Category: World Politics

Navy Seals in trouble over supposedly punching a terrorist in the mouth

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Not to sound like the eternal skeptic here; but something about this story sounds very fishy. I mean, I can understand a death — but a terrorist reporting someone punching him in the mouth strikes me as not being true. Something is fishy here. Not to mention Fox News’s god-awful headline on this story; which does, I am afraid show a horrific bias in this story.

Via Fox News:

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.

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.

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.

Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.

Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

Not to sound overly crass or anything like that, but this idiot terrorist ought to be glad a “Fat Lip” is the only thing he received from these Navy Seals. Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say here folks—- I know that Military personnel are capable of committing crimes just as well as anyone else. A perfect example would be the oh, so ever convenient CNN special on the Army guys who shot, killed and dumped in a ditched some prisoners in Iraq here a few days ago.

A little comment about that little situation; those people are cooling their heels in an Army Prison —- right where they should be. There is no excuse for what those men did, at all. I am quite sorry, but using the asinine excuse of “They will be just shooting at us again later” is no excuse to kill a prison and try to cover it up. Anyone that thinks that those men are heroes is just plain crazy.

Anyhow, back to the present situation at hand here, this terrorist could have, in fact, punched himself in the face and then just told the Iraqi Authorities that the Americans did it to him. Since when do we take the word of Islamic terrorists that killed contractors in Iraq, over the words of our brave service members? Unless there is more to this story than is being reported in the media, perhaps another service member saw the persons involved in this abusing this guy and they reported it to the higher ups in the Military? We do not know this information, so it is hard to make that sort of a judgment call.

Another thing I will say here is this, I was reading a few other Conservative blogs, and some of the stuff I read, I found to be downright surprising. Let me remind my follow Conservatives that we do believe in the rule of law. In World War II and all subsequent wars, the United States and its Military always heeded the Geneva conventions; now the Japanese and the Vietnamese were another story. They did not always do as such. Nevertheless, American never responded in kind, we always treated our prisoners of war with respect. This is why all of this Presidential and Justice Department mandated so-called “enhanced interrogation” or as normal, sane, rational people call it — torture; is so troublesome to me. I have to believe that even the feistiest of the old school Democrats of old, which are nowadays mostly New or Neo Conservatives would not have approved of such things.

Anyhow, this story should prove to be quite interesting and here is hoping that someone the media or something in the Blogosphere will continue to follow it.

Obama send in 34,000 more troops with ‘Offramps’ to Afghanistan

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Last night I wrote, in some not-so politically correct words, that the President is not interested in fighting the war in Afghanistan. It appears that this news article confirms what I have believed all along.

Quote:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he’s called “a war of necessity” in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said.

The U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly and because, one official said, the White House is incensed by leaks on its Afghanistan policy that didn’t originate in the White House.

They said the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, could arrive in Washington as early as Sunday to participate in the rollout of the new plan, including testifying before Congress toward the end of next week. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry also are expected to appear before congressional committees.

As it now stands, the plan calls for the deployment over a nine-month period beginning in March of three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., and a Marine brigade from Camp Lejeune, N.C., for as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops.

In addition, a 7,000-strong division headquarters would be sent to take command of U.S.-led NATO forces in southern Afghanistan — to which the U.S. has long been committed — and 4,000 U.S. military trainers would be dispatched to help accelerate an expansion of the Afghan army and police.

This all sounds nice and pretty; that is until you read down further…:

A U.S. military official used the term “decisional” to describe Monday evening’s meeting among Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Gates, Clinton, National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Eikenberry and senior U.S. military commanders.

The administration’s plan contains “off-ramps,” points starting next June at which Obama could decide to continue the flow of troops, halt the deployments and adopt a more limited strategy or “begin looking very quickly at exiting” the country, depending on political and military progress, one defense official said.

“We have to start showing progress within six months on the political side or military side or that’s it,” the U.S. defense official said.

It’s “not just how we get people there, but what’s the strategy for getting them out,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

The approach is driven in part by concerns that Afghan President Hamid Karzai won’t keep his promises to root out corruption and support political reforms, and in part by growing domestic opposition to the war, the U.S. officials said.

HotAir.com’s Ed Morrissey is not impressed at all:

The increase in troops is a good decision, but the off-ramps almost completely undermine it.  The point in extending our footprint is to win the trust of the local communities and prove our reliability in providing them security, which is the central thrust of McChrystal’s COIN strategy.  By getting them to trust our commitment, we can get them to help fight the Taliban themselves, as we did with the Anbar Awakening in Iraq against al-Qaeda, and greatly improve the intel we get from the locals.   If we send 34,000 more troops but give ourselves a six-month time frame for success or bug-out, the locals will very  quickly come to the realization that allying with us will be suicide.  The COIN strategy only worked in Iraq because George W. Bush was adamant that we would stay until we won.

A Commander in Chief doesn’t need “off-ramps.”  Any President can call an end to a deployment based on his own judgment.  Putting these conditions into the American strategy signals weakness — a desire to pull out without getting blamed for the decision.   Obama wants to be off the hook for an eventual withdrawal by claiming that he’s forced to do it because of these benchmark failures.  And if Obama’s that keen to retreat, he should just do it now.

Ed Morrissey hit the nail square on the head. President Barack Obama was never, at any point, interested in fighting the so-called good war in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama knew that he was inheriting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and he knew that if he continued them, that he would also inherit the backlash from the left that goes with them. Therefore, he is devising a way of getting out that region and making himself look like the saint and President George W. Bush look like the bad person.  This was the plan all along; never at any point was there a plan to fight this war until victory; but rather a plan of stealth defeat.

There are many reasons why the Democrats will not fight the war on terror. Namely, it is because to a certain degree the Democrats actually sympathize with the terrorists. The Democrats have always had a disdain for Israel and its right to exist; many Democrats have always felt that President Harry Truman royally screwed up when he decided to formally recognize Israel as a sovereign Nation. It is due to the frosty relationship towards Israel that sparked the attack of the U.S.S. Liberty by a rogue faction within the Israeli Defense Force. Many people who are of the hatemonger class, like to blame Israel and the Jews for that attack; the problem is, they are blaming the wrong people, they should be blaming the Democrats for it.

Not only this, but you also have about sixty percent of the Democrats who actually blame Bush for the attacks on 9/11. They actually believe that Bush knew the attacks were coming and actually allowed them to happen. This is why Eric Holder and the justice department are having civilian trials for a few of the 9/11 conspirators. They desire to drag out of the stuff that happened in the months after 9/11, as to make a mockery of them.  The remaining people within the Democratic Party and those who are of the far-leftist mentality actually have the audacity to believe that the United States of America actually deserved the attacks on 9/11, because of our capitalistic society and because of our past treatment of blacks; because we do not give enough hand-outs to poor people and so forth . President Barack Obama’s former Pastor even said as this very thing, and now President Barack Obama is allowing them to have civilian trials; ponder that scary thought for a moment.

In closing, I simply will offer this sober note. Elections have consequences. The American people elected a man, who was supposed to be a stark contrast to President George W. Bush, someone who could lead. What the American people received was an out of touch, dithering liberal elitist, who in all honesty could not even lead his own household, if the truth were told. President Barack Obama is more interested in shoving his rather idiotic social agenda, of wealth redistribution and outright class warfare onto the American people, than a fighting a war that will ultimately decide America’s success or demise. We should remember this come the elections of 2010 and of 2012 and decide wisely our choices for those we plan to put in office.

President Barack Hussein Obama, The Surrender Monkey

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Oh, this is just wonderful. Sounds like we are gearing up for a big time concession to the enemy.

An Afghan source in Kabul reports that U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry is holding secret talks with Taliban elements headed by the movement’s foreign minister, Ahmad Mutawakil, at a secret location in Kabul. According to the source, the U.S. has offered the Taliban control of the Kandahar, Helmand, Oruzgan, Kunar and Nuristan provinces in return for a halt to the Taliban missile attacks on U.S. bases.

via The MEMRI Blog – Full Blog Entry.

…and they say that this was the “good war” and they wanted us to win it. I call bullshit. The Democrats never gave two shits about this war. In fact; they want us to LOSE this war, Just like they did Iraq, god-damned bastards. Vietnam 2.0 all over again…. 😡

Others: Nice Deb, The Sundries Shack, Atlas Shrugs, ThreatsWatch, The Anchoress, protein wisdom, BLACKFIVE, Wizbang, American Power, Mudville Gazette, Wake up America and Weasel Zippers

Obama’s Magic Act falls flat in Asia

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Looks like the “Magic One” is not so magical:

There were only a few hours left before Air Force One was scheduled to depart for the flight home. US President Barack Obama trip through Asia had already seen him travel 24,000 kilometers, sit through a dozen state banquets, climb the Great Wall of China and shake hands with Korean children. It was high time to take stock of the trip.

Barack Obama looked tired on Thursday, as he stood in the Blue House in Seoul, the official residence of the South Korean president. He also seemed irritable and even slightly forlorn. The CNN cameras had already been set up. But then Obama decided not to play along, and not to answer the question he had already been asked several times on his trip: what did he plan to take home with him? Instead, he simply said “thank you, guys,” and disappeared. David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, fielded the journalists’s; questions in the hallway of the Blue House instead, telling them that the public’s expectations had been “too high.”

The mood in Obama’s foreign policy team is tense following an extended Asia trip that produced no palpable results. The “first Pacific president,” as Obama called himself, came as a friend and returned as a stranger. The Asians smiled but made no concessions.

via US Foreign Policy: Obama’s Nice Guy Act Gets Him Nowhere on the World Stage – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

Looks like the magic of President Obama is gone; the foreign Governments know a weak leader when they see one. We Conservatives have been saying all along, that President Barack Obama was nothing more than an over marketed empty suite and it now appears that the rest of the World knows it too. It was good while it lasted it. This should serve, as a warning to the United States, be much more careful of whom or what you elected to be your leader. It also should serve as a warning as to why you do elect a man, because upon his ethnicity.

It just strikes me as highly ironic that Obama is now finally getting the critical press from the Liberal overseas and mainland media. We Conservatives were saying all of these things during the election and were derided as racist bigots and backward. Now it seems that the rest of America and abroad have realized it too. It is about time, maybe now we can expect some objectivity in the media; however, I shall not hold my breath, least I turn blue and die.

Updated: A Huge Blunder by the Obama Administration

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Possibly one of the biggest blunders by the Obama Administration:

WASHINGTON — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, the United States attorney general announced Friday.

But the administration will prosecute another set of high-profile detainees now being held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of planning the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole in Yemen, and four other detainees — before a military commission.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced those decisions in a news conference Friday at the Department of Justice. The arrangements would mean that civilian prosecutors would handle those detainees accused of the 2001 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, northern Virginia and Pennsylvania, while the 2000 attack against the Cole would remain within the military system.

via Key 9/11 Suspect to Be Tried in New York – NYTimes.com.

Here is why this is a big blunder; I’ll let William Teach‘s words say it for me, This is what he wrote in the comments section of Allan Colmes Blog:

You’re forgetting one thing, Alan: KSM is NOT an American citizen, and not entitled to the protections of our Constitution unless we afford them to him.

The problem with “Affording” them to these guys is this, as Ed Morrissey writes:

That brings up a key question.  What happens if the judge throws out key evidence over nitpicky technicalities?  What happens if KSM and others get found not guilty because of gaps in the evidence chain resulting from national-security issues or “evidentiary issues”?  Will Obama let them walk away?  If that happens, look for a massive amount of anger to overwhelm the naive Commander in Chief.  And if Obama isn’t prepared to let them walk after a potential acquittal, then it makes a mockery of the criminal trial, and of the justice system itself.

These terrorists belong at a military tribunal, not the justice system employed for Americans to judge other Americans for civil criminal conduct.  Instead of giving these men the oblivion they deserve, we’re incentivizing further attacks on the US by giving them the biggest possible PR platform.  We may as well put them on TV and call it Dancing With the Terrorists, or So You Want To Be A Jihadist Martyr.

I have worse scenario than that; what if we happen to get a judge that is a Muslim? What happens if during that trial he begins to feel a twinge of sympathy for these terrorists and begins to nitpick at the evidence and ends up tossing the case out of court? I know it sounds far fetched; but it could happen.

Either way, is this massive blunder by the President and I look for Fox News to go on the attack over this. These guy should be tried in International Court. Just like the Nazi’s were. But because our President is a liberal; this will not be done. He is of the belief system that the terrorists were nothing more than common petty criminals and should be treated as such. This is the same mistake that President Bill Clinton made and it is why September 11’th happened in the first place. As long as the United States continues to make the same mistakes,when it comes to handling of terrorists, we will continue to see terrorists attacks on our soil. It is a fact of reality.

Update: Hell, Democrat Jim Webb even thinks that this is a bad idea! (H/T Ed at HotAir)

I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the President to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism. However, I remain very concerned about the wisdom of doing so. Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor. It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts.

The precedent set by this decision deserves careful scrutiny as we consider proper venues for trying those now held at Guantanamo who were apprehended outside of this country for acts that occurred outside of the country. And we must be especially careful with any decisions to bring onto American soil any of those prisoners who remain a threat to our country but whose cases have been adjudged as inappropriate for trial at all. They do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts, and they do not belong in our prisons.

I have consistently argued that military commissions, with the additional procedural rules added by Congress and enacted by President Obama, are the most appropriate venue for trying individuals adjudged to be enemy combatants.

Update: It seems that my gay stalker Ed Brayton does not like what I wrote. Big surprise there, seeing he is a leftist libertarian/classic liberal;  or as I like to call them small Government liberals. I guess he and his sheep that follow after him, did not bother to follow the links and see, that yes, in fact, I did refer to the International criminal court. Anyhow, my stalker says that Conservatives do not support that idea. To that I reply;  Who says that I follow the Republican/Conservative talking points? I believe that these terrorists ought to be tried in international criminal court or at least in a Military trial and NOT in a civilian court on American soil. As Obama said HE felt they should be, back in 2006. But now has flip flopped on, now the he has been elected.

Confirmed: President Obama wants the United States to fail in Afghanistan

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Yesterday, some moron liberal left this comment in my comment section of a posting that I made about the Ft. Hood Speech that Obama Gave:

Say, Pat, do you happen to know *why* Obama was 40 minutes late to give the speech?

He was talking to wounded survivors of the attack.

Really, though, it was a perfect situation for you–suppose he had cut short that meeting? Then you could have slagged him for insulting the survivors by running off to the speech.

To Wish I replied back:

Your opinion, of course.

You somehow miss the fuller point. The man is a damned empty suit. He has no true feelings for our Military. He only cares about his political record. I am sorry, I tried giving him the benefit of the doubt. But it is quote obvious, that he just doesnot care. If he did, he would order a congressional investigation into the rampage and call it what it was, A TERRORIST ATTACK! But he does not do that; because he either secretly agrees with this mans actions or is at last sympathetic to the Jihadists cause.

Of course, this doesn’t surprise me that you don’t get this; most socialists liberals are that dumb.

Now comes the news of the confirmation of what I stated:

President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official.

In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Obama is still close to announcing his revamped war strategy — most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.

But the president raised questions at a war council meeting Wednesday that could alter the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Obama’s thinking.

This my friends, is a strategy for failure. This President just does not care about winning the war on terror. All President Obama cares about is passing his rather idiotic social agenda. If President Obama knew that it would not “Deep Six” his poll numbers; he would pull the United States of America out of Iraq and Afghanistan in a New York Minute.

My friends, elections have consequences —- and this is one of them. Keep this in mind, come 2010.

Others Covering this Story: JustOneMinute, Jules Crittenden, The Jawa Report,  Outside The Beltway, , BLACKFIVE, Stop The ACLU, Another Black Conservative,  JammieWearingFool, Moonbattery,  Don Surber, The Foundry,, Below The Beltway, Scared Monkeys,, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Townhall.com and Gateway Pundit (Via Memeorandum)

Mao-Worshiping communist Anita Dunn to step down at end of the month

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This little tip comes via Amanda Carpenter on Twitter:

White House communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, according to sources familiar with the move.

Dunn, a longtime Democratic media consultant, took over the job on an interim basis earlier this year when Ellen Moran abruptly left the post to take a job at the Commerce Department. Dunn will remain as a consultant to the White House on the communications and strategic ends.

via The Fix – Dunn leaving White House, Pfeiffer takes over.

From what I read she will be staying on as an consultant on the outside. But at least she is out of the White House. Of course, she will be close to the White House and the Administration; so, I do not think that we should remove her totally from the radar screen. What is more important is the fact that President Obama has surrounded himself with this sort of people; straight up Marxists who hate this Country and it’s founding principles. That alone should be enough to alarm anyone. But we do not live in society anymore; where people actually care about whom or what surrounds our President. We just elect them and then go back to our normal lives.

This is not to say that President George W. Bush was any better; Bush surrounded himself with yes men and with warmongering Wilsonian Conservatives — Commonly known as Neo-Conservatives. These people urged President Bush to go to war with a Country that had zero to do directly with 9/11. They proceeded to basically drive his Presidency square into the ground. When it was over with, the Nation, including Conservatives; just wanted him out.

That is the problem with a Country such as ours; the office of the Presidency is a difficult one to fill. Because there are two types of leaders; those who surround themselves with people who will tell them the things that they want to hear and those who surround themselves with people that tell them the things that they NEED to hear. Unfortunately, this President and the one before him have chosen the latter of those to types of people —- and we are a worse off Nation because of it too.

More proof that Ft. Hood shooter is a terrorist

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Well, first off, we know that the shooter did try and contact Al-Qaeda. Now there’s this posting on a site that is ran by a fellow who has direct ties to Al-Qaeda. His site is spotty due to all the attention; but here’s a Google cache of this evil bastard’s writings:

Nidal Hassan is a hero. 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. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.

The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right -rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment –
Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)

The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.

May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen

….and you tell me, that not all Muslims are terrorists? I call bullshit. Moderation my ass. They’re all like that! 😡

There needs to be action; if you are of the Muslim Faith; you should be REMOVED from the United States ARMED FORCES; screw the gott damned Diversity and Politically Correct BULLSHIT; Muslims are our enemies and should be treated as such! One woman, whom I do not always agree with wrote a book that WARNED America about this sort of a thing and everyone; including me, rejected it. Now I see, that she was right on point.

My question is this; when will America pull its head out of its collective ASS and stop looking at these people as common criminals? —  they are NOT, they are blood thirsty killers, who are fighting a religious war against our nation. They must be stopped and our President, whom many suspect of being a closet Al-Qeada sympathizer, needs to either step up or resign his office.  We just cannot afford to allow this sort of a thing to continue. It needs to stop now!

Ft. Hood shooter tried to make contact with Al-Qaeda

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This is getting downright interesting….:

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan’s efforts.

CIA director Leon Panetta and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, have been asked by Congress “to preserve” all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, according to the lawmaker.

via Fort Hood Shooter Tried to Contact al Qaeda Terrorists, Officials Say – ABC News.

I would be willing to bet a old wooden shoe, that before it is over with; that the CIA will come out and say that this guy had direct ties to Al-Qeada. It will also come out that the CIA and the FBI were scared to bother the guy for fear of accusations from him and his family of Anti-Muslim or Arab Bigotry by the Government. This is what happens when you allow your Government offices to become “PC” in nature. People die, just that simple.

It appears that this White House and the Governmental agencies that work under it have no clue the seriousness of the war on terror. Whether it is one person or a legion of them; they are dangerous criminals and should be treated as such. Of course, Obama will not even use the phrase to describe what these murderous thugs are doing; which is the “War on Terror” or “Terrorism.”‘  Obama, along with his fellow Democrats are basically wanting to treat this like some sort of average criminal activity. Which of course, is not what it is; it is people killing in the name of a religion. A false and quite Satanic Religion; but I digress.

As I have written on this blog many times; Elections have consequences and this is one of them. The American people are watching; all of them, not just the liberals in California, New York and Chicago. But all of America.  If President Obama and this congress treats this like some sort of isolated incident and not as a part of the broader war on terror. They will pay the price during the next election in 2010 and in 2012 as well. Because the America people did not elect someone who waffles on leadership and that my friends is exactly what President Obama and this Congress is doing, they are more interested in passing socialist programs that will bankrupt this nation; than they are being diligent on the war on terror. That is not what the American people elected; and the Democrats will find this out come next year and in 2012.

Quote of the Day

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Twenty years ago today, supporters of freedom and human rights cheered and wept for joy as the Berlin Wall was torn down by jubilant young Germans.


To so many, that heady day seemed to herald the emergence of a better world. The spectre of communism had finally been laid to rest. Liberty had triumphed over tyranny.


The end of the Cold War even led some to proclaim that this was ‘the end of history’  –  which was to say that liberal democracy was now the dominant and unchallengeable force in the world.

[…..]


Soviet Communism was a belief system whose goal was to overturn the structures of society through the control of economic and political life. This mutated into a post-communist ideology of the Left, whose no-less ambitious aim was to overturn western society through a subversive transformation of its culture.


To grasp the extent to which this has in fact taken place, we have to go back in time to well before the moment the Berlin Wall fell. The collapse of communism was actually a slow-burning process. Its moral and political bankruptcy became obvious decades before that glorious Berlin day in November 1989.


For many communist fellow travellers, the scales fell from their eyes when the Hungarian uprising was crushed in 1956. Others, over the years, lost faith not just in communism but in its less radical sister, socialism, as their core tenet of ‘equality’ proved itself in a myriad different ways to be the enemy of freedom and justice, with market forces appearing to carry the torch of liberty instead.


But as communism slowly crumbled, those on the far-Left who remained hostile towards western civilisation found another way to realise their goal of bringing it down.


This was what might be called ‘cultural Marxism’. It was based on the understanding that what holds a society together are the pillars of its culture: the structures and institutions of education, family, law, media and religion. Transform the principles that these embody and you can thus destroy the society they have shaped.

[….]

Law and order were similarly undermined, with criminals deemed to be beyond punishment since they were ‘victims’ of society and with illegal drugtaking tacitly encouraged by a campaign to denigrate anti-drugs laws.


The ‘rights’ agenda  –  commonly known as ‘political correctness’  –  turned morality inside out by excusing any misdeeds by self-designated ‘victim’ groups on the grounds that such ‘victims’ could never be held responsible for what they did.


Feminism, anti-racism and gay rights thus turned men, white people and Christians into the enemies of decency who were forced to jump through hoops to prove their virtue.


This Through The Looking Glass mindset rests on the belief that the world is divided into the powerful (who are responsible for all bad things) and the oppressed (who are responsible for none of them).


This is a Marxist doctrine. But the extent to which such Marxist thinking has been taken up unwittingly even by the Establishment was illustrated by the astounding observation made in 2005 by the then senior law lord, Lord Bingham, that human rights law was all about protecting ‘oppressed’ minorities from the majority.


None of this is to say there has been a giant, organised conspiracy to undermine Britain in this way.

Admittedly, some Left-wingers did so conspire, but many others bought into these ideas for different reasons.


[….]


…..Thus the intolerance  –  or even arrest  –  of Christians opposed to gay adoption and civil union, or the vilification as ‘racists’ of those opposed to mass immigration.


This mindset also led to the belief that a sense of nationhood was the cause of all the ills in the world, precisely because western nations embodied western values. So transnational institutions or doctrines such as the EU, UN, international law or human rights law came to trump national laws and values.


But the truth is that to be hostile to the western nation is to be hostile to democracy. And indeed, with the development of the EU superstate we can see that the victory over one anti-democratic regime within Europe  –  the Soviet Union  –  has been followed by surrender to another.


For the republic of Euroland puts loyalty to itself higher than that to individual nations and their values. It refused to commit itself in its constitution to uphold Christianity, the foundation of western morality.


Instead, it is committed to moral and cultural relativism, which sets group against group and guarantees supreme and antidemocratic power to the bureaucrats setting the rules of ‘diversity’ and outlawing all dissent from permitted attitudes.


When the Berlin Wall fell, we told ourselves that this was the end of ideology. We could not have been more wrong.


The Iron Curtain came down only to be replaced by a rainbow-hued knuckle-duster, as our cultural commissars pulverise all forbidden attitudes in order to reshape western society into a post-democratic, post-Christian, post-moral universe. Lenin would have smiled.


The Enemy Within

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(H/T Wizbang Politics)

The sick part is Democrats are in lock step with these terrorists.

State Worker gets beat up at a SEIU meeting

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Your Unions hard at work!

The Video is here, and boy does it ever show the damage.

The Story:

A state worker is recovering after a bloody brawl at a union hall. He says members of the local SEIU 1000 beat him up and sent him to the hospital all because he wanted to expose allegedl corruption within the union.

Ken Hamidi is a state worker at the California Franchise Tax Board. Last night he walked into a union hall in Sacramento for an SEIU local 1000 meeting.

“We had every right to be here, very simple; it wasn’t anything private or anything exclusive,” said Hamidi.

But Hamidi says the union members did not want him there.

“Three, four people jumped at me, wrestled with me, then did all that,” said Hamidi. “I was covered in blood and then over to the emergency room.”

via State Worker Beat Up At SEIU Meeting For Speaking His Mind – cbs13.com.

Wow, Is this what the SEIU means about Stronger Together? Stronger for beating people up? Unbelievable.

Of course, who can forget these fine selections? :

The Democratic Party goon squad. Doing the heavy lifting for Obama.

I wonder how many Main Stream National outlets will cover this little attack?

*crickets*

I will not hold my breathe least I turn blue and die.

Others Covering: Gateway Pundit, American Glob and NewsReal Blog

Hey America, Welcome to my World!

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Just wanted to be nice about it.

Welcome to my World!

Via The Old Grey Lady:

The United States economy shed 190,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in September, the Department of Labor said Friday in its monthly economic appraisal.

While the pace of job losses has slowed significantly since the peak of the recession last winter, the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking work, continues to climb, and economists do not foresee relief until well into next year.

“There’s no doubt that the slashing and burning of jobs has abated quite a lot,” said Allen L. Sinai, the founder of Decision Economics, a research firm. “The economy is recovering, but it is a very soft recovery.”

The biggest losses came in the construction, manufacturing and retailing sectors. Health care companies added 29,000 jobs to their payrolls, and the number of temporary workers increased by 34,000 — a significant gain that could indicate employers are beginning to expand their businesses again.

The Labor Department also revised September’s losses to 219,000 from 263,000.

Dean Baker, a director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said he did not expect declining unemployment rates until next spring. “We may be looking at very high levels,” Mr. Baker said, “barring a policy response, for several years into the future.”

Um, Why should there be any policy response? I believe that we are already tapping our resources to the limit now.

On Thursday, in anticipation of the unemployment report, Congress overwhelmingly voted to extend benefits for jobless workers for up to 20 weeks. That will soothe the short-term financial pain of many families, but demands for a new wave of government relief may intensify if companies continue to cut back.

Yes, let’s encourage people NOT to look for a job and continue to spend ourselves into a hole; by being a nanny state.

So far, the federal stimulus package has injected billions into local economies, giving states money, for instance, to finance construction projects or retain teachers. The housing and auto sectors have been propped up with government credits meant to encourage spending. But weak consumer demand and hefty labor costs are still forcing many employers to cut positions and reduce hours to survive.

So much for Hope and change!

The article goes on trying to defend President Obama, which is so typical for the New York Times, but it is quite obvious, this President has failed on all fronts, the stimulus, the bailouts —- everything. He is, in fact, a black Jimmy Carter.

Ed Morrissey says:

This is now Obama’s economy.  He owns the double-digit unemployment level, having bought it with the $787 billion stimulus plan that he promised would keep unemployment no higher than 8%.

I agree with that. Obama simply continued the bailouts that President Bush started, which was a huge mistake.

The AP Reports:

But the loss of jobs last month exceeded economists’ estimates. It’s the 22nd straight month the U.S. economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years.

Counting those who have settled for part-time jobs or stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 17.5 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.

Now, if I were a partisan Blogger, I would simply sit here and blame Obama for it all. However, I am a bit more smarter than this. This all goes to Carter and then to Clinton. This video from the Wayne County Republicans will explain:

These unemployment numbers are just a ripple effect of all of this. Bush had a hand in it, as well as Obama. This is what happens when you elect faux Conservatives as Republicans and it is what happens when you elect Socialists.


Give to Project ValourIT Today!

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Just a reminder, these guys need your help.

This comes via From My Position….On the Way!

Click here to give to Soldiers Angels. You will be getting voice activated laptop’s to our war injured. Let’s help those who put thier lives on line; for our President and for all of us.

WND: ‘Muslim Mafia’ linked to Detroit FBI shootout

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Normally I take what I read over at WorldNetDaily with a grain of salt; but once and a while, they stumble over something big.

I believe they have done it again:

Already under increased scrutiny after revelations in a new book, the Council on American-Islamic Relations now is defending itself against documented links to a federal case that drew national attention this week when an indicted Detroit imam was killed in an FBI raid.

Internal documents from an undercover investigation by the authors of “Muslim Mafia” show CAIR helped finance the legal appeal of Muslim cop-killer Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who is named in the Detroit criminal complaint as the spiritual leader of a radical group that calls for violent action to establish a sovereign Islamic state within the U.S.

The federal complaint also states one of the 11 indicted followers of the imam who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the FBI Wednesday, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, attended a mosque “affiliated with CAIR” in Windsor, Ontario, just across the Canadian border from Detroit.

via ‘Muslim Mafia’ linked to Detroit FBI shootout.- WND.com

I highly suggest that you go read the rest of this as it is quite interesting. Looks like CAIR is involved as well. This is big and could have lasting impact.

Like I wrote before; the idea of “Fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here” is a bit lame now; because quite frankly, they are already here and this proves that!

Matthew Hoh resigns over Afghanistan

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I have to give this man credit; he is a man of conviction, for that alone, he is a true patriot.

Via the Washington Times:

When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.

A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.

But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.

“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,” he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel. “I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.”

The reaction to Hoh’s letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer,” Holbrooke said in an interview. “We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him.”

While he did not share Hoh’s view that the war “wasn’t worth the fight,” Holbrooke said, “I agreed with much of his analysis.” He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that “if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure,” why not be “inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won’t have the same political impact?”

Hoh accepted the argument and the job, but changed his mind a week later. “I recognize the career implications, but it wasn’t the right thing to do,” he said in an interview Friday, two days after his resignation became final.

“I’m not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love,” Hoh said. Although he said his time in Zabul was the “second-best job I’ve ever had,” his dominant experience is from the Marines, where many of his closest friends still serve.

“There are plenty of dudes who need to be killed,” he said of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. “I was never more happy than when our Iraq team whacked a bunch of guys.”

But many Afghans, he wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there — a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.

As the White House deliberates over whether to deploy more troops, Hoh said he decided to speak out publicly because “I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, ‘Listen, I don’t think this is right.’ “

“I realize what I’m getting into . . . what people are going to say about me,” he said. “I never thought I would be doing this.”

The underlined parts up here are the parts that I think are the most inspiring. Some Conservatives and even some MilBloggers might want to slam this guy. Well, I will not be counted among that group.  I have said on this blog many times that I felt that Bush basically screwed us in the long run, for trying to fight two wars at the same time. That belief is becoming clearer now, eight years on and we’re still trying to catch Osama Bin Laden —- and that task is becoming more of a difficult task everyday. There is plenty of blame to go around; Bush is not the sole person responsible for this terrible screw up. The whole “We have to fight them there, so, we don’t have to fight them here..” line is a bit worn thin now, seeing that there has been people arrested on terror plotting charges here now.

Again, I applaud this man for having the courage to stand up and dissent. Some may knock him, but not sane thinking Americans, who see things through the long lens; like me.

The Round up for ALL sides of the Political fence: The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket, Abu Muqawama, Matthew Yglesias, JustOneMinute, New York Times, Neptunus Lex, Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, MoJo Blog Posts, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, The New Republic, Salon, The Atlanticist, BLACKFIVE, Jules Crittenden, The Daily Dish, Guardian, Mudville Gazette, Rethink Afghanistan, Newshoggers.com, Atlas Shrugs, Chicago Boyz, RedState, Newsweek Blogs, LewRockwell.com Blog, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, MyDD and Politics Daily

Joe Lieberman says that he will back GOP filibuster of Senate Healthcare Bill

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I have an idea as to why Lieberman is doing this; well, I have several different ideas:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he’d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill.

Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a government-run insurance program — even if it includes a provision allowing states to opt out of the program, as Reid has said the Senate bill will.

“We’re trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.”

Lieberman added that he’d vote against a public option plan “even with an opt-out because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.”

His comments confirmed that Reid is short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill out of the Senate, even after Reid included the opt-out provision. Several other moderate Democrats expressed skepticism at the proposal as well, but most of the wavering Democratic senators did not go as far as Lieberman Tuesday, saying they were waiting to see the details.

Lieberman did say he’s “strongly inclined” to vote to proceed to the debate, but that he’ll ultimately vote to block a floor vote on the bill if it isn’t changed first.

“I’ve told Sen. Reid that if the bill stays as it is now I will vote against cloture,” he said.

via Joe Lieberman: I’ll block vote on Harry Reid’s plan – Manu Raju – POLITICO.com.

Here is my official theory as to why Lieberman is doing this. For one; I believe that Lieberman is doing this to get back at the Senate Majority leader for his scolding of him for supporting John McCain during the 2008 election. Another theory I have is that Lieberman is attempting to garner support amongst the Conservative leadership on the hill. Maybe Lieberman is going to try for a run as a moderate to Liberal Republican in the not-so-distant future in the Senate. Either that, or Lieberman knows that he will never be elected as a Republican or a Democrat ever again and he is doing this, thinking that it will, someday be seen as his last great feat to save the Country from out of control socialism.

Either way, I believe that any chance of Lieberman getting back into the Democratic Party just totally dissolved. At this point, if I were a Democrat, I would want Lieberman’s head on a platter.

Others: Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, The Corner, AmSpecBlog, The Greenroom, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Moderate Voice,

14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

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A sad bit of news: (H/T Gateway Pundit)

KABUL (AP) – A series of helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans in insurgent-wracked Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for U.S. troops.

In the first crash, a chopper went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight with insurgents, killing 10 Americans—seven troops and three civilians working for the government. Eleven American troops, one U.S. civilian and 14 Afghans were also injured.

In a separate incident in the south, two other U.S. choppers collided while in flight, killing four American troops and wounding two more, the military said.

U.S. authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other fatal crash in the west. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claimed Taliban fighters shot down a helicopter in northwest Badghis province’s Darabam district. It was impossible to verify the claim and unclear if he was referring to the same incident.

via BreitBart:  US: 14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes.

I think it would be a good thing to remember all of our service men in our Prayers this day.

I just hope this is all worth it.

Vice President Joe Biden should resign says… Arianna Huffington??

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Oh, this is too rich…..

Seems that socialist Liberal Blogger Arianna Huffington; the marble mouthed, little miss “unicorns and rainbows” of the progressive Blogosphere, thinks that Gaffe Master Joe Biden should resign as Vice President if President Obama decides to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

From the Article:

I have no doubt that Joe Biden is a loyal guy — the question is who deserves his loyalty most? His “team” isn’t the White House, but the whole country. And if it becomes clear in the coming days that his loyalty to these two teams is in conflict, he should do the right thing. And quit.

Obama may be no drama, but Biden loves drama. And what could more dramatic than resigning the vice presidency on principle? And what principle could be more honorable than refusing to go along with a policy of unnecessarily risking American blood and treasure — and America’s national security? Now that would be a Whisky Tango Foxtrot moment for the McChrystal crowd — one that would be a lot more significant than some lame, after-the-fact apology delivered in a too-late-to-matter book.

I have a better idea; although it involves stuffing a sock in that feckless bitch’s mouth and duct tape. I mean, is not this is same group of people that declared the Iraq War to the unjust war and the Afghanistan war the good war? But yet now, they want to stop fighting in Afghanistan too?  What more living proof that we need that Progressive Blogosphere is siding with the terrorist? I mean, Republicans and Conservatives said that about them during the Iraq War and they were Poo-Poo’ed by the media and the Progressive Blogosphere for saying it. Well, guess what kids? It looks like that it is absolutely true.

However, I will give here one little once of credit for writing this:

This is indeed very tragic, and I share her concern. But missing from the discussion was the fact that “Sharia law with all of its violence” has just been made the law of the land by President Karzai — you know, our man in Kabul. The Sharia Personal Status Law, signed by Karzai, became operational in July. Among its provisions: custody rights are granted to fathers and grandfathers, women can work only with the permission of their husbands, and husbands can withhold food from wives who don’t want to have sex with them. On the plus side, if a man rapes a mentally ill woman or child, he must pay a fine.

Of course, even with America standing guard, only 4 percent of girls in Afghanistan make it to the 10th grade, and up to 80 percent of Afghani women are subjected to domestic violence. As one of the Afghan women interviewed in Rethink Afghanistan sums up the current situation: “The cases of violence against women are more now than in the Taliban time.”

So can we please put to rest the nonsensical rationalization that we’re there for women’s rights? And don’t be surprised if that reason is soon replaced by another — those pushing for escalation in Afghanistan seem to have learned the Bush administration’s old tactic of constantly moving the goal posts.

Now this here, I do share her feelings on this. This is where the Bush Administration screwed up. One of the worst things that George W. Bush did was allow that sitting Government in Afghanistan to stay there. What we should have done in Afghanistan was put in someone that was not going to enact the same Islamic sharia law in that country, after the defeat of the Taliban.  However, her reasoning on our presence in that Country is flawed; we are supposed to be —- emphasis on the word “supposed” — to catch or kill Osama Bin Ladin and defeat Al-Qaeda.  What happened was this; the Bush Administration thought that they could fight two wars, at the same time; with an all voluntary force. This was because the people that planned this war out; were under the impression that Iraq was going to be a cake-walk. Well, needless to say about that little thought, they were horribly wrong.

The same goes for Afghanistan; I believe those who originally planned to go into Afghanistan thought that the conflict was going to be an easy one. That the Taliban was just going to hand over Osama Bin Laden and it would be over. Well, that also proved to be false. So, now, we are stuck in this position that we have to do a little dance over there; because if we move the wrong way, the U.N. would be all over our backs.

Of course, I think Miss. Huffington might not have been informed of this, But there about to be a huge eslation in forces from Pakistan in that tribal region. Pakistan’s Military is planning a major military operation in that tribal region over there. So, we might not have to do anything major at all; except wait for Osama’s body to show up. Which would be a good thing for us, seeing that have already lost a good number of troops already in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

So, while I think Miss. Huffington is noble for trying to challenge her party. I think her reasoning is quite flawed. She has a obvious lack of understand of how Military operations work. Which is quite common amongst the Progressive Community.

In case anyone has forgotten

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This is the real cost of war.

LittleSoldierGirlPaigeinFormation

NBC in Philly has the whole story

White House is screwing the War in Afghanistan to hell

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Not a big surprise, considering the President’s middle name; I mean after all, The President does not even want the words “War on Terror” used anymore.

This comes via the AP:

President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan‘s political future and appears inclined to send only as many more U.S. troops as needed to keep al-Qaida at bay, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The sharpened focus by Obama’s team on fighting al-Qaida above all other goals, while downgrading the emphasis on the Taliban, comes in the midst of an intensely debated administration review of the increasingly unpopular eight-year-old war.

Though aides stress that the president’s final decision on any changes is still at least two weeks away, the emerging thinking suggests that he would be very unlikely to favor a large military increase of the kind being advocated by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

McChrystal’s troop request is said to include a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 combat troops to — the general’s strong preference — as many as 40,000.

Obama’s developing strategy on the Taliban will “not tolerate their return to power,” the senior official said in an interview with The Associated Press. But the U.S. would fight only to keep the Taliban from retaking control of Afghanistan’s central government — something it is now far from being capable of — and from giving renewed sanctuary in Afghanistan to al-Qaida, the official said.

[….]

There now are no more than 100 al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Instead, the U.S. fight in Afghanistan is against the Taliban, now increasingly being defined by the Obama team as distinct from al-Qaida. While still dangerous, the Taliban is seen as an indigenous movement with almost entirely local and territorial aims, less of a threat to the U.S. than the terrorist network.

Obama’s team believes some elements in the Taliban are aligned with al-Qaida, with its transnational reach and aims of attacking the West, but probably not the majority and mostly for tactical rather than ideological reasons, the official said.

“They’re not the same type of group,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “It’s certainly not backed up by any of the intelligence.”

That leaves the primary aim in Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida any ability to regroup there as it did when the Taliban was in power before the 2001 invasion that ousted them. And this points to a smaller military increase in Afghanistan and a bigger focus on surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan and elsewhere — essentially the approach being advocated by Biden as an alternative to the McChrystal recommendation for a fuller counterinsurgency effort inside Afghanistan.

Biden has argued for keeping the American force there around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 extra troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but significantly increasing the use of unmanned Predator drones and special forces that have been successful in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere.

[….]

Clinton has not tipped her hand as to how she is leaning in the sessions, according to aides. While she is broadly supportive of building up troop levels — although not necessarily in the numbers favored by McChrystal — she also believes the military cannot be the only focus, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to detail her views.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, long wary of a large troop presence in Afghanistan, appears to have grown more comfortable with the prospect of a moderate, middle-path increase.

Many lawmakers from Obama’s own Democratic Party do not want to see additional U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan. According to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, public support for the war has dropped to 40 percent from 44 percent in July.

Republicans, meanwhile, are urging Obama to heed the military commanders’ calls soon or risk failure. “Unnecessary delay could undermine our opportunity for success,” House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday.

So, while President Obama and Hillary Clinton are playing political chess and trying not to offend one another; our troops are dying on the battlefield. Terrific.

AllahPundit over at HotAir.com, who was in New York during the 9/11 attacks; is quite livid:

They’re looking for any way they can to avoid giving McChrystal the troops he says he needs to secure the country, so they’ve come up with a way out. If the people we’ve been fighting for eight years aren’t the enemy, then the country no longer needs to be secured from them, does it?

[…]

In other words, rather than eat crap by forthrightly admitting he’s prepared to abandon huge swaths of the country to Islamist fascists rather than invest another 40,000 troops, he’s going to create an artificial distinction between the Taliban and Al Qaeda to let him save face by claiming he’s focused on “the real enemy.” Much like how he was focused during the campaign on “the good war” in Afghanistan rather than “the bad war” in Iraq. I wonder how long it’ll be before he decides that not everyone who’s in Al Qaeda is an enemy either — or, better yet, that AQ’s been “substantially defeated” or something, which has been the unstated thrust of all those WH-leaked pieces in the press lately about how weak Bin Laden’s gang has become. Why, I’ll bet in a year or so we’ll be told that they’re so weak that we can start pulling out of Afghanistan altogether. Things sure have improved over there since Bush was president, huh?

I would not want to be in the United States Military right now for no amount of money in the world. Not with that idiot buffoon running the Military. The man has zero, and I do mean ZERO clue how to fight a war. I feel for our boys over there right now; because, quite frankly, they are trapped. Just like in Vietnam.

The real sick and sad part is; that the Republican and the Democrats both are taking this whole, “Whatever you decide to do boss! We’ll support you, all the way!” attitude; because none of them have the damn guts to stand up and tell this jack assed idiot to either damn lead or resign and let someone else lead for him. That is what makes me so damned angry.

Update: Video: (H/T to reader Stephanie)

As Stephanie said, this is going to be tough one. But he does need to stand up and lead and quit putting it off.

Others: Atlas Shrugs,  The Long War Journal, Flopping Aces, Stop The ACLU, theblogprof, War in Context and Pajamas Media

Updated: BREAKING NEWS: President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize Liberals even shocked

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My first question is, For what?

Via the NYT:

OSLO — In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

“He has created a new international climate,” the committee said in its announcement. President Obama’s name had not figured in speculation about the likely winner until minutes before the prize was announced here.

Likely candidates had been seen here as including human rights activists in China and Afghanistan and political figures in Africa.

The committee said it wanted to enhance Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts. “We are awarding Obama for what he has done,” the committee said. “Many other people and leaders and nations have to respond in a positive way” to President Obama’s diplomacy.

The announcement noted the special importance the committee attached to President Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons. “Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play,” the committee said.

I have been watching twitter since this news broke and boy are the Conservative blogger angry. Wow! 😮

Anyhow, I do not think he deserves it; he has done nothing. But, that is your liberal world for you. Reward you for doing nothing. Just look at all these bailouts and such.

It is a bit of a shock, but hardly a surprise.

Update: Memeorandum has the roundup.

Update #2: Even Liberals are asking themselves, “Why?” Rob Kall, Who runs Op Ed News; which is about as Liberal, as I am Conservative, Writes:

I woke up to a text message from CNN that Obama had won the Nobel peace prize. First thought– “Why? What did he do to earn it? Extend the Afghan war? Send thousands of storm trooper police to Pittsburgh for G-20?

[…]

But maybe Josh is right. Maybe it will inspire Obama, who’s proven to be a disappointment so far, to live up to the honor. Maybe it will give him an attitudinal boost so he finds more spine to represent the people who voted for him. Maybe it will get the right wing blowhards to STFU. Maybe it will give him the spine it takes to tell his DLC, right wing Dem advisors to STFU and maybe even leave.

Ironically, I feel little pride in this awarding of the Nobel. I don’t think he deserves it. Sure, it’s a nice image boost for the US and the Democrats, but it is a failure by the Nobel committee. If they had waited until Obama made his decision on Afghanistan, and he did the right thing– stand up to a General with a hard-on for un-ending war, and all his backers, then Obama would have deserved it. I pray the Nobel committee knows something we don’t know about Obama and Afghanistan.

Now, we have a “peace price winning” president about to commit tens of thousands more troops to a never ending war in a country that has never been defeated.

[…]

Let’s hope the prize inspires Obama, not just to be a peace maker but also to be a stronger president who stands up to the corporations which have waged war against humanity. Maybe he’ll pay attention to Justice Sotomayor’s questions about corporate personhood and wage the good war, ending the longest war of human history– and kill the right of corporations to be treated as persons.

Awarding the prize to someone who is older, whose work with war and the possibilities for peace is done is a passive act. Awarding the price to someone who has the potential to make a difference, well that’s a bold step to take, a gamble. I still have a little hope that Obama will find his inner strength, cast off the corporate enablers rife throughout his administration and do the right things, maybe with Michelle Obama’s inspiration. Maybe this award will help. Maybe it will remind him of what he could become– a great man who goes down in history for standing up to the powerful tides and forces within and outside his party which pushed him to do more of the same. Maybe he will reject the garbage the corpsestream media spews, the pressure the lobbyists apply and the corruption and sold out humanity within the beltway.

Sometimes extraordinary things result from extraordinary acts are done. This could be one of those times. Let us hope.

Now, while I disagree with some of the thoughts articulated here; as they are from a Liberal standpoint; I must commend Rob for having the boldness to express his true feelings about this President. I wonder. are the Obama-Bots going to call Rob a racist bigot? I wonder. As they sure do love to call me that, quite a bit.

As for his feelings about Obama being a disappointment; That is because he overreached so horribly bad, and now, people are having a case of buyers remorse.

A text book example of why Keynesian economics does not work

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I have said it a thousand times on this blog. Pumping excessive currency into the money supply results in a devalued currency.

Well, this is the fall out from our President pumping currency into the money supply. Now those who trade oil want to stop using the dollar as their currency.

The Story Via the U.K. Independent:

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.

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.”

Ron Paul, of whom I have some disagreements on Foreign policy, has said since he was running for President and even prior to that; that what we are doing to our Economy is the moral equivalent of economic Jones-town massacre mass suicide —- and it turns out that the man was and still is absolutely correct.

Of course, the oil traders are denying that this is taking place; but of course! The last thing that they want is a mass panic by market investors!

Via Fox News:

The world’s oil producers will continue using the U.S. dollar as the currency for buying and selling crude, high-ranking oil and finance officials in the Gulf said on Tuesday, denying a report in a British newspaper.

Earlier, The Independent reported that Gulf Arab states, as well as China, Russia, Japan and France, are in secret talks to end the use of the U.S. dollar to trade oil, causing the American currency to fall in overseas trading Tuesday.

Qatar’s oil minister, Kuwait’s finance minister and sources in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi central banks all denied the report.

The Independent report is “absolutely incorrect” and there has been “absolutely nothing” of that nature discussed between Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, and other countries, Saudi Central Bank Governor Muhammad al-Jasser told reporters in Istanbul.

We did not discuss this at all,” Russia’s deputy finance minister Dmitry Pankin said on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund meeting.

The newspaper report said, “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.”

Lew Rockwell‘s Reaction to the story was not entirely surprising at all:

Though conservatives call this important story “Arabs Plot to Drop the Dollar,” it’s simply self-defense. Or are other peoples just supposed to be kicked in the teeth by the Fed and like it? China, Russia, Japan, France, and Gulf Arab states seek to substitute for the dollar in oil transactions a basket of currencies including the yen, the yuan, the euro, and gold. Heroic. I’d like to use that myself. In fact, why isn’t the Fed’s crazed monetary expansion called a plot to harm others and regular Americans, to the benefit of the US state and its bankster and corporate allies? And if it does indicate another step in “The Demise of the Dollar,” all the fault is in Washington, DC–as usual.

UPDATE From Ryan Cowles:

In light of this, see Ron Paul’s 2006 article on Dollar Hegemony

I could not have said it better myself. 🙂

A funny reaction from Vinnie over at the Jawa Report:

Oh well, I’m good. It takes me 3 minutes to drive to work in traffic. If they go off the dollar in the Scotch industry though, I’m taking up arms.

Heh. In my case, if they go off the dollar in steaks or in coffee; it’s on baby. You can ream my butt for Gas… Hell, I usually just put in five or so bucks to get me around town. Considering the fact, that I drive a piece of crap clunker. But we start fiddling around with my caffeine jolt, or my monthly or so splurge on a good steak; there will be war.

Sammy over at Yid with A Lid quips:

But wait a second this cant happen, don’t they know that Barack Obama is our president, they love him.

Yeah, They love him alright; with that knife behind their backs. If ol’ Big “O” thinks because he’s black and got a funny middle name, is going to stop the Arab Nations from royally screwing America. The President has another thing coming. The Arab nations have hated us; for taking their resources for decades, that goes back to before the President; and myself for that matter, were even born. So, the socialist liberals cannot scream BOOOOSH on this one. This even predates him too.

William Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection writes:

I would like to think someone in the Obama administration would be concerned, but honest reflection leads only to the conclusion that the lowering of U.S. international power will be music to Obama’s ears. He never misses an opportunity to lecture the world about the evils of domination by any one country, by which he means the United States.

A fiddler who is not oblivious to the fire, by any means.

So true, I mean, I have followed politics with some sort of interest since I started voting when I was 18 and I never, ever heard a President apologize for America, Ever. In another time period, President Obama would have been impeached for treason for saying something like that in another Country. But in this day of socialistic rule; nothing happens at all.

I guess time will tell on this one; if it happens, the results will be devastating to our economy. Let us home, for the sake of America, that this is nothing more than poorly sourced rumor story.

The Round Up: Fox News, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, Left Coast Rebel, Credit Writedowns, naked capitalism, Another Black Conservative, ParaPundit, Mish’s Global Economic …, YID With LID, RedState, Townhall.com, The Jawa Report, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and LewRockwell.com Blog (via Memeorandum)

Obama not happy with General McChrystal

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Oy, this is not good.

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.

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.

Gen James Jones, the national security adviser, yesterday did little to allay the impression the meeting had been awkward.

Asked if the president had told the general to tone down his remarks, he told CBS: “I wasn’t there so I can’t answer that question. But it was an opportunity for them to get to know each other a little bit better. I am sure they exchanged direct views.”

An adviser to the administration said: “People aren’t sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn’t seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly.”

In London, Gen McChrystal, who heads the 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well as the 100,000 Nato forces, flatly rejected proposals to switch to a strategy more reliant on drone missile strikes and special forces operations against al-Qaeda.

He told the Institute of International and Strategic Studies that the formula, which is favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, would lead to “Chaos-istan”.

When asked whether he would support it, he said: “The short answer is: No.”

He went on to say: “Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support

via Barack Obama furious at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan – Telegraph.

I’m with Jimmie over at the Sundries Shack; If I were serving in the Military right now and I were in the Afghan Theater. I would  be just a wee bit worried.

GrayHawk over at Mudville Gazette says:

Seriously, I can think of several alternatives to General McChrystal’s plan for carrying out the administration’s Afghan strategy, but certainly none I’d want my name associated with in any way, shape, or form. In D.C., no one in the administration (or the Pentagon) is willing to have their name associated with any alternative plan, but apparently many are willing to whisper to reporters that there is one and Biden thinks it’s great.

Just something to think about.

Oh Yeah,this is not going to end well, at all. Kind of like watching a train wreak. You hate to look; but curiosity just will not let you look away.

My Prediction: General McChrystal will tell ol’ big ears Bambi, to puff a damn root and will resign, which will leave the President and his staff twisting in the wind; let THEM be responsible for one of the biggest screw ups, since Vietnam.  I mean, seriously, would you want this whole debacle on your shoulders, and have on your conscience the lives of all those men; because the President is more interested in making himself look good; than he is actually interested in being the commander in chief? I think not.

Others Covering: JustOneMinute, American Spectator, And So it Goes in Shreveport, protein wisdom, Flopping Aces and Weasel Zippers (Via Memeorandum)