Kenneth McKenzie

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Terror alert: Commander of the U.S. Central Command says ISIS attacks will ramp up as the summer months approach

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WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Tuesday, March 15th, Fox News reported that General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), said that the Taliban is failing in their efforts to shut down ISIS in Afghanistan.

The CENTCOM commander also stated that due to this, it appears likely that as the summer months draw closer, ISIS terror attacks will increase.

While speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, McKenzie said that even though the Taliban has been “less firm” when it comes to opposing al Qaeda, they have demonstrated a commitment to taking on ISIS, even if it is not enough.

In response to a question from Sen. Angus King (I-ME), McKenzie said:

“The Taliban is attempting to maintain pressure on ISIS. They’re finding it difficult to do so.”

The commander noted that in recent months, ISIS has carried out “some high-profile attacks” in Afghanistan, including in the capital city of Kabul. He added:

“We’re coming out of the winter, traditionally this would now begin the fighting season. It is my expectation that ISIS attacks will ramp up in Afghanistan as we go into the summer.”

While speaking to the Committee, McKenzie did not seem all that confident that the Taliban would stop al Qaeda from being active, saying that he believes “they’re much less firm on the al Qaeda issue as far as opposing them and being able to limit them.”

According to Fox News, the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and its former leader Osama bin Laden prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

After nearly 20-years of war that saw them temporarily removed from power, the Taliban swiftly re-gained control of Afghanistan in August of 2021 after the botched American troops withdrawal.

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During the U.S. withdrawal, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul, causing several casualties, including 13 U.S. service members.

According to a report from USNI News, the U.S. is gathering over-the-horizon intelligence on terrorist activities in Afghanistan, but has not made a strike against ISIS-K and al Qaeda. During his remarks with the Senate Armed Services Committee, McKenzie added that ISIS-K has been re-constituting itself.

He said that current intelligence estimates predict that within 12 to 18 months, the group might be able to attack targets outside Afghanistan.

While the security situation in parts of Afghanistan may have improved since the Taliban takeover in August of 2021, McKenzie said, “I’m not sure it’s a place you want to be.”

In addition to the ISIS-K attacks, the commander cited the Taliban’s continued reprisals against former Afghan government officials and the elimination of opportunities for women and for girls’ education.

The United States does not recognize the Taliban regime as Afghanistan’s government, however, McKenzie said, “there are levers we can apply” to change conditions there.

The Taliban wants international recognition as the legal government and McKenzie said that diplomacy and economic aid could sway its behavior.

According to reports, McKenzie’s comments come months after he had told the House Armed Services Committee in September 2021, that it is “yet to be seen” whether the U.S. can deny al Qaeda and ISIS the ability to use Afghanistan to launch its attacks. At the time he said:

“We could get to that point, but I do not yet have that level of confidence.”

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Biden administration sends $308M to aid Taliban-run Afghanistan, an “initial” contribution for 2022

January 12th, 2022

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN- According to reports, the United States has offered Taliban-controlled Afghanistan $308 million in “humanitarian assistance” as the country continues to struggle after being taken over by the Islamist terrorist organization.

The Democrat-controlled White House has allegedly promised the cash in an effort to end the humanitarian crisis that followed the botched and chaotic U.S. military withdrawal and Taliban takeover in August 2021.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the aid will be delivered through independent humanitarian organizations to help them provide health care, emergency food and water aid, shelter, sanitation and hygiene services, and winterization assistance.

Since the Taliban took over, Afghanistan has experienced economic difficulties. Nearly 80 percent of Afghanistan’s previous government’s budget came from the international community.

That money, now cut off, financed hospitals, schools, factories, and government ministries.

The collective decision to not recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government has complicated aid efforts as organizations and other nations are reluctant to provide financial aid due to concerns it had the potential to fund the Taliban’s violent acts.

The United Nations has reported that 22 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million population are living near famine and an additional 36 percent are facing acute food insecurity.

The United Nations 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan, unveiled on Tuesday, January 11th, found that the country requires $4.4 billion in funding, the largest humanitarian appeal ever launched for a country.

Terror alert: Commander of the U.S. Central Command says ISIS attacks will ramp up as the summer months approach

Since the Taliban takeover, the U.S. has now given more than $780 million in humanitarian aid to the former ally.

The AP added that alongside this financial commitment, President Joe Biden’s White House has sent 3.3 million coronavirus vaccinations to Afghanistan, with another million pledged to be sent.

The decision by the U.S. and the international community to not recognize the Taliban government, which governed with a strict interpretation of Islamic law when it was in control from 1996 to 2001, has created a quandary for Western powers about how to provide enough aid without giving the Taliban legitimacy.

Allegedly, they hope that by giving money directly to independent aid organizations they will be able to keep it out of the hands of the Taliban.

The Taliban have called on the international community to release funds and help stave off a humanitarian disaster.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and counterterrorism, said it was in U.S. and allies’ interest to ease Afghans’ suffering. He said in a statement:

“The United States of America has a moral obligation to prevent avoidable suffering and a national security imperative to do what we can to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Even as the aid flowed, reports have surfaced of a return of public executions, torture of those branded as opposition, return to the severe oppression of women and Sharia Law, in Afghanistan.

Due to the rapid and sudden nature of the American military withdrawal, the legitimate government of Afghanistan fled and millions of Afghanistan’s people have been displaced, with many traveling abroad, sacrificing whatever stability they had for a new life free of the Taliban.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) described the $308 million as the government’s “initial” 2022 contribution. On Tuesday, January 11th, in a statement announcing the new aid, USAID said:

“President [Joe] Biden has been clear that humanitarian assistance will continue to flow directly to the Afghan people and the United States remains the single largest provider of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.”

The statement added:

“The United States continues to urge the Taliban to allow unhindered humanitarian access, safe conditions for humanitarians, independent provision of assistance to all vulnerable people, and freedom of movement for aid workers of all genders.”

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Report: Biden administration financially supporting Palestinian program that pays families of terrorists

January 11th, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C.- A report by Maurice Hirsch at the Palestinian Media Watch charges that Biden is funding the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” program, which is allegedly funding for terrorists or their families when they kill innocent people and are caught or killed, by a back door that circumvents federal law.

According to the report:

“While the U.S. administration is prevented from providing direct aid to the PA, according to PA Minister of Finance Shukri Bishar’s adviser Stephan Salameh, for 2022 the U.S. has promised at least $225 million worth of financial aid to the Palestinians.”

Direct aid is prohibited by the Taylor Force Act.

Force was a West Point graduate and veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist while walking along the promenade in Tel Aviv.

The report stated that the terrorist was killed at the scene, before he could murder other innocent people.

The report added:

“To this day, the Palestinian Authority pays a monthly allowance for life to the family of Taylor’s murderer, simply because the terrorist was killed during his murderous terror attack.”

Allegedly, millions of dollars more, every month, are paid by the PA to “terrorist prisoners, released terrorists, wounded terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists,” and this is known as the PA’s “pay-for-slay” program.

In 2018, Congress adopted the Taylor Force Act, banning the Economic Support Fund help, which is the largest section of U.S. funding to the PA.

The law reportedly conditioned ESF help on the end of that.

However, the PA has continued spending hundreds of millions of dollars on “terror rewards,” including more than $32,000 to the family of the killer of Force.

Terror alert: Commander of the U.S. Central Command says ISIS attacks will ramp up as the summer months approach

According to the report, the U.S. cannot provide direct aid to the PA, however, Salameh confirmed that the U.S. has still promised $225 million in help.

Salameh explained that the money will be “allocated to development projects.”

The report said that this openly violates the spirit of the law because the PA is the recipient of the money and “development projects” is just a euphemism “for projects that the PA needs to fund from its own budget, but will now be funded by the U.S. administration, thereby freeing up the PA’s own funds to continued rewarding terrorists.”

The report added:

“The U.S. administration’s looking for loopholes in order to bypass the TFA desecrates Taylor’s memory.”

The report also stated:

“As Palestinian Media Watch has already reported, the U.S. aid to the Palestinians is limited not only due to TFA.

In addition to TFA, U.S. law from 2014 prevents providing the PA with ESF aid if it initiates ‘an International Criminal Court judicially authorized investigation or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.'”

The report said:

“Since the PA did indeed initiate and is actively supporting such an investigation, the U.S. is clearly prohibited from providing any ESF aid to the Palestinians.”

Taylor Force loyally and proudly served the U.S. He was murdered simply because his murderer thought he was a Jew. Now, directly or indirectly, the U.S. is providing aid and enabling the PA to pay monthly terror rewards to the family of Taylor’s murderer.

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Funding terrorists? Biden administration reportedly wants to release money to the Taliban

December 26th, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC – Recent news reports from Khaama Press, an Afghanistan News Agency, reported that the Biden Administration was considering unfreezing Afghanistan’s financial assets so that they could be accessed by the known terrorist group that overtook the country, the Taliban.

Afghanistan had its assets frozen by the United States when it became clear that the country would fall. The reason was to prevent the Taliban from ever getting access to those funds and potentially funding more terrorist activities.

However, that could all change if a report published by the Khaama Press is at all accurate.

On December 21st, the media group published a report that they had allegedly learned from the BBC that an unnamed United States official reported the Biden Administration is prepared to release at least a portion of the frozen assets.

According to the Khaama Press:

“The [BBC] source has said that the US administration has held a meeting in which easing sanctions on Afghanistan has been discussed in order to allow international aid organizations to deliver humanitarian aids to Afghanistan.”

They note that the news of this supposed release of financial aid comes at the heels of an OIC session on Afghanistan that had ended in Islamabad where it was decided that humanitarian aids would be sent to the country immediately to “prevent the economic collapse of the country.”

They note that the news came as the US Special Representative to Afghanistan, Thomas West, allegedly met in private with the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Motaq, a report that cannot be confirmed.

While this news cannot be independently verified in any manner, it is interesting to note that the State Department spokesman, Ned Price, spoke to reporters about the terrorist country on December 20th. Price said:

“When it comes to humanitarian assistance, the United States is the global leader…We have provided, since August, $208 million alone, we provided nearly $475 million over the course of this year.

We have taken other steps as a government to do what we can to facilitate the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

“We are working with various UN bodies, including the UNDP, to find creative ways that we can infuse not only humanitarian aid but also liquidity into the Afghan economy…Thomas West was recently in Pakistan, where he attended a meeting of the OIC.

And the OIC recently announced in the context of that meeting the establishment of a trust fund, which will provide another important tool to provide money to the people of Afghanistan.”

While providing humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan that are subjected to the violent and bloody rule of the terrorist organization, the Taliban, seems noble… how is it that the United States and other countries plan on ensuring the people, not the terrorists, receive the money?

An even better question would be how does any country that provides financial assistance to the terrorist organization ensure that those funds are not used to fund terrorist activities?

Of course, the questions are rhetorical in nature as they most likely will never be asked by political leaders of any country. However, that has not stopped progressives and Democrats from calling on the Biden Administration to release the funds.

Democratic leaders, Pramila Jayapal, Jamaal Bowman, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Cori Bush authored a letter to Democratic President Joe Biden urging for the release of funds to the terrorist organization.

The letter states in part:

“As you transition into a new phase of our relationship with the country and people of Afghanistan, we stand with American allies and humanitarian experts in urging the United States to avoid harsh economic measures that will directly harm Afghan families and children.

This means conscientiously but urgently modifying current U.S. policy regarding the freeze of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves and ongoing sanctions.”

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Report: Afghan refugees under Biden get free food, housing, $2275, but questionable vetting

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under the Biden administration, thousands of Afghans transported to the United States are receiving free food, housing, and $2,275 in federal aid, along with questionable vetting.

According to the Washington Post, as Afghan refugee families are moved from temporary housing and care on military bases to cities throughout the United States, resettlement agencies are struggling to keep up with the volume of families waiting for permanent housing and additional aid.

 

KTRH NewsRadio reports that the White House has provided a “loose” estimate of 95,000 Afghans total coming into the United States.

The Washington Post notes:

“Federal officials say they are working to spread the evacuees to different parts of the country as they begin to shut down the temporary housing camps at seven military bases that are still home to 34,000 Afghans.

“The process is expected to be completed by mid-February.”

In some areas of the country, Oklahoma for instance, resettled refugees are being offered “free housing” to relocate there.

The Post adds:

“The evacuees are each entitled to receive $2,275 in federal support that is meant to cover housing costs, job training and other expenses over a three-month period once they are matched with a resettlement agency.”

Funding for such expenses is covered nationally by massive dollar amounts earmarked for Afghan refugees.

As we previously reported, Congress has now authorized a total of $13.3 billion for the Biden administration to settle Afghans in the United States.

Other areas of the country are working on additional local funding for Afghan refugees.

For example, according to Breitbart, New York taxpayers will be covering at least $5 million in relocation expenses, after Governor Kathy Hochul (D) earmarked an additional $2 million for that purpose.

 

Also for example, in Oregon, Yahoo News reports that SB5561, passed on December 13, 2021, will “support Afghan individuals and families with housing, education, legal aid, job training and culturally-specific support as they settle in the state.”

The news outlet goes on to note:

“Of that $18 million, $5.25 million has been earmarked for short-term food and shelter, $2.9 million will support case management services, $5.9 million will be for rental assistance and $2.89 million is for immigration and legal services.

“An additional $807,600 will be available for culturally specific assistance and interpretation classes.”

These costly efforts are not without criticism, especially given the question of vetting, or possible lack thereof, of these Afghan refugees.

According to Breitbart, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that “not all” of the thousands of Afghan refugees entering the country have been interviewed by federal law enforcement, even though that is “standard vetting protocol.”

Ira Mehlman, spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, recently told KTRH NewsRadio:

“We need to be concerned about the fact we really don’t know who is has gotten out of Afghanistan. And at the same time, we need to be doubly concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in that country.”

He added:

“We have no idea for the most part who those people are.”

Mehlman continued:

”Most of them no doubt are just decent people who understandably wanted to get out of there. But as we’ve learned at a very high cost, it only takes a few people to cause an awful lot of trouble.”

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton echoed these sentiments.

Noting that the “federal government has not shared its vetting procedures with Texas,” Paxton told Alex Marlow:

“We don’t have any confidence in the Biden administration [to vet Afghan migrants].”

 

He continued:

“When you look at the border and how they’re just inviting people to come across … obviously the cartels are involved in every transaction, because you have to pay them to get across the border….

“We’ve got the Biden administration helping the cartels, helping them import drugs, helping them import COVID into our state, helping them import sex trafficking and other human trafficking…. and yet here we are with the Afghan refugees.”

Paxton went on to say:

“I don’t know that we’ll vet [Afghan refugees] at all. I think it’ll just be whatever the federal government says they’ve done. We won’t really know if it’s true.

“We won’t even know if they’ve done anything, and so, they’ll be dropped wherever the federal government wants to drop them, and they’ll disappear into our society.

“We’ll never know, until something bad happens, if we have a terrorist.”

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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