Leading ISIS Media Figure And Foreign Fighter Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Provide Material Support To Terrorist Organization Resulting In Death

 The U.S. Justice Department released the below information: 

A Saudi-born Canadian citizen pleaded guilty today to conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS), resulting in death. 

According to court documents, Mohammed Khalifa, aka Abu Ridwan Al-Kanadi and Abu Muthanna Al-Muhajir, 38, served in prominent roles within ISIS starting in 2013 and continuing until his capture by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January 2019, following a firefight between ISIS fighters and the SDF. In addition to serving as a fighter and executing two Syrian soldiers on behalf of ISIS, Khalifa served as a lead translator in ISIS’s propaganda production and the English-speaking narrator on multiple ISIS videos. 

Khalifa traveled to Syria in the spring of 2013 with the intent of becoming a foreign fighter and ultimately joining ISIS. He joined ISIS in or around November 2013 and swore allegiance to then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In early 2014, he was recruited to join ISIS’s media department due in part to his language abilities as a fluent English and Arabic speaker. Starting in 2016, Khalifa directed various supporter networks that assisted in the translation, production and dissemination of propaganda released under various ISIS media brands in order to reach Western audiences. He worked within the ISIS media operation until late 2018. 

Khalifa provided the narration and translation for approximately 15 videos created and distributed by ISIS. The productions narrated by Khalifa include two of the most influential and exceedingly violent ISIS propaganda videos: “Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun,” distributed on Sept. 19, 2014, and “Flames of War II: Until the Final Hour,” distributed on Nov. 29, 2017. The videos depict glamorized portrayals of ISIS and its fighters as well as scenes of violence, including depictions of unarmed prisoners being executed, footage of ISIS attacks and fighting, and depictions of ISIS attacks in the United States. 

The ISIS “Flames of War” videos include scenes of Khalifa executing a different Syrian soldier in each of the two videos. In the final scenes of both videos, a masked Khalifa speaks to the camera and is then seen executing a kneeling Syrian soldier while other masked ISIS members also shoot the prisoners kneeling in front of each of them. 

During the time Khalifa was a prominent member of ISIS, the terrorist organization was conducting a hostage-taking and ransom demand campaign involving American, British, and European journalists and aid workers. Between Aug. 19, 2014 and Feb. 6, 2015, ISIS killed eight American, British or Japanese citizens in Syria as part of the hostage scheme. 

In January 2019, Khalifa engaged in fighting on behalf of ISIS and attacked an SDF position in Abu Badran, Syria. Khalifa, alone and armed with three grenades and an AK-47, threw a grenade on the roof of a house where SDF soldiers were standing. The grenade detonated and Khalifa ran into the house and attempted to go to the roof, but an SDF soldier was firing from the stairs. 

Khalifa began firing at the SDF soldier and attempted to use all three of his grenades during the attack. Khalifa fired most of his ammunition during the assault before his AK-47 jammed. Khalifa surrendered to the SDF on or about Jan. 13, 2019 and was detained by the SDF. Earlier this year, he was transferred to the custody of the FBI and brought to the Eastern District of Virginia, where he had his initial appearance on Oct. 4, 2021.      

Khalifa pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 15, 2022. Khalifa faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; and Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III accepted the plea. 

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, John T. Gibbs and Aidan Taft Grano-Mickelson for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Trial Attorney Alicia H. Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. 

General Keane: Russia, China, Iran View Biden's America As 'Appeasement' Nation That Can Be Taken Advantage Of

General Jack Keane (retired), one of our best minds on military and foreign affairs, (I wish he were president) appeared on Fox News. 

Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane argued on "The Faulkner Focus" Thursday that the collapse of Afghanistan was an "accelerant" for America's adversaries to try to take advantage of President Biden's "accommodation" administration as Russian President Vladimir Putin gathers forces on the Ukraine border.

 

GEN. JACK KEANE: I do believe that this administration is being challenged by Russia, Iran and also China. They're looking at it as an appeasement and accommodation administration that can be taken advantage of. And certainly after the collapse of Afghanistan, that has become an accelerant to our adversaries moving even more earnestly to take advantage of it. Witness what's happening here with 110,000 troops on the [Ukraine] border.

 

You can watch the full interview via the below link:

Keane: Russia, China, Iran view Biden's America as 'appeasement' nation that can be taken advantage of | Fox News 

Five Decembers: My Washington Times On Crime Column On A Crime Thriller With A WWII Backdrop

The Washington Times published my On Crime column on the crime thriller Five Decembers. 

You can read the column via the below link or the below text: 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/dec/9/book-review-five-decembers/  

 

As a teenage sailor, I served aboard an aircraft carrier in the early 1970s during the Vietnam War. In between line periods in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam, we made memorable port of calls to Honolulu, Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines. I was interested in James Kestrel’s crime thriller, “Five Decembers,” as his characters operate in those interesting places, albeit during an earlier era, World War II.

 

I reached out to James Kestrel and asked what inspired him to write a crime thriller set in World War II. 

 

“I have always been interested in history, and the history of WWII is particularly interesting because it still has so many visible impacts on the world,” Mr. Kestrel replied. “I live in Honolulu, so on any given weekend, I might run across a pillbox on a beach or an old ammunition storage tunnel in the side of a mountain. My grandfather and great uncle were both in the US Army Air Forces during the war, in Europe, and as I child, I used to love it whenever I could stay up late enough to hear them talk about their experiences.” 

 

Mr. Kestrel said his day job often took him to Japan and Hong Kong, and, wanting to write a book on a much larger canvas than anything he’d tried before, he began to explore Tokyo and Hong Kong.

 

How would you describe the novel?

 

“It’s the story of a Honolulu Police Department detective who catches a double murder investigation in late November 1941. Unfortunately for him, his investigation leads him across the Pacific to Hong Kong, which is where he is when America is drawn into the war,” Mr. Kestrel said. “It’s certainly a noir novel, but it has a middle section that is probably different than what most readers would expect going into a book that starts off with a detective in a fedora drinking a whiskey in a Chinatown dive.”

 

How did you research the novel?

 

“I wanted the novel to be as accurate as possible but didn’t want the research to get in the way of the story or the process of writing it. So I did a lot of the research as I was writing, and then kept researching up until the point where the book was going to print, and I could no longer make corrections,” Mr. Kestrel explained. “The research itself was a mix of hitting the books, hitting the streets, and talking to people,” Mr. Kestrel explained. “The senior partner of my law firm is 83 and grew up in Hawaii. He’s a fan of my books, so I spent a lot of time at the Waialae Country Club with him and his cronies, listening to stories about Hawaii. I have a lot of clients and friends in Japan and Hong Kong, and they did the same for me there.”

 

Were your characters based on real people, other than Admiral Kimmel?  

 

“There are several minor characters based on real people. Honolulu’s Chief of Police at the outbreak of the war was a man named William Gabrielson, who appeared in the novel. He apparently played a key role in helping the military manage Honolulu’s red-light district during the war and afterward went on to consult with the occupation police forces in Tokyo,” Mr. Kestrel said. “Honolulu FBI station chief Bob Shivers was a real person as well. He probably deserves a lot of credit for the fact that Japanese Americans in Hawaii were not thrown into internment camps at the same rate as those on the West Coast — he quickly investigated and denounced false rumors that local Japanese had been involved in sabotage on December 7, and generally stood up for the community. When McGrady is on Wake Island, he meets with Major Devereaux and Lieutenant Kahn, who were both real people.”

 

How would you describe your character, Detective Joe McGrady?

 

“McGrady is kind of like a pit bull: Really great when he’s on your side, but for God’s sake, don’t break into his house.”

 

How would you describe the killer that McGrady chases across Asia?

 

“The killer is mostly an enigma until the last few chapters, and unfortunately, his story ends before we learn too much about him. The killer probably wanted to see himself as someone like McGrady: a good man, a moral man, but a man saddled with the duty to do a job. But he’s also a German intelligence agent in WWII, so his duties and his possible humanity are entirely incompatible,” Mr. Kestrel explained.

 

“Five Decembers” is a well-written and suspenseful crime thriller with a backdrop of a world at war.

 

• Paul Davis’ “On Crime” column covers true crime, crime fiction and thrillers.

• • •

Five Decembers
By James Kestrel 
Hard Case Crime, $22.99, 432 pages

Holiday Scams: My Philadelphia Weekly Crime Beat Column On Feds Warning Of Hazardous Counterfeit Items

Philadelphia Weekly published my Crime Beat column on Holiday on the Feds warning of hazardous counterfeit items.

You can read the column via the below link or the below pages:

 Holiday scams - Philadelphia Weekly

You can click on the above and below to enlarge.

United States Prevails In Actions To Seize And Forfeit Iranian Terror Group’s Missiles and Petroleum: Missiles And Petroleum Products Were Property Of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Or A Source Of Influence Over Terror Organization

The Justice Department released the below information and photos:

The Justice Department announced the successful forfeiture of two large caches of Iranian arms, including 171 surface-to-air missiles and eight anti-tank missiles, as well as approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum products. The U.S. Navy seized the weapons from two vessels in the Arabian Sea while conducting routine maritime security operations. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, orchestrated the arms shipments, which were destined for Houthi militants in Yemen. The U.S. government similarly seized the Iranian petroleum products from four foreign-flagged tankers in or around the Arabian Sea while en route to Venezuela. These actions represent the government’s largest-ever forfeitures of fuel and weapons shipments from Iran.

The U.S. government sold the seized petroleum products pursuant to a court order. The net proceeds of that sale, $26,681,397.67 before interest, may be directed, in whole or in part, to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund now that the case has concluded.

“The actions of the United States in these two cases strike a resounding blow to the Government of Iran and to the criminal networks supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to use all available tools to combat the threats posed by terrorist organizations and all those who seek to harm the United States and its allies.”

“These two cases demonstrate that not only can we disrupt the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ ability to finance its operations through petroleum sales, but we can also thwart its ability to use the proceeds of such sales to arm its terrorist proxies and export terrorism abroad,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “Given our expertise and special statutory authority, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is uniquely positioned to support its law enforcement partners in such terrorism cases. We are deeply committed to this mission.”

“The combined efforts of the FBI and our partners to seize missiles and over a million barrels of petroleum demonstrate our commitment to defend against foreign terrorist organizations and enforce U.S. sanctions,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The Government of Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism has left innocent victims in its wake and its attempts to support regimes dangerous to the United States and our allies will be met with the full force of the law. The FBI has a continued resolve to hold the Government of Iran accountable for its illegal actions, and we urge anyone with information about violations of sanctions on Iran to contact the FBI.”

“This case is a success because of the hard work and dedication of a joint agency team including agents, analysts and prosecutors who, by securing illegal petroleum, have helped curtail Iran’s campaign of violence and unrest throughout the Middle East,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office.

“The results announced today by the Department of Justice represent another significant victory for HSI in its ongoing efforts to thwart the nefarious criminal activities of the Iranian regime and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Special Agent in Charge Ray Villanueva of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington. “Protecting our homeland from transnational threats of any kind remains a top priority for HSI. The actions conducted by HSI and our partner organizations, both at home and abroad, demonstrate that no matter where in the world Iran attempts to violate sanctions and arm dangerous entities, HSI stands ready to disrupt their activities and defend the national security of the United States.”

“The illegal transfer of Iranian-made weapons poses a significant and immediate threat to our national security,” said Director Kelly P. Mayo of the Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General’s criminal investigative arm, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). “The judgement announced today is an important step in our efforts to identify, disrupt, and bring to justice those who imperil resources vital to our safety.”

U.S. Navy Central Command (NAVCENT) seized the weapons from two flagless vessels in the Arabian Sea on Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, respectively. The weapons included 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, land attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

On Aug. 20, 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint seeking to forfeit the seized weapons in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint alleged that the arms shipments were part of an IRGC trafficking network designed to distribute illicit weapons to the Houthi movement in Yemen. The court granted the government’s motion for default judgment and entered a final order of forfeiture on Nov. 15. In its opinion, the court found that the government had adequately alleged that the weapons belonged to the IRGC and that the IRGC constitutes an entity engaged in planning or perpetrating a federal crime of terrorism against the United States.  

On July 2, 2020, the United States also filed a complaint in the District of Columbia seeking to forfeit all petroleum-product cargo aboard four foreign-flagged oil tankers. The complaint alleged that the petroleum originated in Iran, and the sale of that petroleum benefitted the IRGC, a sanctioned Iranian entity. On Oct. 1, 2021, the court granted the government’s motion for default judgment and entered an order of forfeiture. In its opinion, the court found that the United States had sufficiently alleged that the petroleum products provided a source of influence over the IRGC because those properties were critical to furthering the affairs of the terrorist group’s enterprise.

These successful forfeiture actions are a product of the U.S. government’s coordinated efforts to enforce U.S. sanctions against the IRGC and the Iranian regime.

HSI’s Washington Field Office and DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office led the investigation of the IRGC weapons smuggling network, with substantial assistance from NAVCENT in conducting the seizures. HSI Denver and FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office led the investigation of the Iranian petroleum sales, again with substantial assistance from NAVCENT during the seizures.

Both cases were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Hudak, Stuart D. Allen, and Michael P. Grady for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney David Lim of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the cases, with support from Paralegal Specialist Brian Rickers and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick. The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division provided extensive assistance in the forfeiture and sale of the seized petroleum.

The cases are United States v. All Petroleum-Product Cargo Aboard the Bella, et al., 1:20-cv-1791-JEB, and United States v. 171 “Dehlavieh” Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, et al., 20-cv-2299-JEB.

Note: On Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. authorities seized three type “358” surface-to-air missiles (seen in the above photo) and 150 “Dehlavieh” anti-tank guided missiles (seen in the below photo):

Rendering Honors At USS Arizona Memorial At Pearl Harbor

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, December 7th, which is the day we remember the brave service members who fought and died when the Imperial Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

You can read about the attack via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-harbor-bombed

Back in 1970, I was a teenage seaman stationed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk as the aircraft carrier headed towards "Yankee Station," off the coast of North Vietnam. 

On the way, we made a port-of-call to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and sailed by the USS Arizona Memorial. 

As you can see from the above U.S. Navy photo, all hands "manned the rails," an honor tradition that had us on deck in our dress white uniforms as we passed the memorial, which floats above the sunken battleship that went down during the Japanese sneak attack.

I have a enlarged framed copy of this photo hanging in my basement office and library.

Note: You can click on the above photo to enlarge. 

You can also read a detailed account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor via the below link: 

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/the-pearl-harbor-attack-7-december-1941.html

Pearl Harbor Day: Remembering My late WWII Navy Veteran Father

Every December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day, I think of my late father, Edward Miller Davis, who died on this day in 1976. He was 57.

My late brother Eddie and I noted at the time that he would have liked to have passed on December 7^th, as he was a proud World War II Navy veteran. 

He was a chief Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogman and fought in the Pacific battles on Tinian, Saipan and the Philippines. 

Below is a photo of my father (in the center) with his team, UDT 5:  

Below is a statue of a UDT frogman in front of the UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, where my father and the original UDT trained during WWII:

  

Below is a photo of my father and my late mother, Claire Wardino Davis:

Below is a photo of my father, me and my late older brother Eddie:

And below is a photo of me and my father when I came home from Navy Boot Camp in 1970: