Posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Killing America's Kids - No Big Deal. Hey, They Breed Fast in Tennessee
(Analyst's note: Caution - You will experience the raw language of one former Marine warrior and pictures of the results of war if you click on the title above.)
Political Correctness Runs Amok (Again)
from In From the Cold
Call it the greatest irony of political correctness; in their effort to avoid upsetting someone, PC proponents often manage to offend almost everyone.
The latest example comes from Gaffney, South Carolina. After learning that a local Marine, Lance Corporal Christopher Fowlkes, had died from injuries received in Afghanistan, some residents began placing small American flags along the street where his grandparents lived.
They also placed flags along the route that would be followed by the hearse bearing Corporal Fowlkes' remains. Brenda Earls, who led the effort, said the flags were placed along the right-of-way, not on the property of residents or local businesses.
Shortly after completing her task, Ms. Earls noticed that flags were missing in front of a local Bank of America branch. She was also confronted by a bank manager, who told her that flags were not allowed for fear of "offending a customer." The branch manager, Brandy Tate, cited "bank policy" as the basis for her decision.
As you might expect, more than a few Gaffney residents were angered by the bank's decision. And, on Monday night, the outrage extended to the Cherokee County Council, which voted to close local government accounts with Bank of America. As the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports: ....
Call it the greatest irony of political correctness; in their effort to avoid upsetting someone, PC proponents often manage to offend almost everyone.
The latest example comes from Gaffney, South Carolina. After learning that a local Marine, Lance Corporal Christopher Fowlkes, had died from injuries received in Afghanistan, some residents began placing small American flags along the street where his grandparents lived.
They also placed flags along the route that would be followed by the hearse bearing Corporal Fowlkes' remains. Brenda Earls, who led the effort, said the flags were placed along the right-of-way, not on the property of residents or local businesses.
Shortly after completing her task, Ms. Earls noticed that flags were missing in front of a local Bank of America branch. She was also confronted by a bank manager, who told her that flags were not allowed for fear of "offending a customer." The branch manager, Brandy Tate, cited "bank policy" as the basis for her decision.
As you might expect, more than a few Gaffney residents were angered by the bank's decision. And, on Monday night, the outrage extended to the Cherokee County Council, which voted to close local government accounts with Bank of America. As the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports: ....
Ho-hum: Just another illegal alien jihadi suspect
From the Dallas Morning News, an illegal alien from Jordan was arrested in Italy, Texas for plotting to bomb a skyscraper after coming to the U.S. specifically to commit jihad.
Details:
I’m sure the State Department and DHS will be all over the consular officials and immigration enforcement lapses that led to his entrance into the country and ability to work and blend in a la the 9/11 Visa Express beneficiaries!
Details:
Federal authorities arrested a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen whom they said placed an inactive car bomb today at Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi has repeatedly voiced his intent to serve Osama bin Laden and al-Qa’ida and commit “violent Jihad,” authorities said in a prepared statement.
“Today’s arrest of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi underscores the FBI’s unwavering commitment to bring to justice persons who attempt to bring harm to citizens of this country and significant danger to this community,” special FBI agent in charge Robert E. Casey, Jr. said in the statement. “Smadi made a decision to act to commit a significant conspicuous act of violence under his banner of ‘self Jihad.’”
Authorities said that Smadi was under continuous FBI surveillance. Federal agents posed as members of an al-Qa’ida sleeper cell. Smadi, who was in the U.S. illegally, allegedly told them that he came to the country specifically to commit “Jihad for the sake of God.”
According to authorities, Smadi identified potential Dallas targets in June and allegedly scoped out Fountain Place in July. Authorities said that Smadi lived and worked in Italy, about 45 miles south of Dallas.
The rules murdering our troops
Netanyahu condemns U.N.
(Fox News) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed astonishment that the United Nations would give Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "legitimacy" just six decades after the Holocaust ...
Obama and ACORN: A love story
(Candace de Russy) Why did the president feign ignorance of ACORN when his relationship with the group goes back almost 20 years? ...
FBI Arrests Man Trying To Place Bomb Near Fountain Place Skyscraper
from National Terrorism Alert
Dallas Police have arrested Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen after he allegedly placed a device described as an inactive car bomb near a skyscraper in downtown Dallas.
Breaking reports say Smadi was charged with “attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.”
Apparently according to news reports, Smadi had been under FBI surveillance for some time after expressing “his desire to commit violent jihad” numerous times.
FBI says agents arrested Smadi after he placed what he thought was a bomb at the base of Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper located in downtown Dallas. ....
Dallas Police have arrested Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen after he allegedly placed a device described as an inactive car bomb near a skyscraper in downtown Dallas.
Breaking reports say Smadi was charged with “attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.”
Apparently according to news reports, Smadi had been under FBI surveillance for some time after expressing “his desire to commit violent jihad” numerous times.
FBI says agents arrested Smadi after he placed what he thought was a bomb at the base of Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper located in downtown Dallas. ....
Today's "Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Islam" report
from the Jawa Report
FBI is investigating a report on a Somali extremist website that a suicide bomber in last week's attack on African peacekeepers was a Somali-American who had been recruited in Seattle.
A federal grand jury added charges to indictment of admitted Al-Qaeda operative Najibullah Zazi for intending to use weapons of mass destruction against targets inside the US.
Islamic convert Michael Finton (aka "Talib Islam") is arrested for plotting to blow up a federal building in downtown Springfield, Illinois.
An illegal immigrant from Jordan, Mosam Maher Husein Smadi, was arrested for attempting to bomb a downtown Dallas skyscraper.
That is all.
Muslim Prayer Rally Controversy
Scholar, known for controversial 9/11 comments, set to speak at first-ever Muslim Day of Prayer rally on Capitol Hill
School kids taught to praise Obama
Click here to see the video
Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!
To make this country's economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system...
Twice in the past two days, SEPTA officials have alerted police to men taking pictures on the Broad Street subway line in South Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, a SEPTA cashier told officers about a man taking pictures at the Lombard-South station, but the man, after being questioned by the cashier about his activities, left before officers arrived.
"We are attempting to identify that male to determine what the nature or the reason for taking the photographs was," Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said. ....
On Wednesday, a SEPTA cashier told officers about a man taking pictures at the Lombard-South station, but the man, after being questioned by the cashier about his activities, left before officers arrived.
"We are attempting to identify that male to determine what the nature or the reason for taking the photographs was," Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said. ....
Dallas bomber: "We shall attack them in their very homes"
(Analyst's note: See below the words and thoughts of one who has accepted and is dedicated to the Islamist jihad. He is NOT to be considered a criminal within our society, but an most treacherous enemy -- totally dedicated to the death and destruction of our people ... for those whom they chose to let live then subjugation of every man, woman and child to their sharia law. It is time we wake up.)
from Jihad Watch
Raw text from the criminal complaint against Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, from Scribd:
from Jihad Watch
Raw text from the criminal complaint against Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, from Scribd:
"I truly say it that my dream is to be among God's soldiers, first for the support of Islam and my beloved Sheik Usama, may God give him long life. I don't know what is in me, but I love him as I love my father. I don't want to add to this.
Now, my brother, the point is that thousands of Muslims have been killed at the hand of Jews -- the dogs -- and the silent disloyal backsliders. Those are the Arab kings and, God willing, their end will be the hanging rope and hell.
Their silence and fight against the Sheik mean that they are backsiders along with the enemy in a world plan to destroy Islam, Muslims, and to seize their lands for the benefit of the Jews and for the love of infidelity.
By God who created me, there will not be a retreat at all, even if they take me to Guantanamo for the rest of my life. I will never forget Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, or any land where the call of, 'there is no God but God, Muhammad is God's Messenger' is raised.
Who will assist the brothers, the infants, the women who became widows and their orphan children? Who would return these lands before religion and blessing disappear? Who would cause these tyrants to fall?
In the name of God, the Gracious and Merciful, this is my vow to you, my brother, that I am ready. And if you were a lover of Jihad as I am, then, by God, I am ready for the Jihadi life. What you will see of me will please you and your commander.
The reign is only for the living and powerful God. I ask Him that he would be our Caliph and Ruler."
[...]
"My brother in God, God and His angels are with us. With the permission of the Almighty Lord of the Worlds, we will have victory and allies from God Almighty. He is the powerful and helpful. Victory is coming, is coming to defeat the Romans [i.e., Christians] and for the destruction of the Jews. God is Most Great. We shall attack them in their very homes. Brother, by God, we shall attack them in a manner that hurts, an attack that shakes the world. Oh Brother, let the backsliders know that the time for their destruction has come."
A secret White House power grab in full swing
by Phil Kerpen
It’s one thing for President Obama to surround himself with the advisers he’d like to have, but it’s another to bestow on them sweeping powers to broker secret negotiations and push forward vast new regulations that could cost American families thousands of dollars. ....
It’s one thing for President Obama to surround himself with the advisers he’d like to have, but it’s another to bestow on them sweeping powers to broker secret negotiations and push forward vast new regulations that could cost American families thousands of dollars. ....
US May Face 'Armageddon' If China, Japan Don't Buy Debt
By: JeeYeon Park
The US is too dependent on Japan and China buying up the country's debt and could face severe economic problems if that stops, Tiger Management founder and chairman Julian Robertson told CNBC.
Robertson said inflation is a big risk if foreign countries were to stop buying bonds.
“If the Chinese and Japanese stop buying our bonds, we could easily see [inflation] go to 15 to 20 percent,” he said. “It's not a question of the economy. It's a question of who will lend us the money if they don't. Imagine us getting ourselves in a situation where we're totally dependent on those two countries. It's crazy.”
The US is too dependent on Japan and China buying up the country's debt and could face severe economic problems if that stops, Tiger Management founder and chairman Julian Robertson told CNBC.
 |
CNBC.com Julian Robertson, founder of Tiger Management |
"It's almost Armageddon if the Japanese and Chinese don't buy our debt,” Robertson said in an interview. "I don't know where we could get the money. I think we've let ourselves get in a terrible situation and I think we ought to try and get out of it."
Robertson said inflation is a big risk if foreign countries were to stop buying bonds.
“If the Chinese and Japanese stop buying our bonds, we could easily see [inflation] go to 15 to 20 percent,” he said. “It's not a question of the economy. It's a question of who will lend us the money if they don't. Imagine us getting ourselves in a situation where we're totally dependent on those two countries. It's crazy.”
- Watch the Interview With Julian Robertson (Pt. 2)
- Slideshow: The Biggest Holders of US Government Debt
Robertson said while he doesn’t think the Chinese will stop buying US bonds, the Japanese may eventually be forced to sell some of their long-term bonds.
“That's much worse than not buying,” he said. “The other thing is, they're buying almost exclusively short-term debt. And that's what we are offering, because we can't sell the long-term debt. And you know, the history has been that people who borrow short term really get burned.”
The only way to avoid the problem, he said, is to "grow and save our way out of it."
"The U.S. has to quit spending, cut back, start saving, and scale backward," Robertson said. "Until that happens, I don't think we're anywhere near out of the woods.”
Robertson is not very optimistic about the short-term.
“We're in for some real rough sledding,” he said. “ I really do think the recession is at least temporarily over. But we haven't addressed so many of our problems and we are borrowing so much money that we can't possibly pay it back, unless the Chinese and Japanese buy our bonds.”
“We're in for some real rough sledding,” he said. “ I really do think the recession is at least temporarily over. But we haven't addressed so many of our problems and we are borrowing so much money that we can't possibly pay it back, unless the Chinese and Japanese buy our bonds.”
Feds: NC terror suspects targeted US military
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Two North Carolina terrorism suspects plotted to kill U.S. military personnel and one of them obtained maps of a Marine Corps base in Virginia to plan an attack, prosecutors said Thursday.
A superseding indictment returned against Daniel Patrick Boyd and Hysen Sherifi is the first time authorities have said the homegrown terrorism ring had specific targets. Prosecutors said Boyd "undertook reconnaissance" of the base located about 30 miles south of Washington.
"These additional charges hammer home the grim reality that today's homegrown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas, but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home," U.S. Attorney George Holding said in a statement.
Authorities have previously said the men went on training expeditions in the weeks leading up to their arrest in July, practicing military tactics with armor-piercing bullets on a property in rural North Carolina. Seven men are awaiting trial in the case, and investigators say an eighth suspect is believed to be in Pakistan. ....
Stadiums, Hotels Warned of Terrorists
(Analyst's note: Comments by "Act for America" -- In the wake of the continuing story about the New York and Denver terrorist cells, federal authorities are issuing heightened security alerts (see story below) in what a USA Today front page article yesterday called “an unusual flurry of bulletins.”
Meanwhile, it is illuminating that this year, in the midst of repeated White House olive branches and apologies extended to the Muslim world, we are witnessing an apparent increase in homegrown potential terror.
In the eight years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 113 homegrown jihadists have been arrested in America — with 40 arrested this year alone! In other words, prior to this year, an average of 10 homegrown jihadists were arrested each year. We’re barely ¾ of the way through 2009 and we’ve already seen four times that many homegrown jihadists arrested.
Is this just a case of better enforcement? Or is it an increase in terrorist cells and potential terrorists? We believe it’s the latter.
We’ve seen this phenomenon before. In Britain, after years of “outreach” and accommodations to Muslim demands (including the official sanction of shariah courts), terrorist threats have increased, not decreased.
In other words, attempting to fight a “war on terror,” while capitulating to the ideology behind the terror, is a losing strategy. We can help fight the war against Islamic terrorism by pushing back against this failed strategy.
Since 1970, nearly 50,000 separate acts of terrorism have been committed worldwide by Islamists. Help us continue our effort to educate America that this is not a coincidence — that the supremacist, jihadist ideology embedded in Islam predictably produces violence!)
By DEVLIN BARRETT and EILEEN SULLIVAN
AP
DENVER (Sept. 22) — Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels — the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
In the two bulletins – sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press – officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems.
The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaida training manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of the global terror network.
A joint statement from DHS and FBI said while the agencies "have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local law enforcement partners regarding the targets and tactics of previous terrorist activity."
AP
DENVER (Sept. 22) — Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels — the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
In the two bulletins – sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press – officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems.
The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaida training manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of the global terror network.
A joint statement from DHS and FBI said while the agencies "have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local law enforcement partners regarding the targets and tactics of previous terrorist activity."
 | Kiichiro Sato, AP |
A bulletin issued about possible terrorist plots notes that an al-Qaida manual calls for "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin." That, authorities said, would include stadiums, like Chicago's Soldier Field, seen here on Sunday.
Officials noted the law enforcement bulletins are not intended for the public. Bulletins – particularly about hotels as possible targets – are common, and often don't make news. However, a half-dozen alerts issued in the last week have received increased attention amid the ongoing investigations in New York and Denver. The first of these, about hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, specifically referred to the investigation in New York.
Separately, law enforcement officials said a Colorado man may have been planning with others to detonate backpack bombs on New York City trains in a terrorism plot similar to past attacks on London's and Madrid's mass-transit systems.
The investigation and the earlier warning about mass transit system have already prompted officials around the nation to step up patrols.
Two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation told The Associated Press late Monday that more than a half-dozen individuals were being scrutinized in the alleged plot.
In a statement, the FBI says that "several individuals in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere" are being investigated.
Investigators say Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born immigrant who is a shuttle van driver at the Denver airport, played a direct role in the terror plot that unraveled after an overnight 1,600-mile trip from Denver to New York City around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He made his first court appearance Monday and remains behind bars.
Zazi and two other defendants have not been charged with any terrorism counts, only the relatively minor offense of lying to the government. But the case could grow to include more serious charges as the investigation proceeds.
Backpacks and cell phones were seized last week from apartments in Queens, where Zazi visited.
Zazi has publicly denied being involved in a terror plot, and defense lawyer Arthur Folsom dismissed as "rumor" any notion that his client played a crucial role.
Publicly, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said they are unaware of a specific time or target for any attacks. Privately, officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case said investigators have worried most about the possible use of backpack bombs on New York City trains, similar to attacks carried out in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004.
Backpack bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. On July 7 the next year, bombing attacks in London killed 52 subway and bus commuters.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned that improvised explosive devices are the most common tactic to blow up railroads and other mass transit systems overseas. And they noted incidents in which bombs were made with peroxide.
In that bulletin, obtained by The AP, officials recommended that transit systems conduct random sweeps at terminals and stations and that law enforcement make random patrols and board some trains and buses.
Investigators feared Zazi may have been involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The FBI said they found notes on bomb-making instructions that appear to match Zazi's handwriting, and discovered his fingerprints on materials – batteries and a scale – that could be used to make explosives. He also made a trip to Pakistan last year in which he received al-Qaida explosives and weapons training, the government said.
Zazi, a legal resident of the U.S. who immigrated in 1999, told the FBI that he must have unintentionally downloaded the notes on bomb-making as part of a religious book and that he deleted the book "after realizing that its contents discussed jihad."
A strange sequence of events began to unfold nearly two weeks ago when Zazi – already under surveillance by federal agents – rented a car in Colorado and made the 1,600-mile trek across the heartland to New York. He told reporters that he went to New York to resolve an issue with a coffee cart he owned.
He went to his friend's place in Queens. Once there, his car was towed and authorities confiscated his computer. He was told by an NYPD informant that detectives were asking about him, and decided to cut the trip short and fly back to Colorado, authorities said.
Their surveillance blown and their main suspect flying back to Colorado, officials speeded up the investigation and launched raids on several Queens apartments in a search for explosives, but found none.
Zazi and his 53-year-old father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, were arrested Saturday in Denver. Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, was arrested in New York, where he is an imam at a mosque in Queens. The three are accused of making false statements to the government. If convicted, they face eight years in prison.
Associated Press Writers Ivan Moreno, P. Solomon Banda, and Catherine Tsai in Denver, and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.
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Feds: Denver Terror Plot Suspect Bought Bomb Materials at Beauty Shops
Comptroller of Currency Criticizes Part of Bank-Regulation Proposal
By DAMIAN PALETTA
WASHINGTON -- Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan on Thursday blasted a key provision in the White House's proposal to overhaul supervision of financial companies, labeling as "radical" a move that would allow states to enforce tougher consumer-protection laws against nationally chartered banks."This radical change is fundamentally at odds with the concept of efficient national standards for national products and services offered across state lines in national markets -- a concept that has been central to the economic prosperity of the United States since the adoption of our Constitution," he said in a speech to a group called Women in Housing and Finance, according to prepared remarks.
Mr. Dugan's agency supervises national banks, and many banks opt to be regulated by the OCC because its rules pre-empt many state consumer-protection laws.
The White House's plan would create a new agency, called the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, that would establish national standards for products like credit cards and mortgages but would allow states to pass even tougher restrictions. The White House's proposal in this area has long been a goal of consumer groups and certain Democrats who have complained that federal regulators like the OCC haven't been tough enough on banks.
Mr. Dugan, a Republican, said the White House's plan would allow nationally chartered banks to face scrutiny from multiple state agencies at once. "Regressing to a regulatory regime that fails to recognize the way retail financial services are now provided, and the need for a single set of rules for banks with customers in multiple states, would discard many of the benefits consumers reap from our modern financial product delivery system," Mr. Dugan said.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) said Wednesday that lawmakers were still discussing the extent to which national rules should pre-empt state standards, even though he has long called for states to have more power in this area.
Conservative Democrats have said they were uncomfortable with the White House's proposal in this area, and it will likely be a flashpoint as lawmakers begin voting on parts of the proposal in the next few weeks.
Mr. Dugan's speech could further anger the White House and Treasury Department, who have complained to congressional Democrats that regulators are just posturing to defend their turf. Mr. Frank and Mr. Dugan had a tense discussion Wednesday during a congressional hearing about the OCC's record in consumer protection, with Mr. Frank accusing the agency of having a poor track record in helping borrowers and Mr. Dugan defending his agency's actions.
Saudis may let Israel hit Iran's nuke ops Riyadh concerned over potential threat from Tehran
LONDON – MI6 chief Sir John Scarlett has been told that Saudi Arabia is "seriously considering" whether Israel should be given permission to fly over the kingdom to bomb Iran's nuclear sites, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. ....
Bill Ayers is back! Exclusive: Joseph Farah declares Obama flat-out lied about his ties to terrorist
(Analyst's note: Please click on the title above and read the entire troubling article and the related links.)
He's just a guy who lives in the neighborhood."
That was the lie Barack Obama told about his relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers during the presidential campaign.
Apparently most people believed it.
Few of my colleagues in the news media deemed the connection between a leading presidential candidate and a seething-with-rage, violent, hard-core, communist revolutionary of any consequence.
.... Why is this latest development so significant?
The evidence is mounting that Obama selected Bill Ayers.
While we were reporting all this last year, my colleagues were describing Ayers as "an anti-war activist."
He was hardly "an anti-war activist." He was part of the leadership of an organization whose commitment was to make war on the United States of America – as they explained it, "to bring the war home."
That's what he did. And he got away with it. He got away with murder. ....
He's just a guy who lives in the neighborhood."
That was the lie Barack Obama told about his relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers during the presidential campaign.
Apparently most people believed it.
Few of my colleagues in the news media deemed the connection between a leading presidential candidate and a seething-with-rage, violent, hard-core, communist revolutionary of any consequence.
.... Why is this latest development so significant?
Because, if it is true – and I believe it is – it confirms Obama lied boldly and blatantly about something so significant during the campaign. It would also confirm Obama as a close associate and trusted friend to one of the most despicable America haters on planet Earth.
You just don't hire anyone to collaborate with you on your autobiography. You only choose someone you trust, someone who thinks like you, someone who really knows you and your innermost convictions and shares them.
The evidence is mounting that Obama selected Bill Ayers.
While we were reporting all this last year, my colleagues were describing Ayers as "an anti-war activist."
He was hardly "an anti-war activist." He was part of the leadership of an organization whose commitment was to make war on the United States of America – as they explained it, "to bring the war home."
Ayers, Dohrn and the Weather Underground did that through armed bank robberies, through bombings of the U.S. Capitol and dozens of other targets, through the murder of a San Francisco policeman and through the open advocacy of a reign of terror that went on for more than a decade.
That's what he did. And he got away with it. He got away with murder. ....
Dollar under scrutiny at G20 summit
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AFP) – The embattled US dollar is expected to come under scrutiny at a summit of developing and industrialized nations following China-led calls to review its role as a reserve currency. .... Beijing was the first to call for a new global currency as an alternative to the US dollar as the US deficit rocketed -- the White House estimates it could reach nine trillion dollars over a decade. ....
HSBC bids farewell to dollar supremacy
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The sun is setting on the US dollar as the ultra-loose monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve forces China and the vibrant economies of the emerging world to forge a new global currency order, according to a new report by HSBC. ....
\
‘Fed’ Up?
by Geoff Metcalf
"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” – Thomas Jefferson
The Federal Reserve is not federal and it is not a reserve. It is a coalition of independent banks and is not subordinate to the U.S. Federal government. That is an annoying, axiomatic fact. ....
....I have interviewed Eustace Mullins a few times over the years and he notes, “The Federal Reserve System is not Federal; it has no reserves; and it is not a system at all, but rather, a criminal syndicate. From November, 1910, when the conspirators met on Jekyll Island, Georgia, to the present time, the machinations of the Federal Reserve bankers have been shrouded in secrecy. Today, that secrecy has cost the American people a three trillion dollar debt (Note: currently over $11 trillion) , with annual interest payments to these bankers amounting to some three hundred billion dollars per year, sums which stagger the imagination, and which in themselves are ultimately unpayable.”
Rep. Ron Paul and others have periodically banged their heads against the wall. The soothing letter written by Donald J. Winn, Assistant to the Board of Governors in response to an inquiry by Congressman, Norman D. Shumway, on March 10, 1983. Mr. Winn states that "The Federal Reserve System was established by an act of Congress in 1913 and is not a ‘private corporation’." On the next page, Mr. Winn continues, "The stock of the Federal Reserve Banks is held entirely by commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System." He offers no explanation as to why the government has never owned a single share of stock in any Federal Reserve Bank, or why the Federal Reserve System is not a "private corporation" when all of its stock is owned by "private corporations."
Congress called for a review/audit of the Fed, concerned Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke overstepped his authority as he bailed out creditors of Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. while battling a crisis that resulted in $1.62 trillion in write downs and epic losses at financial firms. ....
.... Once upon a time, Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild, "I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man that controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply." ....
Obama will spend more on welfare in next year than Bush spent on entire Iraq war
(CNSNews.com) – As a candidate for president, Barack Obama decried the financial toll that the Iraq war was taking on the economy, but Obama’s proposed spending on welfare through 2010 will eclipse Bush’s war spending by more than $260 billion. ...
'Diversity' adviser takes heat over remarks
(Washington Times) Obama's diversity czar at the FCC has spoken publicly of getting white media executives to "step down" in favor of minorities ...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Census Worker Found Hanged With “fed” Scrawled On Chest
(Analyst's note: This is a sad and troubling case, whatever the cause. Violence is simply NOT the answer.)
By DEVLIN BARRETT and JEFFREY McMURRAY
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery. A law enforcement official says the word "fed" was scrawled on his chest.
The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. ....
By DEVLIN BARRETT and JEFFREY McMURRAY
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery. A law enforcement official says the word "fed" was scrawled on his chest.
The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. ....
Your phone calls won the day!!!! Border security amendment passed 259-167
BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU!
You handed the open-borders leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives a huge defeat today. And what a margin!
259-167!
Republicans voted unanimously 174-0 in favor of the pro-enforcement change. Even the usually-open-borders Republicans felt compelled to vote for it.
85 Democrats voted with us.
Go to our home page to see how your Reprentative voted. The Vote Tracker will be up soon.
BREAKING OPEN-BORDERS ARROGANCE
Pelosi's response to concerns about illegal aliens and the federal health plan was to demand that those concerns NOT be addressed. The result -- thanks to incredible work of NumbersUSA activists and others throughout August -- was that those concerns became a huge public negative on the health bill. Even Pres. Obama had to dissassociate himself from Pelosi's position.
THE INSIDE STORY OF YOUR VICTORY
It is always good to savor a victory. The NumbersUSA culture for 13 years has been to roll around in the victory, and then start fighting the next battle the next day.
Enjoy.
In committee, Rep. Bishop (R-Utah) expressed a concern about the H.R. 324 Arizona bill undercutting border security efforts, the leadership suspended the rules and refused to even allow a vote on a Bishop amendment.
Tuesday morning, we learned from Rep. Bishop that he was going to take on an uphill battle to persuade the House Rules Committee to allow his amendment to come up for a vote on the House floor Wednesday. There once was a time under both Parties that Members of the House were given lots of opportunity to amend and perfect a bill on the floor. Now, very few amendments are ever allowed unless the House leadership favors them.
We mobilized our members across the nation Tuesday mid-day, and within an hour had phones ringing throughout the House, asking that the Bishop pro-enforcement amendment be allowed a vote.
By Tuesday evening after hours of phoning that raised this issue to top visibility on the Hill, Rep. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was ready to tell the Rules Committee that he would offer to change his bill to have language to meet the concerns of Bishop and the phone callers. We appreciated his new-found sensitivity.
By Wednesday morning, Rep. Bishop saw that the new Grijalva language was too loose but that the addition would preclude the Rules Committee from letting the Bishop amendment come to a vote. With the high visibility that your phone calls were giving this issue, Rep. Bishop was able to get the attention of Republican leadership which agreed to mobilize all the Republicans behind the one tool still available to the minority -- the Motion to Recommit.
At mid-Wednesday -- once we knew we had the Republican votes because of leadership support -- we mobilized NumbersUSA's members to phone Democratic Members to try to persuade 40 to vote for the Motion to Recommit (which generally is seen as a slam against the majority Party's leadership).
Frankly, when the voting started late Wednesday afternoon, we assumed we would lose by 10-25 votes. Early voting suggested we were right.
I think Bishop and the Republican leadership primarily hoped to make a statement, not to actually win.
But with only about 20 votes (mainly Democratic) still out, we had a basically tied vote at around 205-205. At that point, 37 Democrats were voting YES. Our experience is that Speaker Pelosi allows as many politically vulnerable Democrats as possible to vote with us but pressures others to either vote the other way or hold their votes until the end and then vote based on what will eek out a one-vote victory for the Speaker. So, we prepared ourselves for the Democratic vote staying just below the 40 it looked like we would need.
Suddenly just before the end of the voting, we saw that two or three Democrats who had voted NO were switching their votes to YES.
Then, all but three of the rest of the Republicans arrived and cast YES votes.
The Democratic tally went up to 40.
And then the dam burst, with the rest of the Democrats finally casting their votes, with most of them voting YES! Several more Democrats who had voted NO earlier now saw that the amendment was going to pass anyway and switched to YES because they knew their constituents would prefer a YES.
In those final frenzied minutes of voting, the tally went from around 205-205 to 259-167. A total of 38 Democrats changed from NO to YES. The number of Democrats voting for pro-border-enforcement went from 37 to 85. (I know what you are asking and the answer is that I don't know a way to find which 38 of the 85 YES-Democrats changed their votes after first voting NO.)
Unfortunately, the Republican leadership at the last minute messed up the original deal which had the Motion to Recommit being only about immigration. It added a small amount of language about another issue and ruined our ability to score the vote as a clear immigration vote on our Grade Cards. That is why you won't see the vote showing up in the individual records or the Members.
WHAT DID WE LEARN AND ACCOMPLISH?
First, we escaped a potential disaster in which much of southern Arizona would be largely off-limits to intense Border Patrol activity -- while becoming more and more ON-limits to drug trafficers and human smugglers.
Second, we sent a clear message to the Pelosi regime that it can't count on its Democratic Members to deliver majorities to the open-borders agenda.
I don't believe for a minute that Pelosi isn't able to continue to arm-twist, threaten and make promises to keep a lot of those 85 Democrats in line. But we learned today that 85 Democrats definitely want their constituents to see them on OUR side.
For those entities trying to force Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to bring comprehensive amnesty up for a vote, their job got a lot harder today. How does Pelosi get a majority for an amnesty when 85 Democrats wouldn't hold with her on an obscure issue that was getting ZERO media attention today?
Finally, we learned a lot about all of you in the NumbersUSA membership. This was a situation in which NONE of our allied organizations got involved in this brief 30-hour battle. NO talk radio show joined in the mobilization. NONE of the Members of Congress took to the airwaves to promote this Motion to Recommit.
THE ONLY ENTITY MOBILIZING AND PUBLICLY PROMOTING PASSAGE OF THE MOTION TO RECOMMIT TODAY was NumbersUSA's army of committed volunteer citizen activists.
THANKS,
Roy Beck
You won!
And everybody on all sides in the U.S. House was surprised. You caused what may have been a watershed vote today. Thanks to every one of you who made phone calls as we requested the last two days.
You handed the open-borders leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives a huge defeat today. And what a margin!
259-167!
H.R. 324 (the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Act) late this afternoon was amended to ensure that nothing about the designation would affect the ability of the Border Patrol to carry out its enforcement duties. Without that language, there was a huge loophole that very well might have been used to block efforts to stop the movement of illegal aliens across that huge Arizona area.
Republicans voted unanimously 174-0 in favor of the pro-enforcement change. Even the usually-open-borders Republicans felt compelled to vote for it.
But Republicans can't make anything happen on their own. And they almost never persuade the necessary 40-45 Democrats it takes to win on anything the last three years.
But the Republican leadership won today because it rallied behind an immigration-enforcement measure that the public would overwhelmingly support.
This change of language won because your barrage of phone calls yesterday and today caused 85 Democrats to know that their constituents really care about border security, that they are paying attention to even obscure legislative happenings and that they very well might punish them if they continue to vote with the open-borders leanings of their Party leadership.
85 Democrats voted with us.
Go to our home page to see how your Reprentative voted. The Vote Tracker will be up soon.
BREAKING OPEN-BORDERS ARROGANCE
One reason this vote was so important is that it may have sent a message to Speaker Pelosi and all her team that they cannot afford to continue to be on the wrong side of the immigration issue on any bill they care about.
Pelosi's response to concerns about illegal aliens and the federal health plan was to demand that those concerns NOT be addressed. The result -- thanks to incredible work of NumbersUSA activists and others throughout August -- was that those concerns became a huge public negative on the health bill. Even Pres. Obama had to dissassociate himself from Pelosi's position.
THE INSIDE STORY OF YOUR VICTORY
It is always good to savor a victory. The NumbersUSA culture for 13 years has been to roll around in the victory, and then start fighting the next battle the next day.
Enjoy.
In committee, Rep. Bishop (R-Utah) expressed a concern about the H.R. 324 Arizona bill undercutting border security efforts, the leadership suspended the rules and refused to even allow a vote on a Bishop amendment.
Tuesday morning, we learned from Rep. Bishop that he was going to take on an uphill battle to persuade the House Rules Committee to allow his amendment to come up for a vote on the House floor Wednesday. There once was a time under both Parties that Members of the House were given lots of opportunity to amend and perfect a bill on the floor. Now, very few amendments are ever allowed unless the House leadership favors them.
We mobilized our members across the nation Tuesday mid-day, and within an hour had phones ringing throughout the House, asking that the Bishop pro-enforcement amendment be allowed a vote.
By Tuesday evening after hours of phoning that raised this issue to top visibility on the Hill, Rep. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was ready to tell the Rules Committee that he would offer to change his bill to have language to meet the concerns of Bishop and the phone callers. We appreciated his new-found sensitivity.
By Wednesday morning, Rep. Bishop saw that the new Grijalva language was too loose but that the addition would preclude the Rules Committee from letting the Bishop amendment come to a vote. With the high visibility that your phone calls were giving this issue, Rep. Bishop was able to get the attention of Republican leadership which agreed to mobilize all the Republicans behind the one tool still available to the minority -- the Motion to Recommit.
At mid-Wednesday -- once we knew we had the Republican votes because of leadership support -- we mobilized NumbersUSA's members to phone Democratic Members to try to persuade 40 to vote for the Motion to Recommit (which generally is seen as a slam against the majority Party's leadership).
Frankly, when the voting started late Wednesday afternoon, we assumed we would lose by 10-25 votes. Early voting suggested we were right.
I think Bishop and the Republican leadership primarily hoped to make a statement, not to actually win.
But with only about 20 votes (mainly Democratic) still out, we had a basically tied vote at around 205-205. At that point, 37 Democrats were voting YES. Our experience is that Speaker Pelosi allows as many politically vulnerable Democrats as possible to vote with us but pressures others to either vote the other way or hold their votes until the end and then vote based on what will eek out a one-vote victory for the Speaker. So, we prepared ourselves for the Democratic vote staying just below the 40 it looked like we would need.
Suddenly just before the end of the voting, we saw that two or three Democrats who had voted NO were switching their votes to YES.
Then, all but three of the rest of the Republicans arrived and cast YES votes.
The Democratic tally went up to 40.
And then the dam burst, with the rest of the Democrats finally casting their votes, with most of them voting YES! Several more Democrats who had voted NO earlier now saw that the amendment was going to pass anyway and switched to YES because they knew their constituents would prefer a YES.
In those final frenzied minutes of voting, the tally went from around 205-205 to 259-167. A total of 38 Democrats changed from NO to YES. The number of Democrats voting for pro-border-enforcement went from 37 to 85. (I know what you are asking and the answer is that I don't know a way to find which 38 of the 85 YES-Democrats changed their votes after first voting NO.)
After our victory in approval of the Motion to Recommit, Rep. Grijalva accepted the language to guarantee no prohibitions on border enforcement and to make permanent a key highway checkpoint. After a series of quick parliamentary procedures, the bill came up for a vote and passed quickly, with the strong language intact. He could have avoided the whole controversy by allowing a vote on Rep. Bishop's amendment in committee. Rep. Grijalva claimed that the amendment was not needed and did not change anything about the bill. Perhaps sponsors of bills in the future will decide that it is just easier to accept our side's language that essentially verifies that what is promised on enforcement actualy happens.
Unfortunately, the Republican leadership at the last minute messed up the original deal which had the Motion to Recommit being only about immigration. It added a small amount of language about another issue and ruined our ability to score the vote as a clear immigration vote on our Grade Cards. That is why you won't see the vote showing up in the individual records or the Members.
WHAT DID WE LEARN AND ACCOMPLISH?
First, we escaped a potential disaster in which much of southern Arizona would be largely off-limits to intense Border Patrol activity -- while becoming more and more ON-limits to drug trafficers and human smugglers.
Second, we sent a clear message to the Pelosi regime that it can't count on its Democratic Members to deliver majorities to the open-borders agenda.
I don't believe for a minute that Pelosi isn't able to continue to arm-twist, threaten and make promises to keep a lot of those 85 Democrats in line. But we learned today that 85 Democrats definitely want their constituents to see them on OUR side.
I also think most of the first 37 Democrats who voted YES not only need to be seen with us for political reasons but are philosophically with us. They WANT to be with us or they NEED to be with us so badly that they aren't going to be taking any dives for Speaker Pelosi.
For those entities trying to force Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to bring comprehensive amnesty up for a vote, their job got a lot harder today. How does Pelosi get a majority for an amnesty when 85 Democrats wouldn't hold with her on an obscure issue that was getting ZERO media attention today?
Finally, we learned a lot about all of you in the NumbersUSA membership. This was a situation in which NONE of our allied organizations got involved in this brief 30-hour battle. NO talk radio show joined in the mobilization. NONE of the Members of Congress took to the airwaves to promote this Motion to Recommit.
THE ONLY ENTITY MOBILIZING AND PUBLICLY PROMOTING PASSAGE OF THE MOTION TO RECOMMIT TODAY was NumbersUSA's army of committed volunteer citizen activists.
THANKS,
Roy Beck
Bolton: Obama's U.N. Speech "Unpresidential"
Former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton gives Fox News his opinion of President Obama's speech to the U.N.
Home Owners - BEWARE
Just received this absolutely must read from a friend
Apparently the current shell game is attempting to divert our attention away from Cap and Tax and focus our attention on the current issue that has us all up in arms, health care. Heads ups because there is more trouble coming our way, especially if we own a home. Please read this. Beck has already revealed the Appollo Alliance wrote the 1100 word health care bill the House has passed without reading. I'm wondering who wrote this disaster of a bill which is 1428 pages long (a bit overwhelming) aimed at total control of home owners. NB
You must take time to read these...Our government at work
|
Commanders back Afghan troop hike assessment
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Central Command, Army General David Petraeus, said on Wednesday that both he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen had endorsed an assessment by the top commander in Afghanistan that says more troops would be needed.
"Obviously I endorsed, the chairman endorsed... Gen. (Stanley) McChrystal's assessment and description," Petraeus said at a counterinsurgency conference in Washington.
"Obviously I endorsed, the chairman endorsed... Gen. (Stanley) McChrystal's assessment and description," Petraeus said at a counterinsurgency conference in Washington.
McConnell Blasts Government Over 'Gag Order' on Private Health Care Provider
from FoxNews.com
The federal government resorted to bullying tactics when it ordered an investigation of Humana -- one of the country's biggest private insurers -- for its decision to send customers a letter alerting them about pending health reform legislation, a leading Republican charged Wednesday.
The federal government resorted to bullying tactics when it ordered an investigation of Humana -- one of the country's biggest private insurers -- for its decision to send customers a letter alerting them about pending health reform legislation, a leading Republican charged Wednesday.
Obama, at U.N., Sets New Tone for U.S.
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly for the first time, sought to distance his country from the era of his White House predecessor, vowing that "America will live by its values" on human rights even as he said he would take to task the abuses and failures of allies and foes alike.In a half-hour speech that was greeted warmly by world leaders, the U.S. president outlined "four pillars" that he called "fundamental to the future that we want for our children" -- nuclear disarmament, Middle East peace, environmental restoration and economic growth. He chastised North Korea and Iran, warning of consequences if they do not back down from their nuclear programs. ....
Pakistan, after being paid billions by the U.S. to fight terror (and giving much of it to jihadists), wants the U.S. to reimburse it
(Analyst's note: If I'd not seen this request with my own eyes --- is one of the most monumental chutzpah alerts I've ever heard. Absolutely must read.)
from Robert Spencer
from Robert Spencer
"For such efforts, Musharraf and the Pakistani government have been paid handsomely, receiving more than $10 billion in American money since 2001....For years, the survival of Pakistan's military and civilian leaders has depended on a double game: assuring the United States that they were vigorously repressing Islamic militants -- and in some cases actually doing so -- while simultaneously tolerating and assisting the same militants." -- New York Times, September 7, 2008
Monumental Chutzpah Alert: the U.S. paid Pakistan to fight against the jihadis, Pakistan funneled much of the money to the same jihadis, and now Pakistan wants to get reimbursed. How long are we going to let Pakistan drain us before we realize they are not on our side?
"Pakistan: President urges US to reimburse $1.6 bn for terror war," from AKI, September 23 (thanks to C. Cantoni):
Monumental Chutzpah Alert: the U.S. paid Pakistan to fight against the jihadis, Pakistan funneled much of the money to the same jihadis, and now Pakistan wants to get reimbursed. How long are we going to let Pakistan drain us before we realize they are not on our side?
"Pakistan: President urges US to reimburse $1.6 bn for terror war," from AKI, September 23 (thanks to C. Cantoni):
Islamabad, 23 Sept. (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari has urged the United States government to reimburse the 1.6 billion dollars that Pakistan spent on fighting extremism in the tribal areas earlier this year.
The United States pays Pakistan for the anti-extremist operations from a special account called the Coalition Support Fund. Pakistan has not been paid for more than a year, Pakistani daily Dawn said.
President Zardari made this demand in two separate meetings with US officials including special envoy Richard Holbrooke.
President Zardari also called for an early realisation of about six billion dollars pledged to Pakistan in the Tokyo conference earlier this year where international donors promised to help Pakistan overcome its economic crisis.
The President also sought an early adoption of the Kerry-Lugar Bill that may bring in another 1.5 billion dollars of annual US assistance over a period of five years. ...
Hitler Sings The Jeffersons Theme
(Analyst's note: Every now and then it is time to lighten it up - this is just such a time. Please click on the title above and enjoy this YouTube video.)
At Pentagon's Request, Post Delayed Story on General's Afghanistan Report
(Analyst's note: Sounds "fishy" to me that one day would make such a great difference in such a request - I report, you decide.)
By Howard Kurtz
To Bob Woodward, it was the modern-day equivalent of the Pentagon Papers. But to Obama administration officials, the classified assessment of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, if disclosed by The Washington Post, represented a potential threat to the safety of U.S. troops.
The result was that The Post agreed to a one-day delay in publicizing the report by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and that the paper's top editor engaged in a lengthy discussion Sunday with three top Defense Department officials in a meeting at the Pentagon.
The Post published the report, which Woodward had obtained, on Monday.
Woodward said in an interview Tuesday that four White House and administration officials strongly objected to the publication of the full report, telling him, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli and a Post lawyer in a conference call on Saturday that "if we publish it as is, it could endanger the lives of troops."
After the Pentagon meeting Sunday with Brauchli, Woodward and Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran, administration officials "did a wholesale declassification of 98 percent" of the document, Woodward said, while The Post agreed to withhold certain operational details. That, Woodward said, "made it easier" for the newspaper to proceed with publication without risking criticism for disclosing classified information.
Brauchli declined to comment. Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti said the paper "agreed to redact certain material from the document. . . . The Pentagon then produced a version of the document with the agreed redactions and released it back to us declassified. We posted that version online, after confirming its accuracy." ....
Still Handling Homeland Security With a 9/10 Attitude
Michelle Malkin
Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi has done us all a favor. But is it enough to rouse a nation in permanent snooze-button mode?
The arrest of Zazi, a Colorado-based Afghan airport shuttle driver who counterterrorism officials believe may have been plotting bomb attacks on New York City mass transit trains, raised alerts on rail lines across the country. A joint FBI-Department of Homeland Security assessment issued Monday warned law enforcement agencies about the use of improvised explosive devices against passenger trains overseas. Zazi was allegedly trained in manufacturing liquid explosives with hydrogen peroxide -- the same material used in the London subway attacks in 2005. FBI/DHS analysts have recommended random sweeps and patrols at rail stations and terminals as deterrents.
The bust reminded America that while the annual September 11 memorials are over, the jihadi threat looms. Yet, homeland security remains crippled by a 9/10 mentality.
Remember: The New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the New York Police Department a few years ago to try to stop random bag searches. The civil liberties absolutists are against random searches because they constitute "unreasonable" invasions of privacy. They're against targeted searches because they amount to racial, religious or ethnic "profiling." And they're against across-the-board searches because they lack "individualized suspicion."
The ACLU homeland security strategy: Do nothing.
The suit against NYPD's random bag search policy ultimately failed, but litigation both real and threatened continues to tie the hands of homeland security and law enforcement officials. This summer, a judge cleared the way for a lawsuit against federal and Minneapolis airport officers by the infamous "flying imams." They are the six Muslim clerics whose suspicious behavior -- fanning out in the cabin before take-off, refusing to sit in their assigned seats, requesting seat-belt extenders, which they placed on the floor -- led to their removal by a U.S. Airways crew in 2006.
The feds rejected the imams' attempt to shake down the airline with a discrimination lawsuit. But three years later, law enforcement officers are still battling the flying extortionists. Political correctness remains the handmaiden of terrorism.
Over at the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder is committed to eliminating racial "disparities" in law enforcement. His anti-profiling allies at the ACLU and something called the "Rights Working Group" are working to end Bush administration counterterrorism initiatives, "including FBI surveillance and questioning, special registration programs, border stops, immigration enforcement programs and the creation of 'no fly lists.'" The ACLU and RWG have appealed to the United Nations to intervene through the "U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)" -- which they say is empowered to require sovereign governments "to review national, state and local policies and amend or repeal laws deemed to be creating or perpetuating discrimination."
Now, add anti-gun activism and stubborn union squabbling to the mix. As I reported two weeks ago, the Obama administration has quietly gutted the nation's most highly trained post-9/11 counterterrorism rail security team. According to multiple government sources who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, the Office of Security Strategy and Special Operations' East Coast and West Coast teams have not worked in a counterterrorism capacity since the summer. Their rifles were put under lock and key after Amtrak Vice President for Security Strategy and Special Operations Bill Rooney and Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, who played an instrumental role in creating OSSSO's predecessor at Amtrak, the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), were pushed out by Team Obama.
Amtrak confirmed to me last week that the elite members of the specialized OSSSO no longer carry long-arm weapons, which played a vital role in the unit's show-of-force patrols. Government sources blame anti-gun hostility inside Amtrak for the move. Amtrak also confirmed to me that West Coast members of the rail security unit -- most of whom come from Special Forces, counterterrorism and other military service -- have been denied police credentials. According to OSSSO sources on both coasts, the rival Amtrak Police Department, in conjunction with the local police union in California, have stymied the process over labor issues (OSSSO members are non-union).
"Amtrak fully expects to have a resolution in the near future," I was told by the rail agency's press office last week. In the meantime, according to a high-ranking homeland security source, Amtrak's unionized police chief has taken over and makes counterterrorism deployment decisions based on pay squabbles. The rail agency is still dealing with grievances filed by Amtrak police officers over compensation during the Democratic National Convention in Denver
.
.
Says my rail security source: "The deciding factor is overtime, not security."
Dickering while jihadis plot. Feel safer yet?
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