Airline

By Celine Jankowiak with Deborah Cole in Berlin. The Germanwings co-pilot who crashed his Airbus into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard, hid a serious illness from the airline, prosecutors said Friday amid reports he was severely depressed. [Problem with this story line: depressed individuals generally don’t commit mass murder]

The black box voice recorder indicates that Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked his captain out of the cockpit on Tuesday and deliberately flew Flight 4U 9525 into a mountainside, French officials say, in what appears to have been a case of suicide and mass murder.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that all the signs were “pointing towards an act that we can’t describe: criminal, crazy, suicidal”.

German prosecutors revealed that searches of Lubitz’s homes netted “medical documents that suggest an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment”, including “torn-up and current sick leave notes, among them one covering the day of the crash”.

They did not specify the illness. (Read more from this story HERE)

[For reports in the German press that the co-pilot was a recent Muslim convert, click HERE]

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Tunisian Town near ‘Star Wars’ Backdrop Now Features in Battle Against ISIS

Star WarsThe desert and dun-colored cliffs around the town of Tataouine were once the backdrop for the movie “Star Wars,” much of which was filmed in this neglected corner of Tunisia in 1976. This struggling town on the fringes of the Sahara still draws a few fans of the movie but now finds itself part of a real conflict, as a way-station for jihadists crossing the Libyan border 60 miles to the east.

Earlier this month, before the gun attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis, three young men were arrested here as they allegedly made plans to cross into Libya to join a terrorist network. A local official told CNN they had since been taken to Tunis for questioning.

Two arms caches have also been found in the region this month, one of which included rocket-propelled grenade launchers and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, thought to have been removed from a Libyan armory in the aftermath of Moammar Gadhafi’s ouster in 2011.

Driving near the border, it’s quickly obvious why the Tunisian government is so anxious about Libya’s implosion and the emergence there of an ISIS affiliate whose tentacles stretch half-way across the country. This open space is vast and sparsely populated. Smugglers’ tracks criss-cross the endless scrub and steep, arid hills that run along the border. Gasoline, drugs and other contraband have long been smuggled across the frontier.

Near the town of Remada, south of Tataouine, a couple of soldiers manned a checkpoint. They wore protective jackets — whether for show or because of the perceived threat from Islamist militants, it’s hard to know. When we arrived, passports were requested and phone calls made. We were escorted into the town and politely but firmly told we could go no further without written authorization. (Read more from “Tunisian Town near ‘Star Wars’ Backdrop Now Features in Battle Against ISIS” HERE)

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Russia’s Return to Nicaragua Worrying Many in Central America, Washington

Photo Credit: McClatchy DC

Photo Credit: McClatchy DC

Russia is rekindling its once-strong ties to Nicaragua, possibly including providing the Central American nation with jet fighters, stoking unease as far away as the Andes in South America.

Later this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Nicaragua as part of a swing through four Latin American nations, the culmination to a series of high-level Russian visits to this Central American nation in the past year. Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid a two-day visit, and in January the head of Russia’s upper house of Parliament arrived. Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited in June.

The rumored provision of the Russian jet fighters to Nicaragua has spawned fears of an arms race in Central America and once again made Nicaragua a bit player in the geopolitical to-and-fro between Washington and Moscow.

The chief spokesman for the Sandinista Front on international matters, National Assembly Deputy Jacinto Suárez, defended the possible acquisition of the fighter planes on Thursday and said Nicaragua’s relations with Russia have taken “a qualitative leap.”

“Everyone has the right to defend their national sovereignty. Why should anyone feel threatened by this?” Suárez said at a news conference, declining to confirm whether Nicaragua would obtain the aircraft and adding that they might come as a donation rather than a purchase. (Read more from “Russia’s Return to Nicaragua Worrying Many in Central America” HERE)

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Russia Continues Aggressive Stance, Demands Removal of American Nuclear Weapons from Europe

VPBy Newsmax. Russia called for a ban on American nuclear weapons in parts of Europe, saying the U.S. is breaking an international agreement by holding joint nuclear training missions with NATO allies that don’t possess such weapons.

Using ships and airfields as well as training crews from non-nuclear states from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in such exercises is “in direct contradiction to the letter and spirit” of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement on its website. (Read more from “Russia: US Must Remove Its Nuclear Weapons from Europe” HERE)

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Vladimir Putin’s ‘Night Wolves’ Biker Gang Storms Ukraine

By Mary Chastain. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biker gang, the Night Wolves, is causing a ruckus in east Ukraine as it lends a hand to the pro-Russian rebels and Russian soldiers.

“My love for my homeland, for my territory, is my life,” announced Vitali, the leader of the east Ukraine branch.

The Night Wolves originated in Russia in 1983 and is very close to Putin, who even rode with them during a bike festival in August 2011.

“I’m a Night Wolf, not a rebel,” claimed Vitali. “I’m just defending my homeland.”

Vitali, who also goes by “Prosecutor,” is based in Lugansk. The headquarters includes “two charred Ukrainian tank turrets” as decoration items at the entrance. He said his men destroyed the tanks “during a battle with government troops” and calls them their “trophies.” The majority of the members in Lugansk are from Ukraine, but some members from Russia leaked in. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Russian Threat Looms: U.S. Air Defense Troops Train Fast Deployment in Poland

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By AP. U.S. air defense troops are training rapid deployment of Patriot missile launchers in Poland amid concerns that the conflict between Russia-backed rebels and government forces in Ukraine is threatening the security in the region.

Some 100 U.S. troops and 30 vehicles from the 7th Air Defense Regiment are practicing with Poland’s troops at a test range in Sochaczew, near Warsaw. The exercise is aimed at showing the U.S. Army’s capacity to deploy Patriot systems rapidly within NATO territory.

Speaking in fluent Polish, U.S. Ambassador Stephen Mull said Saturday that the U.S. is always ready to support Poland in times of need. (Read more from “U.S. Air Defense Troops Train Fast Deployment in Poland” HERE)


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Georgia Guardsmen Train Jordanian Troops amid War with Islamic State

By Jeremy Redmon. Three dozen Georgia National Guardsmen returned this month from a secret mission in the Middle East, where they trained Jordanian troops amid the war against the Islamic State.

The Cumming-based 560th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade trained some of Jordan’s brigade and battalion-level commanders on planning missions and “battle-tracking.”

Jordanian troops — who have joined a coalition of more than 40 nations fighting the Islamic State — could use that training in a number of ways, including defending their borders against the jihadist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Col. Jeff Dickerson, the commander of the 560th, said the Jordanians he worked with were still upset about how Islamic State fighters burned alive a Jordanian military pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. He was captured in December after his plane crashed while he was participating in the U.S.-led air campaign against the Sunni militant group. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Now Booted Out of Yemen, U.S. Is Hobbled in Terror Fight

US YemenBy Eric Schmitt. The evacuation of 125 United States Special Operations advisers from Yemen in the past two days is the latest blow to the Obama administration’s counterterrorism campaign, which is already struggling with significant setbacks in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the volatile region, American officials said Sunday.

The loss of Yemen as a base for American counterterrorism training, advising and intelligence-gathering carries major implications not just there, but throughout a region that officials say poses the most grievous threat to United States global interests and to the country itself.

The rapid rise of the Islamic State has commanded the immediate attention of President Obama and other Western leaders in the past year. But American officials say that Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, which includes the most potent bomb maker in the terrorist world, still poses the most direct threat to Americans at home, abroad or aboard commercial aircraft. Since 2009, the United States has thwarted at least three plots by the group to bring down airliners.

Even after the withdrawal of American troops, the Central Intelligence Agency will still maintain some covert Yemeni agents in the country. Armed drones will carry out some airstrikes from bases in nearby Saudi Arabia or Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, as was done most recently on Feb. 20. Spy satellites will still lurk overhead and eavesdropping planes will try to suck up electronic communications.

But the loss of American personnel on the ground makes any counterterrorism mission far more difficult. (Read more from “Out of Yemen, U.S. Is Hobbled in Terror Fight” HERE)


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Yemen Rebel Leader Vows to Take Fight to Embattled President

By Jane Onyanga-Omara. Yemen’s Shiite rebel leader escalated his attack Sunday against the country’s embattled President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, calling him a “puppet” of the United States and regional powers.

Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, the rebel leader backed by supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, vowed to send fighters into the southern part of the country where Hadi has taken refuge against the rebels, the Associated Press reported.

Al-Houthi said the move is aimed at fighting al-Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as forces loyal to Hadi in the south.

His one-hour fiery speech came hours after his militia seized the country’s third largest city of Taiz, an important station in its advance. He called Hadi a “puppet” to international and regional powers who want to “import the Libyan model” to Yemen. He named the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as conspirators against Yemen. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Increasingly Aggressive Russia Threatens to Aim Nuclear Missiles at Denmark Ships

Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

By Reuters. Russia threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Danish warships if Denmark joins NATO’s missile defense system, in comments Copenhagen called unacceptable and NATO said would not contribute to peace.

Denmark said in August it would contribute radar capacity on some of its warships to the missile shield, which the Western alliance says is designed to protect members from missile launches from countries like Iran.

Moscow opposes the system, arguing that it could reduce the effectiveness of its own nuclear arsenal, leading to a new Cold War-style arms race.

In an interview in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, said he did not think Danes fully understood the consequences of joining the program . . .

Tensions between Moscow and the West have grown since the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia over a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine. NATO has recorded increased activity by the Russian navy and air force in the Nordic region. (Read more from “Russia Threatens to Aim Nuclear Missiles at Denmark Ships If It Joins NATO Shield” HERE)


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EU Pledges to Extend Russian Sanctions, Vote to Come Later

By James G. Neuger and Daryna Krasnolutska. The European Union pledged Friday to prolong sanctions against Russia, pressuring President Vladimir Putin to support a cease-fire in Ukraine that’s straining under violation complaints from both sides.

The commitment to extend the penalties until year-end stopped short of the actual approval sought by hard liners in eastern Europe and left open the possibility that the trade and investment curbs might not be renewed when they expire in July. It followed a call from Ukraine and Germany for new talks on the Feb. 12 cease-fire signed in Minsk, Belarus after Russia accused its neighbor of putting the deal at risk.

“There will be an assessment in June,” French President Francois Hollande told reporters early Friday after the first session of an EU summit in Brussels. “We decided not to rush. We decided not to prejudge.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Nine “Brainwashed” British Medics Enter ISIS Stronghold to Work in Hospitals

ISBy Marga Zambrana, Hazar Aydemir in Istanbul and Emma Graham-Harrison. Nine young British medical students have travelled illegally to Syria and are believed to be working in hospitals in Islamic State-controlled areas, the Observer can reveal. Their families were mounting a desperate effort on Saturday at the Turkish-Syrian border to persuade them to come home.

The group of four women and five men crossed the border last week, apparently keeping their plans secret from relatives until just before entering Syria, when one woman sent her sister a brief message and a smiling selfie.

“We all assume that they are in Tel Abyad now, which is under Isis control. The conflict out there is fierce, so medical help must be needed,” Turkish opposition politician Mehmet Ali Ediboglu told the Observer, shortly after meeting the families.

Photo Credit: The Guardian

Photo Credit: The Guardian

“They have been cheated, brainwashed. That is what I, and their relatives, think.”

Both he and the students’ parents were convinced that the young medics wanted to work with Isis, Ediboglu said, but they were also certain that the group did not plan to take up arms. “Let’s not forget about the fact that they are doctors; they went there to help, not to fight. So this case is a little bit different.” (Read more from “Nine British Medics Enter Isis Stronghold to Work in Hospitals” HERE)


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Nine British Medics Feared to Have Crossed into Syria

By BBC. The group, all in their late teens or early 20s, had been studying medicine in Sudan.

Some of their relatives, who have travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border, told the BBC they were gravely concerned about their welfare.

The medics are believed to have entered Syria more than a week ago.

They have been named as Ismail Hamadoun, Tamer Ahmed Ebu Sebah, Mohammed Osama Bedir, Hisham Muhammed Fadlallah, Sami Ahmed Khader, Nada Sami Khader, Lena Maumoon Abdul Qadir, Rowan Kamal Zine El Abidine and Tasneem Suleyman Huseyin. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Australia a Puzzling Hotbed of Islamic State Recruiting

PoliciaA nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian.

The London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence reports that between 100 and 250 Australians have joined Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria. Given Australia’s vast distance from the region and its population of just 24 million, it is a remarkable number. The center estimates that about 100 fighters came from the United States, which has more than 13 times as many people as Australia.

Experts disagree about why the Islamic State group has been so effective recruiting in Australia, which is widely regarded as a multicultural success story, with an economy in an enviable 24th year of continuous growth.

Possible explanations include that some Australian Muslims are poorly integrated with the rest of the country, and that Islamic State recruiters have given Australia particular attention. In addition, the Australian government failed to keep tabs on some citizens who had been radicalized, and moderate Muslims have been put off by some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s comments about their community.

Greg Barton, a global terrorism expert at Monash University in Melbourne, said Australia and some other countries underestimated Islamic State’s “pull factor.” (Read more from “Australia a Puzzling Hotbed of Islamic State Recruiting” HERE)

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