Tag Archives: WW-IV / 10th Crusade

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Admin Ignores (Supports?) REAL War on Christianity

Destroy all churches
Obama silent while Saudi grand mufti targets Christianity

If the pope called for the destruction of all the mosques in Europe, the uproar would be cataclysmic. Pundits would lambaste the church, the White House would rush out a statement of deep concern, and rioters in the Middle East would kill each other in their grief. But when the most influential leader in the Muslim world issues a fatwa to destroy Christian churches, the silence is deafening.

And this is a problem with B.O. how?

The White House has placed international outreach to Muslims at the center of its foreign policy in an effort to promote the image of the United States as an Islam-friendly nation. This cannot come at the expense of standing up for the human rights and religious liberties of minority groups in the Middle East. The region is a crucial crossroads. Islamist radicals…are testing the waters in their relationship with the outside world, looking for signals of how far they can go in imposing their radical vision of a Shariah-based theocracy. Ignoring provocative statements like the mufti’s sends a signal to these groups that they can engage in the same sort of bigotry and anti-Christian violence with no consequences.
Mr. Obama’s outreach campaign to the Muslim world has failed to generate the good will that he expected.

DUH!

In part, this was because he felt it was better to pander to prejudice than to command respect.

DUH, again!

When members of the Islamic establishment call for the religious equivalent of ethnic cleansing, the leader of the free world must respond or risk legitimizing the oppression that follows. The United States should not bow to the extremist dictates of the grand mufti, no matter how desperate the White House is for him to like us.

True, but too late with the warning. Stuff like this contrinutes to polling results showing that many state that B.O. is really Muslim. By their fruits ye shall know them? Just sayin’…

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Seal Team 6 Takes Out the Trash!

US kills Osama bin Laden decade after 9/11 attacks

Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.

Long believed to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy. The stunning news of his death prompted relief and euphoria outside the White House and around the globe, yet also fears of terrorist reprisals against the United States and its allies.

“Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House.

The military operation took mere minutes, and there were no U.S. casualties.

U.S. helicopters ferried troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden’s hideout — and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.

Better late than never…overall, a good outcome…and the dumping at sea is a nice touch…no pesky remains to give jihadis a place to go for pilgramage.

B.O. should get credit where credit is due…he directly ordered the search mission, and then, when we got the information, the SEALs were sent in to do the job in their own inimitable way! Bravo Zulu from the Chief!

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Poor Situational Awareness, or What?

Frankfurt Airport Shooting an Act of Islamic Terror, European Officials Say
Suspect, 21, Accused of Killing Two U.S. Servicemen in Germany; Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ During Attack

Having been mugged by reality enough times, the Euros, in spite of political correctness, are getting the point:

Authorities in Europe are calling the shooting at a Frankfurt, Germany, airport that claimed the lives of two U.S. servicemen an act of Islamic terrorism, though U.S. investigators said it is too soon to tell.

Too soon to tell? If one starts shooting at US troops while shouting the jihadi battle cry, what else is needed, besides a willingness to actually engage in thought? This is commented on more fully:

Obama’s state of Islamic denial
Note to Barack: ‘Allahu akbar’ is a Muslim war cry

U.S. troops are gunned down by a shooter who screams “Allahu akbar!” before opening fire. Official statements are rushed out: The perpetrator was a lone wolf; his motive was unclear; there are no links to terrorism. Sound familiar? It should, because when Islam is the cause of American tragedy, President Obama hides his head in the sand.

Methinks this commentator is too generous in his description of B.O.’s stance. The Chief would say that at best, his head is somewhere else where the sun doesn’t shine.

…the White House still obstinately refuses to discuss the jihadist motives of the terrorists involved. [emphasis added]

The Obama administration’s knee-jerk instinct to deny reality in hopes it will go away is clearly not working. How many Americans have to die before Mr. Obama at long last admits the nature of the Islamist threat that killed them?

Or, to think the unthinkable, does B.O. have a higher loyalty than to the United States that dictates his feckless and pusillanimous response to the state of war that has been declared against us by the international Islamist movement?

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Real Witch Hunting!

The Witch Hunts of Gaza, Literally

Hamas leaders are committed to a systematic ”witch hunt” and 150 women were arrested in 2010 in Gaza for having made recourse to witchcraft of some sort. During a symposium held in recent days in Gaza, it was stated that in the eyes of Hamas, the activities of these women represent a real social danger, also because they risk ”breaking up families,” causing divorce and frittering away of money. Sometimes their activities also have criminal repercussions. One awareness campaign against ”the witches” was launched using large posters in mosques, universities and public offices frequented by women.

These are the people that some expect and demand that Israel and/or the USA should negotiate with? Really?

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Surprise Agreement!

Bill Maher(!?) scores big with this comment. It is highly unusual for the Chief to agree with one of his comments…but this one is the exception to the rule:

Bill Maher Defends Mohammed Remarks, Unapologetically a ‘Proud Westerner’

CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer guesses that Bill Maher’s comments last week created “a buzz” on the internet, but Maher stands by his statement about the ‘alarming’ number of ‘baby Mohammeds’ in England.

During a sit-down interview with Blitzer, Maher said that he felt no need to “apologize for being a proud Westerner” or for worrying about “Muslim people are in these [Western] societies“ having babies ”at a faster clip than non-Muslims.” He went on to clarify his position as a Westerner, or “someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not, like separation of church and state…”

“I would like to keep those values here,” Maher concluded.

Sort of like a broken analog clock…it does have some times when it’s correct.

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Taking the War to the Enemy

Pentagon official ‘set up secret “Jason Bourne” unit to hunt down and kill militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan’

The Chief has always kind of hoped that SOMEBODY was doing this…

A senior Pentagon official set up a secret spy network to track down an kill Islamic militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to reports in the U.S.

The elite team of ex-CIA agents and special forces soldiers were even referred to as ‘Jason Bournes’ – a reference to the CIA assassin played by Matt Damon in the Bourne films.

The unit was set up by former air force officer Michael D.Furlong, who is accused of diverting money from intelligence gathering to fund his own network of spies.

According to a report in the New York Times, information gathered by Furlong’s team was used by the military to hunt down and kill Islamic militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Unfortunately, in this politically correct age, it’s been repeatedly demonstrated that actual warfighters have been regularly “flogged”, like in this case.

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed they are investigating the allegations about Furlong.

‘The story makes some serious allegations and raises numerous unanswered questions that warrant further review by the department,’ said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Another case of refusal to tolerate unrelenting pursuit of the enemy. Alas, no good deeds go unpunished.

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Justice Happens!

Afghan bus blast kills 14 terrorists

Sometimes justice just happens, regardless of anything we try to do to prevent it.

A bus loaded with explosives and suspected terrorists apparently blew up prematurely as it was on its way to a planned attack in Afghanistan, police said.

All 14 suspects in the vehicle were killed when it exploded Tuesday in Kundiz province.

CNN said investigators believe the bus was on its way to attack police or foreign military personnel in the area.

Ya gotta love it!

Defense Matters!

PC vs. Army: Army Loses, Again

A amazingly good report from NPR:
Rules Of Engagement Are A Dilemma For U.S. Troops

As part of the new American counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines must work first to protect the Afghan population. Given the choice between killing the enemy or risking civilian lives, they have been willing to let the enemy go. NPR’s Tom Bowman was in Afghanistan earlier this year and witnessed troops grappling with the dilemma of whether to shoot.

Go to the link for the actual interview, and for its transcript.

This shows the insanity of sending U.S. troops into a combat environment, and then tying their hands. This is what happens when politicians, lawyers and military bureaucrats are given plenary authority over the warriors. It didn’t in Korea and Vietnam, and it won’t work now.

It’s no way to fight a war.

Defense Matters!

Navy SEALS Do Job: Get Hung Out to Dry

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Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

Just to refresh your memory, this is the handiwork of the Islamoterr in question…note the burned and mutilated [American] bodies hanging from the bridge girder:

0_61_112409_fallujah

The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Awwwwww. Poor baby. Refer again to the above picture. If there was any justice in this situation the Islamoterr  should have been whacked while “resisting capture”.

Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

This is SO wrong. We take the best of our best, send them out to do a mission and capture a known and identified terrorist combatant. They do so, and the perp complains (after he had been turned over to Iraqi custody) that he got punched during the course of events.  What happens next?

Why what else, given that this is the day  of the B.O. administration granting the full panoply of legal rights of an American citizen to the killer (by beheading!) of  American reporter Daniel Pearl, and who also happened to  lead the planning for the 9-11 attack?  The feckless wonders of the U.S. Obamanation Navy bring the SEALS up on charges!

IMAGINE THE VERY WORST THING  THAT I COULD SAY TO COMMENT NEGATIVELY ON THIS LEGAL ABORTION.

NOW, CONSIDER IT SAID!

Defense Matters!, National Insecurity

B.O. Hardly Working on War

Let’s see…B.O.’s had the information and proposals from HIS selected commanding combat General since August. It’s now November. Meanwhile the conduct of the war continues to stagnate, our local allies hold their breath as they wait to decide whether and/or when to jump ship, and any potential local allies take another look at the possibilities of making an accomadation with the Islamoterrs.

White House aides: No Afghan decision before Thanksgiving

President Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said Thursday.

The news came as the president greeted 1,500 troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, just before boarding Air Force One and heading back to Washington after an eight-day trip to Asia.

Obama and his top military and diplomatic aides have been deliberating for months over how to proceed in Afghanistan, where the United States and its partners have sought for eight years to defeat the Taliban and deny al-Qaeda a safe haven from which it can plan and launch attacks.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has stated that without the deployment of up to 40,000 additional troops within the next year, the mission “will likely result in failure.”

Plenty of time for global junketing, complete with his 70 car motorcade, but forget about the troops being left to wither on the vine while B.O. continues to dither.

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Paying the Danegeld – Update

[UK] Army tells its soldiers to ‘bribe’ the Taleban

British forces should buy off potential Taleban recruits with “bags of gold”, according to a new army field manual published yesterday.

Army commanders should also talk to insurgent leaders with “blood on their hands” in order to hasten the end of the conflict in Afghanistan.

The edicts, which are contained in rewritten counter-insurgency guidelines, will be taught to all new army officers. They mark a strategic rethink after three years in which British and Nato forces have failed to defeat the Taleban. The manual is also a recognition that the Army’s previous doctrine for success against insurgents, which was based on the experience in Northern Ireland, is now out of date.

In a previous posting concerning other NATO bribes tribute payments the Chief noted that according to the report at least the US and UK had enough sense not to revive this historical tradition of paying “Danegeld” to the Taliban. (See the previous posting for the explanation concerning Danegeld.)

Unfortunately, it is necessary to retract the credit for a residue of rationality that the current Ingsoc government of the island that has recently transformed into Airstrip One.  Apparently the current Big Brother Gordon Brown has completely lost his historical mind, and forgotten the lessons that the England of King Alfred the Great learned through hard experience.

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Ft. Hood Jihad Update 4

Well, more stuff keeps coming out, further reinforcing the image of Nidal Hasan as viewing himself to be a militant jihadi.

Now, not only his own leavings like his e-mails, business card captions self-proclaiming himself to be a “Soldier of Allah”,  but his Yemeni Sheikh correspondent modestly concedes that he could claim a role in transforming Major Hasan into jihadi Hasan, as reported by that not exactly right-wing rag, The Washington Post.

Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan

In his first interview with a journalist since the Fort Hood rampage, Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi said that he neither ordered nor pressured Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to harm Americans, but that he considered himself a confidant of the Army psychiatrist who was given a glimpse via e-mail into Hasan’s growing discomfort with the U.S. military.

The cleric said he thought he played a role in transforming Hasan into a devout Muslim eight years ago, when Hasan listened to his lectures at the Dar al-Hijra mosque in Northern Virginia. Aulaqi said that Hasan “trusted” him and that the two developed an e-mail correspondence over the past year.

As to whether or not Sheikh Aulaqi is qualified as a militant himself, he can speak for himself:

Explaining why he wrote on his Web site that Hasan was a “hero,” According to Shaea, Aulaqi said: “I blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were not normal soldiers, but those who were trained and prepared to go to Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Aulaqi’s views are controversial, earning him not only designation by U.S. counterterrorism officials as a leading English-language promoter and supporter of al-Qaeda, but also criticism from other fundamentalist Islamic clerics. Sheik Salman al-Awdah, a Saudi religious leader, gave an interview last week calling the massacre at Fort Hood “unjustified,” “irrational” and “inadvisable” because it will cause a backlash against Muslims in America and Europe.

But Aulaqi’s statements reflect the increasingly radical path he has taken since settling in Yemen in 2004. Print, video and audio files of his words have been found on the private hard drives of terrorism suspects in Canada in 2006 and in the United States in 2007 and 2008. He also wrote congratulations to al Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group leading an insurgency in Somalia, after it apparently used the first U.S.-citizen suicide bomber last fall.

In the light of just what has been reported from various sources, ANYONE who is still holding to the shibboleth “Don’t jump to any hasty conclusions about Hasan’s motivation” has their head firmly in a location where the sun never shines, whether it their name is Obama, Napolitano, Leahy, or anything else.

National Insecurity

More Mid-East Mess

B.O. administration non-decisiveness chickens are starting to come home to roost.

Is Yemen the most dangerous new front in the war on terror?

In case you don’t recall, one of Major Hasan’s internet e-mail pen pals is Yemeni Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki.

Sheikh Anwar’s latest blogpost describes Major Hasan as a “hero”, a man of conscience. Given that the cleric says other Muslims have a right, or a duty, to behave similarly, army investigators will no doubt be keen to see who else was in contact with him. But the blog is worth reading for other reasons, too. Last month, for instance, Sheikh Anwar told us to expect the unexpected. But the message had nothing to do with Fort Hood. Instead, his focus was closer to hand: “Could Yemen be the Next Surprise of the Season?” he asked.

The Yemen situation is truly what the Brits might refer to as “a sticky wicket”.

The multiple crises afflicting Yemen are not a surprise to anyone who has been watching, and certainly not to those in Washington. There is every reason to suppose that the US authorities are far more alarmed over events there than they were over Major Hasan, but they have been similarly unsure how to react. Some commentators in the Middle East are starting to see this as a trend: an uncertainty over how to deal with the Muslim world is leading to disaster.

Yemen, which occupies an important position at the tip of the Red Sea and on the borders of Saudi Arabia, is home to three separate conflicts. One is against al-Qaeda, which has put down strong roots in the territory, the ancestral home of the Bin Laden clan. One is against secessionists in the south. The third is the most obscure, the most seemingly pointless, but the most destructive: a long, drawn-out campaign against an insurgency by a group of Shia tribalists known as the Houthis.

Fir the gory details of Yemen (“It ain’t that pretty at all.”) go to the piece. Meanwhile, on other fronts of WW-IV, formerly known as the G.W.O.T., things aren’t much better:

…In the Occupied Territories, America has scuppered its Palestinian ally Mahmoud Abbas by allowing him to set conditions for talks with Israel which it then allowed Israel to ignore.

On Iran, Washington set a deadline for a response to a proposed deal on enriched uranium, and then let the deadline pass. Israel and Saudi Arabia, who both regard Iran as a mortal enemy, are taking counsel.

In Afghanistan, it has just given itself more time to decide whether to send extra troops. Can Hamid Karzai even consider himself a friend of America any more?

The trend was summarised by Riad Kahwaji, the chief executive of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, in a research note yesterday: “It is a bad time to be an American ally.” He quotes one Arab official as asking, “With a weak and hesitant ally, who needs enemies?”

No such uncertainty affects the Houthis, whose slogan could not be clearer: “God is Great; Death to America; Death to Israel.” [emphases added]

As is common these days…one needs to go to the UK press to get a decent picture of events.

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Ft. Hood Jihad Update 3

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In spite of what some may think out by Lake Madison, this is some tangible evidence that the Chief isn’t making something out of nothing in his concerns about P.C. trumping realism in the latest episode of domestic terrorism.

EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was declared “not a terrorist” before the facts were out – even before officials were sure whether the attacker was alive or dead. Failing to honestly name a terrorist attack despite the evidence is as destructive and dishonest as leaping to call an attack terrorism without the facts to support that.

Apparently, the claim was based largely on the fact that Maj. Hasan appears to have been a lone gunman. However, terrorism is defined not by the number of people involved, but by the motivations and intentions of the attacker. If reports about him are true, Maj. Hasan clearly was a terrorist.[emphasis added]

Hear, hear!

Those who want to explain this away as the result of stress, workplace violence or the “stretched force” are willfully blind. Condemned Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad…petitioned for clemency on the basis that he suffers from severe mental illness and Gulf war syndrome. Surely someone who hunts down and murders strangers is not in his right mind, but the primary motive in both Muhammad’s case and Maj. Hasan’s was jihadism.

The refreshing candor of someone like Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, the shooter in the June attack on the Army recruiting station in Little Rock, Ark., is rare. Reportedly, he said he was a practicing Muslim angry with the U.S. military for its crimes against Muslims and would have shot more than the two soldiers he killed if more had been available. This incident also was called “not terrorism. “

The United States is engaged in a global struggle with violent adherents to an extremist Islamic creed. It does not besmirch the Muslim faith – or the vast majority of American Muslims – to admit that fact. The politically correct tendency to define attacks as something other than terrorism simply to avoid addressing the motives of the attacker is dangerous. Anyone who shouts “Allahu Akbar” and opens fire on a crowd of unarmed people is a terrorist. If Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is not a terrorist, no one is. [emphasis added]

Couldn’t have said it better!

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Ft. Hood Jihad Update 2

The plot thickens.

U.S. had al Qaeda intelligence on Fort Hood shooter

U.S. intelligence agencies learned an Army psychiatrist tried to contact Islamists with suspected al Qaeda links and relayed that information to federal authorities before the man allegedly went on a shooting spree in Texas last week, U.S. sources said on Monday.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said intelligence agencies intercepted electronic communications between the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, and anti-American Islamists starting last year and reported the contacts to federal authorities, including the FBI. The sources did not identify who Hasan contacted but described them as Islamists associated with and sympathetic toward al Qaeda.

Who might these “Islamists with suspected al Qaeda links” be? Why, just the friendly fiendly neighborhood Imam.

U.S. Knew of Fort Hood Suspect’s Tie to Radical Cleric

Intelligence agencies intercepted communications last year and this year between the military psychiatrist accused of shooting to death 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., and a radical cleric in Yemen known for his incendiary anti-American teachings.

But the federal authorities dropped an inquiry into the matter after deciding that the messages from the psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, did not suggest any threat of violence and concluding that no further action was warranted, government officials said Monday….

Given the radical views of Mr. Awlaki, however, the conduct of the F.B.I. and the military is likely to come under intense scrutiny from Congress. Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, on Monday asked intelligence and law enforcement officials to preserve all records of their dealings with Major Hasan.

The communications provide the first indication that Major Hasan was in direct communication with anyone who espoused militant views. On Monday, Mr. Awlaki praised Major Hasan on his Web site, saying that he “did the right thing” in attacking soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.

The officials said the communications did not alter the prevailing theory that Major Hasan acted by himself, lashing out as a result of combination of factors, including his outspoken opposition to American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan and his deepening religious fervor as a Muslim.

Major Hasan, who was shot by a police officer, has regained consciousness at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and is able to talk, though he declined on Sunday to speak to federal investigators about the shooting rampage. “He is critical but stable,” said a hospital spokeswoman, Maria Gallegos.

Ms. Gallegos added that Major Hasan had come out of a coma on Saturday and had been conversing with his doctors ever since. A lawyer for Major Hasan told The Associated Press on Monday that he had asked investigators not to question his client and expressed doubt that he could get a fair trial. The lawyer, John P. Galligan, a retired Army colonel, said he was contacted by Major Hasan’s family on Monday and was traveling to San Antonio to consult with him.

The imam whom Major Hasan made contact with is an American citizen born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents. He wrote on Monday on his English-language Web site that Major Hasan was “a hero.” The cleric said, “He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.”

Mr. Awlaki added, “The only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.”

Meanwhile Homeland Insecurity Sec’y Napolitano continues to beat the PC drum about not offending Islam…

Homeland chief warns against anti-Muslim backlash

The U.S. Homeland Security Insecurity secretary says she is working to prevent a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.

Janet Napolitano says her agency is working with groups across the United States to try to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday’s rampage by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim who reportedly expressed growing dismay over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The shootings left 13 people dead and 29 wounded.

This is more of the same, with similar vaporizations on the subject from the Army Chief of Staff, His Imperial Mightiness B.O. hisself, and others.

Apparently 300 witnesses, many of whom clearly heard the perp yell “ALLAHU AKBAR”, and then SAW him shooting isn’t enough, along with the above mentioned reports according to the administration and their ilk to give enough evidence for us to move beyond cautions about making a judgment about his motives, or even for that matter the fact that he did it.

“Homeland Security?”  What a joke!

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Fort Hood Jihad Update

Army Chief Concerned for Muslim Troops

General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian and wounding dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”

“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”

Quick – somebody hit him upside the head with a cluebat!

IS HE NUTS? Speculation?  Like the following collection of random facts?

Jihad at Fort Hood

On May 20, 2009, a man giving his name as “NidalHasan” posted this defense of suicide bombing (all spelling and grammar as it is in the original):

There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy i you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE” and Allah (SWT) knows best.

Of course, it may not be the same Nidal Hasan. But there is more. One of his former colleagues, Col. Terry Lee, recalled Hasan saying statements to the effect of “Muslims have the right to rise up against the U.S. military”; “Muslims have a right to stand up against the aggressors”; and even speaking favorably about people who “strap bombs on themselves and go into Times Square.”

Maybe he just snapped, perhaps under the pressure of his imminent deployment to Iraq. But it’s noteworthy that if he did, he snapped in exactly the same way that several other Muslims in the U.S. military have snapped in the past. In April 2005, a Muslim serving in the U.S. Army, Hasan Akbar, was convicted of murder for killing two American soldiers and wounding fourteen in a grenade attack in Kuwait. AP reported: “Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve ‘maximum carnage’ on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.”

And Hasan’s murderous rampage resembles one that five Muslim men in New Jersey tried to carry out at Fort Dix in New Jersey in 2007, when they plotted to enter the U.S. Army base and murder as many soldiers as they could.

That was a jihad plot. One of the plotters, Serdar Tatar, told an FBI informant late in 2006: “I’m gonna do it….It doesn’t matter to me, whether I get locked up, arrested, or get taken away, it doesn’t matter. Or I die, doesn’t matter, I’m doing it in the name of Allah.” Another plotter, Mohamad Shnewer, was caught on tape saying, “They are the ones, we are going to put bullets in their heads, Allah willing.”

Nidal Hasan’s statements about Muslims rising up against the U.S. military aren’t too far from that, albeit less graphic. The effect of ignoring or downplaying the role that Islamic beliefs and assumptions may have played in his murders only ensures that – once again – nothing will be done to prevent the eventual advent of the next Nidal Hasan.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, the Chief calls it a duck.  In other words, A TERRORIST IS AS A TERRORIST DOES!

Apparently the Chief isn’t alone in his evaluation of the situation.

Lieberman Suggests Army Shooter Was ‘Home-Grown Terrorist’

A senior U.S. senator on Sunday said the shootings at Fort Hood could have been a terrorist attack, and that he would launch a congressional investigation into whether the U.S. military could have prevented it.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who heads the Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said initial evidence suggested that the alleged shooter, Army Major Nidal Hasan, was a “self-radicalized, home-grown terrorist” who had turned to Islamic extremism while under personal stress.

’nuff said.

Defense Matters!

Islamo U.S. Army Shrink Goes Whacko, Whacks 12

Suspected Gunman in Custody After 12 Killed in Rampage at Fort Hood

An Army psychiatrist who reportedly feared an impending war deployment is in custody as the sole suspect in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas that left 12 dead and 31 wounded, an Army official said Thursday night.

The news that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was alive and in stable condition came as a sudden reversal of early reports that the gunman was among the dead.

“I would say his death is not imminent,” Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said. Col. Ben Danner said the suspect was shot at least four times.

Dang! Survived four bullets. Too bad.

The rampage was believed to be the deadliest at a U.S. military base in history. The exact motive wasn’t clear, though Hasan, a Virginia native and a Muslim, reportedly was against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and had been the target of harassment for his ethnicity.

The Chief has experienced harassment in a military setting. It can be a real annoyance, but certainly survivable without taking out frustrations by attacking his fellow sailors.

UPDATE: Troubling portrait emerges of Fort Hood suspect

His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.

There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of all, his motive. But details of his life and mindset, emerging from official sources and personal acquaintances, are troubling.

According to the reports he had a problem with some of his fitness reports, and apparently had some sort of problems dealing with patients. That may or may not have any significance, but the following does raise some concerns:

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

Wonder what it takes to get investigated these days. (Probably bad-mouthing B.O.!) They probably couldn’t proceed due to fears of being caught “profiling”.

One of the officials said late Thursday that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize the seizure of Hasan’s computer.

They can hack out anything that’s there…even stuff that had been erased…of course, that doesn’t mean that anything about it will ever see the light of day. For instance, the IMMEDIATE response was that this was no way terrorism.

Uh…how could they know, if there had been no previous investigation? Also, IMHO, a terrorist is as a terrorist does. One does NOT have to have an official notarized al Qaida membership card to be a terrorist. By MY reckoning, this sure seems like terrorism to me!

UPDATE II: Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Malik Hasan ‘said Muslims should rise up’

Maybe some of this has to do with being harassed:

Col Terry Lee, a retired officer who worked with him at the military base in Texas, alleged Maj Hasan had angry confrontations with other officers over his views.

Maj Hasan was reportedly fighting orders to be deployed to Iraq at the end of the month, claiming that he was the victim of harassment and insults because of his Arab background and his faith….

“He was making outlandish comments condemning our foreign policy and claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans,” Col Lee told Fox News.

“He said Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor and that we should not be in the war in the first place.” He said that Maj Hasan said he was “happy” when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June. An American convert to Islam was accused of the shootings.

Col Lee alleged that other officers had told him that Maj Hasan had said “maybe people should strap bombs on themselves and go to Time Square” in New York.

This is in side of an Army community…is it any wonder that this might get a negative reaction?

National Insecurity

Armageddon Time?

When it comes to Iran, the U.S. may be facing a cataclysm

Victor Davis Hanson is a military historian; Robert Baer a former CIA field officer. Both have studied the Middle East for decades, traveled to the area repeatedly in recent years and written about the region extensively. And both have become convinced that we may be facing a cataclysm.

Hanson and Baer each presented his analysis during an interview this past week. Although they differ on certain matters, they agree on five observations.

There is more of the backstory on each of these in the article, but that doesn’t make the situation look any better.

The first: If not already capable of doing so, Iran will be able to produce nuclear weapons in mere months.

The second observation: The Iranians have no interest in running a bluff. Once able to produce nuclear weapons, they will almost certainly do so.

The third observation: As the Iranians scramble to produce nuclear weapons, the Obama administration appears too feckless, inexperienced or deluded to stop them.

The Chief doesn’t know whether it is the fecklessness, inexperience, or delusion that is causing the problem. Probably all three!

The fourth observation: Israel cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran.

The final observation: Iran would retaliate.

“Iran’s deterrent doctrine is to strike back everywhere it can,” Baer explained. “We should expect the worst.” Iran would attack American supply lines in Iraq and command Hezbollah to start a civil war in Lebanon. It would fire surface-to-surface missiles at every oil facility within range, wreaking devastation in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states while removing millions of barrels of oil a day from the world markets. The economy of the entire globe would suffer a paroxysm. The Middle East could descend into chaos. The U.S. would experience the worst crisis in decades.

After the assassination 95 years ago of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the great powers of Europe engaged in meaningless diplomatic maneuvers. “Austria has sent a bullying and humiliating ultimatum to Serbia, who cannot possibly comply with it,” British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith confided in a letter. “[W]e are in measurable, or at least imaginable, distance of a real Armageddon.”

A big nation attempting to humiliate a small nation in a way the small nation simply cannot accept. Unseriousness among great powers. A gathering sense of impending catastrophe. Once again, it may be Armageddon time.

Like the lyric of an old Warren Zevon song: “It ain’t that pretty at all!”.

Uncategorized

We’ve seen this before…

Wasn’t it around 60 years ago that Jews had trouble travelling in Europe without fear of being arrested?

The bad old days appear to be returning…and Europe is supposed to be considered sane and civilized?

Israelis may stay home to avoid arrest in Europe

Israel is seriously considering restricting travel to Europe by its senior officials and military officers, fearing they might be arrested in the wake of a disputed U.N. report that accuses the Jewish state of targeting civilians in its Gaza war earlier this year.

Oh yeah. Some Palestinians got killed in a round of warfare that THEY started. So some UN-crats and traditionally anti-semitic Euros think that this constitutes war crimes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday harshly criticized the U.N. report, written by a team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, “as distorted” and vowed not to permit the Israeli officials who launched the Gaza war “to arrive at the International Court in The Hague.” The U.N. Security Council will discuss the report on Wednesday.

Just how did this iteration of fighting get started? Remember the HAMAS Palestinian terrorists firing literally thousands of rockets into Israel (Which is roughly comparable in size to say, South Dakota between I-29 and the Minnesota border.) Then they get upset when Israel responds militarily and comes after them…and even fired real bullets back at them! (Shocking!!)

Israel launched the offensive to stop the militant Palestinian group Hamas from firing rockets on Israeli cities from Gaza, which Hamas controls. While the war is viewed in Israel as a tactical success, its large civilian death toll – estimated at 926 by Palestinian rights groups and at least 295 by Israel – has created significant diplomatic fallout.

How’s about the bit that there were so many civilian casualties because many rocket launching points were in hospital and school courtyards (with the normal users still present in the buildings while the rockets were going out) naturally becoming targets of the Israeli response.

F ’em if they can’t take the heat…next time MAYBE they’ll actually THINK before you start with the rocketry again, but it’s doubtful.

China Watch, National Insecurity

B.O. Middle East Disarray

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The B.O. administration seems unable to get itself organized in the middle east, with the resulting development of serious economic consequences, as illustrated by the unfortunate pattern of the following articles found online today…as contradictory as they are.

White House angry at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan

At the time that General McChrystal was appointed, B.O. pledged to take care of the needs of the force as communicated by the commanding general…that WOULD be McCrystal. Ooops! When he says something that B.O. doesn’t want to hear, it’s a different story. Support for the war apparently only goes so far now that the election is over.

According to sources close to the administration, Gen McChrystal shocked and angered presidential advisers with the bluntness of a speech given in London last week.

Truth is a bitch!

The next day he was summoned to an awkward 25-minute face-to-face meeting on board Air Force One on the tarmac in Copenhagen, where the president had arrived to tout Chicago’s unsuccessful Olympic bid. In an apparent rebuke to the commander, Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, said: “It is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations, civilians and military alike, provide our best advice to the president, candidly but privately.”

This ignores the situation that McChrystal’s requests were made weeks ago, with hardly a “Howdy do?”  In reply. B.O. doesn’t seem able to realize that military combat doesn’t operate according to the whims of his attention…or rather, inattention.

Less than perfect decisive action is generally better than no action at all, which has been the White House pattern of late.

If there was an incipient plan to cut out and abandon the effort (without commenting on the merits of THAT), then there MAY be some rationale to the non-response from Washington, but…that’s NOT what they are insisting:

White House: Leaving Afghanistan not an option

The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama is not considering a strategy for Afghanistan that would withdraw U.S. troops from the eroding war there. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that walking away isn’t a viable option to deal with a war that is about to enter its ninth year. “I don’t think we have the option to leave. That’s quite clear,” Gibbs said.

If that’s really the case, not to put a fine point to it, then it’s past time for B.O. to s–t or get off the pot!

In addition, to completely have two opposite trends at the same time, comes SECDEF Gates

Taliban Afghan momentum due to lack of U.S. troops

The Taliban has the momentum in Afghanistan now because of the inability of the United States and its allies to put enough troops into the country, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.

HUH?

Firstly, Gates essentially is agreeing with McChrystal that we do not have enough troops in-country to successfully do the job: so now both the Commanding General AND the Secretary of Defense apparently don’t buy into B.O.’s pusillanimous inaction.

Secondly, is the United States Secretary of Defense REALLY saying that this is due to the “INABILITY of the United States and its allies to put enough troops into the country” [emphasis added]?  We are UNABLE to carry out a policy that would enable winning the war in Afghanistan?

Anyone else remember B.O. proclaiming that AFGHANISTAN was the “central front” of the war on Islamoterrs, in contrast to Iraq? Apparently that was then (campaign mode) and this is now (Administration mode).

However it plays out, our allies and so-called allies are betting that the United States uner B.O. is a paper tiger, so they are getting together behind our back and planning to slip it to us financially and economically, apparently with no fear of possible effective response:

The demise of the dollar

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

Our reaction thus far is in any practical sense, ineffectual, as we slip towards an expansion of Cold War II.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. “Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable,” he told the Asia and Africa Review. “We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security.”

This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil…

God help us…we’ll need it if we don’t start to get our sh… er… stuff together.

Uncategorized

…Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine

Al Qaeda Bombers Learn from Drug Smugglers
New Technique of Storing Bomb Materials Inside Body Cavity Nearly Kills a Saudi Prince

Al Qaeda has developed a new tactic that allows suicide bombers to breach even the tightest security, as CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports.

Inside a Saudi palace, the scene was the bloody aftermath of an al Qaeda attack in August aimed at killing Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, head of Saudi Arabia’s counter terrorism operations.

To get his bomb into this room, Abdullah Asieri, one of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted men, avoided detection by two sets of airport security including metal detectors and palace security. He spent 30 hours in the close company of the prince’s own secret service agents – all without anyone suspecting a thing.

How did he do it?

Taking a trick from the narcotics trade – which has long smuggled drugs in body cavities – Asieri had a pound of high explosives, plus a detonator inserted in his rectum.

The piece goes on to note that the final detonation was likely triggered by a cell text message…

Other than the obvious security (and other) nightmares this technique suggests, there are (unfortunately) a whole series of additional comments that this situation lends itself to. Use your own imagination…the Chief will go no further.

Uncategorized

Iranians Un-prepare for Possible Air Strike

Iran loses its only AWACS as Ahmadinejad threatens the world

Up above a big military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as Iranian president declared Iran’s armed forces would “chop off the hands” of any power daring to attack his country, two air force jets collided in mid-air. One was Iran’s only airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for coordinating long-distance aerial operations, DEBKAfile’s military and Iranian sources disclose.

The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.

Dubbed “Simorgh” (a flying creature of Iranian fable which performs wonders in mid-flight), the AWACS’ appearance, escorted by fighter jets, was to have been the climax for the Iranian Air force’s fly-past over the parade. Instead, it collided with one of escorting planes, a US-made F-5E, and both crashed to the ground in flames. All seven crewmen were killed.

AND – To add insult to injury:

Eye witnesses reported that the flaming planes landed on the mausoleum burial site of the Islamic revolution’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini, a national shrine.

Dare one suggest something about a “bad omen” for Ahmahdinejad Ah’m-mad-on-jihad, the Iranian neo-Hitler since this effectively will greatly aid if/when Israel strikes against the Iranian nuke.

Uncategorized

It’s 9-11

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?

national_park_service_9-11_statue_of_liberty_and_wtc_fire.jpg

I hear people saying we don’t need this war
But, I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn’t get to keep ’em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it everyday
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
Well, after 9/11 man I’d have to say that’s right

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And we vowed to get the ones behind bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they’re fighting for

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?

– Darryl Worley

Have you?

Apparently B.O. has, when he talked about it a a crime, and not the act of war that it was.

National Insecurity

Islamic Diversity?

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B.O. has rendered honors to Islam, and proclaims respect for the diversity and accomplishments of Moslems. Fair enough.

Obama hosts Ramadan dinner at White House

Showcasing the contributions of American Muslims he said represent “extraordinary dynamism and diversity,” President Obama hosted a White House dinner Tuesday to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Mr. Obama was extending a presidential tradition and pushing forward his goal of reaching out to the Muslim world in an attempt to show cultural understanding.

Now, where’s the administration’s appropriate response to the following bit of Islamic diversity?  (Hint: ALthought B.O. says we should meet with the mullahs, in reality it DOESN’T involve “cultural understanding!)

Ahmadinejad’s Imam: Islam Allows Raping, Torturing Prisoners

Let’s see now…the U.S. administration is going through contortions to insure that no one offends Islamioterr prisoners, purportedly with the idea that if we’re nice, then they’ll be nice too.

Guess again! Here is what the Iranians have to say about THAT:  [emphasis added]

A highly influential Shi’a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime.

Notice the respect for the Geneva Convention? You don’t? Neither do I. But wait, there’s more from these blithe practitioners of the “Religion of Peace”.

According to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), an independent Israeli intelligence analysis organization, Mesbah-Yazdi is considered Ahmadinejad’s personal spiritual guide. A radical totalitarian even in Iranian terms, he holds messianic views, supports increasing Islamization, calls for violent suppression of domestic political opponents, and, according to the ITIC, “declared that obeying a president supported by the Supreme Leader was tantamount to obeying God.”

At the Jamkaran gathering, Mesbah-Yazdi and Ahmadinejad answered questions about the rape and torture charges. The following text is from a transcript alleged by Iranian dissidents to be a series of questions and answers exchanged between the ayatollah and some of his supporters.

Asked if a confession obtained “by applying psychological, emotional and physical pressure” was “valid and considered credible according to Islam,” Mesbah-Yazdi replied: “Getting a confession from any person who is against the Velayat-e Faqih (“Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists”, or the regime of Iran’s mullahs) is permissible under any condition.” The ayatollah gave the identical answer when asked about confessions obtained through drugging the prisoner with opiates or addictive substances.

“Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?” was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric.

Mesbah-Yazdi answered: “The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it’s acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed.”

There’s more gory details in the linked piece, go look to see more of what can be meant when they remind us that “Islam” equals submission. Now you know HOW to submit!

National Insecurity

B.O.: Shazam! No more terror war!

U.S. no longer at war with ‘terrorism’

It’s official. The United States is no longer engaged in a “war on terrorism.” Neither is it fighting “jihadists” nor locked in a “global war.”

This is just stupid.

President Obama’s top homeland security and counterterrorism official on Thursday declared as unacceptable the terms crafted by the George W. Bush administration.

It must be, by definition, that anything the the previous administration said, was incorrect.

It is now solely a “war with al Qaeda” and its violent extremist allies, said John Brennan, head of the White House homeland security office, during a speech Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

There is a lot more going on than just a “war with al Qaeda”. Not to recognize this is to be willfully blind to the nature of the threat…there is a reason it’s called “assymetrical warfare”. There is often a lack of ANY organizational links or coordination. All that is necessary is the germination of one fixed idea in the mind of a potential fanatic, and you have instant jihad…with or without al Qaeda, and with the immediate potential for fully independent and uncoordinated (but no less potentially bloody) action.

The semantic shift is intended to bring precision to the way the president and his aides talk about the nation’s efforts to defeat al Qaeda, though Bush administration officials say the policies that are being put to use have not changed dramatically.

The semantic shift is a willful policy shift in the opposite direction of accurate situational awareness on the part of the administration. Why they would do this, and thereby ignore their Constitutional responsibilities to provide for the common defense? One can only imagine.

In general terms a cautionary note, based on the expression “Never bring a knife to a gunfight.”…

“…never go to a gunfight without a gun and, if you intend to win, never go to a religious war without religion. You’ll lose.”
(The Tuloriad – Afterword; John Ringo & Tom Kratman; Baen Books; ©2009)

UPDATE: Poll results (not final at time of posting)
The Obama administration said the U.S. is no longer engaged in a “war on terrorism” or fighting “jihadists.” Instead, the U.S. is in a “war with al Qaeda.” Do you agree?

Response Percent Votes
Yes            8%         250 votes
No             89%       2726 votes
Undecided   1%       53 votes
Other            1%       31 votes
3060 total votes

National Insecurity

Duelling Speeches

Obama, Cheney spar in speeches over Gitmo closure

President Barack Obama forcefully defended his plans to close the Guantanamo detention camp Thursday and said some of the terror suspects held there would be brought to top-security prisons in the United States despite fierce opposition in Congress.

He spoke one day after the Senate voted resoundingly to deny him money to close the prison, and he decried “fear-mongering” that he said had led to such opposition….

Obama used the speech as an effort to try to retake the initiative on the matter. He spoke a day after the Senate, led by majority Democrats, followed the lead of the House and voted decisively to deny his request for $80 million to close the prison. Lawmakers said they would block the funds until he gave a more detailed accounting of what would happen to the detainees.

He provided some details in his speech but stopped short of offering specifics on what to do with detainees who won’t be tried for war crimes but are likely to be held indefinitely.

Maybe the vote would have been different if it wasn’t yet another case of “Just give me the money…then you’ll see what I do with it.” After teh use of that method for the multitude of failed and semi-failed “bailouts”, even the Donk dominated Congress is reluctant to keep issuing blank checks to the B.O. administration.

Meanwhile, former V.P. Cheney fired some shots of his own about national security:

Cheney praised Obama for two “wise” decisions — his handling of the war in Afghanistan and his decision to try to block the court-ordered release of detainee-abuse photos. “He deserves our support” for such actions, Cheney said.

But, the former vice president said, the current administration’s actions on Guantanamo and other steps in the war against terrorism “should not be based on slogans and campaign rhetoric, but on a truthful telling of history.”

Cheney has become the most outspoken high-ranking Bush official in criticizing the Obama team, suggesting steps the new president has taken have made the country less safe.

Cheney denounced Obama’s announcement on his second day in office that he would close Guantanamo. He said the decision came with “little deliberation and no plan.”

“Now, the president says some of these terrorists should be brought to American soil for trial in our court system. Others, he says, will be shipped to third countries. But so far, the United States has had little luck getting other countries to take hardened terrorists.”

Scoring the day’s efforts?

B.O. gets the points for his approach to a sort of Castro-style longevity to his latest rhetorical effort…with a gold star to his tech crew for keeping the teleprompters humming along smoothly. As far as content, the Chief is rather baffled as to what his circumstances with his biological father had to do with national (in)security issues, but hey, why quibble about B.O. ex cathedra? Isn’t he The One? Oh. Never mind.

That leaves Cheney with the nod for appropriate gravitas…and a reminder what it is to have a grown-up taking a grown-up approach to the subject.

National Insecurity

Mugged by Reality Department

President Obama to restart Guantanamo Bay military tribunals

Barack Obama is set to reverse the first formal decision of his presidency today with the expected announcement that his Administration will restart Bush-era military tribunals for Guantánamo Bay detainees.
While still on the campaign trail, Mr Obama denounced the military commission system as “flawed”. He suspended them within hours of his inauguration in January, pending a review of the alternatives, and promised to close the detention camp on Cuba.

Ooops. Must have figured out that SOMETHING needs to be done…and that the dreaded Dubya wasn’t entirely wrong.
Predictably enough, this is NOT pleasing to the ilk of the far left:

His decision to restart the tribunals – albeit with must stronger legal safeguards for defendants – has prompted protests from human rights groups while showing how difficult it is for Mr Obama to break completely with the policies of his predecessor.

F’em if they can’t take the joke! B.O. no doubt is well aware that he’s on STRONG popular ground for doing this:

Public Backs Military Tribunals for Suspected Terrorists

President Obama’s decision to keep the military commission system in place for the trials of suspected terrorists moves him closer to public opinion on the topic.

A survey conducted earlier this year found that 59% believe the suspected terrorists held at the Guantanamo prison should be tried by military tribunals. Just 26% thought they should be tried in U.S. courts.

Two-thirds (69%) said that the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo should not be given all the rights of U.S. citizens.

Obama strongly opposed the tribunals during Election 2008 and temporarily halted their use upon taking office. However, his Administration will now continue with the tribunals for some suspects after putting new guidelines in place.

Meanwhile, in the same report is this related note:

…a Senate Committee passed proposed legislation that would ban the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States. That move is also in line with public opinion. Just last month, 75% opposed the release of any Guantanamo inmates in this country.

In yet another related item, Virginia Donk Senator James Webb has also reversed field, and noted that B.O. may need to do so even more than he already has on issues relating to the Islamoterr handling:

Sen. Webb reverses on Gitmo plans

With Capitol Hill Republicans cranking up the volume on the issue of where to send alleged terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb (Va.) reversed himself Sunday, and questioned President Obama’s “artificial timelines” for closing the facility.

Webb, appearing on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, said that after reviewing Obama’s plans to close the facility within one year, he doesn’t agree with the president’s time schedule and he opposes bringing any detainees to U.S. soil.

It’s reassuring to know that there are apparently still some grown-ups in D.C. on the Donk side of the aisle that are apparently at least somewhat concerned with the U.S. National Security.

“We spend hundreds of millions of dollars building an appropriate facility with all security precautions in Guantanamo to try these cases,” Webb said. “There are cases against international law. These aren’t people who were in the United States, committing a crime in the United States. These are people who were brought to Guantanamo for international terrorism. I do not believe they should be tried in the United States.”

When pressed on the year deadline, Webb suggested the administration might have to be more flexible as it figures out where to send detainees.

“They’ve said a lot of things and taken a look and said some other things,” Webb said. “So let’s process these people in a very careful way and then take care of it.”

Of course, with Donk partisan loyalty still present, there is the (perhaps inevitable) weasel clause leaving wiggle room in case the political situation dictates yet another reversal:

He added: “I think we should defer to the judgment of the administration who is looking at this. I think we all are moving toward the right direction. But we shouldn’t be creating artificial timelines.”

Well then, it MAY be a step in the right direction. One hopes so…time will tell.

National Insecurity

B.O. – “What, me worry?”

PAKISTAN’S NUKES NO THREAT: BAM

President Obama said last night he’s confident Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of enemies or terrorists because that country’s army understands how dangerous that would be.

“I’m confident that we can make sure that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is secure,” he said in his third prime-time press conference last night. “Primarily, initially, because the Pakistani army, I think, recognizes the hazards of those weapons falling into the wrong hands.”

This report is SOOOOO reassuring! Like the Paki Army is the acme of stability, and so much in control that OF COURSE there is no threat!

Yeah, sure.

Taliban forces — aided by elements of Afghan forces, as well as al Qaeda — have come within about 50 miles of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in recent days, threatening a critical US ally that possesses as many as 100 nuclear weapons. “We’ve got strong military-to-military consultation and cooperation,” Obama said.

I’m sure that the Islamofascists over there are really impressed by “consultation and cooperation”.

If you REALLY believe B.O. that there’s no pending threat over there, e-mail me about buying into some prime Moody County, SD tropical beachfront property. Have I got a deal for you…just as credible as B.O.’s. assurances.

National Insecurity

US Suicide Pact Rejected by Israel

Plan for Palestinian state is ‘dead end,’ Israel tells U.S.

In a direct challenge to President Barack Obama’s commitment to rejuvenate moribund Mideast peace talks, Israel on Thursday dismissed American-led efforts to establish a Palestinian state and laid out new conditions for renewed negotiations.

What! Not genuflecting before the White House! Shocking!

Leaders of Israel’s hawkish new government told former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy, that they aren’t going to rush into peace talks with their Palestinian neighbors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he’d require Palestinians to accept Israel as a Jewish state in any future negotiations — a demand that Palestinians have up to now rejected — Israeli government officials said.

What a concept! Paleswinians accept Israel as being JEWISH? Doubly Shocking!

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Obama’s envoy that past Israeli concessions led to war, not peace.

The grand champion of all “DUH!” statements, but nevertheless, with meaning beyond the ken of the B.O., his administration, and especially the State Department’s “Foggy Bottom Boys”.

How unfriendly for Israel not to be willing to set itself up for being erased from the planet in agony, in order to meet the wishes of the Islamofascists and their claques in D.C. and elsewhere.

National Insecurity

UPDATED: Simple Solution to Piracy Incident!

Ship reaches Kenya; pirate lifeboat drifts toward land

A U.S.-flagged ship that was seized by Somali pirates arrived safely in the Kenyan port of Mombasa on Saturday, as a Somali mediator headed to sea to try to secure the release of the ship’s American captain.“The captain is a hero,” one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama container ship as it docked. “He saved our lives by giving himself up.

The ship, under the command of Richard Phillips, was attacked by gunmen far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the hijackers and regained control of the freighter.

Phillips was taken hostage and is being held captive on a drifting lifeboat by the gang of four pirates who want $2 million ransom for him, as well as safe passage.

B.O. and his ilk continue to play “duck and cover” to avoid doing anything constructive on this…no doubt because of fears it might offend some Islamofascist somewhere if we acted decisively.

UPDATE comment:  Well, well.  B.O. Let the Seals go and do it to ’em!

What COULD we do? This is an easy one!

Situation: Small open boat, drifting in Indian Ocean. Contents of boat: Four (4) Islamoterr pirates, (1) hostage U.S. captain.
Solution: 4 Navy Seal and/or USMC sharpshooters; countdown: “5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – FIRE!” – 4 simultaneous shots.
Result: U.S. captain freed. 4 Islamoterr pirates simultaneously are surprised to meet their maker, and discover that the “72 virgins” situation was WAY exaggerated!

This is even legal under LONG-standing International Law (such as it is).  Pirates fall into a category of hostis humanus generis – common enemies of humanity – said status placing the perps in the category of “take ’em out before they do anything else”.  Historically, pirates were either sent to the bottom, or more or less immediately hung from a yard-arm.

Sounds fair to the Chief!

What WILL happen? Who knows at the rate the B.O. gang is fiddle-farting around. They’ll probably give it the old Ivy League try, and go for a UN resolution. One could HOPE for a CHANGE for something better than this, but, at this point those chances look pretty slim.

I hope I’m wrong, but fear that I’m not.

 UPDATE:  Good for us – I was wrong, and B.O. earns creds by allowing the Navy to do it’s job.  There’s not a whole lot that the Chief has said positive about B.O., but this time “he done good!” and the Seals did what was needed to resolve the situation (as suggested above), and free Captain Phillips.

Now – to avoid treating the captured maritime terrorist as just another “criminal” in the U.S. court system.  Give him to Kenya, and let ’em hang him high.