(Via Reuters) The United States has started distributing arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters battling to help retake the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday, as the United States moved ahead with a plan despite concerns by ally Turkey.

The official said distribution of the arms had started in the past 24 hours, based on authority given by President Donald Trump earlier this month. (read more)

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President Trump’s EU strategy is swimmingly effective. Truly, President Trump’s multinational approach is jaw-droppingly transparent (they’ve obviously never read any of Trump’s books), and today France’s Emmanuel Macron showed just how thoroughly disconnected he is from understanding his own position.

Wunderkind Emmanuel Macron, following the exact same advisory recommendations which planted egg on Obama’s face, threatens Vladimir Putin and Bashir Assad with a red-line of military action if chemical weapons are used in Syria:

“Any use of chemical weapons would results in reprisals and an immediate riposte, at least where France is concerned,” Macron said, standing next to Putin in the Versailles palace outside of Paris.  (link)

Emmanuel Macron threatening unilateral action if Syria’s Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons? Hilarious, if it wasn’t so substantively dangerous.

The orbit of influence surrounding the wunderkind (all caviar liberal socialists) have convinced Macron that now is the time to project a strong EU image to compensate for President Trump’s bold stance pointing out the EU need to step out from behind the skirt of NATO and provide for their own defense.  Politically, Macron’s yapping might play well with a domestic or EU centric audience…. (more…)

Within a few hours of an Islamist terror attack against Coptic Christians in Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched airstrikes against known extremist positions in Eastern Libya.   In the aftermath of those strikes we shared: “don’t be surprised if“…

(Via Reuters) Warplanes carried out three air strikes on the Libyan city of Derna on Monday, a witness said, days after Egypt launched strikes on militant camps there against those it said were responsible for killing Egyptian Christians.

On Friday, Egyptian fighter jets struck Derna just hours after masked militants boarded vehicles en route to a monastery and opened fire at close range in the southern Egyptian province of Minya, killing 29 and wounding 24.

No military immediately confirmed Monday’s strikes. The witness said one attack hit the western entrance to Derna and the other two hit Dahr al-Hamar in the south.  (more)

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U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis appears on (De)Face The Nation with John Dickerson and updates on the ongoing deconstruction and elimination of ISIS.  It is an excellent interview, and you must certainly watch to the end for the “mad dog”.

Secretary Mattis discusses how Secretary Tillerson and President Trump are coordinating the backside politics to ensure stability after he crushes the bastards.  In addition Secretary Mattis discusses North Korea, NATO, Russia and other regional concerns.

Secretary Mattis Honesty [fighting ISIS]:

“civilian casualties are a fact of live in this sort of situation. We do everything humanly possible, consistent with military necessity, taking many chances, to avoid civilian casualties at all costs.”

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As the British Police make two more arrests they are asking for help filling in the timeline of activity for Manchester Bombing terrorist Salman Abedi (22).

MANCHESTER – British police on Saturday released surveillance-camera images of the Manchester concert bomber on the night of the attack as they appealed for more information about his final days.

[…]  The photos released by police show attacker Salman Abedi on the night of the bombing, wearing sneakers, jeans, a dark jacket and a baseball cap. The straps of a knapsack are visible on his shoulders.  Authorities said they had made major progress in unravelling the plot behind the concert bombing but acknowledged there were still gaps in their knowledge.

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While it doesn’t come as a significant surprise the latest development in the Manchester bombing shows the financiers for the terrorist attack were U.K. taxpayers.

Yes, the British people actually paid Salman Abedi to kill themselves and their children:

Telegraph –  Salman Abedi is understood to have received thousands of pounds in state funding in the run up to Monday’s atrocity even while he was overseas receiving bomb-making training.

Police are investigating Abedi’s finances, including how he paid for frequent trips to Libya where he is thought to have been taught to make bombs at a jihadist training camp.

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“America stands with President al-Sisi and all the Egyptian people today, and always, as we fight to defeat this common enemy.  America also makes clear to its friends, allies, and partners that the treasured and historic Christian Communities of the Middle East must be defended and protected.”

~ U.S. President Donald J Trump

Following the terrorist attack against Coptic Christians in Egypt, Egyptian military jets attacked Islamic extremist positions in eastern Libya.  The officials said the warplanes on Friday targeted the headquarters of the Shura Council in the city of Darna, where local militias are known to be linked to al-Qaida, not the Islamic State group.

The retaliatory bombings were aimed at terrorist outposts, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stated: “any form of state-sponsored terrorism should be punished. Anyone who attacks Egypt, whether they’re from inside or outside Egypt’s borders, will be punished.”  According to Egyptian TV six “terrorist” camps were struck by the sortie.

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26 people have been killed and 25 wounded after masked gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt. The terrorist attack happened in Minya province, about 220km (140 miles) south of the capital city of Cairo. The bus was headed to the Monastery of St Samuel.

The bus was ambushed by masked men in three 4 wheel drive vehicles. An immediate response by Egyptian military and security forces is underway, while units of the police special forces closed all exits to Minya.

According to Egyptian media – the terrorists had driven from the Western Desert to a nearby location of the attacked bus then walked to ambush the bus, where they sprayed the bus with gunfire indiscriminately. During the terrorists exit, they found another group in another bus, which they stopped, killed everyone aboard and fled.

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The Manchester Bomber is one of Hillary Clinton’s Libyan “Rebels”

Islamic State fighters landed in Libya back in November of 2014, and began work establishing training camps in the Libyan city of Derna before launching a terror offensive which included an attack on a Libyan hotel, attacks on oil field workers, and the execution of 21 Copts in a graphic video which made international headlines.

In early through mid-2015 several extremist jihadist elements in Libya swore allegiance to Bakar al-Baghdadi.  A man named Abdelhakim Belhadj took the position as head of ISIS in Libya. Abdelhakim Belhadj was critical in forming “Libya Dawn”, essentially a group of Islamic militia forces (LIFG or Libyan Islamic Fighting Groups) who fought under various banners such as Ansar al-Sharia (al-Qaeda in Libya) and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Today the links emerge between the Manchester bomber, Salman Abedi (22), and these extremist forces within Libya.  It appears the bombing attack against the Manchester concert venue was directed and coordinated by the family of Abedi and their close contacts within Libya including his father Ramadan Abedi who was arrested earlier today.

Important top-lines:

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks *boldly tonight against the backdrop of the Manchester terrorist attack.

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*where “boldly” in 2017 means speaking common sense.

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