Video Surfaces Threatening Terrorist “Surprise Package” for the Winter Olympics in Sochi … Are the Olympics Safe from Terrorism?

A new video was posted Sunday on a Chechen terrorist extremist web site threatening terror attacks for the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. The video threatens jihad and that, “We’ll have a surprise package for you,” one of the men said in the militants’ video. “And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise.” This comes on the foot-heals of two terrorist bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd. One was a suicide bombing at a train station killing 14, and the other aboard a trolley bus.

Citing a new “surprise package” for Russia and Olympic spectators, Islamist militants in the North Caucasus Sunday launched a new threat to the Sochi Olympics with a purported “martyrdom” video by two suicide bombers who attacked a transit hub 400 miles away.

The video posted on a Chechen extremist site considered a credible platform for militant statements featured two unidentified men before the black flag of jihad and cradling AKMS rifles.

The duo — dressed in street clothes and without the usual trappings of jihadis — casually explained that Russians and those attending the Winter Games next month will not be safe as long as forces sent by President Vladimir Putin occupy the North Caucasus region near Sochi, Russia.

“We’ll have a surprise package for you,” one of the men said in the militants’ video. “And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise. If it happens [the Olympics], we’ll have a surprise for you. This is for all the Muslim blood that is shed every day around the world, be it in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, all around the world. This will be our revenge.”

VIDEO – CNN

The American Thinker asks, Can the Russians pull off a terror-free Olympics? My personal opinion is I sure hope so; however, I have to agree with TAT, I don’t trust the Russians to be competent enough either. Also, these Muslim, Islamist, Chechen extremists are highly motivated and off the chain insane when it comes to martyrdom in the name of Allah.

I don’t trust the Russians to be competent enough to prevent attacks and protect the Olympics. To me, it’s not a question of “if” but “when” an attack will happen. People are willing to die to make Putin look bad. That does not bode well for the safety of tourists or athletes at the games.

The U.S. State Department today urged Americans traveling to the Winter Olympics in Sochi in southern Russia to be “vigilant and exercise good judgment” during the Games because of the continuing terrorist threat to the region.

The Russian government is devoting considerable resources to ensure the Sochi Olympics are safe and incident-free.  Large-scale public events such as the Olympics present an attractive target for terrorists, as did the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.  Travelers should expect increased police presence and enhanced security measures in and around the Olympic venues.

Acts of terrorism, including bombings and hostage takings, continue to occur in Russia, particularly in the North Caucasus region.  Additionally, between October 15 – December 30, 2013 there were three suicide bombings targeting public transportation in the city of Volgograd, two of which occurred within the same 24-hour period. Other bombings have occurred at Russian government buildings, airports, hotels, tourist sites, markets, entertainment venues, schools, and residential complexes.  There have also been large-scale attacks on public transportation including subways, buses, trains, and scheduled commercial flights.

UPDATE I: Putin pledges stepped up security.

Putin has pledged that visitors to Sochi for the Winter Olympics will be kept safe.

“We will try to make certain that the security measures are not intrusive or too conspicuous, so they are not too noticeable for the athletes, the Olympics’ guests or journalists,” Putin said, according to the interview transcript.

“But at the same time, we will do our utmost to ensure that they are effective.

UPDATE II: Just curious, how in the hell did Sochi actually get awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics when it was in such a terror rich environment? How does the Olympic comity even contemplate a place like this in a hot bed of terrorism as the location for an Olympics?  Sochi is due west of Grozny, Chechnya, and is about a 13 hour drive. Also, the Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which neighbors the Chechnya region in southern Russia. What’s there next pick, Iran, Palestine, how about Syria?

Freelance journalist Ilya Mouzykantskii (@ilyamuz) has put together a map of all terrorist attacks near Sochi since Russia was awarded the Olympic games

Another EPIC FAILURE for Barack Obama: Al Qaeda Takeover of Fallujah in Iraq … Thanks Barack

And the Barack Obama failures keep coming … This one was just as predictable as Obamacare.

Thanks to President Barack Obama and his premature withdrawal of American military forces out of Iraq in 2011, it would appear that the vacuum left is now being sucked up by Al Qaeda affiliates over-running parts of Iraq, including the city of Fallujah. So who did not see this coming when Obama withdrew US troops? Once again Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle East has been 100% wrong.  As The Gateway Pundit reminds us, when George W. Bush left office the War in Iraq was won. Now, just 5 short years later all of the US gains in Iraq have been lost and the Al-Qaeda flag now flies above Fallujah. But I guess Obama and Democrats will attempt to blame this on W as well.

Black-clad Sunni militants of Al Qaeda destroyed the Falluja Police Headquarters and mayor’s office, planted their flag atop other government buildings and decreed the western Iraqi city to be their new independent state on Friday in an escalating threat to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose forces were struggling to retake control late into the night.

The advances by the militants — members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS — came after days of fighting in Falluja, Ramadi and other areas of Anbar Province. The region is a center of Sunni extremism that has grown more intense in reaction to Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad and the neighboring civil war in Syria.

Donald Douglass at American Power is 1000% correct and this Obama failure is going to hurt the United States for many years, decades, “This is specifically a result of the Obama administration’s foreign policy, and it’s going to come back a bite the U.S. and our allies for years to come”.

FOX News: McCain, Graham blast Obama for Al Qaeda-related takeover of Fallujah, call situation ‘predictable’.

Republican senators on Saturday blamed the Obama administration for Al Qaeda affiliates over-running parts of Iraq, including the city of Fallujah, which the United States secured before President Obama removed all U.S. forces from that country in 2011.

Sen. John McCain, Arizona, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, called the recent turn of events “as tragic as they were predictable” and suggested Obama misled Americans into believing that Iraqi leaders wanted U.S. forces out of their country.

“While many Iraqis are responsible for this strategic disaster, the administration cannot escape its share of the blame,” the senators said in a joint statement. “When President Obama withdrew all U.S. forces … over the objections of our military leaders and commanders on the ground, many of us predicted that the vacuum would be filled by America’s enemies and would emerge as a threat to U.S. national security interests. Sadly, that reality is now clearer than ever.”

The Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters took over Fallujah on Friday after a bloody three-day battle, raising their flag over government buildings as a sign of victory, according to The Washington Post.

I really hope that Barack Obama is proud of himself for his ignorant and Pollyanna foreign policy decisions like Iraq where Obama has pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. As stated by the Ace of Spades says, all those “American troops spilled their guts fighting Al Qaeda in Fallujah in 2004.” And with this rank amateur president in office, it now seems all that precious American lives were for nothing.

How is America and the world going to survive three more years of this failed a$$ clown?

Second Suicide Terror Bombing in Less Than 24 Hours in Volgograd Russia Kills 14 People Trolley Bus

Just ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi Russia … What will security be like for the Winter Games?

A second terrorist suicide bomb in Volgograd Russia in less than 24 hours ripped through a trolleybus Monday morning killing 14 and injuring at least 28 people. The bomb detonated in a trolleybus, packed with morning commuters, at about 8:10 a.m. local time and was the second suicide terror attack in less than 24 hours. Just yesterday a suicide bomber at a train station in Volgograd killed at least 14. The latest updated number of deaths fronm the train station is now at 16. As reported at USA Today, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Volgograd, but it came several months after Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov called for attacks against civilian targets in Russia, including the Sochi Games.

VIDEO – CNN

A fatal bomb explosion ripped apart a trolleybus in Volgograd on Monday morning, killing at least 14 people and injuring 28, in the second terrorist attack in the southern Russian city in less than 24 hours.

Several of the wounded, who officials said included a six-month-old infant, are in serious condition.

Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said that investigators believe a male suicide bomber carried out the attack, which he said was linked to another fatal bombing in the city on Sunday afternoon.

Authorities believe the first explosion, which killed 17 people and injured more than 40 at the Volgograd-1 railway station, was also the work of a suicide bomber.

Markin said that remains of both suspected bombers, which were recovered at the scenes, are undergoing DNA testing.

Monday’s blast marks the third such attack in Volgograd in two months, and comes just weeks before Russia is due to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in February in the city of Sochi.

The bomb detonated in a trolleybus, packed with morning commuters, at about 8:10 a.m. (0410 GMT), the Investigative Committee said.

UPDATE I: Successive suicide bombings in Russia kill over 30.

Together more than 30 people were killed in the explosions, putting the city of one million on edge and highlighting the terrorist threat Russia is facing as it prepares to host February’s Winter Games in Sochi, President Vladimir Putin’s pet project. While terrorists may find it hard to get to the tightly guarded Olympic facilities, the bombings have shown they can hit civilian targets elsewhere in Russia with shocking ease.

Volgograd, located about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Sochi, serves as a key transport hub for southern Russia, with numerous bus routes linking it to volatile provinces in Russia’s North Caucasus, where insurgents have been seeking an Islamic state.

NY Times Goes in the the Tank for Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton … Revisionist History Report Says Al-Qaeda Not Linked to Benghazi Attack & Was Fueled by Anti-Islam Video

All hands liberal MSM on deck … its time to shill for Obama and namely protect Hillary Clinton for 2016 … Benghazi-gate, What Benghazi-gate?

The NY Times reported this morning that Al Qaeda was not linked to the Benghazi consulate attack that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Instead, the attack was led by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. However, most astonishingly, the Times was back touting that the attack was “fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.” GOOD GRIEF. Hmm, doesn’t the Times realize that Hillary Clinton is already on record that in September of last year, Clinton suggested the attack was the work of Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda affiliates?

Darrell Issa disputes NY Times Propaganda Piece on Benghazi and tries to educate a bias NBC ‘Meet the Press’ David Gergory

Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.

A fuller accounting of the attacks suggests lessons for the United States that go well beyond Libya. It shows the risks of expecting American aid in a time of desperation to buy durable loyalty, and the difficulty of discerning friends from allies of convenience in a culture shaped by decades of anti-Western sentiment. Both are challenges now hanging over the American involvement in Syria’s civil conflict.

The attack also suggests that, as the threats from local militants around the region have multiplied, an intensive focus on combating Al Qaeda may distract from safeguarding American interests.

In this case, a central figure in the attack was an eccentric, malcontent militia leader, Ahmed Abu Khattala, according to numerous Libyans present at the time. American officials briefed on the American criminal investigation into the killings call him a prime suspect. Mr. Abu Khattala declared openly and often that he placed the United States not far behind Colonel Qaddafi on his list of infidel enemies. But he had no known affiliations with terrorist groups, and he had escaped scrutiny from the 20-person C.I.A. station in Benghazi that was set up to monitor the local situation.

You thought the MSM was in the tank for Obama? You haven’t seen nuthing yet. They will be all-in, all the time for Hillary Clinton from now until the 2016 presidential election. The Libs in the MSM now have to make up for a weakened, scandal plagued, dishonest and untrustworthy lame duck Barack Obama, the lie and disaster that is Obamacare and an anemic economy. So why not start with as Powerline calls it, some revisionist history on Benghazi. It would appear that we have found Hilary’s weak spot and the MSM must now cover it up … but what difference does it make?

The Times stops short of claiming that the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi was “spontaneous.” It says, instead, that the attack was not “meticulously planned.”

That may or may not be true. But the quality of the planning — good enough, as it turned out — seems irrelevant. Again, what matters is that the State Department should have been prepared for the attack and taken action accordingly. This the New York Times does not dispute.

It also matters that the Obama administration’s account of the attack, per Susan Rice, was inaccurate even if one accepts the Times’ dubious reporting. The Times acknowledges this, though it chooses to characterize Rice’s account as just a “misstatement.”

The adequacy or inadequacy of the Obama administration’s response as the Benghazi attacks unfolded also matters. So does the treatment of those in the State Department who have dared to question Hillary Clinton’s actions relating to Benghazi.

Whatever else the Times story demonstrates, I believe it shows that this story won’t go away as long as Hillary Clinton aspires to be president.

UPDATE I: House Intelligence chair, Rep. Mike Rogers, (R-Mich): Benghazi attack ‘Al Qaeda-led event.

The 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya was an “Al Qaeda-led event” according to multiple on-the-record interviews with the head of the House Intelligence Committee who receives regular classified briefings and has access to the raw intelligence to make independent assessments.

“I will tell you this, by witness testimony and a year and a half of interviewing everyone that was in the ground by the way, either by an FBI investigator or the committee: It was very clear to the individuals on the ground that this was an Al Qaeda-led event. And they had pretty fairly descriptive events early on that lead those folks on the ground, doing the fighting, to the conclusion that this was a pre-planned, organized terrorist event,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Fox News in a November interview.

“Not a video, that whole part was debunked time and time again,” Rogers added of the attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Foreign Service officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, “which just leads to questions of why the administration hung with that narrative for so long when all the folks who participated on the ground saw something different.”

National Security Advisor Susan Rice Does ’60 Minutes’ Interview and Calls Blaming Benghazi on the Mohammed Video a ‘False Controversy’ … What Difference Does it Make, Eh?

Susan Rice just did Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton no favors with her ’60 Minutes’ interview … “FALSE CONTROVERSY”!!!

National Security Adviser Susan Rice appeared on ’60 Minutes’ to do an interview with Leslie Stahl and I have no idea why. Rice did nothing but continue the stonewalling on Benghazi. She continued the Hillary Clinton talking points of “what difference does it make” when she said during last nights interview, “I don’t have time to think about a false controversy.” Doesn’t this pretty much sum up the Obama presidency … get caught in a scandal and instead of coming clean, double down and continue to deny it. Then there was that hard hitting piece of the interview where we found out Susan Rice was a mother. Really CBS, really? But then again it is not like ’60 Minutes’ has clean hands.

The American Spectator reminds us that ’60 Minutes’ mislead the public about the cover-up effort on Benghazi-gate and the effort by the Obama administration to blame the attack on anti-Muslim tapes.

CBS – 60 Minutes

Hmm, Susan Rice says Hillary Clinton didn’t do 5 Sunday morning talk shows because she was to busy lying to the families of those killed at the Benghazi consulate. Just the kind of person that we need president, isn’t it?

Susan Rice: I don’t have time to think about a false controversy. In the midst of all of the swirl about things like talking points, the administration’s been working very, very hard across the globe to review our security of our embassies and our facilities. That’s what we ought to be focused on.

Lesley Stahl: But the questions keep coming. When someone heard that I was going to be talking to you they said, “You have to ask her why Hillary Clinton didn’t do the interview that morning.” Did she, did she smell trouble?

Susan Rice: She had just gone through an incredibly painful and stressful week. Secretary Clinton, as our chief diplomat, had to reach out to the families, had to greet the bodies upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base. If I were her, the last thing I would have wanted to do is five Sunday morning talk shows.  So I think it’s perfectly understandable–

Lesley Stahl: So when they asked you –

Susan Rice: So when the White House asked me, I agreed to do it.

Lesley Stahl: Do you ever think, “Gee, I wish I hadn’t done that.” You know, if you hadn’t done that, I’d be calling you Madam Secretary of State maybe.

Benghazi-gate will doom Hillary Clinton. She has much explaining to do and it does make a difference Hillary!!!