The Daily Beast reports that two Al Qaeda franchises are grouping at the Syria/Iraq border and using the region’s chaos to make things much worse. The blog says that “Hundreds of new jihadist fighters are flocking to this battlefield in the heartland of the Middle East. And with the civil wars in both countries all but certain to endure for the foreseeable future, the danger from this stronghold is growing. The older and more dangerous calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams (ISIS). Al Shams means ‘Greater Syria’—that is, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel-Palestine—and the name reflects ISIS’s ambitions. It intends to erase the borders of the modern Middle East created a century ago by Winston Churchill after the end of World War I, and to create an al Qaeda-run emirate across the region. Every week, ISIS terrorists carry out multiple acts of mass-casualty violence in Syria and Iraq.”
Munkacser Whistle-Blower To be Prosecuted by Hynes
The New York Times reports that Sam Heller, father of a son groped by a prominent Hasidic cantor, Baruch Lebovitz, will be prosecuted after all, for attempting to bribe a witness. Hynes demoted two seasoned prosecutors who assured Kellner the charges would be dropped and also fired Barbara Burke, a prosecutor and former nun who complained that the office had not passed along—as required—records to a lawyer trying a wrongful conviction case against Mr. Hynes and his rackets chief and longtime friend Michael F. Vecchione. Hynes and Vecchione have vowed to prosecute Kellner again. The case revolves around Lebovitz, who has close ties to the politically powerful Munkacser Rebbe, Moishe Leib Rabinowich, who is against reporting child sexual abuse to the police. Lebovitz was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to up to 32 years, and was then released on a technicality, while attempts were made to buy off Kellner, who was cooperating with police detectives. Other Lebovitz victims came forward, then they lied about their relationships, blaming Kellner for “paying” them off. Lebovitz is awaiting a new trial.
