They should have done this to the first jackass who tried to pull this kind of stunt. Maybe a decade of hard labor will nip this stupidity in the bud, although what will probably happen is the wingnuts will be mortified our Kenyan preznit is prosecuting American HEROES.
So says former-conservative turncoat and now liberal traitor; who is also a Blogger, John Cole.
Why?
All because some member of our Great Military decided that Obama was unqualified to be President of United States.
It just shows you just how tolerate of dissent your liberals really are. 🙄
Which is why I will never, ever vote Democrat again.
The Report from ABC NEWS, The story is yet to break National News or they’re working on it:
Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to “light his shoes on fire” on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Authorities say an explosive team is on the way to the airport, and that while the presence of explosives has not yet been confirmed, they believe it was an attempted “shoe bomb.”
The suspect was identified by authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington, Mohammed al Modadi. The FBI said the man had full diplomat immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice-consul.
Authorities said two jet fighters were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base to accompany United flight 663, a Boeing 757, as it flew the final 40 miles to Denver where it landed safely.
Authorities said the man, identified as from Qatar, was restrained by the air marshals who were on the flight.
The United jet was reportedly being directed to a remote location at the Denver airport.
A spokesman for the FBI in Denver declined to comment.
This is not good at all. This could cause some serious problems for Obama’s strategy on the war on terror.
Update: Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN story alerts up. Update #2: all have stories up now.
MSNBC (ugh!) is now reporting, that this dude was in the bathroom, and was smoking in the can. When someone, not sure whom, asked him what he was doing. He replied, “Well, I was setting my shoes on fire…” Apparently, the douche nozzle was kidding around. Well, the only one laughing was him! 😮 Anyhow, looks like this idiot is going back Qutar. MSNBC is giving the name of the person. I will print it, when it comes up. Update #3: Mohammed al-Modadi is his name. (H/T AP)
ABOVE THE POST UPDATE (11:00): According to CNN, another diplomat is saying that this is a misunderstanding. The story is that the man was smoking in the lavatory and when challenged by an air marshal, he mouthed off sarcastically “I was trying to light my shoe on fire.”
I mean, are we really to believe that this guy took his having diplomatic immunity as free rein to crack a joke about need to light his shoe bomb? I’m curious whether under international law a diplomat can be expelled from a host country simply for being a raging c@#k.
What we may be looking at here is the scariest smoke break in aviation history.
Ha! I wonder if AllahPundit will represent him in Court, if he sues the United States Government for false arrest? If he does, somebody better let Liz Cheney know, after all, we have to know who’s defending terrorists; whether real or wanna-be smart asses. 😉 I mean, that is the McCarthyism way, is it not? 😀
Update #6: Our Assclown of the day can be seen here. He is on the right. (H/T to Wizbang for the find…)
War correspondents take huge risks to bring news of a war to readers far away. What this shows is just how risky it is to embed with terrorists, especially when their enemy controls the air. War is not the same thing as law enforcement; the US forces had no responsibility for identifying each member of the group and determining their mens rea. Legitimate rescue operations would have included markings on the vehicle and on uniforms to let hostile forces know to hold fire, and in the absence of that, the hostile forces have every reason to consider the second support group as a legitimate target as well. It’s heartbreaking for the families of these journalists, but this isn’t “collateral murder” — it’s war.
Worst case scenario this is a few innocent being accidentally killed in the fog of war.
But the video doesn’t even appear to be worst case scenario. It appears, in fact, that the video shows armed insurgents engaging or about to engage US troops. The Reuters camera men had embedded themselves with the insurgents. This makes them enemy combatants themselves and should have been shot.
Reuters has a long history of its local stringers embedding themsleves with terrorist forces. Perhaps they do this because they are sympathetic, perhaps they do this to get “the story”, but it matters little to those engaging insurgents.
When you embed yourselves with terrorists you know the risk. You are producing propaganda for them. You have become one of them.
Anything less than this understanding is purposeful naivite about “objective journalism”. In war there can be no objective journalism. You’re either with us or the enemy. If you want to stay neutral stay out of the war zone.
As for those who went in to pick up the bodies? Perhaps they were innocents. I’ve no idea.
But you drive your van into an active military engagement? What the hell were you thinking?
You are stupid. Innocent, but stupid. You’re asking to be killed.
And if you brought children into the midsts of an ongoing military engagement that makes you more than stupid: it makes youcriminally negligent.
“It’s their fault for bringing their kids to a battle,” says one of the Americans on the video. Indeed it is.
People, this is war. This happens in war. It can’t be avoided. If you want to end civilian casualties then end war. Start by asking armed Islamists to put down their weapons. But you won’t do that because your real objection isn’t war, it’s America. Which is why anti-war activists around the globe never protest al-Qaeda, only America.
They’re not anti-war, they’re anti-American.
I agree. If you embed yourself with terrorists, you die. Just that simple.
I humbly submit, that these so-called Journalists got just was coming to them.
Update #3: Apparently some liberals, including a gay pedophile stalker blogger, that I will never link to; cannot grasp the idea of sarcasm and are complaining about what I wrote here about Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Well, you know what liberals? I got two words; FUCK YOU. You bastards sat out here in the Blogosphere and mocked and derided Conservatives and the Tea Party protesters, to the point of using a crude sexual phrase to describe them. —– and you are going to bitch about me being a snarky bomb thrower? Please. 🙄 Just like that stupid liberal jack assed twit Maxine Waters, do as I say, not as I do. 🙄
Update: Rusty Talks back to me… (wow! 😯 )
Over at Political Byline:
“I humbly submit, that these so-called Journalists got just was coming to them”
Perhaps. This wouldn’t be the first time Reuters had sent off it’s “crack team” of locals to give the terrorists’ “point of view”.
Now why am I not surprised? 🙄
Update #2: Leave it one of my commentators to point out the obvious, From Gaven in the comments:
First off, watch the full, unedited one, without the political editorializing:
A little background is given in this one that is absent from the edited one. First off, the Apache’s mission was to support that infantry platoon. A few minutes before the video starts, that platoon takes RPG and small arms fire in that vicinity, so the Apache is called up to find the guys doing it. Source: Click here to read – See the 12th paragraph.
Our video starts. They see a large group of people, all adult males, several of whom are armed. You can see 2 AK’s and at least one actual RPG around 3:30-3:45 (Pic) . Next, they see a man peeking around the corner and pointing what looks like an RPG at the infantryman about four blocks away. Armed men? Check. Immediate threat to American lives? Check. They get permission to fire, and as soon as they have a shot, they take it.
(For what it’s worth, the actions of this group of people are very suspicious looking, especially in a combat zone mere minutes after US forces have been fired on. Including having the RPG firer simply poke around the corner and fire while everyone else hangs back to avoid backblast. See here for a slightly humorous example: Click for pic . Obviously one example does not a trend make, but I’m just bringing it to your attention)
Secondly, I have yet to see anyone say that the group of guys with the reporters were NOT insurgents. For extra emphasis, at 30:45 there is more small arms fire. At 31:10 you see guys with AK’s and body armor running away from the area. There was DEFINITELY a battle going on in this area, something that Wikileaks biased editing job carefully omits.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Reuters stringers were hanging out with insurgents for some good pictures. For instance, this picture:
Here, Namir is obviously standing about 10 feet away from insurgents as they commit an act of violence. I’m not passing judgement on him, I actually think it’s good to have reporters as close as possible to the conflict, but I’m merely pointing out that hanging out with insurgents is something that Noor-Eldeen had been doing for a few years prior to his death.
Anyways, back to the video.
At 19:20, someone reports finding an RPG round.
At 32:54, someone asks if it’s been defused yet, and is told “no, it’s still live”
Even if everyone in Iraq has an AK, only the bad guys have RPG rounds. The discovery of an RPG round among the bodies makes me believe that Namir Noor-Eldeen was yet again hanging out with an insurgent group looking for great shots. He and the other photographer were almost certainly innocent of actual wrongdoing, but the armed men they were with were in all likelihood some of the ACTUAL insurgents who fired on US troops before the video started.
As for the van that was attacked, I’ll admit that it’s slightly sketchier, but I’ll clarify that by noting that insurgents often clean up their own wounded, so an black van showing up with three or four adult men who immediately jump out and start aiding wounded insurgents is absolutely suspicious enough to make a case for engaging it. I don’t know that I personally would have engaged that van, but I find in totally understandable that they did. Although, again, there’s no proof that the men in the van weren’t also insurgents, since the video leaves out a lot of context.
Yes, this video is disturbing simply for the sheer violence and immediate destruction. But think about it before mindlessly jumping to conclusions regarding what actually happened that day.
Also, allow me to point something out of the liberals and weak kneed Conservatives who are reading this. Let’s go back in history a bit, shall we? During World War 2, The Korean War and during Vietnam, I do not remember ever hearing of any American or international journalists embedding with the enemy then. So, why were these loons embedded with the Terrorists? Because point blank, these so-called “journalists” and their employer, who is quite obviously liberal; have an editorial position that the United States of America deserved the attacks on 9/11 and that these fighters in Iraq were a legitimate fighting force; that’s why! That is, as far as this writer is concerned, an Anti-American stance. Because of this, these bastards got EXACTLY AND I DO MEAN EXACTLY WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM! Period, end of story.
Three explosions, two rocket attacks and subsequent gunfire have been reported in the near vicinity of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5. The attack occurred early afternoon local time when the consulate would have been full of both American and local employees. The death toll is reported at 36 but is expected to rise.
There are no assessments yet of the damage that the consulate building has sustained, but reports indicate that the explosions led to the collapse of other, adjacent buildings. Pakistani soldiers are also reported to be engaging militants in gunfire, indicating that militants are actively engaged in an attack near the area — possibly with the intention of breaching the U.S. Consulate.
[….]
UPDATE:
One attacker was able to blow up in the U.S. Consulate premises, AAJ TV reported April 5. The front side of the U.S. Consulate has been totally destroyed. Reports indicate that seven or eight security personnel in the consulate are dead. The consulate’s communication system is down.
Many people are wondering why this has happened. I think I know why. It could very well be because of this here:
KABUL — President Obama’s visit to Kabul last week, intended in part to forge a closer working relationship with President Hamid Karzai, has helped produce the opposite: an angry Afghan leader now attacking the West for what he perceives as an effort to manipulate him and weaken his rule.
Karzai’s relationship with his U.S. backers in the past week has taken a sharp turn for the worse after his two anti-Western speeches in three days, remarks that some officials see as a rehearsed, intentional move away from the United States.
In remarks to parliament members Saturday, Karzai said that if foreign interference in his government continues, the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance — one that he might even join, according to lawmakers present.
“When I heard Karzai’s remarks, it really shocked me. It scared me,” a senior Afghan official who works closely with Karzai said. “We should not take this lightly. This is a golden opportunity to have the West here; we can’t squander it.”
Karzai’s comments have angered U.S. officials and some of his prominent Afghan colleagues in the government, who fear he is jeopardizing international funding and military support because his pride has been injured.
“That guy’s erratic, he’s unpredictable. I don’t get him,” said a senior U.S. military official in Kabul.
However, if you read a little deeper, you will see this:
But the next day, Karzai told a gathering of lawmakers that foreign interference fuels the insurgency. One lawmaker said Karzai made the point that if he is compelled to obey foreigners, “I’ll join the Taliban.”
“I know he’s cooperating with the U.S., but he just wants to give us a wrong perception. He’s trying to prove himself as a hero, a nationalist,” the lawmaker said.
Some of the presidents’ supporters said that people overreacted to the statements, and that Karzai is well aware of how reliant he is on the United States and other countries fighting in Afghanistan. The United States pours billions of dollars monthly into Afghanistan, and 30,000 new troops are arriving to fight the Taliban.
Speaking at a meeting of about 1,200 tribal leaders and local officials in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai again suggested that U.S. pressure is counterproductive.
“Afghanistan will be fixed when its people trust that their president is independent and not a puppet,” he said. “We have to demonstrate our sovereignty. We have to demonstrate that we are standing up for our values.”
I think this guy needs to make up his mind. Trying to play to his people and be friends with the west is not going to work. The United States of America is NOT interested in owning that Country, no more than it is interested in owning Iraq. We are, or at least we were, there to get rid of Al-Qaeda terrorists who wanted to attack and destroy America. It seems that our focus is shifting and we are now trying to play “Paddy Cake” with Afgan Leaders who want to be friendly with the the U.S. and the Taliban. The President of the United States needs to firm with Karzai, and tell him either choose the Taliban and possibly being killed by the United States in military action or choose true freedom and democracy. You cannot have it both ways, terrorism and democracy cannot co-exist.
Just a personal aside, I had a sinking feeling that this sort of a thing would happen, if we elected a Democrat for a President. For all of his failings, for all of the stuff that I did not like about him; George W. Bush knew exactly how to deal with these sorts of things. He was seen by the Afghan people and the Iraqis as a firm strong leader, who was willing to risk it all to stand against terrorism, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. President Obama just does not have that same stance. President Obama and by default, the Democrats see terrorism as a juvenile criminal behavior; and it is not; it is a war against freedom and democracy in the name of a backward and dangerous religion.
I guess the only hope at this point is that Obama realizes what he is dealing with here and changes his focus. However, I just do not see that happening at all. Needless to say, the next year few years is going to be interesting, when it comes to the war on terror and this entire situation.
The question conservatives should be asking though, is how did we get in this position in the first place? How come, over the course of two elections, Democrats were able to take back the White House and amass substantial majorities in both chambers of Congress, allowing them to enact this sweeping legislation with no Republican votes – and huge defections in their own party? How could a generally right-of-center nation be taken over by liberals from Chicago and San Francisco?
The answer, of course, is that none of this would have been possible without George W. Bush — or more broadly speaking, Bush era Republicanism. While they were in power, Republicans squandered an opportunity to push free market health care solutions. When they did use their power to pass major legislation, it was for policies like the big government Medicare prescription drug plan, which was (until today) the largest expansion of entitlements since the Great Society.
They took earmarks and doled out farm and energy subsidies. They earned a reputation for fiscal recklessness and corruption and incompetent governance. President Obama ultimately forced through the health care bill in spite of the political consequences to his party because he’s ultimately a true believing liberal. But it was only because of the failures of Bush-era Republicanism that an ideological liberal with little experience was able to capture the presidency on the abstract notion of change.
Today will be largely remembered as the biggest legislative victory for liberals since Medicare in 1965. But it should also be remembered as the day that Bush cemented his legacy as one of the most destructive presidents for advocates of limited government.
Which is to say that what happened Sunday night was not the birth of a new era of liberalism. Rather, it was the death of a kind of “conservatism” that was never really conservative at all. It was the “conservatism” of No Child Left Behind and ethanol subsidies, of unprincipled compromise and cynical self-dealing, of “shamnesty” and kowtowing to CAIR.
If the Republican Party can offer America nothing better than that in the future, the GOP will go the way of the Whigs, passing unlamented into political oblivion.
All I can say to add to this is, when you call yourself a Republican and you basically are a Progressive; what do people honestly expect? George W. Bush was, and still is, and will be to his dying breath; a Wilsonian President. That is a Progressive view on foreign policy. Which is why I do not quite understand why the folks over at HotAir are crying the blues.
Look, the point I am trying to make is this. It is the 900 pound gorilla in the room, that nobody on our side wants to discuss. It is a fact, that George W. Bush drove the United States of America into a war; that we all know now, had zero to do with 9/11. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There were parts; but no weapons. The Bush Administration decided to stay anyhow, and move the goalposts to keep us there. For this little foolhardy move, the American people decided that Republicans did not have the ability to govern a nation and as a result of that; the Democrats won. Elections matter, it is just that simple. Because of this, were are all staring — bleary-eyed as we may be — at a socialist nightmare.
I hate to say it, but David Frum is absolutely correct. We have no one other to blame, than ourselves for this one. Yeah, I know, I do not much care from Frum either; I know what he said about the Paleo-Conservatives, and yeah, I know he is a chameleon. But once and a while, that idiot kanook does get it right. ( 😯 )
First Roseanne Barr, now Tom Delay. Seriously, did the stupid bus break down and let everyone off at once? Oy. 🙄
First up the Video, and I apologize up front for the source:
Now the quote:
Asked whether it was bad strategy to make a budget stand on a $10 billion extension of unemployment (as opposed to, say, the Bush’s $720 billion prescription drug package), Delay insisted that if the PR had been done right, Bunning would have been applauded. Helping the unemployed with federal assistance, he said, was unsound policy.
“You know,” Delay said, “there is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits keeps people from going and finding jobs. In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.
Host Candy Crowley: Congressman, that’s a hard sell, isn’t it?
Delay: it’s the truth.
Crowley: People are unemployed because they want to be?
Delay: well, it is the truth. and people in the real world know it. And they have friends and they know it. Sure, we ought to be helping people that are unemployed find a job, but we also have budget considerations that are incredibly important, especially now that Obama is spending monies that we don’t have. – Source: Huffington Post
Excuse me, Mr. Delay? But, I have been unemployed since 2005 and it is not because I want to be. I never was eligible for benefits. I quit my last job, because it was making me physically sick. So, I had to quit. Thanks to your Party’s former candidate and now former President’s idea of going to war with Iraq and because of the Progressive policies, that both the Republicans AND Democrats embraced; the economy here in Michigan is in the damned toilet. That is why I am not working, not because I do not want to.
Can someone remind me, just why this idiot is not in jail? Anyone? 🙄
It is stuff like this right here, that makes me wonder if 2010 is going to be a lost cause. Because just how much more tone deaf and out of touch with reality does one need to be? Clue to the Republican Party; spouting stupid ignorant tripe like this, is NOT going to get us back in charge of Congress, not anytime soon anyway. I am quite sorry to have the say this, BUT! —- There’s stupid and then there’s Tom Delay Stupid! 😮 I mean, this guy is starting to make Michele Bachmann look REALsmart. Which quite frankly, is pretty freakin’ scary, if you ask me. 😮
Not to rip off AllahPundit or anything, but…. Good Lord. 🙄
I just do not get it, why didn’t they just do this in the first place? 🙄
President Obama’s advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.
The president’s advisers feel increasingly hemmed in by bipartisan opposition to a federal trial in New York and demands, mainly from Republicans, that Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators remain under military jurisdiction, officials said. While Obama has favored trying some terrorism suspects in civilian courts as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the rule of law, critics have said military tribunals are the appropriate venue for those accused of attacking the United States.
If Obama accepts the likely recommendation of his advisers, the White House may be able to secure from Congress the funding and legal authority it needs to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and replace it with a facility within the United States. The administration has failed to meet a self-imposed one-year deadline to close Guantanamo.
Increasingly hemmed in by bi-partisan opposition…. 🙄 Well, if the dumb ass ran the damned Country, like someone who has a bit of common sense; instead of some floppy eared Negro Jackass, maybe he wouldn’t have so much damned trouble! 😡 ….and I got two words for those who would call me a racist….: Fuck You. 😡
Anyone with any sort of common sense knows that you do not try an enemy combatant in a Civil court room, you try him with a Military Tribunal. Of course, we are talking about a damned empty suit, Magic Negro, looking idiot, who only got elected because he was damn black. 🙄
It is not to say that Hillary Clinton would have been any better, she is just as stupid as ol’ floppy ears. Her last little incident with British over the Falklands is a prime example. So, don’t think that because I hammer on Bambi Teleprompter that it’s because of my love for foggy bottom or anything. I cannot stand that stupid bitch either. 🙄
You’d think that after 9/11 that the Democrats would have had a “Come to Jesus” moment on terrorism; I guess not, not much of a big surprise, because most of them empathize, one way or another, with the terrorists anyhow. Which is why I won’t be voting for anyone in that party anytime soon.
I posted this once, but the man’s video got taken down by the video service.
So, here it is again.
Please, if you like this, put it on your blog or website and promote it. Everyone who believes that the War on Terror is a real thing, should watch and promote this.
Yeah, I know this is one of their sappier songs. But, it sends a message….
This is dedicated to all of our Armed Forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq tonight and in the many other places that our Military is Stationed.
May we see the see the day, when there are no more goodbyes.
Lyrics:
Babe I’m leavin’
I must be on my way
The time is drawing near
My train is going
I see it in your eyes
The love, the need, your tears
But I’ll be lonely without you
And I’ll need your love to see me through
So please believe me
My heart is in your hands
And I’ll be missing you
‘Cause you know it’s you babe
Whenever I get weary
And I’ve had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it’s you babe
Givin’ me the courage
And the strength I need
Please believe that it’s true
Babe, I love you
You know it’s you babe
Whenever I get weary
And I’ve had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it’s you babe
Givin’ me the courage
And the strength I need
Please believe that it’s true
Babe, I love you
Babe, I’m leavin’
I’ll say it once again
And somehow try to smile
I know the feeling we’re tryin’ to forget
If only for a while
‘Cause I’ll be lonely without you
And I’ll need your love to see me through
Please believe me
My heart is in your hands
‘Cause I’ll be missing you
Babe, I love you
Babe, I love you
Ooo-oo-oo-oo, babe
This week the US Senate is debating whether to raise the national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion, totaling a whopping $14.3 trillion, which is about the same size as the nation’s overall economy. Some estimate the cost of national healthcare would be in the ballpark of $1 trillion. The initial relief donation to Haiti by the US government was a relatively measly $100 million while the cost of the Iraq war alone has been estimated at $3 trillion dollars. Regardless, our government, and the debt to maintain it, keeps growing astronomically.
The old fashioned, biblical concept of charity is that it begins at home, and once a man has taken care of his family, property and immediate surroundings he can then afford to address greater concerns. Increasingly and sometimes tragically, America can no longer afford to address greater concerns—not that affordability will prevent our government from continuing to do so. The conservative’s task should be to prevent it from doing so, or “limiting” government–and not promoting its unlimited use at home or abroad, and certainly not to save the world.
For once; I actually agree with Jack Hunter. I am very glad that he spoke out on this. I mean, we’re fighting wars and our economy is in the toilet. But yet, we are sending millions of dollars into a Country that is so damn corrupt that they cannot even feed their own people? Give me a break. We need to deal with our own and stop trying to be the World’s rescue dog. It is not like those people even appreciate what we are even doing there. Because we have already been accused of occupying the Country.
Bottom Line: Jack Hunter is correct, Let private industry deal with that problem in Haiti and stop using the United States Government to deal every little situation that comes up.
Countdown to being called a RAAAAACIST!!!!! in 5……4…..3…..2….
The White House ordered the Justice Department Thursday night to consider other places to try the 9/11 terror suspects after a wave of opposition to holding the trial in lower Manhattan.
The dramatic turnabout came hours after Mayor Bloomberg said he would “prefer that they did it elsewhere” and then spoke to Attorney General Eric Holder.
“It would be an inconvenience at the least, and probably that’s too mild a word for people that live in the neighborhood and businesses in the neighborhood,” Bloomberg told reporters.
“There are places that would be less expensive for the taxpayers and less disruptive for New York City.”
I think the word Cluster Fark would be about the right word to use. 😛 Glad to see the White House coming to its senses on this one. What really needs to happen is the President needs to say, “Never Mind” and let the idiot be tried in a military court.
This video comes via the Neo-Marxist Blog, Think Progress:
Money Quote:
SCHULTZ: I told him he was full of sh*t is what I told him. … And then he gave me the Dick Cheney f-bomb. … I told Robert Gibbs, I said “And I’m sorry you’re swearing at me, but I’m just trying to help you out. I’m telling you you’re losing your base. Do you understand you’re losing your base?”
He goes on to yowl about single payer healthcare, The Jewish Cabal which is also known as Neo-Cons, The Iraq War and much of the same of dead tired Democratic Party talking points. As far as his little talking point about the Republicans getting the war that they wanted; you mean, that SAME WAR that the Democrats in Congress voted to authorize funds for, time and time again? You mean, that war? So, that little talking point just does not fly with this former Democratic Party voter, that’s grand standing and bullshit and I think he knows it.
Anyhow, just a peek into the infighting in the Democratic Party, it is quite funny to watch.
A new audio tape allegedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claims responsibility for an attempt to blow up a plane en route to Michigan on Christmas Day and warns the United States of more attacks.
The tape, which aired on the Arabic-language news Web site Al-Jazeera on Sunday, says “the United States will not dream of enjoying safety until we live it in reality in Palestine.”
The tape continues: “It is not fair to enjoy that kind of life while our brothers in Gaza live in the worst of miseries.”
CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the message, but the CIA has in the past confirmed Al-Jazeera reports on tapes from the al Qaeda leader.
President Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that while there was no immediate confirmation that the message was authentic, it “contains the same hollow justification for the slaughter of innocent people.”
In another section of the audio tape that Al-Jazeera broadcast, the voice says: “God willing our attacks will continue as long as you support the Israelis and may peace be on those who follow guidance.”
Bin Laden also claims responsibility for the foiled attack on Delta flight 253 in December.
“The message intended to be sent to you was through the hero fighter Omar Farouq, may God release him, confirming an earlier message that the [September] 11th heroes delivered to you and it was repeated before and after [that event],” he says.
A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Delta Airlines plane as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was behind the failed attack on Christmas Day. That’s clear,” a U.S. counterterrorism official — who is not authorized to speak publicly — told CNN. “So a message like this — no matter whose voice it may be — should come as no surprise. Al Qaeda has, from time to time, tried to build support for its program of murder by talking about the Palestinian issue. That line’s never gotten them much in the past, and it’s unlikely to now, either.
As many of my fellow Conservative Bloggers have asked; I thought all of this was going to, um, change after the election of Barack Hussein Obama? So much for that idea eh? As always, Osama Bin Laden blames the United States of America’s relationship with Israel for the attacks or in this case, botched attacks. Which shows you how bad the Al-Qaeda organization is demoralized since 9/11. Which was, in part, due to the efforts of President George W. Bush. President Obama has basically just continued his policies, which by the way Liberals, WORKED; no thanks to them of course. President Obama, on the other hand, has tried to play footzies with those bastards and look what it has gotten him —- Nowhere!
So, anyhow, the fight goes on and no amount of Hope and Change, Unicorns and rainbows is going to stop that. So, wise up Liberals and realize that the terrorists are not your friends.
Now having said all that; for some oddball reason, I somehow doubt that is actually Osama. I believe it might be someone within the Al-Qaeda group that sounds much like him. But as to that being him, I have my doubts.
I wrote about this here and here… and now the company has put a halt to it.
A company under fire for etching biblical references on rifle scopes used by the U.S. military said Thursday it will stop the practice, and offered to provide modification kits to the Pentagon to enable their removal on existing optics.
Michigan-based Trijicon Inc. made the announcement in a statement released by Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that specializes in crisis management.
“Trijicon has proudly served the U.S. military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate,” Trijicon president Stephen Bindon said in a statement. “We want to thank the Department of Defense for the opportunity to work with them and will move as quickly as possible to provide the modification kits for deployment overseas.”
Trijicon also said it will remove the inscriptions from all products it has made for the military, but not yet shipped, and that it will provide foreign military services that purchased Trijicon products the same options.
A wise-choice for that company indeed. All around, I believe that this decision will be good for all involved. Because the last thing we need, is the enemy using our own weapons for propaganda purposes.
Yes, I do know what I wrote here. I assumed everyone would know this, but in case not; I was referring to the Arabs who attacked us on 9/11 and those who are down with the whole idea of Jihad, not all of them.
However, I happened to read something over at a blog, of who’s author has criticized me in the past. Which, by the way, is his right to do. Anyhow, I happened to read this here and I felt the need to quote it here.
I am a U.S. Army infantry soldier with the rank of (rank withheld). I am married with children. I am stationed at Fort (installation name withheld). I have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times. I have been awarded medals for direct combat engagement as well as for injuries and wounds received in hand-to-hand combat. I am a Muslim American. My family converted when I was very young. I am caucasian and have a last name that does not sound ethnic. Therefore, few of my fellow soldiers know that I am a Muslim. My wife comes from a Christian tradition but rarely practices or attends church. I have witnessed terrible religious persecution in the my (number withheld) years in the Army. Most of it comes from “angry” conservative Christians in my unit chains of command and occasionally from my fellow infantry soldiers. I am very familiar with the Trijicon ACOG gunsights and have often had them as part of my personal weapons; both my M-4 and my M-16. In my first 2 deployments I saw and experienced no incidents regarding the New Testament bible quotes that are written on the metal casing of the gun sights. Many soldiers know of them and are very confused as to why they are there and what it is supposed to mean. Everyone is worried that if they were captured in combat that the enemy would use the bible quotes against them in captivity or some other form of propaganda. As an American soldier I am ashamed that those bible quotes are on our primary weapons. As a Muslim American I am horrified. As one who swore his oath to the Constitution, I am driven to fight this Christian insanity but I know if I try to do so in a visible way that I will suffer at the hands of my military superiors. I am of low enlisted rank and can be crushed easily. I am prepared to suffer, but I am not prepared for my wife and children to suffer. So I have reached out to MRFF because there is nowhere else safe to go to try to fight this thing of disgrace. There are many other soldiers who feel as I do. Many are Protestant and Catholic and they fear reprisal just as much as I do for trying to stand up to the Christian bullies in uniform who outrank us. But if you try to fight back, you are not “asking” for trouble, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE from the start. And if you are a Muslim American, the hatred is always just below the surface and ready to explode at a moment’s notice. After the Fort Hood shootings, it was so bad, even for a low profile Muslim like me, that I had to ask MRFF for help.
Nothing in my first 2 deployments prepared me for what happened with the Trijicon ACOG gun sights during my 3rd deployment to Afghanistan. I will never forget the day it occurred. It was morning and there was a mandatory formation of several companies. A very senior NCO was yelling at us which is not that unusual. He asked a private what it was that he (the private) was holding in his hand and the private said it was his “weapon” several times to which the senior NCO replied “and what ELSE is it”? FInally, the senior NCO said that the private’s rifle was also something else; that because of the biblical quote on the ACOG gunsight it had been “spiritually transformed into the Fire Arm of Jesus Christ” and that we would be expected to kill every “haji” we could find with it. He said that if we were to run out of ammo, then the rifle would become the “spiritually transformed club of Jesus Christ” and that we should “bust open the head of every haji we find with it.” He said that Uncle Sam had seen fit not to give us a “pussy ‘Jewzzi’ (combination of the word ‘Jew’ and Israeli made weapon ‘Uzi’) but the “fire arm of Jesus Christ” and made specific mention of the biblical quotes on our gun sights. He said that the enemy no doubt had quotes from the Koran on their guns but that “our Lord is bigger than theirs because theirs is a fraud and an idol”. As a Muslim and an American soldier I was fit to be tied but I kept it in. There were many Afghans, both civilian and military, on base within earshot of what was being yelled at us and I can only wonder in shock what they must have thought. This senior NCO was apparently also the head person of a conservative, crazy Christian group called the “Christian Military Fellowship” and made a big deal about the importance of joining to everyone. He told us all that we MUST read a book called “Under Orders” in order to make it through this combat deployment and said he had many copies for everyone. Some of my friends went and got their copies. I refused. Finally, this senior NCO ended his yelling by warning us that if we did not “get right with Jesus” then our rifles would not provide spiritual strength despite the bible quotes on our ACOG gunsights and that we would be considered “spiritual cripples” to our fellow units and soldiers. He didn’t say it in so many words, but the message was clear; if anything bad happened in a combat situation, it would be the fault of anyone who had not accepted Jesus Chris in the “right way”. I have never felt so ashamed and scared in my life. I have never hated myself so much for not speaking out. So I thought of my wife and children and endured. Every time I looked at my rifle with that Trijicon ACOG gunsight/scope with the biblical quote from the book of John (8:12), it would make me sick. If I had tried to protest, it would have made me dead. And if I’m dead I’m of no use to my wife and children.
To which Ed adds:
I’m at a loss for words. “Appalling” seems inadequate.
Now, I realize that what I wrote at the other posting was a bit rough, okay? For the most part, I was being quite snarky. Further more, I was referring to the Arabs who are in the arena of Jihad against America. Yes, I do believe that this a war of ideals and yes, it does happen to involve “Christian Americans” (Not in the sense of CHURCHper se, but rather of culture and ideals.) However, as someone that does believe quite highly in the SEPARATION of Church and State —– Yes, I do realize that the actual wording is not found in the Constitution, however, our founding fathers did believe in it and the concept is there. In fact, Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists the following:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
Thomas Jefferson believed that, and so do I. Therefore, I believe, on constitutional grounds that these sights with the scriptures on them should be removed. We must remember that there are AMERICANS fighting this war on terror, not just Christian Americans; but Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, and Americans of ALL Faiths are fighting against a backward ideology that seeks to destroy our Country.
I realize that some Christians and some Conservatives will not agree with me and might even accuse me of being a phony for writing this. But, Hey, it is the price one must pay to stand for something that is absolutely right.
So, to Ed Brayton, I say this, you might not like me one bit and that is your right. But this time, you are absolutely correct.
Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
At the end of the serial number on Trijicon’s ACOG gun sight, you can read “JN8:12”, a reference to the New Testament book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 12, which reads: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The ACOG is widely used by the U.S. military.
The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious “Crusade” in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.
One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as “the light of the world.” John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
UPDATE: I had some stuff written here, that I wish I had never written. Snark is fun, but only if everyone else is laughing. I blew it and I apologize. Please, go read this….NOW.
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.
When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect can that can be expected from our border bullies.
Very strange. Even if you’re into profiling, Yon would hardly fit one you’d be interested in. Of course, his passport, by now, doubtless has a list of countries stamped into it which could give an inspector pause, but that’s no excuse. Very, very strange. I expect this one will be high profile enough that you’ll see an apology coming from the government.
Unless there is more to this story, an apology would be the least owed to Yon. When an American citizen with a valid passport presents himself for travel, there should be some reasonable screening to verify identity and to determine whether there is a physical risk, ie, weapons and the like. Why should border security be interested in Yon’s annual income? How does that relate to national security and border protection? Unless this is an arm of the Internal Revenue Service, it doesn’t, and Yon was right to refuse to answer the question.
Instead of hassling American citizens about their income or watching the ice melt, how about paying attention to actual security and intelligence issues? Please?
I must say that I agree with both of these assessments, and I personally believe those responsible for detaining Mr. Yon, ought to be fired. I honestly have to ask this question, that neither Jazz nor Ed would even ask. If Michael Yon had been, say, Arabic or even black; would he have been detained? I somehow doubt it. But, because he’s a White American, he gets asked a stupid question and because he refuses to answer it, which was well within his rights; he gets detained. Welcome to Obama’s America people. Where white men are oppressed, interrogated and harassed; by the black power establishment. You say this isn’t about race? I disagree. This is all about race and as long as Barack Hussein Obama is President, you will continue to see this sort of nonsense happening in America. Bank on it.
President Barack Obama received a high-level briefing only three days before Christmas about possible holiday-period terrorist threats against the US, Newsweek has learned. The briefing was centered on a written report, produced by US intelligence agencies, entitled “Key Homeland Threats”, a senior US official said.
The senior Administration official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that nowhere in this document was there any mention of Yemen, whose Al-Qaeda affiliate is now believed to have been behind the unsuccessful Christmas Day attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down a transatlantic airliner with a bomb hidden in his underpants. However, the official declined to disclose any other information about the substance of the briefing, including what kind of specific warnings, if any, the President was given about possibly holiday attacks and whether Yemen came up during oral discussions.
According to the senior official, the holiday threat briefing, one in a series of regularly-scheduled sessions with top counter-terrorism officials, was held in the White House Situation Room on December 22. Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The CIA and National Intelligence Directors Office were represented by deputy agency heads: CIA deputy director Steven Kappes, and David Gompert, the principal deputy to National Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair. Also present was Michael Leiter, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, a unit of the Intelligence Czar’s office which was created after 9/11 to ensure that intelligence reporting about possible terrorist plots was shared quickly among all US agencies who might have some capability to do something about it.
The senior official said that beginning in early December, based on reports coming in from intelligence agencies, policy-makers had begun tracking a stream of information which alluded to a possible holiday-period plot against the US orchestrated from somewhere in Pakistan. However, the official said, this reporting later turned out to be “garbled” and it was determined that the threat probably was a washout. The official denied that the White House received any report, representing the concensus of US intelligence agencies, warning that a Holiday-period plot originating in Yemen and targeting the US homeland could be in the works.
In a background briefing for reporters on December 29, also attributed in an official White House transcript to a “senior administration official”, that official asserted that in the wake of the attempted underpants attack, it had become clear to the President and top advisers that before Christmas, the US government was in posession of “bits and pieces” of information, which, if they had been properly knitted together, “could have…allowed us to disrupt the attack or certainly to know much more about the alleged attacker in such a way as to ensure that he was on, as the President suggested in his statement, a no-fly list.” In the briefing, the official identified three rough categories of information that the government had which could have been relevant to foiling the attack: information about Abdulmutallab and his plans, info about Al-Qaeda and their plans, and info “about potential attacks during the holiday period.”
Asked about what kind of intelligence reporting was circulated to senior officials about possibly holiday period attacks before the failed underpants attack, a US intelligence official, who also asked for anonymity, explained: “As everybody knows, terrorists often speak in coded language, especially when they think their communications might be intercepted. There was no clear discussion of an attack, on Christmas or any other time, in the Middle East or anywhere else. But as veiled as the message was, it was spotted, processed, analyzed, and presented to senior policymakers as a warning sign-however vague-of a holiday attack. While this was handled properly, there were, to put it mildly, virtually no details at all. That happens.” When Newsweek asked a senior Administration official about this characterization of a warning which was passed to White House policymakers, and whether it tracked what was presented at the December 22 Presidential briefing, the official would not comment.
I quoted a good lot of that; because I think that it is important to note, that United States Government, in particular, the President; cannot look into a crystal ball and tell the American people where we are going to be hit next. Also too; there seems to be a bit of rumbling amongst the Conservative Bloggers about how Obama handled the attacks. Yes, I know, it looked horrible. In fact, it kind of pissed me off as well. But, Bush did the same stuff, prior to 9/11.
We’ve known for years now that George W. Bush received a presidential daily briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, in which he was warned: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” We’ve known for almost as long that Bush went fishing afterward.
What we didn’t know is what happened in between the briefing and the fishing, and now Suskind is here to tell us. Bush listened to the briefing, Suskind says, then told the CIA briefer: “All right. You’ve covered your ass, now.”
The point that I am trying to make here guys, is that while it might be fun to try and tag this President and blame him directly for the attempted terrorist attack; I am afraid that I just cannot play along here. President Obama just cannot sit and predict when something like this is going to happen. Blaming Obama for this sort of a thing is just plain stupid. Was the ball dropped? Yes. Did someone screw up? Yes. Can Obama be blamed for any of that. Sorry, I’m afraid that is just plain wrong. President Obama cannot predict when one of the Governmental agencies is going to make a mistake, much less when a terrorist attack is going to happen.
Now, if you are one of those people that believes that Obama is somehow trying to undermine the Nation’s intelligence; because he is some sort of pseudo-Muslim. Then, you are just a plain idiot that believes every damned e-mail that you read, then you have issues that is beyond the scope of this blog, much less this blog entry.
So, in short, while this might not look good. I am afraid this finger pointing by the right — is just plain silly.
Update: Since I originally wrote this earlier today; there has been some new informationcome to light. I have funny feeling, that after the Holiday and the weekend are past. You are going to see some resignations of some posts within Obama’s cabinet. I could be wrong though. We will have to wait and see. But, from the looks of this; someone’s head is going to roll, when Obama gets back from his Holiday vacation.
