Iran Hacks Casino

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

On Thursday James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Clapper confirmed that Iran hacked Sheldon Adelson's computer system at the Sands Casino Corporation.

Casino computers were non-functioning for several hours.

Adelson is a huge republican supporter and a very big donor to Israel. Actually, he is one of the largest contributors to Israel in the world.

A cyber attack against his hotel, the Sands Casino, is a major attack against a US company. Put this attack together with the North Korean attack on Sony and we see that nations are searching out and striking at US commercial interests - not just at military or governmental interests.

Iran is has become a real powerhouse in cyber hacking. They are certainly in the top ten and maybe even in the top 5 in the world of hacking. The United States, Russia, China, Israel, are the other nations in that league.

When it comes to cyber warfare, I ran is a force to be reckoned with. Beware of more Iranian hacks.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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New ISIS Video

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The newest ISIS video is five minutes long and it shows members destroying ancient archeological treasures. The video was shot in the Mosul museum. Bearded men with drills and sledge hammers are seen destroying priceless antiquities.

In five minutes we learn exactly what ISIS thinks of ancient history and of other cultures. This is their portrayal of themselves - not someone else with their own biases, analysis or interpretation. ISIS wants everyone to understand that they reject history and culture.

An essential and fascinating side bar to this is that a significant percentage of the ISIS annual budget comes from the sale of antiquities. It is unclear exactly the sum that ISIS earns. But it is certainly in the 10's of millions. Collectors have commissioned their intermediaries to negotiate with ISIS on archeological relics.

It is ironic that, on the one hand, ISIS hates these pagan symbols and destroys them. And on the other hand, they are unearthing new finds and raiding museums and sites to capitalize on the monetary benefit of the pieces.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Kings Meet

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday The King of Jordan travelled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to meet their new king, King Salman.

This is an extremely important meeting. Both Jordan and Saudi Arabia are part of the coalition against ISIS. Both have strong relations with the United States.

More than anything else, both monarchies are in the cross hairs of

ISIS. Both know that ISIS wants to take over their kingdoms. And both kings know that there are already individual people and organized groups inside each of their countries who are affiliated with ISIS and with al Qaeda.

I would bet that these two kings agreed to increase their cooperation against ISIS even outside the coalition and to step up and strike ISIS and al Qaeda and to support one another and share information.

Fighting ISIS is a battle of survival. Abdullah and Salman know that very well. In order for their reigns to survive they must defeat ISIS.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Spain Breaks Up ISIS Recruitment Ring

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
As part of an ongoing attempt to crack down on ISIS recruitment at its roots, Spain arrested a
recruitment ring on Tuesday.

The ring was dedicated to recruiting young women into ISIS. Four
recruiters were arrested and all of them were women.

This is a huge success - but it is still only the tip of the iceberg.

Europe needs to find these recruiters and the websites they use as recruitment tools. The stakes here are very high.

It is not simply that recruits go off and fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq. It is that they return home with training and the motivation to strike targets in Europe - and there is almost no defense against them.

In the long run, the best way to protect the homeland is to make certain recruits never get recruited. This is not about economic and social issues - an improvement in those areas will not change the minds of highly motivated would-be recruits.

The only way to prevent local Europeans, or Americans or Asians for that matter, from running into the arms of ISIS is to arrest them.

And then shut down the systems of broadcast that they found so enticing

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Will Egypt Attack Gaza

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I was not surprised to see a piece in the Hebrew press about Gaza and Egypt.

Salah Bardawil, a senior figure of Hamas in Gaza, was quoted as showing real concern that Egypt might launch attacks in Gaza after it recently bombed ISIS targets in Libya.

There is no doubt that Egypt is thinking about crossing their border and entering Gaza and using helicopter gunships and fighter jets to strike targets responsible for terror attacks in Egypt that were planned and supported and inspired in Gaza.

At this moment Egypt might cross into Gaza while in hot pursuit. But as of now I do not think it probable that Egypt will strike Gaza in any way.

But as the situation is in flux , Egypt might feel the need to strike Gaza to emphasize the point that they must control their terrorists.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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ISIS Is Not Hurting

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
Reuters recently ran an insightful piece about how Europe is beginning to crack down and stem the flow of Europeans into ISIS.

New laws preventing citizens suspected of interacting with ISIS from returning home and the seizing of travel documents of anyone suspected of ISIS activity are now in effect. It is an attempt to strangle the constant stream of European recruits into ISIS.

ISIS has responded by saying that now, most of their recruits are no longer coming from Europe.
"Now most of the (foreign) fighters are coming from Asian countries, like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
They are tough fighters," said an official who was quoted by Reuters.

Another official said that at first people did not take ISIS and their recruits seriously. That was a big mistake. He said, "At first these countries took us lightly, they thought the fighters will come here and die. But what they did not see coming was that they get trained and also started to contact their friends and relatives to join."

It is true that recruits are flocking to ISIS from all over the world and especially from the Far East. There has also been an influx of recruits from Libya and Egypt.

ISIS is not suffering for lack of money or manpower.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Turkey Launches Raid in Syria

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

There have been reports that ISIS has moved significant numbers of fighters into Turkey. The fighters are in Turkey as sleepers and they will strike when ready.

At the same time, Turkey has been guarding the tomb of its founder's grandfather, Suleiman Shah, which is located in Syria about 25 miles from the Turkish border. The tomb is in Kobani in the Aleppo province and has been the site of huge battles between ISIS and the Kurds as well as the target of airstrikes by the United States and her coalition partners.

Forty five Turkish soldiers protect the tomb.

Last night Turkey launched an operation to transfer the tomb into Turkey. One soldier was killed in the action. The Turks say that the death was not a result of fighting or of defending the tomb, but an accident that took place during the night time move.

Despite Turkey's reluctance we are going to see many more operations by Turkey and Jordan into Syria and Iraq.

Turkey and Jordan will be the boots of the coalition on the ground.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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3 London Girls Run Away to ISIS

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

London police and airport police are trying to figure out how three teenage girls boarded a plane at Gatwick, one of the two international airlines servicing London, en route to Turkey to join the fight for ISIS.

The girls never told their parents of their plans.

All three girls lived in East London. They boarded a Turkish Air flight to Istanbul. From there the trail runs cold, but it is assumed that their recruiters arranged for a pickup at the airport and from there they made their way across the Syrian border.

London is hoping to reach out to concerned people in the region of Turkey and Syria to give them information about the girls. Then they will try to reach out and convince the teenagers to return home.

Of course this is a total hoax.

A recently released report tells us ISIS executed 125 Europeans and other foreign fighters who wanted to return to their homes.

Whatever these girls are thinking, whatever they were hoping for, they are in for a very rude awakening.


Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Islam Is Not Like Christianity

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I have been paying very close attention to the speeches he has made and the statements he has given and I now understand how President Obama has come to his conclusions about violent extremism.

President Obama, like many other Americans, thinks that Islam is a religion like Christianity.
Islam is a religion like Judaism, Islam is not at all like Christianity.

Christianity is a faith based religion. Belief is everything. And belief is the emphasis in what is called Pauline Christianity. Paul ridiculed the Jews for adhering to precepts and laws.
Islam, like Judaism, has essential beliefs but their world revolves around a set of laws. Their world revolves around codes of behavior and those codes dictate actions.

In Arabic there is no real word for "religion." The most commonly used word is "din." Din means to comply with Sharia law. It is also used to describe Christians prayer. The word comes from the Zoroastrian Persian.

Interestingly, in Hebrew, too, the word din means law and for the very same reason. Like in Arabic, there is no Hebrew word for religion. Hebrew borrows a different word from Persian to describe religion, that word is "dat."

Islam cannot be compared to Christianity at all. There is no such thing as the secular in Islam. One cannot even say hello or goodbye in proper Arabic or respond to any greeting without invoking the name of Allah.

The West needs to understand this.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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New Stuxnet Worm Attacking Iran

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Kaspersky, the Russian cyber security firm, announced that a new set of malware and worms are spreading. The new malicious software is infecting computers in the Middle East - especially in Iran.

Kaspersky says that this set of malware and worms is very similar to Stuxnet.

Several years ago Stuxnet was one of the most vicious worms to invade Iran. It took over their nuclear program and infected almost all computers connected to the development of nuclear technology.

A spokeswoman for Iran said about this latest danger: "The Islamic Republic of Iran pays great attention to this matter because we are one of the targets of (cyber) espionage."

The word on the street is that Israel and the United States have been guilty of creating several waves of these computer viruses. Stuxnet is, according to these rumors, just one example.

We are now entering another stage. It remains to be seen who becomes infected and who spread the virus.




 
Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Help ISIS-- Get Them a Job

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
At first, I believed State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf's interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC to be too inane to be taken seriously. Now, on further reflection - and given the fact that there has been no back peddling by the Adminsitration, I realize how serious she really was.

In response to questions about ISIS and whether the Administatin has a plan for dealing with ISIS,
Harf responded:

"We cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war," Harf said. "We need, in the longer term - medium and longer term - to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups --  whether it's lack of opportunity for jobs."
"We can work with other countries around the world to help improve their governance," Harf said. "We can help them build their economies so they can have job opportunities for these people."

Many members of the press skewered Harf. Her responses were anything but realistic. They gave a sense that Washington has no idea of what ISIS really is or how to deal with them.
And yet, I still expected that someone in the inner circles of Washington would have the presence of mind to stand up and say that simply getting a better economy will not change ISIS' POV.

Bottom line: I was not shocked by the comments made by Marie Harf nor by the way the press ridiculed her. I was shocked that the Administration has not clarified the points Harf made in her name.

That means they agree. And that is truly frightening, because no amount of leadership training or economic development will transform ISIS. No amount. Not ever.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Germany Tries 93 Yr Old for Holocaust

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

In Germany yesterday a 93 year old was indicted on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder. His name has not been released.

The history is clear. The man was a German guard in the horrific
Nazi death camp Auschwitz which is situated in Southern Poland.

Interestingly, the man does not deny being an Auschwitz guard. His defense is that he was stationed in the camp known as Auschwitz I.

The prosecution agrees. However, they also say that this man, despite being stationed in Auschwitz I, was integrally connected to the selection process which took place at Auschwitz II aka, the infamous Birkenau.

Selection took place immediately upon arrival in Auschwitz II. That is when and where Jews were directed to life or death.

The massive Nazi murder machine with all of its apparatus was in Birkenau - but it was still a part of Auschwitz, as were dozens of smaller camps.

Claiming that he was in one camp instead of another is hardly a defense. Auschwitz was the nerve center of the labyrinth of camps.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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France Arrests 5 Boys for Destroying 300 Jewish Graves

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
In France, five teenage boys were arrested for destroying 300 Jewish graves and the Holocaust memorial in a cemetery in the Alsace region.

The country was shocked by the blatant horrific act of anti-Semitism. Leaders and media decried the vandalism as barbaric and anti-French. They called it an assault on all of France.

The response of his countrymen had an impact on the youngest of the vandals. He told a friend what he had done and the friend urged him to come forward and admit to his crime.

Prosecutors say the boys claim there was no reason for their acts of vandalism or no anti- Semitic motive behind it. This is very hard to believe given the extent of the destruction. 300 graves plus a memorial. The graves included a substantial number of mausoleums.

It takes significant force and energy to destroy these buildings.

This was not a simple boyhood prank.


 Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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