In August 2016 a Syrian named Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, now 21, entered the U.S. under President Obama’s refugee program.  Today he was arrested in an ISIS plot to bomb a Christian church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

(Via DOJ) Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was arrested today based on a federal complaint charging him with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and two counts of distributing information relating to an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction in relation to his plan to attack a church in Pittsburgh.

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A report in the New York Times, transparently timed and placed by officials within the intelligence apparatus trying to get out ahead of internal investigations, outlines how the FBI sent counterintelligence spies to engage with Trump campaign officials in 2016.
In a stunning admission The New York Times describes how the FBI enlisted a female agent to work the “operation” in the U.K. during August-September 2016 posing as an aide for U.S. intelligence asset/FBI informant Stefan Halper.
Halper was an FBI operative and  Cambridge professor who set up meetings with Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.  The female agent used a fake name, Azra Turk, and presented herself as an assistant to Stefan Halper; however, she was actually an undercover intelligence operative of the FBI.

NYT […] The woman had set up the meeting to discuss foreign policy issues. But she was actually a government investigator posing as a research assistant, according to people familiar with the operation. The F.B.I. sent her to London as part of the counterintelligence inquiry opened that summer to better understand the Trump campaign’s links to Russia.

The American government’s affiliation with the woman, who said her name was Azra Turk, is one previously unreported detail of an operation that has become a political flash point in the face of accusations by President Trump and his allies that American law enforcement and intelligence officials spied on his campaign to undermine his electoral chances. Last year, he called it “Spygate.”

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This is something many anticipated in 2017; particularly with the Mid-East visit by President Trump; but it never happened.  However, according to the New York Times, President Trump has a renewed push toward designating The Muslim Brotherhood as an official terrorist group.
The Brotherhood is the political umbrella organization for a variety of extreme Islamist organizations; and was the primary driver of regional uprising during the Islamist Spring (Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen etc). Former President Obama looked warmly upon the Brotherhood and worked earnestly with them to fulfill their ideological goals.
The most visible effort of the political Brotherhood was in Egypt with the election of Mohammed Morsi; which led to widespread violence/chaos and the eventual call by the Egyptian people for General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step-in.
The Brotherhood leadership was exiled from Egypt, and after a short time in Qatar -and confrontation by the Gulf Cooperation Council-  they were given safe harbor in Turkey by Recep Erdogan.  They likely remain in Turkey today.
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THE UNITED STATES AND OUR GLOBAL PARTNERS HAVE LIBERATED ALL ISIS-CONTROLLED TERRITORY

“American and coalition forces have had one military victory after another over the last two years against ISIS, including the retaking of both Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. We’ve liberated more than 20,000 square miles of territory.”  ~President Donald J. Trump

[White House] LIBERATING ALL ISIS-CONTROLLED TERRITORY: The territory once held by ISIS in Syria and Iraq is now 100 percent liberated.
Upon taking office, President Donald J. Trump empowered our commanders in the field and enabled our allies and partners on the ground to take the fight to ISIS.
The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, including the United States, Iraqi Security Forces, and partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces, have liberated all of the territory previously held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
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As of today the geographical ISIS caliphate, the open control over territory, has ended.  There is no longer a geographic land mass under the control and ownership of the extremist ISIS group known as ISIS.  All their territory has been removed.
An review of multiple DoD, State and Media reports essentially boils down to ISIS returning to an insurgency, a loosely connected ideological terror group without control over any specific area.
Interestingly, the foreign fighters who traveled to Syria to fight for ISIS were reported as the last ones to give up the caliphate fight.  Presumably because they would be unable to assimilate into the local communities, those foreign fighters were the last to be eliminated.

BAGHOUZ, Syria — The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over. While the official announcement hasn’t yet been made – Fox News has been told that this village, the last ISIS stronghold, is liberated.

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Senator Lindsey Graham appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the democrat plan for a bill to block President Trump’s national security declaration for border security.  Senator Graham anticipates any resolution or bill will not survive a veto from the president.
Senator Graham has high praise for the foreign policy of President Trump as it pertains to Venezuela and Syria.  The comments on Syria are enlightening.

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Today President Donald Trump will travel to the state department to deliver remarks before the ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
In 2017 the 79 member coalition joined the U.S. in the formation of a strategy to defeat ISIS known as the “D-ISIS campaign.”  Anticipated start time 3:00pm EST.
UPDATE: Video Added

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo goes one-on-one with Martha MacCallum to discuss his message to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and Trump’s approach to NATO.  This is a really strong interview.
Secretary Pompeo brilliantly outlines the value of the nation state, and the principle that when a coalition is formed all members within that coalition (ie. NATO) have a responsibility to participate.  Watch:

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Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a video-conference message to the assembly of international economic leadership in Davos. [Full remarks and transcript below]

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[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, and thank you, Borge, for your kind introduction. And thank you to the World Economic Forum for the invitation to speak today. It’s 18 degrees Fahrenheit here in Washington, D.C. You see the Lincoln Memorial to my back. So while I’m not here in person, I at least feel like I’m in Davos with the weather.
It’s interesting times that we live in. Over the past few years, all around the world, voters have tuned out politicians and political alliances that they thought weren’t representing their interests. A few examples of new directions that people have taken: Brexit; the election of President Macron in France; the rise of the Five Star Movement in Italy; Mahathir’s comeback in Malaysia; and of course, Borge, as you referenced, the election of President Donald Trump.
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Earlier today President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Dover Air Force Base to participate in a solemn tribute to fallen Americans.  President Trump saluted the casket carrying civilian contractor Scott A. Wirtz of St. Louis, Missouri, as his body was carried from a C-17 military aircraft into a waiting van.

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Scott Wirtz and three other Americans were killed in a suicide bombing Wednesday in the northern Syrian town of Manbij.  He was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as an operations support specialist.
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