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The Barbarians Are Here: Two Terrorists Caught on US Soil

June 09, 2017
Outside Source

Contributor

Thursday the New York Times reported that a Bronx man from Lebanon documented security protocols at Kennedy International Airport in New York in preparation for potential attacks. The man, Ali Kourani, a 32-year-old naturalized citizen from Lebanon, told the F.B.I. in a series of interviews that he believed he had been recruited to join Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization as part of an effort to develop “sleepers” who lived ostensibly normal lives but could be “activated and tasked” with conducting operations, the criminal complaint said.

Erick Stakelbeck, host of The Watchmen With Erick Stakelbeck on TBN, joined The Glenn Beck Program on Friday for an update on this and another terrorist caught on U.S. soil.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

MIKE: I'm happy one of my former Blaze colleagues is joining me on the phone right now, especially since we haven't covered the topics he covers enough because we've all been focused with Comey 2017. You know Eric maybe from the early days of TheBlaze and TheBlaze TV back when it was GB TV, he can was around. But now he's around at TBN and the director of Christians united Israel's Watchman project. Eric, welcome back to the program. We miss you here.

ERIC: Always great to catch you with you guys again.

MIKE: Well, you know, it's your old home. So it's one of those places if you have to go there, we have to let you in. Those are the rules.

ERIC: And I don't have to pay. It's free.

MIKE: That's good. That's true. You should follow Eric on Twitter because he's posting things that the mainstream news seems to forget about and avoid. And, you know, for people that don't know about the watch man prom that's on Friday nights, new episodes on Friday nights at 10:30, what's the elevator pitch to explain it to us?

ERIC: Yeah, you know, The Watchman is based -- four times a year, Mike, we're in Israel, we're on the ground. The elevator pitch is really the on the ground perspective from the Middle East, from the heart of it all that you're not getting here in the mainstream media. We're showing you the truth of what's going on in the Middle East. We're based in Jerusalem for a good chunk of the year and also in DC, and we're bringing not only the hot stories about the security threats, Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Iran, that affect not only Israel but America. Affect everyone in our country. Not only that, encouraging, uplifting stories that are happening right now in the Holy Land that people aren't hearing about. So we're having a lot of fun.

MIKE: Well, the like the fact that there's uplifting information mixed in with the scary stuff because we need a little bit of that. But speaking of scary stuff, Eric. I'm following you today, and I'm happy that you're available because I said I have to talk to Eric about this. You tweeted less than an hour ago arrest of two Hezbollah operatives of U.S. soil. On U.S. soil. What's going on?

ERIC: My big deal here is everyone wants to focus on James Comey, obviously, but this is a huge deal to my mind because I believe that Hezbollah is really the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. And they're not just a terror group. This is a terrorist military. Well trained, well funded by Iran. And, look, two Hezbollah operatives as you said right here on U.S. soil. One based in Dearborn, Michigan which has the largest Arab population in the United States. Dearborn just outside of Detroit. And another man arrested in the Bronx, New York. And, Mike, what they wanted to do were allegedly scouting out terror targets right here on U.S. soil. The one Hezbollah operative was scouting out JFK international airport in New York. Another had paid a trip to Panama, was looking at the Panama canal and looking at U.S. and Israeli targets there.

So, look, this, to me, this is a step up in what Hezbollah is doing. We know they're embroiled in the Syrian civil war. Hezbollah has a major presence there. We know they're perched on the Syrian border with some 150,000, imagine that, rockets and missiles aimed at every inch of Israel. But, yes, this shows that Hezbollah has a presence right here on American soil. And people need to know that Hezbollah has more American blood on its hands than any other terrorist organization, other than al-Qaeda. Besides al-Qaeda, it's Hezbollah that's killed more Americans than any other terror group. Look no further than the 1983 marine barracks bombings. 243 U.S. Marines killed.

MIKE: Absolutely. Eric Stakelbeck is joining us. Jeez. I got a chill when you said the Bronx man associated with Hezbollah picked up scouting JFK. And I looked at it, and I thought, you know, somebody's going to say you're just a bunch of antiMuslim conspiracy nuts. Well, the story's in The New York Times, people. The New York freaking times. It's not conspiracy. This is the real deal. We have been fortunate. Fortunate not to have the kind of attacks that the European Community has had over the last couple of weeks. Although, you know, you can look at Orlando, you can look at San Bernardino, you can look at Ohio. You can look at all of the small attacks and say we're lucky it hasn't spread any further. But if someone's looking at the Panama canal and someone's looking at JFK, guess what they're doing, people? They're looking at transportation. They're looking at shutting down significant commercial transportation, which is what the Panama canal would do if it were attacked and JFK. Can you imagine a bigger trophy than to attack an airport with the initials JFK? I'm a little nervous, Eric. I'm a little nervous today.

ERIC: I'm ruining your weekend. No, in all seriousness, though, Mike. People need to remember here that Hezbollah is -- what makes them so dangerous is that they are funded, supported, armed, and trained by Iran.

MIKE: Thank you.

ERIC: They have a state, a powerful country behind them. That's a big deal. Hezbollah was created by Iran. To this day funded, armed as I said. And, look, this shows you the true face of the Iranian regime. Right now under the Obama administration, you probably would have not heard much about these arrests, and they would have pooh-poohed it and tried to ignore it. But we hope -- we're hoping that it's a new day now with a new administration that's taking a tougher line against Iran, and I think the big picture here, Mike, is that, yes, ISIS serious threat. Absolutely. They're here. The barbarians are here. Make no mistake about it in western Europe and the U.S. to a lesser degree, but they're here.

MIKE: Well, I have to say a quick moment of thank god that the men and women of our intelligence divisions, all the different intelligence groups and our first responders are tracking these people. And unlike we saw in London where they knew about them but did nothing, we're at least watching and apprehending and hopefully continue to prevent. Eric, before I let you out of here, you and I talked about this earlier in another place. What's your take on whether or not we will get the embassy, the American embassy and Israel moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

ERIC: Mike, great question. I think it eventually will be moved. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I and many others were disappointed when the embassy was not moved last month. I think right now that President Trump is giving a shot at number one, seeing if peace is possible between Israel and the Palestinians. Number two, I think that king Abdullah from Jordan, the visit he paid to the White House, that already had a big effect. What President Trump wants to do right now is kind of put together an Arab NATO, I guess you could call it with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the gulf states, Egypt aligned alongside Israel against Iran and ISIS. Will that work? Hopefully that works. In terms of peace between Israel and Palestinians, I think the president's going to be in for a rude awakening because the Palestinians have showed no desire for peace or Israel's right to exist. So signed a six-month waiver not to move the embassy yet. But that was a campaign promise he made time and time again, so I'm sure that the pro Israel community here in the states and the Israeli government will really be holding him to that, and I think he will eventually move it.

MIKE: Well, the Christians, the evangelicals, as well as I would hope American Jews would support this and see what happens. Tonight 10:30 on TBN. Eric has The Watchman, and you have to watch The Watchman. Thank you, my friend. Hope to see you in person soon.

ERIC: I would love to, Mike. Take care.

MIKE: He's one of the good ones. Follow him on Twitter.

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

  Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor | Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

  

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

   USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

   Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

 

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.