Goodbye Al Queada' Rose

Martin Short and the Singing SEALs!!!!




h/t From On High

A Combat Veteran Has Some Words of Wisdom

Uncle Jimbo put a piece up while I was composing this one and fighting the "blue screen syndrome."

A terrorist network is a hydra. It has many heads. We've managed to cut off four of the hydras' heads, but there are more. They will not stop just because one more of their leaders is now less than room temperature. Were there true justice, UBF would have been tossed overboard with a double rack of ribs hung around his neck still kicking. What I want is UBF's head on a pike stuck in the ground out front of Ground Zero for a week. Then we do the tour. A week in front of the Pentagon; a week at Shanksville. Then we tell KSM and the rest of them that we're gonna do the same thing with them as soon as we find them guilty and kill their sorry asses.

My bud Major Z has a piece up you should read. I have the first three paragraphs here, but you need to make the jump and read the whole thing. Remember, this man has "been there, done that" and has a t-shirt.

Osamathanatopsis: A meditation on the death of the devil

There is one less Saudi-born terrorist multibillionaire in the world today. I met the news of the death of Osama bin Laden (hereafter referred to as UBF, for UglyBeardedFuckstick™) believe it or not, with mixed emotions.
Relief, because I knew that there was one less truly evil sonofabitch roaming the planet, making plans to kill my family. Granted, he wasn’t very likely to specifically target my family, but then again, I am the #1 google result for “new funny pictures” so there is always the possibility.
Gratitude, for the hundreds of thousands of military personnel, and the millions of their family members who have sacrificed so much through all of this, and will continue to sacrifice, as this is not the end, any more than killing Hitler in 1942 would’ve brought an end to WWII. Sure, we stand outside the Whitehouse and in Times square and celebrate and clap and sing and whatever else goes on at these rallies, but it is the families and friends of our fighting men and women who are truly the ones who show support for the troops, far more than a one-off rally or a car magnet. It is to these silent heroes that we, the military, owe our undying love and gratitude.
Apprehension, because our enemy may very well be emboldened to double down, now that UBF has been brought to room temperature. Ask yourself, if AQ were to attack and kill the US President, despite what you may think of his administration, would you want, even more, to hunt down and kill everyone even remotely responsible? What about when you saw pictures of the jubilant celebrations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, etc. on 9/12/01? Do you remember how you felt when you saw that? Do you think our enemy will feel differently? The DoD has raised the force protection level across the board--but a smart enemy (and only fools believe their enemy to be anything else) will bide his time, and wait for us to become complacent.

"Programs--Get cher programs--"

"Ya can't tell the players without a program...:

FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF (IHH)

The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief was established in Turkey in 1992 by a member of the Turkish Refah Party, and was formally registered in Istanbul three years later. Better known by its Turkish name
(Insani Yardim Vakfi) and acronym (IHH), the Foundation's initial mission was to supply aid to Bosnian Muslims during their conflict with Christian Serbs in the Yugoslavian civil war. To this day, IHH continues to send aid to distressed areas throughout the Middle East – in the form of food, medicine, vocational education, and the construction of schools, hospitals, medical clinics, and mosques.

According to Reuters, IHH “has been involved in aid missions in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iraq, Palestinian territories and other places.” In recent years, IHH has also established branch offices in a number of European countries.

While IHH is involved in the foregoing humanitarian activities, its overall objectives are much broader. Belying the dove of peace whose image appears on its logo, IHH overtly supports Hamas, is sympathetic to al Qaeda, and maintained regular contact with al Qaeda cells and the Sunni insurgency during the bloodiest stretches of the Iraq War. IHH has supported jihadist terror networks not only in Iraq, but also in Bosnia, Syria, Afghanistan, and Chechnya. According to Carnegie Endowment analyst Henri Barkey, IHH is “an Islamist organization” that “has been deeply involved with Hamas for some time.” A 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies characterized IHH as one of many “charitable front groups that provide support to Al-Qaida” and the global jihad.

/snip

In early 2010, IHH collaborated with the Free Gaza Movement to organize a six-ship flotilla of Muslim and anti-Israel activists who would sail to Gaza for the purpose of breaking Israel's naval blockade (which had been established to prevent Hamas from importing weaponry from Iran and other allies abroad). On April 7, 2010, IHH leader Bülent Yildirim had told a press conference in Istanbul that the forthcoming flotilla would represent a “test” for Israel. He warned that Israeli opposition to the initiative would be viewed as “a declaration of war” against the countries whose activists were aboard the ships.

The flotilla embarked on its journey toward Gaza in late May of 2010. For several days, Israel issued warnings that the ships would not be permitted to reach Gaza without first submitting to an inspection of their cargoes. But the crews of the vessels refused to comply; thus Israeli commandos intercepted the flotilla in the early morning hours of May 31. The IHH-affiliated activists responded violently, attacking the commandos with knives, clubs and pistol fire. In the melee that ensued, nine
activists were killed and seven Israeli soldiers were wounded.

Written By A Former Marine

Attributed to Robert A. Hall, a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract
set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the
"Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

More On The SEAL Trio

From Chris Carter writing in Family Security Matters:

Gen. Cleveland wrote that Abed's “alleged injuries were inflicted several hours after the operation had ended, and while in the custody and care of the U.S. at Camp Schweidler's detainee holding facility.” But how could medical personnel determine exactly when Abed so-called injury took place, and how could they know that the injury wasn't self-inflicted, or as a result of his capture?

“If the injuries were insignificant, why are the reputations of 3 expert warriors on the line?” asks Kay Day at The US Report. Indeed, Gen. Cleveland could have simply let the matter go, but opted for non-judicial punishment, which the sailors declined; accepting the punishment could have ended their career in special operations.

But did the alleged abuse even take place?

Lesson 18 of al Qaeda's training manual says to convince the judge that the member was tortured and to complain of mistreatment to the court. It could be that Abed was just doing what he was trained to do – continue the battle from the courtroom (apparently the only environment that SEALs are vulnerable), whether the allegations are true or not. Unfortunately, it appears that the Pentagon is willing to risk the careers of three of the nation's best warriors in order to find out as anyone above Gen. Cleveland could put an end to the trial as well.

Myths and Facts

Middle East Myths and Facts
Joel Gilbert
Family Security Matters

9/11 Attacks

Myth: On 9/11, America was attacked by “evil” hijackers because they were “against freedom.”

Fact: America was attacked by deeply religious people with the goal of changing U.S. foreign policy to advance the cause of Islamism, the movement for revival of Islamic society from 300 years of decline. Al Qaeda wanted the U.S. to withdraw support from secular autocrats in the Muslim world, in order for Islamists to take power through free elections.

The U.S. government, in fact, changed its Middle East strategy from supporting secular Western allied governments to demanding free elections throughout the Muslim world. In the Palestinian territories this resulted in the HAMAS takeover, while the U.S. demand for free elections in Egypt and elsewhere brought Islamist gains.

Finally, the Bush administration withdrew support from U.S. ally Pervez Musharaff in Pakistan – putting the country with nuclear arms in jeopardy of an Islamist takeover. This was reminiscent of Jimmy Carter’s pushing aside U.S. ally, the Shah of Iran in 1979, as both Presidents mistakenly believed the removal of these autocrats would result in the break out of Western secular democracy.

Thus, the 9/11 attacks were successful only because America played into the hands of the Islamists when the Bush administration adopted Al Qaeda’s policy of “reform” in the Muslim world.

Filed Under DUH!!!

Freed Guantánamo inmates are heading for Yemen to join al-Qaeda fight

At least a dozen former Guantánamo Bay inmates have rejoined al-Qaeda to fight in Yemen, The Times has learnt, amid growing concern over the ability of the country’s Government to accept almost 100 more former inmates from the detention centre.

The Obama Administration promised to close the Guantánamo facility by January 22, a deadline that it will be unable to meet. The 91 Yemeni prisoners in Guantánamo make up the largest national contingent among the 198 being held.

Six prisoners were returned to Yemen last month. After the Christmas Day bomb plot in Detroit, US officials are increasingly concerned that the country is becoming a hot-bed of terrorism. Eleven of the former inmates known to have rejoined al-Qaeda in Yemen were born in Saudi Arabia. The organisation merged its Saudi and Yemeni offshoots last year.

The country’s mountainous terrain, poverty and lawless tribal society make it, in the opinion of many analysts, a close match for Afghanistan as a new terrorist haven.

Al-Qaeda/Hamas Connection?

The Expansion of Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Jihadi Groups in Gaza: Diplomatic Implications

• In the West there is a growing trend to view Hamas as separate from al-Qaeda in order to open a political dialogue with Hamas, but is this view correct?

  In its annual survey of terrorist threats to Israel during 2009, the Israel Security Agency noted the spread and buildup of "global jihadi" organizations in Gaza. In recent years a number of these jihadi groups have emerged that openly identify with al-Qaeda, such as Jaish al-Islam (the Army of Islam), Jaish al-Umma (the Army of the Nation), and Fatah al-Islam.

  Hamas was founded in 1987 as the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Osama bin Laden was educated in Saudi Arabia by Muhammad Qutb of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Abdullah Azzam of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood. Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the architect of the 9/11 attacks, came out of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood still defines its goal as "a world Islamic state."

  In February 2004, the U.S. designated Sheikh Abd al-Majid Zindani, president of Iman University in Yemen, as a "loyalist to Osama bin Laden." On March 20,
  2006, Zindani, who recruited volunteers for al-Qaeda, sponsored a major fundraising event for Hamas in Yemen. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, went to hear lectures on radical Islam at Iman University.

  The al-Qaeda affiliate Jaysh al-Islam joined Hamas in the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. This proves that Hamas and al-Qaeda affiliates have been involved in joint operations. In 2007, the Egyptian press reported that one of the heads of al-Qaeda in Egypt had escaped and sought sanctuary in Gaza. In May 2009, Egypt charged that another al-Qaeda-linked group was using Gaza for training terrorists for attacks in Egypt.

Operational Links between Hamas and Al-Qaeda

Practically, there have been noticeable operational links between Hamas and al-Qaeda. When two British Muslims of Pakistani descent came to Israel under orders from al-Qaeda and attacked "Mike's Place," a Tel Aviv bar, on April 30, 2003, they had previously filmed themselves wearing Hamas uniforms. After the 2005 Gaza disengagement, reports of Hamas-al-Qaeda coordination multiplied, particularly with the Hamas victory in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. On March 20, 2006, Sheikh Abd al-Majid Zindani, who recruited volunteers for al-Qaeda, sponsored a major fundraising event for Hamas in Yemen. In February 2004, the U.S. Department of the Treasury had designated Zindani as a "loyalist to Osama bin Laden." He is president of Iman University, the notorious terrorist breeding ground on the outskirts of Yemen's capital, San'a, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, went to hear lectures on radical Islam.

A whole assortment of al-Qaeda affiliate organizations has emerged in Gaza since 2005, the most prominent of which is Jaysh al-Islam, which joined Hamas in the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. This proves that Hamas and al-Qaeda affiliates have been involved in joint operations. In 2007, the Egyptian press reported that one of the heads of al-Qaeda in Egypt had escaped and sought sanctuary in Gaza.10 In May 2009, Egypt charged that another al-Qaeda-linked group was using Gaza for training terrorists for attacks in Egypt. This group included Belgian, British and French Muslims.11 It is no wonder that Egypt has become more determined than ever before to block the smuggling tunnels between Egyptian Sinai and Gaza; not only has Israeli security been undermined by the tunnels but also the security of Egypt as well.

Hey Hey Ho Ho Napalitano Has To Go

and if CIA screwed the pooch, Panetta needs to be replaced as well.

Obama: U.S. Knew of Nigerian Terror Threat But Did Not Act
Wednesday, 30 Dec 2009 10:52 AM
By: Jim Meyers

President Obama has acknowledged that the United States had early signals that a terrorist attack was being plotted in Yemen and failed to take adequate steps to prevent it.According to a page one story in the New York Times, two federal officials told the paper that U.S. intelligence was aware that a Nigerian Muslim was preparing an attack, yet officials did nothing to give warning of such an attack.

The paper reported Wednesday: "Two officials said the government had intelligence from Yemen before Friday that leaders of a branch of Al Qaeda were talking about 'a Nigerian' being prepared for a terrorist attack." Although the attacker was not named, officials said his identity would have been evident had it been compared with information about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with trying to blow up an American passenger jet on Christmas Day.

But despite those signals, the administration never raised a terror alert, and would-be bomber Abdulmutallab was allowed to board a plane bound for the United States.

Heritage Morning Bell - Does Zero Realize We Are At War?

Does Obama Realize We Are at War Yet?

Refusing to interrupt his Hawaiian golf vacation for almost three full days after the Flight 253 attack, President Barack Obama finally emerged on December 28th to assure the American people that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was “an isolated extremist” and that he had already “been charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft.” Continuing to treat the incident like a common law enforcement problem Obama referred to Abdulmutallab as the “suspect” five times and promised he would “not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.”

Perhaps Obama should have stayed on the links for another 24 hours, because by yesterday it had become exceedingly clear that Abdulmutallab was in no conceivable way “isolated” and was instead very much part of al Qaeda’s larger war on the United States. Here’s what we know so far:

• According to CBS News, as early as August of 2009 the Central Intelligence Agency was picking up information on a person of interest dubbed “The Nigerian,” suspected of meeting with “terrorist elements” in Yemen.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, the father of Mr. Abdulmutallab warned the CIA of his son’s likely radicalization at the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. That led to a broader gathering of agencies the next day, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Department, in which the information was shared.
• According to CNN, information on Abdulmutallab, including his passport number and possible connection to extremists, had been sent to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, but it sat there for five weeks and was not disseminated.
• Also according to the Wall Street Journal, the National Security Agency who had been monitoring former Guantanamo detainees in Yemen had communications intercepts suggesting a Nigerian was being prepped for a terror strike by al Qaeda operatives in that country.
• And the Washington Post reports that not only did the British government reject an Abdulmutallab visa application this May, but that British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that U.S. officials should have been told about the rejection and that he believes they were.
  

Faced with this preponderance of evidence that Abdulmutallab did not act alone President Obama finally admitted yesterday that “a systemic failure has occurred. And I consider that totally unacceptable.” It may have taken Obama four full days to reach this conclusion, after both White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spent all of Sunday trying to convince the American people that “the system worked”, but his belated acknowledgment of the seriousness of the situation is welcome.Also belatedly welcome is the acknowledgment that al Qaeda is a major force in Yemen that must be dealt with carefully.

The Washington Post describes al Qaeda in Yemen as a ”major new threat to the United States,” but there is nothing new about it. In fact, al-Qaeda’s first terrorist attack against Americans came in Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden’s father, who had migrated to neighboring Saudi Arabia before the birth of the al-Qaeda leader.

In December 1992, bin Laden’s followers bombed a hotel in Yemen that was used by U.S. military personnel involved in supporting the humanitarian food relief flights to Somalia. And in October 2000, seventeen American sailors on board the USS Cole, were killed in an al-Qaeda bombing in the harbor of Aden, Yemen’s main port.

The Obama administration must stop thinking of al Qaeda and Abdulmutallab as mere criminals. Obama’s blindness to Abdulmutallab’s al Qaeda connections and his insistence on calling him a “suspect” in the “alleged” bombing is the same mindset dictating Obama’s decision to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terrorists to New York for a civilian trial in federal court. Hopefully this incident will prod Obama into revisiting that historically bad decision.

Heritage Morning Bell - Flight 253 An Intelligence Failure

The System Failed

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), the explosive Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253, is among the most powerful of explosives in the world and was widely used to blow up airplanes in the 1970s and 1980s. The only reason the passengers of Flight 253 are still alive today is because Mr. Abdulmutallab’s syringe detonator failed for still unknown reasons.

Yet despite the facts that PETN is easily detected and Mr. Abdulmutallab’s father warned the U.S. embassy in Nigeria about his son this November, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had the audacity to go on television yesterday and say “the system worked” and that the suspect was properly screened.

The “system worked?” The 278 passengers on flight 253 could be dead today but for a faulty syringe and the Obama administration considers that a success? That is pure idiocy. Idiocy that is a direct threat to the security of this country and that goes to the heart of the Obama administration’s approach to the war on terror.

What on earth could Secretary Napolitano possibly mean when she said the “system worked?”

The answer can be found at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor where on Saturday U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read Mr. Abdulmutallab the charges the Obama administration has filed against him for trying to blow up Flight 253.

And the Obama administration probably will win a slam dunk conviction of Mr. Abdulmutallab. But his conviction will not make us any safer than the convictions of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers did during the Clinton administration. Prosecuting terrorists when we can is necessary to protect our country, but is in no way sufficient.

The Obama administration continues to demonstrate that they believe counterterrorism is a law enforcement problem to be managed, not a war to be won. Hence Attorney General Eric Holder’s insistence on sending Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terrorists to New York for a civilian trial in federal court. The five defendants are already plotting how best to air their grievances and exploit their treatment while in detention. Worse, criminalizing the war on terror will force our government to give up the chance to interrogate terrorists like any enemy combatants and lose invaluable intelligence.

The Flight 253 incident was an intelligence failure. Instead of focusing on convictions, the Obama administration should be focusing on gathering the intelligence necessary to best protect the American people. This aborted attack provides a visceral reminder that terrorists remain committed to killing Americans. But it also illustrates the need to:


Work with international partners on countering terrorism;

Defend the domestic intelligence and law enforcement tools that disrupt plots inside
the U.S.; and

Pursue foreign terrorist sanctuaries that serve as staging grounds for international operations.

Clearly, terrorists have not wavered in their resolve to strike America. The United States must be equally resolute in its response.

Morning Bell-Heritage Foundation

A Speech Unbecoming of the Cause
During the month of November, while President Barack Obama was dithering on whether or not to embrace General Stanley McChrystal’s strategy for winning in Afghanistan, something unexpected happened in American public opinion on the war. According to Gallup, the American public switched from 42% for and 44% against sending more troops to Afghanistan, to 47% for and only 39% against a troop build up. It is unclear why the American people came to support an increase in troops last month, but it is safe to rule out strong leadership from the White House as the cause. Hopefully the President’s incoherent address to a muted West Point audience will not reverse America’s growing support for victory.

Too Few Troops:
As we noted yesterday, when General McChrystal provided President Obama his assessment of the situation in Afghanistan in August, he identified three troop levels each with a corresponding level of risk that the mission could fail:

1) an additional 20,000 troops that would run a “high risk of failure“;

2) an additional 80,000 troops that would be a “low risk option” that has “best chance to contain the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize Afghanistan“; or

3) an additional 40,000 to 45,000 troop “medium risk option.”

President Obama’s 30,000 troop increase falls squarely between the “high” and “medium” risk options. Nowhere in his address did Obama explain how a medium or high risk of failure in Afghanistan could possibly be acceptable to the American people.Counterproductive Time Line: In the very next sentence after announcing he would send only 30,000 more troops, President Obama then informed al Qaeda and the Taliban exactly how long they would have to survive before Obama began to withdrawal: July 2011.

It is difficult to comprehend why Obama would have designated such an early date to begin withdrawing U.S. forces, when most observers acknowledge it will take at least 3 - 4 years to fully train and equip the Afghan National Army to a level sufficient to the task of taking on the Taliban. The announcement of a withdrawal date only provides a psychological advantage to the Taliban who will convince their recruits that the American will is lacking and thus they can just “wait us out.”

Promising firm dates for troop pullouts is an entirely political move that has everything to do with placating the leftist base of the Democratic Party and nothing to do with the national security interests of the American people.Confusing Our Allies: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Brussels later this week to meet with NATO Foreign Ministers in the hopes of securing additional troop commitments from our allies.

However, President Obama’s decisions to only partially meet his commander’s request for 80,000 troops and establish an arbitrary deadline for withdrawal will undermine her efforts. Europe’s various commanders-in-chief managed to stave off repeated requests from President Bush for additional troops and equipment; so, why would they not just wait the clock out on President Obama?We hope that the President’s plan will succeed, and Americans should do everything in their power to ensure that it does. But if it does not, then we must remember the choices that were available to the President for this fateful decision. He had the chance to turn this war around; if he does not, the result will be his responsibility alone.

Fool's Errand?!?!?

Democratic war tax proponent Obey calls expected troop surge a 'fool's errand'
By Jim Snyder - 11/29/09 01:19 PM ET

The chief architect of a bill to increase taxes to pay for the Afghanistan war said he didn't believe adding troops would yield much benefit.

"The problem is you can have the best policy in the world but if you don't have the tools to implement it it isn't worth a bean bag,"Rep. David Obey (D-Wisc.), the House Appropriations Committee chairman, told CNN on Sunday.

Well, he probably does believe that, because he has failed to correctly address the mission parameters. Adding more troops will increase the probability of more dead tangos, always a good thing. We shouldn't worry about the internal workings of the Afghan government. We're there to kill islamist extremists. If that is not what you want as an outcome, then yes, he's right, in his own twisted little mind.

Obey said supporting a corrupt Afghan government by adding troops amounted to a "fool's errand." If policymakers believe continuing the war effort in Afghanistan was an important public policy, Obey added, then they should be willing to pay for it by raising taxes on higher income levels. The war would likely cost as much over the next decade as the effort to reforming the healthcare system, Obey said. "If we're being told we have to pay for healthcare we certainly pay for this effort as well," Obey said. Otherwise, Congress would eventually have to raid other parts of the budget targeted at education or the economy to fund the war effort. Using deficit spending to pay for the operations has also removed most Americans from any burden in the war effort. "In this war, we have not had any sense of shared sacrifice," Obey said.

Then you need to step up and show us how to sacrifice for the war effort, Pally, because I see folks every day making sacrifices to support the Global War on Islamist Extremists, Terrorists, and other stupid people who want to destroy Western Civilization.

I want you to be the first one to start making a sacrifice, and I will be right behind you. Take every cent of the current witholding from my paycheck and finance the Global War on Islamist Extremists, Terrorists, and other stupid people who want to destroy Western Civilization. Every cent. Don't use it for anything else. When we're finished; when every twisted little religious fanatic psychotic (who thinks killing innocent women and children is justified as a religious doctrine) has been given his one-way ticket to Paradise and 72 Virgins (whatever), we can figure out how to heal the sick.

We'll have time then. We don't have time now. The only fool I can find is the one spouting off the loudest about everyone else being one.

Warrior Legacy Institute

November 23, 2009

Warrior Legacy Institute releases "Who are we fighting in Afghanistan & Pakistan?"

The Warrior Legacy Institute announces the release of it's third paper "Who are we fighting in Afghanistan & Pakistan?" as well as an accompanying video. This complements the previous papers and videos on " A Population-Centric Counterinsurgency Primer" and "Counterterror as Strategy for the Af/Pak Theater". All of these are written so they can be understood by and educate all Americans regardless of their knowledge about military topics. Our hope is that this will allow them to follow the debate about this vital subject from an informed perspective.

This paper gives a brief history of the rise of the Taliban and al Qaeda following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan in 1989. It traces the Taliban's origins in the Pashtun regions and their fight to take over the government and impose their strict religious rule country-wide. It follows the ebb and flow on both sides of the border and the eventual entry of al Qaeda to the theater. It focuses on the tribes that make up the insurgency and their leaders, but is not a definitive look at all of these groups. It also takes a look at the current state of Taliban and al Qaeda in both countries and the areas they control.

We hope you will share this paper and video with your friends and family. This is an important issue that affects all of our brave troops and you can use this knowledge to be part of that discussion and decision.

I'm Going To Join The Anti-War Movement

If this so-called leader we have been saddled with will not give our Warriors what they need, when they need it, then I have no choice but to insist that all military personnel be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq immediately. While The Chosen One (may peace and a prize be upon him) is wallowing in the idolatry and adulation of the Nobel Prize Committee and the worlds adoration of his less than stellar accompishments, we have men and women voluntarily putting their lives on the line every day and dying for peace.

Obama is nothing but an empty suit so far outside of his pay grade its sickening.

Alluhpundit says, "It’s one thing to lose men when you’re trying to win the war, it’s another to lose the war but save Americans’ lives in withdrawing, but it’s something else entirely to keep men in the line of fire with no hope (or even a plan) of victory".

And I have to concur. My heart goes out to the unsupported troops in harm's way today with a Commander in Chief who seems to be trying to get more Americans killed.

On July 15, 2008, Candidate Obama said:
"Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq. That's what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier this month. And that's why, as President, I will make the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win."

Of course, that was before the election.

Obama lies while soldiers die.

Lets not forget that the Tallyban are the ones who kill women for being "accused" of infidelity or allowing themselves to be raped; (after all it's the womens fault, she was asking for it by being outside) they throw acid on teen-aged girls for the crime of getting an education, and will use civilians and mosques as shields.

WASHINGTON — A senior administration official says President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and is inclined to send only as many more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as are needed to keep al-Qaida at bay. Keep al Qaeda at bay? What the hell happened to defeating them??? What happened to being all pissed off at Pakistan for making peace treaties with the Taliban?

As Long As They Keep Doing This....

Taliban claim Afghan bomb, say embassy was target

KABUL- The Taliban have claimed responsibility for Thursday's suicide car bomb in the Afghan capital, saying their target was the Indian Embassy.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement posted on the group's Web site that the attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his sport utility vehicle laden with explosives just outside the embassy.

Afghan officials have said at least 12 people were killed and more than 80 wounded in the morning blast. The explosion occurred in an area that is also full of shops and near the Interior Ministry.

The Troops In Afghanistan Could Use Some Leadership From the White House

Of course, that assumes there is actually a "leader" who understands the concept of victory over those who would destroy Western Civilization.

Editorial Exegesis

"Democrats have found someone worth fighting in Afghanistan. His name is Stan McChrystal. The other night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went after the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, 'with all due respect,' for supposedly disrespecting the chain of command.

Around the Congressional Democratic Caucus, we're told Members refer to General McChrystal as 'General MacArthur,' after the commander in Korea sacked by Harry Truman. White House aides have fanned these flames with recent leaks to the media that 'officials are challenging' his assessment asking for more troops.

In the last two days, the White House National Security Adviser and the Secretary of Defense have both suggested that the general should keep his mouth shut. President Obama called him in Friday for a talking-to on the tarmac at Copenhagen airport.

Though a decorated Army four-star officer, the General's introduction to Beltway warfare is proving to be brutal.

To be fair, Gen. McChrystal couldn't know that his Commander in Chief would go wobbly so soon on his commitment to him as well as to his own Afghan strategy
when he was tapped for the job in April. ...

Gen. McChrystal's liberal critics also have very short memories. In 2003, Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki clashed with his superiors by saying many more troops were needed to pacify Iraq. He became a Democratic hero and is now Mr. Obama's Veterans Secretary. In this case, Gen. McChrystal has become a political target merely for taking at face value Mr. Obama's order to fight the war properly. ...

In an interview with Newsweek, Gen. McChrystal said he wouldn't resign if the President rejects his request for more troops. If he were really trying to dictate policy, he'd have given a different answer. But we don't think Gen. McChrystal should stay to implement a Biden war plan either. No commander in uniform should ask his soldiers to die for a strategy he doesn't think is winnable -- or for a President who lets his advisers and party blame a general for their own lack of political nerve." --The Wall Street Journal

Go Big or Go Home

October 6, 2009 By Amanda Reinecker

Moving forward in Afghanistan

Last Saturday, eight American servicemen and two Afghan policemen were killed in a terrorist assault in Afghanistan.

This blow comes at a critical point in the war, when General Stanley McChrystal, the NATO commander, has reportedly asked President Obama for an additional 40,000 U.S. troops in order to beat the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Despite pledges to improve security in Afghanistan, the President now seems on the fence about fulfilling his commander's request.

McChrystal has offered a promising strategy for the war. President Obama would be wise to embrace this long view strategy, writes Heritage's Conn Carroll in the Morning Bell, "and avoid short-sighted policies that undermine our friends in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while encouraging our enemies."

Americans should pay close attention to the path President Obama chooses in Afghanistan, since his decision will prove critical to America's national security interests, write Heritage Foundation experts Lisa Curtis and James Phillips.

"There appears to be some wishful thinking within the Obama Administration regarding the U.S's ability to negotiate a political solution with the Taliban," write Curtis and Phillips. But negotiations have yet to work with al-Qaeda and Taliban, who are now more unified than ever by their anti-Western aims.

As Henry Kissinger wrote in Newsweek, "even so-called realists -- like me -- would gag at a tacit U.S. cooperation with the Taliban in the governance of Afghanistan."

Recent U.S. gains in Pakistan provide sufficient evidence that we can succeed, but only with continued dedication and support in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. "Now is the time to demonstrate military resolve in Afghanistan so that al-Qaeda and its affiliates will be squeezed on both sides," insist Curtis and Phillips. "Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, nor will public support."

Yet the Left continues to stall any decision by pressuring the White House to devise an exit strategy and refuse any additional troops. President Obama should ignore
the partisan rhetoric. Instead, he should trust the expertise and judgment of those he personally appointed to lead.

"If the Obama administration chooses to deny its field commander's request for more troops and instead seeks to engage Taliban leaders in negotiations with the vain hope that these militants will break from their al-Qaeda allies, the results will likely be disastrous," warn Curtis and Phillips.

Besides Healthcare, Zero Puts America At Risk

Obama Administration’s Decision to No Longer Wage War with Jihadists is a Dangerous Mistake

Commenting on the Administration's report on dropping the use of words such as War on Terror and Jihad, the director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the author of Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against the West, and The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy, told HS Today: “As we read [Brennan’s speech], we realize that the administration is going backward in understanding the threat and explaining it to the public.”

Going Backward

“They say the doctrine is ‘to safeguard the American people from the transnational challenge that poses one of the greatest threats to our national security – the scourge of violent extremists who would use terrorism to slaughter Americans abroad and at home.’ What does that mean? Nothing. It is as if they speak in abstract. Which ‘transnational challenge is posing the greatest threat to U.S. national security?’ It is the global Jihadist threat, with its two networks, the Salafists and the Khomeinists, not the Nazis, the Soviet Communists or militaristic regimes. Why is the Obama administration regressing into a level way below what most educated Americans understand?”

Wishful Thinking Can't Change Ideologies

Phares said “the administration criticizes the narrative of its predecessor and we do as well, but instead they propose something weaker and in some aspects dangerous to U.S. national security. After eight years of confrontation with a world web of Jihadists, both Salafists and Khomeinists, on two major battlefields in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and in various regions of the world such as Pakistan, Somalia, Indonesia, the Levant, the Maghreb, and as the threat penetrates the West with homegrown cells, the administration's doctrine on the threat understanding is entirely disconnected from reality.

“In short, " Phares said, "the new doctrine asserts that the U.S. is no longer engaged in a ‘war on terrorism.’ They disengage from the conflict as if is in a wishful, thinking that they can redesign world realities in different colors and names. As if one party in a conflict can decide on the ideology and the strategies of the foe.”

A Travesty of Justice

United Conservatives of Virginia respectfully requests that the members of the VA Congressional delegation immediately begin steps to reverse this travesty of justice. Its time to stop punishing our Warriors for doing the job we asked them to do.

In May 2008, a known member of an al Qaeda cell, Ali Mansur, was suspected of having organized an attack on the young Army Ranger’s platoon, which killed two U.S. soldiers and injured two more under Lt. Behenna’s command. For some unfathomable reason, Army intelligence ordered that Mansur be released and ordered Lt. Behenna, who was then 24, to escort the terrorist to his home.

On the way, Behenna questioned Mansur in an effort to learn additional information about other members of the terrorist cell, as well as who was financing it. During the interrogation, Mansur attacked Lt. Behenna, who killed the terrorist in self-defense.
But instead of expressing relief that one of their own had survived the attack, the government cast Mansur as the “victim” and prosecuted Lt. Behenna for premeditated murder! The following timeline was taken, in part, from the website that has been established in support of Lt. Behenna – Defendmichael.com – and confirmed by his mother, Vicki.

Read the rest here