Suit contesting Barack Obama's citizenship heads to U.S. Supreme Court Friday

By James Janega

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Friday whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship, a continuation of a New Jersey case embraced by some opponents of Obama's election.

The meeting of justices will coincide with a vigil by the filer's supporters in Washington on the steps of the nation's highest court.

The suit originally sought to stay the election, and was filed on behalf of Leo Donofrio against New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells.

Legal experts say the appeal has little chance of succeeding, despite appearing on the court's schedule. Legal records show it is only the tip of an iceberg of nationwide efforts seeking to derail Obama's election over accusations that he either wasn't born a U.S. citizen or that he later renounced his citizenship in Indonesia.

The Obama campaign has maintained that he was born in Hawaii, has an authentic birth certificate, and is a "natural-born" U.S. citizen. Hawaiian officials agree.

Among those filing lawsuits is Alan Keyes, who lost to Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. Keyes' suit seeks to halt certification of votes in California. Another suit by a Kentucky man seeks to have a federal judge review Obama's original birth certificate, which Hawaiian officials say is locked in a state vault.

by a person who is currently suing the "Peoples Association of Human, Animals COther suits have been filed by Andy Martin, whose case was dismissed in Hawaii, and by an Ohio man whose case also was dismissed. Five more suits, all later dismissed, were filed in Hawaii onceived God/s and Religions, John McCain [and] USA Govt." The plaintiff previously sought to sue Wikipedia and "All News Media."

The most famous case questioning Obama's citizenship was filed in Pennsylvania in August on behalf of Philip J. Berg and sought to enjoin the Democratic National Committee from nominating Obama. The U.S. Supreme Court denied an application for an injunction and hasn't scheduled a conference on other aspects of the case. Earlier, a federal judge rejected it for "lack of standing"—ruling that Berg had no legal right to sue. In cases like this, judges sometimes believe the matter is best left to political institutions, such as the Electoral College or Congress, said legal scholar Eugene Volokh of the University of California at Los Angeles.

The remaining case with the highest profile is Donofrio vs. Wells. Because it was referred by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to other justices for conference, it gained undue importance for people unschooled in how the court works, Volokh said.

Many petitioners seeking stays of pending events have their cases distributed to the full court, he said. Of those, Volokh found that 782 were denied in the last eight years while just 60 were heard—and not all of those ultimately were successful.

'Natural-born' requirement called 'stupidest provision'

By Bob Unruh

An associate lawyer in a Chicago-based firm whose partner served on a finance committee for then-Sen. Barack Obama has advocated for the elimination of the U.S. Constitution's requirement that a president be a "natural-born" citizen, calling the requirement "stupid" and asserting it discriminates, is outdated and undemocratic.

Barack Obama and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga

The paper was written in 2006 by Sarah Herlihy, just two years after Obama had won a landslide election in Illinois to the U.S. Senate. Herlihy is listed as an associate at the Chicago firm of Kirkland & Ellis. A partner in the same firm, Bruce I. Ettelson, cites his membership on the finance committees for both Obama and Sen. Richard Durbin on the corporate website.

The article by Herlihy is available online under law review articles from Kent University.

The issue is the subject of nearly two dozen court cases in recent weeks, including at least two that have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There have been accusations that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as his campaign has stated. His paternal grandmother has stated she was in attendance at his birth in Mombasa. While Hawaii officials say they have seen his birth certificate, they have declined to release information from it.

Join more than 150,000 others in signing WND's online petition calling for release of Barack Obama's birth certificate and verifying beyond any shadow of a doubt his constitutional eligibility for office. This offer ends Thursday at noon Eastern Time to ensure all letters are delivered by Friday morning to the Supreme Court.

The Certification of Live Birth from Hawaii that the Obama campaign posted on the Internet isn't considered by critics to resolve the issue, since during the 1960s when Obama was born, the new state issued the document to infants not necessarily born in Hawaii.

There also remain unanswered questions about his youth, when he lived and attended school in Indonesia and later when he traveled to Pakistan. The questions include whether he gave up a U.S. citizenship to attend school or traveled on another nation's passport to Pakistan at a time when U.S. passports were unwelcome there.

Answers to those issues could determine whether Obama meets the Constitution's demand for a "natural-born" citizen.

Herlihy's published paper reveals that the requirement likely was considered in a negative light by organizations linked to Obama in the months before he announced in 2007 his candidacy for the presidency.

"The natural born citizen requirement in Article II of the United States Constitution has been called the 'stupidest provision' in the Constitution, "undecidedly un-American," "blatantly discriminatory," and the "Constitution's worst provision," Herlihy begins in her introduction to the paper titled, "Amending the Natural Born Citizen Requirement: Globalization as the Impetus and the Obstacle."

She concludes that the "emotional" reasons to oppose changing the Constitution will prevail over the "rational" reasons demanding a change.

"The current American perceptions about the effects of globalization and the misunderstanding about what globalization actually is will result in Americans deciding that naturalized citizens should not be president because this would, in effect, be promoting globalization, Herlihy wrote.

"Although this argument is admittedly circular, because globalization is the thing that makes the need to abolish the requirement more and more persuasive, Americans' subsequent perceptions about globalization are the very things that will prevent Americans from embracing the idea of eliminating the natural born requirement.

"Logical Americans are looking for a reason to ignore the rational reasons promoted by globalization so that they may vote based on their own emotions and instincts," she wrote.

Read all the evidence about Obama's birthplace in Jerome Corsi's "The Obama Nation."

She blamed support for the constitutional provision on "fear, racism, religious intolerance, or blind faith in the decisions of the Founding Fathers."

WND called Herlihy's number listed on the law firm website, and a woman answered with, "Sarah Herlihy." But when WND identified itself as a news agency, the woman said she didn't think "Sarah Herlihy" was in, but would take a message. There was no return call.

In the body of her argument, Herlihy said the constitutional provision simply is outdated.

"Considering that the Founding Fathers presumably included the natural born citizen clause in the Constitution partly out of fear of foreign subversion, the current stability of the American government and the intense media scrutiny of presidential candidates virtually eliminates the possibility of a 'foreigner' coming to America, becoming a naturalized citizen, generating enough public support to become president, and somehow using the presidency to directly benefit his homeland," she wrote.

"The natural born citizen clause of the United States Constitution should be repealed for numerous reasons. Limiting presidential eligibility to natural born citizens discriminates against naturalized citizens, is outdated and undemocratic, and incorrectly assumes that birthplace is a proxy for loyalty," she wrote.

Many of the reasons for keeping the limit, she wrote, "are based primarily on emotion."

A web blogger suggested, "So it sure looks like Obama's people have looked into the matter of 'natural born' as far back as early 2006. What is even more disturbing is that it would appear that they are following the thought of: 'If the facts do not support the theory, Destroy the facts!"

Clinton's Confirmation May Spark Constitutional Battle

By Stephen Clark

The biggest obstacle facing Hillary Clinton's Senate confirmation as President-elect Barack Obama's top diplomat may not be her husband's wheeling and dealing abroad for his foundation, as many suspected.

Instead, it could be the U.S. Constitution.

According to an emolument clause in the Constitution, no lawmaker can be appointed to any civil position that was created or received a wage increase during the lawmaker's time in office.

President Bush ordered Cabinet salaries raised to $191,300 from $186,600 by executive order early this year, while Clinton was senator.

"My understanding is that does prohibit her unless they can find some way around it and I gather that they have in the past," former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger told FOX News.

"This isn't the first time this has come up," he said, referring to appointees of other presidents. "Maybe she has to renounce the salary increase but I'm sure they'll find a way around it."

The Obama transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Some constitutional lawyers don't foresee the provision derailing Clinton's nomination.

"I don't believe it presents a serious issue because the legislative fix which has been done in the past is perfectly constitutional," said Adam Bonin, an attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Cozen O'Connor.

The legislation that Bonin referred to is the "Saxbe fix" that allowed President Richard Nixon to name Ohio Sen. William Saxbe his Attorney General.

The attorney general's salary was raised during Saxbe's term in 1969 but Nixon convinced Congress to lower Saxbe's salary to what it was before 1969.

The most recent case involved Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who was nominated to be President-elect Bill Clinton's treasury secretary in 1993. To avoid conflict, Congress passed legislation lowering the salary of that position to its 1989 level.

Bonin believes Congress should pass similar legislation for Clinton.

"I think that's the safe move to make," he said, adding that he believes Clinton could be confirmed without a legislative fix because Congress didn't vote for Bush's pay raise.

Daniel Dreisdach, a professor of law at American University, said it would be difficult for anyone to use the provision to challenge Clinton's confirmation.

"In this respect, it's a bit analogous to this question of whether Barack Obama is a natural born citizen," he said, referring to a lawsuit, dismissed last month, seeking to obtain a copy of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate.

"Then it becomes who has legal standing to challenge his credentials as president or Hillary Clinton's assumption of the office," he said.

Dreisdach said as long as Democrats control the Senate, the Obama transition team won't worry about this provision in the Constitution.

"The Obama team is well aware of it and they have dismissed it," Dreisdach said. "I find it hard to believe that a Democratic majority will take a different view."

Muslim World League calls for "a strategic plan to introduce Islam as a solution to major problems facing humanity"

by Robert Spencer

And, natch, as "a religion that promotes peace, freedom and tolerance."

Among the elements of this strategic plan:

■ “They should also make use of their good relations with Western countries to enact laws preventing the denigration of Islam and Muslim personalities”

■ "Islamic organizations have been asked to monitor school syllabuses in non-Muslim countries to prevent distortion of facts about Islam and Muslims."

"Forum calls for strategic plan to reach out to non-Muslims," by P.K. Abdul Ghafour for Arab News, December 4 (thanks to Paul):

JEDDAH: An international conference organized by the Muslim World League has called for a strategic plan to introduce Islam as a solution to major problems facing humanity and as a religion that promotes peace, freedom and tolerance.

The three-day conference, titled “Introducing Islam to non-Islamic countries: Reality and aspirations,” stressed that non-Muslims living in Islamic countries should enjoy all of the rights enjoyed by Muslims.

Really? All of them? In this they run counter to the provisions of traditional Islamic law regarding the subjugated status of the dhimmis, as mandated by the Qur'anic injunction that they pay the jizya (poll tax) "with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (9:29).

"The subject peoples," [i.e., the dhimmis] according to a manual of Islamic law endorsed by Al-Azhar University in Cairo, must "pay the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya)" and "are distinguished from Muslims in dress, wearing a wide cloth belt (zunnar); are not greeted with ‘as-Salamu ‘alaykum’ [the traditional Muslim greeting, 'Peace be with you']; must keep to the side of the street; may not build higher than or as high as the Muslims’ buildings, though if they acquire a tall house, it is not razed; are forbidden to openly display wine or pork . . . recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals or feastdays; and are forbidden to build new churches." ('Umdat al-Salik, o11.3, 5).

"All of the rights"? Really? Is this a statement of reform? Somehow I doubt it, in light of their other statements -- particularly about restricting free speech (see below).

It said Muslim countries must introduce Islam to non-Muslim countries as part of efforts to improve foreign relations.

So this is avowedly a political effort, not solely a religious one.

“They should also make use of their good relations with Western countries to enact laws preventing the denigration of Islam and Muslim personalities,” said a final communiqué issued after the conference.

Ten to one they consider "denigration of Islam" to be any honest examination of how jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to justify violence and supremacism. Why do I say that? Because we have seen it before. Here are four examples (one, two, three, four) of Islamic groups objecting to non-Muslims making accurate statements about Islam or Muhammad -- statements much like ones jihadists make without encountering serious opposition from their fellow Muslims.

The goal, in other words, is to silence non-Muslims regarding Islam, thus rendering us mute in the face of the global jihad. Mute and therefore defenseless.

The conferees stressed the need to produce Islamic TV programs in major world languages to introduce Islam to non-Muslims. They also urged Muslims to behave righteously with non-Muslims and understand their culture. “We should come up with innovative ideas to propagate the message of Islam, using the Internet and satellite channels,” it said.

The conference stressed the need to produce special media programs to address non-Muslims and urged support for their social development programs. Permanent and temporary exhibitions must be held to reach out to people, and specialized centers and academic chairs should be established to defend Islam. [...]

There are already specialized centers and academic chairs established to defend Islam. See, most notoriously, John Esposito's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

The conference noted anti-Islam smear campaign was one of the major challenges facing Islamic preachers in non-Muslim countries and urged Muslims to address this problem with unity. Islamic organizations have been asked to monitor school syllabuses in non-Muslim countries to prevent distortion of facts about Islam and Muslims.

That is already happening as well. See the discussion of the Islamization of American public school textbooks in my book Stealth Jihad.

Who Were You With?

(Compiler's note: I know some of you have seen this short piece, but it is so revealing about us Marines that I thought I must share! And yes, I frequently wear my cap with the most familiar eagle, globe and anchor. My cap is black and it goes well with my silver hair -- but like other Marines, I still remember as if it were just yesterday .....)

by William R. Miller

A few years ago I was strolling with my wife through a fall festival in a small Kansas town. I was wearing a red ball cap with an eagle, globe, and anchor logo on the front. I noticed another man with a similar hat as he passed us in the crowd. He stopped, turned to me, and said, “Who were you with?”

“1st Marine Aircraft Wing, MASS Deuce [Marine Air Support Squadron 2], Dong Ha on the DMZ [demilitarized zone], ‘68–‘69. You?” I answered without thinking.

“2/5 [2d Battalion, 5th Marines], Hue City, Tet ‘68, Semper fi,” he said and walked on.

“Who was that?” my wife asked.

“Just another Marine,” I said. Just another Marine, what an understatement I thought.

At other times that day, I saw a cruise jacket, a sweatshirt, and two more ball caps all representing the Marine Corps. I saw the emblems of no other Service. Since then I have become more aware, and I have noted that I see Marine Corps bumper stickers and rear window decals, not Army. I see Marine Corps flags outside homes, not Air Force. And I see Marine caps and jackets, seldom Navy.

I started counting, and I actually see about 20 Marine symbols to each display of the other Armed Forces. Yet, the Marine Corps is still the smallest of the Services. Could it be that “once a Marine, always a Marine” is true? Could it be that there is a greater pride in having been one of the few?

For the last 5 years I, too, have asked the question, “Who were you with?” I have always gotten an answer; no one has ever asked, “What do you mean?” Marines understand the question. A few times the ball cap has represented a son or daughter. But even their parents know the units with whom their children are serving. The pride of their being with the Marines is also in the parents.

This year, at the same festival, I met four Marines. One young man said he spent the Marine Corps birthday, 10 November 2004, in Fallujah with 1/3; the second had helped the 2d Marine Division take Kuwait City in 1991; and the third served with me in Vietnam, only farther south at Chu Lai in 1970. But the one that I remember the most was the man in a worn, faded cruise jacket, walking slowly with a cane, and being passed by the crowd.

I walked to his side, slowed to his pace, and asked, “Who were you with?” He stopped, turned, stood up straight, and looked me in the eye. “5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, 1945,” he said. A chill went through me and I knew I was in the presence of a history maker. “Thank you,” I said. He smiled and said, “You?” As we talked I told him that I had been an air control officer in Vietnam and that my son had just completed three tours in Iraq with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2. Then before I knew it, he was thanking me. He continued to tell me how much harder it is today to tell who the enemy is and how much he admires our young Marines.

Today I teach biology at Baker University in Kansas, and I often tell my students that they have not yet had history happen to them. They do not remember Pearl Harbor or know what happened at the Chosin Reservoir or even where to find Con Thien on a map. At times I get to tell them about Marines whom I have met and the history they helped make. But still it is hard for them to understand what an injured Army captain I met on China Beach meant when he told me, “The most beautiful sight in the world is a Marine F–4 rolling in hot with snake and nape.”

These events are not just part of history; they are history. Had their results been different, the world would be different. “Who were you with?” says more than “Where were you when . . . ?” or “What were you doing when . . . ?” It says participant not spectator. It says Marine.

So the next time you see an eagle, globe, and anchor on a hat or shirt pocket ask the simple question, “Who were you with?” Listen to the answer of a unit, a place, and a time and think about that moment in history. But more than that, listen to the pride saying, “I am a Marine.”

>Dr. Miller served with the 1st MAW, Marine Air Control Group 18, MASS–2 in Vietnam from 1968–69. He is currently working in the Department of Biology, Baker University, Baldwin City, KS.

Experts warn Barack Obama of a nuclear Iran

Iran poses the greatest foreign policy challenge to Barack Obama, the President-elect, with Tehran on course to produce a nuclear bomb in the first year of an Obama administration, a coalition of top think-tanks gave warning yesterday.....

GLOBAL TRENDS 2025: THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL'S 2025 PROJECT

(Compiler's note: A must read item)

From the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council

"Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" is the fourth unclassified report prepared by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in recent years that takes a long-term view of the future. It offers a fresh look at how key global trends might develop over the next 15 years to influence world events. Our report is not meant to be an exercise in prediction or crystal ball-gazing. Mindful that there are many possible "futures," we offer a range of possibilities and potential discontinuities, as a way of opening our minds to developments we might otherwise miss.

Some of our preliminary assessments are highlighted below:

• The whole international system—as constructed following WWII—will be revolutionized. Not only will new players—Brazil, Russia, India and China— have a seat at the international high table, they will bring new stakes and rules of the game.
• The unprecedented transfer of wealth roughly from West to East now under way will continue for the foreseeable future.
• Unprecedented economic growth, coupled with 1.5 billion more people, will put pressure on resources—particularly energy, food, and water—raising the specter of scarcities emerging as demand outstrips supply.
• The potential for conflict will increase owing partly to political turbulence in parts of the greater Middle East.

As with the earlier NIC efforts—such as Mapping The Global Future 2020—the project's primary goal is to provide US policymakers with a view of how world developments could evolve, identifying opportunities and potentially negative developments that might warrant policy action. We also hope this paper stimulates a broader discussion of value to educational and policy institutions at home and abroad.

Purchase a Hardcopy of "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" from the Government Printing Office (ISBN 978-0-16-081834-9) (33.4 MB)

Electoral College scam: Where dead people vote

By Bob Unruh

Lawyer challenging eligibility seeks investigation of process

A lawyer playing a major part in a California lawsuit urging officials to prevent the state's 55 Electoral College votes from being recorded for Barack Obama until questions about his citizenship are resolved has written to county clerks around the state, seeking an investigation into a process that has allowed a dead woman to be listed as an official elector.

Barack Obama

According to Gary Kreep, executive director of the United States Justice Foundation, the clerks have been advised about the "irregularity" in the list of electors provided by the Democratic Party

in California.

"In the 28th Congressional District (Congressman Howard Berman), situated in Los Angeles County, Ilene Huber is listed as the presidential elector designated in that district. However, as shown in the attached certified statement of Dean C. Logan, registrar-recorder/county clerk of the county of Los Angeles, state of California, there is no Ilene Huber listed as a registered voter in the County of Los Angeles. A statewide search of public records has revealed only one Ilene Huber in the state of California, and she is deceased-a copy of her certificate of death is attached hereto as well," the advisory said.

"Further, according to Chris Myers, director of research for the California Democratic Party, who submitted the list of presidential electors for the Democratic Party to the office of the California secretary of state, there are additional, undisclosed, 'errors' in the list of electors. This admission was made in a telephone conversation with a representative of the American Independent Party on or about November 20, 2008," the letter continued.

"It is therefore respectfully suggested to you that an investigation be made by each of your respective offices into the accuracy and validity of the list of presidential electors submitted for the ballot in your respective counties. It is believed that an attempt will be made to 'revise' the list of such electors so that those named individuals that were selected by the voters will be replaced by other names. Such 'revisions' will, in all likelihood, result in litigation being filed to challenge such attempts to alter the ballot post election, and may result in your county being included as a defendant therein," it said.

Kreep said the integrity of elections in the U.S. needs to be maintained, or "the vote of the people becomes merely something that can be ignored by those who hold the reins of political power at the moment."

Kreep previously told WND that because of the lack of proof of Obama's U.S. citizenship and the consequent questions over his ability to meet the Constitution's requirement that only a "natural born citizen" can be president, the Obama administration will be considered by some to be fraudulent.

"We will file lawsuits on his actions, every time. As long as we have money , we will keep filing lawsuits until we get a decision as to his citizenship status," he previously told WND. "We're already talking to groups who are willing to be plaintiffs."

As WND reported, Kreep filed a legal challenge in California with presidential candidate Alan Keyes as a plaintiff questioning Obama's birthplace.

The complaint urges the California secretary of state to refuse to allow the state's 55 Electoral College votes to be cast until the issue of Obama's eligibility to hold office is resolved.

The case is one of more than a dozen legal challenges brought over Obama's citizenship. The cases all cite Obama's clouded history and the U.S. Constitution's requirement that a president be a natural born citizen.

Sign WND's online petition to insist on release of Barack Obama's birth certificate.

There have been allegations Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as his campaign has reported, that he could be considered a British subject because of his father's residency in what then was a British protectorate that later became Kenya, and that the "Certificate of Live Birth" posted on his website simply shows his mother registered his birth in Hawaii after he was born, but does not document a location of birth.

There also have been questions raised about his travels as a youth, including the years he spent registered as a Muslim in an Indonesian school, and his later travels to Pakistan at a time when U.S. passports weren't welcome in that nation.

WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi traveled to Kenya and Hawaii prior to the election to investigate issues surrounding Obama's birth. But his research and discoveries only raised more questions.

The biggest question remains why Obama, if a Hawaii birth certificate exists, simply hasn't ordered it made available to settle the rumors.

The governor's office in Hawaii said there is a valid certificate but rejected requests for access and left ambiguous its origin. Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro, has named two different Hawaii hospitals where Obama could have been born, while a video posted on YouTube features Obama's Kenyan grandmother Sarah claiming to have witnessed Obama's birth in Kenya.

The California action was filed on behalf of Keyes, as well as Wiley S. Drake and Markham Robinson, both California electors.

"Should Senator Obama

be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void, Petitioners, as well as other Americans, will suffer irreparable harm in that (a) usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal," the action challenges.

U.S. State Department officials declined to respond to WND inquiries about the process for keeping a U.S. citizenship while attending schools in Indonesia, or the possibility of a U.S. citizen keeping that status while traveling on another nation's passport.

But several online "fact" sites have contended that the concerns over Obama's citizenship are much ado about nothing.

Factcheck.org, for example, has posted an image described as Obama's "birth certificate." But within the image can be seen the words "Certificate of Live Birth," which is not the same document. In Hawaii at the time Obama was born the state issued a "Certificate of Live Birth" to a parent registering a birth, but it does not indicate the location of the birth.

"FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate," the group said in a statement accompanying the image of the "Certificate of Live Birth."

The website Snopes.com also attested to Obama's U.S. citizenship, citing information from the campaign.

However, WND columnist Janet Porter, who has investigated the dispute, wrote in her column that there are too many questions to ignore.

"In Hawaii, a Certification of Live Birth is issued within a year of a child's birth to those who register a birth abroad or one that takes place outside a hospital," she said.

"There's the matter that Obama traveled to Indonesia, Pakistan, Southern India and Kenya in 1981. He said he went to Indonesia to see his mother. This seemed plausible, except for the fact that his mother returned to Hawaii in August of 1980 to file for a divorce from her second husband, Lolo Soetoro. Unless she went back to pal around with the man she divorced, she wasn't there at the time of Obama's visit," Porter wrote.

"There's another problem. No record of Obama holding an American passport prior to the one he received once becoming a U.S. senator has been found. If he traveled to Pakistan with an American passport, he wouldn't have been allowed in – since Pakistan was in turmoil in 1981 and under martial law. It was also on the State Department's travel ban list for U.S. citizens," she wrote.

"If he couldn't get into Pakistan with a U.S. passport, perhaps he went there with an Indonesian passport. But the only way you can get one of those is if you are an Indonesian citizen," she wrote.

Spencer: Still Unprepared Against Terror

(Compiler's note: A must read and heed article.)

In Human Events this morning, some lessons from Mumbai:

Why was India -- a nation that has suffered enormously from terrorism in the past seven years -- unprepared for the Mumbai attacks? And why are America, Britain and most of the rest of the civilized world equally unprepared even now, so many years after 9-11?

London’s Telegraph reported Monday that “the former head of Britain’s SAS has revealed that Britain is not adequately prepared for a Mumbai-style terror attack. He said hundreds of civilians would have been massacred if such an assault was carried out in this country.”

The primary reason for this unpreparedness, of course, is the unwillingness or inability of government, law enforcement, and the mainstream media to confront the ideology of the jihadists and the Islamic doctrines that provide the foundation for that ideology.

Instead, it is an ironclad dogma in the American public square that the overwhelming majority of American Muslims decisively and unequivocally reject that ideology and doctrine and have nothing but abhorrence for the jihadists. Thus it is unsurprising that it was a Kuwaiti journalist, rather than an American one, who in the wake of the Mumbai attacks dared to observe that the Emperor has no clothes: “Unfortunately, we have yet to see a distinguished popular condemnation in the traditional Arab or Muslim communities that strongly rejects what is happening in the name of Islam.” So wrote the Kuwaiti columnist Khaled al-Jenfawi.

Underscoring this imperial nudity is the fact that as the full magnitude of the Mumbai carnage was still unfolding, some Muslim leaders as they condemned the attacks appeared principally concerned that they would hurt Islam’s image. Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain lamented that “a handful of terrorists like this bring the entire faith into disrepute.” Likewise Kazim al-Muqdadi, a lecturer at Baghdad University, complained that “the occupation of the synagogue and killing people in hotels tarnishes the Muslim faith.”

How to polish this tarnished image? One way might be to end the duplicity that is all too common. For example, Saudi Arabia announced that it “strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act” in Mumbai. However, Jonathan Fighel of Israel’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism observed that the Saudis had been sending financial support to the jihadists in Kashmir, the brothers-in-arms of the Mumbai attackers. “This demonstrates,” noted Fighel, “exactly the double game and, I would say, the hypocrisy of the Saudi regime.”

Of course, there is one thing they could do about that that would actually begin to make people think better of Islam. Imams could begin to saturate mosques and madrassas with the message that jihad warfare is never justified, that the imperative to subjugate unbelievers under the rule of Islamic law must be decisively rejected, and that peaceful coexistence as equals with unbelievers is to be maintained indefinitely. But they do not. They continue to play the same double game that the Saudis do.

Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al recently declared that “the day will come, within several years, when this world will change, submitting to the Arab Islamic will, Allah willing.” If Islamic clerics stopped talking about making the world submit to Islamic law and began to teach genuine tolerance of unbelievers and acceptance of them as equals, Islam’s image might begin to improve.

If Muslim leaders worldwide energetically condemned all those who maintained belief in the Qur’an’s literal words of war and in the traditional Islamic doctrines regarding jihad warfare (whether by hot war or by stealth), as well as declaring beyond the fold of Islam anyone who wished to impose Shari’a upon unbelievers by force, and if those leaders demonstrated their sincerity by actions instead of mere words, informed non-Muslims might begin to think better of Islam.

Until they do, how can we?

These things will not happen. Instead, Deepak Chopra and others have rushed to blame the West for the Mumbai jihad massacres -- while at the UN, Islamic states have successfully pushed through a resolution criminalizing “blasphemy,” i.e., criticism of Islam, while ignoring one that was introduced denouncing violence committed in the name of religion. That in itself is telling.

Vice President of Muhammad Mosque Cops 20 Years For Housing Fraud

from Jihad Watch

Liberty City mosque leader goes to prison for housing fraud

BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH/MIAMIHERALD

* One cannot live on Muhammedanism alone…

snesmith@MiamiHerald.com

A leader in a Liberty City mosque was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in a housing scam that stole homes from the elderly — and even from dead people.

Sameer Muhammad, the vice president of Muhammad Mosque No. 29 at 5600 NW 7th Avenue, was convicted earlier this year of nine counts of grand theft, forgery and using a false identification related to the scam.

Investigators said Muhammad, 51, and a partner targetted elderly residents with liens on their homes, registering fraudulent deeds to the homes and then selling them.

The partner, Carolyn A. Murphy, would file fraudulent deeds showing herself as the owner of the home and pay off the liens.

Then Muhammad would sell the homes through his real estate investment corporation, Bar None Properties, Inc., and the two would split the proceeds.

In one case, investigators found a deed a couple purportedly signed transferring their home to Murphy — years after they had died.

Murphy was convicted last year and sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Muhammad is listed in corporate records as the vice president of the Liberty City mosque at 5600 NW 7th Avenue.

Miami-Dade’s Inspector General investigated the case.

”These individuals represent the worst in our society because they prey on those that are most disadvantaged,” said Inspector General Chris Mazzella.

Scotland: Police and Muslims to swap roles so officers can be more "sensitive"

from Dhimmi Watch

Officers may also be required to visit mosques in order to "raise cultural awareness." "Police and Muslims to swap roles so officers can be more sensitive," by Michael Howie for the Scotsman, December 2:

ANTI-TERROR police hope to participate in role-reversal sessions with Muslims in an attempt to ease concerns about the "harassment" of Scottish Asians travelling through Glasgow Airport.

The away-days are designed to improve relations between police and the Muslim community and reach a common understanding about the need to question people at the airport.

The move, based on a pilot scheme south of the Border called Operation Nicole, is among a raft of proposals that the country's head of anti-terrorism will put to aggrieved Muslims, who say they are continually harassed by repeated interrogations when they arrive in Scotland from Pakistan.

Other steps drawn up by Assistant Chief Constable Allan Burnett include ensuring special branch officers at ports wear uniforms, the introduction of "behavioural detection" training to teach officers how to spot potential terrorists, visits to mosques to raise cultural awareness and a mentoring scheme for new special branch recruits.

The creation of a new body to maintain dialogue between police and the Muslim community will also be discussed...

U.S. 'Warned India' of Potential Terror Attack on Mumbai

U.S. and Indian intelligence agencies received information as early as September that Pakistan-based terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said Tuesday, as the government demanded that Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the deadly rampage.

Mumbai attacks: Terrorists took cocaine to stay awake during assault

Terrorists who battled Indian commandos for 60-hours last week relied on cocaine and other stimulants to stay awake for the duration of the fight.

Mumbai Massacre Proves Gun Control Works–for Terrorists

Romans also tried Bailouts

(John Walker) Every generation convinces itself that it's living in a "new era," where "all the rules have changed," and consequently stumbles into the same potholes which swallowed countless ancestors ...

Religious head incited killers

(Compiler's note: Once again we have witnessed an Islamic terrorist attack incited and justified through appeals to Islam by its perpetrators. On one level it is understandable why so many in the West are unwilling or unable to connect the militant ideology of political Islam to the thousands of Islamic terror attacks that have been committed worldwide since 9/11. We extol the virtues of tolerance and pluralism and believe others in the world do so as well, so it is easy to dismiss such attacks as the work of a few “extremists,” rather than the product of adherence to an ideology.

The fatal flaw in this thinking is this: How can we successfully win a war on Islamic terrorism if we don’t correctly define the threat doctrine that motivates its adherents?

It is argued that most of the world’s Muslims are not terrorists. While true, this fact is irrelevant. Most of the world’s Muslims have never read the Qur’an or the Hadith in a language they can understand. They have not read the hundreds of passages that call for jihad against infidels, nor do they renounce such passages. They do not organize en masse to denounce the terrorist acts perpetrated by other Muslims in the name of Islam, nor do they denounce the frequent exhortations to world subjugation found in the holy books of Islam.

Yes, there are Muslims who have denounced the Mumbai attacks. But examine their denunciations closely and you will be hard-pressed to find renunciations of the supremacist doctrine of political Islam -- the foundation for jihad -- which emanates from its holy books. This is the justification commonly cited by terrorists for their actions. We in the West must come to grips with the uncomfortable fact that terrorism is a symptom of this militant, supremacist ideology. Terrorism is a means to an end, not an end in itself. And it is but one of many means used by those who are devoted to the supremacist ideology of political Islam.)

by Bruce Loudon

THE al-Qa'ida-linked Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists suspected over the Mumbai massacre were trained in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and were incited by speeches from their leader in Lahore.

As the sole surviving terrorist was interrogated in Mumbai, security sources told The Australian that 10 terrorists were picked by LET for the suicide mission.

They were ordered to "kill until your last breath" and murder up to 5000 people.

They did so after provocative speeches by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed last month in Lahore, capital of the Punjab.

Saeed, described as LET's supreme religious and political head, declared in one speech: "The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in."

The email claiming responsibility for the Mumbai attack minutes after it started last Wednesday was generated on a computer based in Pakistan.

And a satellite telephone captured from the terrorists revealed calls made to numbers in Pakistan during the attacks, reports said.

Officials said the terrorists' route to Mumbai had been recorded on GPS co-ordinates contained in the satellite phones.

Sources said the 10 terrorists -- most of whom were believed to be Pakistanis -- were ordered to undergo training to attack Mumbai.

The captured gunman, Ajmal Amir Kamal, 21, reportedly told intelligence sources the group had trained openly in Muzaffarabad before heading to the nearby Mangala dam for lessons in marine commando techniques.

The group then visited Rawalpindi, which adjoins Islamabad, the Pakistan capital and site of the Pakistan army headquarters.

From there, the group took a train to the port city of Karachi, where, heavily armed, they boarded a freighter for the trip to Mumbai. Along the way, they became nervous about Indian coastguard activity and almost aborted the mission.

They "dragooned" a less conspicuous, passing fishing boat into service, shooting dead four of its crew members. The skipper of the fishing boat and another crew member took them closer to Mumbai before they, too, were killed. One was decapitated and the other had his throat slit.

Close to shore, they transferred to small speedboats for the run into the two landing points they had selected in Mumbai - Sassoon Docks and Badhwar Park, on Cuff Parade.

Conflicting evidence obtained by intelligence agencies suggests that the group may have had local support, and that one or more of its members may have been staying locally, possibly even in the Taj Mahal hotel.

A British link to the attacks was raised over the weekend when a senior Indian official claimed that Britons were among the militants.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, in which Mumbai lies, was quoted on an Indian television station as saying that British citizens had been detained.

British MP Patrick Mercer, a former Tory security spokesman, said he had been given information that at least two of the terrorists had credit cards and other identifying documents that linked them to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in northeast England.

The claims, however, were not substantiated by official British sources, who said there was no evidence "at this stage" that Britons had taken part in the attacks, although they acknowledged that events were "moving fast" and more information was emerging about the nationality of the terrorists.

MI5 and British counter-terrorist police are keeping in close touch with their counterparts in India and are alert to the possibility that Britons with Pakistani origins might have been involved. Significant numbers of young British Pakistanis have taken part in terrorist training in Pakistan.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that there was no evidence of Britons being involved, and the Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "We obviously will want to work very closely with the Indians but it is too early to say whether or not any of them are British."

Malaysian police are investigating reports that Malaysian-issued credit cards were found in the belongings of the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia had no links with the terrorists, responding to an Indian report that nine of the gunmen claimed to be Malaysian students when they travelled to Mumbai several months ago.

Terror analyst Praveen Swami said that at a meeting of key LET leaders in Lahore on October 19, LET leader Saeed, who insists he is only head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa welfare organisation, made plain his view of Pakistan's neighbour.

"India, he claimed, was building dams in (Indian-controlled) Jammu and Kashmir to choke Pakistan's water supplies and cripple its agriculture," Mr Swami reported Saeed as saying.

"Earlier, in an October 6 speech, Saeed claimed that India had 'made a deal with the United States to send 150,000 Indian troops to Afghanistan' and that it agreed to support the US in its existential war against Islam.

"Finally, in a sermon to a congregation at the Jamia Masjid al-Qudsia (mosque) in Lahore at the end of October, Saeed proclaimed that there was an 'ongoing war in the world between Islam and its enemies'.

"He claimed that 'crusaders of the East and West have united in a cohesive onslaught against Muslims'."

US, British Reports Warn Bio-terrorism is a Growing Threat

by Anthony L. Kimery

The biological threat is greater than the nuclear'

Two new reports caution that terrorists are more likely to use biological weapons in the near future than they are nuclear weapons. Terrorists might even try to employ a pandemic-capable strain of avian flu, British homeland security authorities warned.

A new report from Britain’s Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) Commission on National Security in the 21st Century warned that terrorists’ use of biological warfare is one of the biggest emerging threats that’s posed by terrorists in the foreseeable future.

Similarly, the final report of the US Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism released today concluded that the United States more likely can expect a terrorist attack using biological weapons rather than nuclear weapons before 2013.

"The biological threat is greater than the nuclear; the acquisition of deadly pathogens, and their weaponization and dissemination in aerosol form, would entail fewer technical hurdles than the theft or production of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium and its assembly into an improvised nuclear device," the report concluded.

“The Commission’s report is an urgent call to action that should trigger strong, coordinated steps to improve our country’s ability to prevent proliferation and thwart terrorist attacks using nuclear and biological weapons," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon. "As the report notes, we must make it harder for terrorists to get their hands on weapons of mass destruction – the deadliest weapons on Earth - and we need to better prepare our communities to respond to any possible attacks.”

The IPPR report stated that "acts of bio-terrorism carried out not only by organized groups but by individuals with expertise and access to a laboratory, are a serious 21st century threat."

“The biggest danger may come from state weakness and the possibility that terrorists might gain access to state laboratories and facilities that are insufficiently secure,” the report noted.

"This in turn could allow a terrorist to buy genes for use in the engineering of an existing and dangerous pathogen into a new more virulent strain," the report said, stressing that while Al Qaeda remains the "most significant terrorist group of the current era … lone individuals with relevant experience can now be more dangerous than before."

The IPPR report warned that bio-security challenges must be treated "every bit as seriously as other, more traditional threats to security."

The report’s authors caution that terrorists might actually consider trying to genetically engineer a virulent avian influenza strain into a form that can be transmitted between humans, or even infect themselves with a naturally occuring pandemic capable strain once it emerges to become bio-martyrs.

HSToday.us reported several years ago that intelligence indicated that Al Qaeda had discussed infecting willing members with a pandemic flu strain as a method of terrorism. These bio-martyrs would then fan out, criss-crossing the world spreading the virus.

The March 2007 HSToday cover story, Viral Visions, further reported on the potential capabilities of terrorists and rogue states to develop hybrid, or designer, pathogens that could be used as terror weapons.

Click here for additional information.

Homeland Security: Turn to God in time of terrorism

To whom should Homeland Security officials turn when faced with terrorist threats?

They should turn to God, according to one state's law.

When Kentucky formed its state Office of Homeland Security in 2006, it listed the department's initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Homeland Security must proclaim God's protection in its reports. The office also features a plaque at its Emergency Operations Center declaring, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."

State Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, included the stipulation to acknowledge God in an amendment to the legislation. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved it, according to the report. ....

Inside As-Sahaab: The Story of Ali al-Bahlul and the Evolution of Al- Qaida’s Propaganda

Mr. al-Bahlul was no ordinary footsoldier or conventional military commander in the service of Al-Qaida. Rather, he had been personally chosen by Usama Bin Laden in order to help develop another key battlefront in Al-Qaida’s war on the United States: the “media jihad.” The story behind Mr. al-Bahlul and his personal recollections of serving as the chief of Al-Qaida’s As-Sahaab Media Foundation offer unprecedented insights into the history of As- Sahaab, its mission, and how it has evolved over time into the global phenomenon that exists today. ....

Click on the title above to read a most interesting investigation on the above individual.

World at Risk: The Report of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism

by Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, Bob Graham, Jim Talent

Synopsis

"The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world's most dangerous terrorists acquire the world's most dangerous weapons." -- The 9/11 Report

On May 18, 2008, Congress established the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, a bipartisan committee charged with investigating the nation's approach to halting the spread of nuclear and biological weapons.

Recommended by the 9/11 Commission and mandated by Congress, the Commission's report will serve as a measure for the next Administration's national security strategy. Both Senators McCain and Obama have acknowledged that terrorist acquisition of a nuclear or biological weapon is the greatest threat to national security; this is the first Commission to examine how well the United States has prepared itself to prevent such a threat. The Report analyzes the current threat posed by WMDs, assesses how well our government is positioned to respond to WMDs, and makes recommendations on what the next President and Congress must do in order to better prevent this threat. Since May, the Commission has interviewed over 200 experts inside and outside of government. They have met with counterterrorism and intelligence officials at home and abroad who are working to stop proliferation and terrorism.

The report is expected to include information about U. S. counterproliferation efforts across the globe. Its findings might pressure the next administration to overhaul the government's national-security operations. It is also expected to identify bioterrorism as the nation's greatest threat. "My own assessment at this point is the more likely form ofattack is going to be in a biological weapon," said Graham, who adds that we are "very exposed" to biological attacks.

Several commissioners are focused on threats from countries that possess or aspire to make nuclear weapons, such as Pakistan, Iran and North Korea. Some urge U.S. counterproliferation efforts to pay stronger attention to Pakistan as the government grows more unstable. They identify the need to prevent others from emulating A. Q. Khan, who pioneered the development of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and traded in weapons technology.

Written as a clear, compelling narrative, the Report is poised to be a ground-breaking, headline-making event. This is a true benchmark in American foreign policy.

Biography

Established by House Resolution 1 in May 2008, the Commission of the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism is chaired by former Senator Bob Graham.
Members of this bipartisan committee include Vice-Chairman Jim Talent, Timothy J. Roemer, Wendy R. Sherman, Graham T. Allison, Richard Verma, Henry Sokolski, Stephen Rademaker, and Robin Cleveland.

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Vintage to Publish World At Risk "Instant Book" Tomorrow

By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 12/2/2008 6:48:00 AM

Vintage will publish an "instant book" about the threat of WMDs to United States security. World At Risk: The Report of the Commission of the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism by Senator Bob Graham, chairman, and Senator Jim Talent, vice chairman, along with other commission members, will be published in a Vintage paperback original and retail at $10.95. Vintage will release the book tomorrow, the same day the commission will report its findings to President Bush, Vice President-elect Biden and the joint Congressional Leadership.

Recommended by the 9/11 commission and mandated by Congress, the Commission for the Prevention of WMD Proliferation’s report will serve as a measure for the next Administration’s national security strategy. This is the first commission to examine how well the U. S. has prepared itself to prevent such a threat. World at Risk analyzes the current threat posed by WMDs, assesses how well our government is positioned to respond to WMDs, and makes recommendations on what President-elect Obama and Congress must do in order to better prevent this threat. Since May, the commission has interviewed more than 200 experts inside and outside of government. "My own assessment at this point is the more likely form of attack is going to be in a biological weapon," said commission chairman, Senator Graham, who adds that we are "very exposed" to biological attacks.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6618836.html

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In an interview on FoxNews today, Senator Graham is concerned that such an attack will occur by 2013. He is concerned about anthrax & the flu as well as other bio-weapons.

Imaging guru: 'Certification' of birth time, location is fake

(Compiler's note: Another must read. This is not going to just go away.)

By Bob Unruh

A document expert contends the "Certification of Live Birth" Barack Obama's campaign posted online to rebut charges the president-elect fails the Constitution's natural-born citizen requirement is criminally fraudulent.

The Obama campaign has told WND such allegations are "garbage," but Dr. Ron Polarik, who holds a Ph.D. in instructional media specializing in computer technology such as printers, scanners and digital imaging, disagrees. His analyses have been posted online in a YouTube video, which also is embedded here:

Polarik explained to WND his four months of research on the images, including nearly 1,000 test images using actual scans and photographs of real certificates, indicate there are several "giveaways" on the image itself. For example, the document has gray and white between the lettering, not green pixels as the rest of the background document, suggesting someone cut-and-pasted or typed new information that was embedded on top of the background.

Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. and thus a "natural born American" as required by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution? If you still want to see it, sign WND's petition demanding the release of his birth certificate.

Also, Polarik said although the Obama form has a border like that used in Hawaii in 2007, the seal is like that used in 2006 or 2008, but not 2007. His full report is posted at Polarik.blogtownhall.com.

In Polarik's view, there has to be a significant reason for a political candidate and campaign to go to such lengths.

"Obviously, there's something very critical to hide, or they wouldn't have spent the million dollars in legal fees to prevent the release of his original birth certificate," Polarik told WND.

"There's absolutely something to hide," he said. "If he was born in Hawaii they would have had a luau that would be continuing today.

"Not that the people who voted for him would care," he said, "but they used this forged document to convince the American voters.

"It's a scary thought to have someone who essentially begins his presidency as a criminal," he said, because the use of a faked document as identification is, in fact, a crime, he noted.

"It would be hard to perform as president from behind jail cell door at Leavenworth," he said.

The video has Polarik's face and voice disguised, and he confirmed to WND he's using an assumed name because of the threats. Independent verification of his credentials was not immediately available.

Polarik said the issue of the birth location is a "chink" in Obama's armor, but the Democrat also has declined to release information about his college years, about his selective service and about his passports, including on what nation's passport he traveled to Pakistan two decades ago when it was illegal to go there as a U.S. citizen.

Polarik describes his findings and conclusions on the video.

Polarik's conclusions were disputed, however, by another blog, the Hackerfactor.com.

Writer Neal Krawetz argues the "missing green" is a result of the compression algorithm used to generate the image. He also insists there's no validity to alarms over the border, because "we don't know the history of the actual image (was this a scan converted to JPEG, resaved as another JPEG, etc.). What we do know is that the image is at a very low quality, and JPEG loses fine details when saved at a low quality."

"I and other analysts have been unable to identify any sign of digital manipulation," the blogger wrote.

He also said Polarik is just "wrong" about the seal issue, and he addressed the second-fold dispute.

"I must admit that I do not see the second fold. However, I have scanned many pieces of folded paper and not seen folds (scanners pick up color, not texture)," Krawetz wrote.

Meanwhile, Dan Purdy of Forensic Document Examination Services Inc. told WND that the origins of the Internet images aren't known. He raised questions over whether the "original" was a photocopy, the equipment used to create the digital image and the compression processes of the various formats.

Those factors, he wrote, "make it exceedingly difficult to properly interpret fine details in the image."

WND columnist Janet Porter has written extensively about the birth certification issue.

"Look, we're not asking for the world here. Neither is the Constitution. Some pretty basic requirements like being 35 years old, having 14 years residency in the United States, and being a natural born citizen. When Senator John McCain was questioned about it, he showed his birth certificate without hesitating. When Barack Obama was asked by courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, he ducked and hid behind the right to privacy," she writes.

"Ironically, when Obama was running for the State Senate, he won by disqualifying every candidate who ran against him in the primary, including a guy who had been through a nasty and salacious divorce. Even though he had a small child who could be hurt by the information being made public, a court decided that the public's right to know; outweighed this poor fella's right to privacy, and he backed out. Obama clings to the 'right to privacy' regarding his own qualifications, just not his opponents."

She also noted the issue won't go away, and recommended a visit to ObamaForgery.com to review what's happening.

"These are the facts," she wrote. "The Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen. Obama's grandmother said she was there when Barack was born in Kenya. Obama refuses to release his original birth certificate. Instead of a birth certificate, Obama's campaign posted a certification given to those born abroad. Experts have called even that document an 'obvious forgery.'"

"Our Constitution still matters," she said.

Her group, Faith2Action, is working on funding for the purchase of time for a new television ad on the issue.

In the Philadelphia Bulletin, constitutional lawyer Edwin Vieira said a multitude of problems could result.

"Let's assume he wasn't born in the U.S.," Vieira told the newspaper. "What's the consequence? He will not be eligible. That means he cannot be elected validly. The people and the Electoral College cannot overcome this and the House of Representatives can't make him president. So what's the next step? He takes the oath of office, and assuming he's aware he's not a citizen, then it's a perjured oath.

The "eligible" President-elect Obama

"He may have nominated people to different positions; he may have nominated people to the judicial branch, who may have been confirmed, they may have gone out on executive duty and done various things," said Vieira. "The people that he's put into the judicial branch may have decided cases, and all of that needs to be unzipped."

"Let's say we go a year into this process, and it all turns out to be a flim-flam," he told the newspaper. "What's the nation's reaction to that? What's going to be the reaction in the next U.S. election? God knows. It has almost revolutionary consequences, if you think about it."

He continued, "[The birth certificate], in theory, should be there. What if it isn't? Who knows, aside from Mr. Obama? Does Russian intelligence know it isn't there? Does Chinese intelligence know it isn't there? Does the CIA know that it isn't there? Who is in a position to blackmail this fellow?"

Vieira expressed confidence Obama eventually will be forced to produce documentation.

"Let's assume that an Obama administration passes some of these controversial pieces of legislation he has been promising to go for, like the FOCA (Freedom of Choice) Act," he told the newspaper. "I would assume that some of those surely will have some severe civil or criminal penalties attached to them for violation. You are now the criminal defendant under this statute, which was passed by an Obama Congress and signed by President Obama. Your defense is that is not a statute because Mr. Obama is not the president. You now have a right and I have never heard this challenged, to subpoena in a criminal case, anyone who has relevant evidence relating to your defenses. And you can subpoena them duces tecum, meaning 'you shall bring with you the documents.'"

WND founder and editor Joseph Farah has launched a program to allow concerned voters to express their desire directly to the U.S. Supreme Court for the issue to be resolved.

A conference among the justices is scheduled Friday on a New England challenge to Obama's eligibility.

"The case is brought by Leo C. Donofrio against Nina Wells, the New Jersey secretary of state, and questions whether Obama is a 'natural-born citizen' as required by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution," Farah reported.

"It would seem a simple matter to resolve," he said. "Barack Obama could have put this issue to rest long ago by producing a complete birth certificate from Hawaii. Instead, he has chosen to stonewall the matter, citing a website post of what can only be characterized as a partial representation of a birth certificate – one that has been criticized as a forgery.

"Meanwhile, some of Obama's own Kenyan relatives claim to have been present at his birth in Mombasa. This controversy, which some have dismissed as frivolous, is as serious as the literal meaning of the Constitution itself."

The nation's Electoral College, the process through which Obama is to be formally voted as the next president, will meet Dec. 15, and his inaugural is scheduled Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, more than 125,000 have signed WND's petition seeking full disclosure of Obama's information.

The petition cites the U.S. Constitution's requirement that no one can be sworn into office as president without being a natural born citizen. It also asserts there are questions about Obama's reported Hawaii birth, that the Democrat has refused repeated calls to document his birth, that activist judges have declined to require him to shed light on the issue and that Hawaii – at the time of Obama's birth – allowed parents whose children were born in other locations to register the birth there.

WND's petition is available online, and more information is available at this link.

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