The story of Michael Behenna and Mad Dog 5: “Self-defense” in war : SCOTUSblog

The story of Michael Behenna and Mad Dog 5: “Self-defense” in war : SCOTUSblog

From our Mother in Arms-Bev Perlson

Pray that SCOTUS finds in favor of this young EllTee who did what America asked him to do.

Behenna is in Kansas now, at the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, waiting for the Court to announce whether it will review his case. In his petition for certiorari, Behenna’s lawyers argue that his case sets a dangerous precedent for other soldiers fighting insurgents, and they warn that the categorical curtailment of a right to self-defense in combat zones gives members of the armed forces less protection to respond to deadly threats than civilian police officers.

Our military are not police. They are soldiers. Their job is to protect America from our enemies. Lt Behenna killed an enemy combatant who was trying to kill him. He did his job; the job we asked him to do when he received his commission. If our soldiers cannot perform the duties we expect soldiers to perform without fear of prosecution, how can we expect them to protect us?

They Should Be Enlarged & Posted In Every Madrassa

The 2 year old images from Afghanistan showing US and Afghan soldiers posing with what was left of the stupid tangos who suffered from premature discombobulation should be enlarged to poster size and posted on every street corner in the muslim world.

Counter the recruiting efforts of the cultists who convince these people their only way to heaven is to kill innocents while killing themselves.

Radical Islam

ISLAM=TERRORISTS
RADICAL ISLAM=TERRORISTS
ISLAM=TERRORISTS
RADICAL ISLAM=TERRORISTS
ISLAM=TERRORISTS
RADICAL ISLAM=TERRORISTS
ISLAM=TERRORISTS
RADICAL ISLAM=TERRORISTS
ISLAM=TERRORISTS
RADICAL ISLAM=TERRORISTS
ISLAM=TERRORISTS

There, that should settle it.

Victory Through Inveigling

What will it take to convince our rank and file Federal law enforcement agents that radical islamic jihadists don't turn? They will not turn against their core beliefs or allah or mohammed. They are dedicated and resolved to their mission: the destruction of Western Civilization and the imposition of sharia law. They will use that opportunity as a means of continuing the jihad and gaining intelligence.

You cannot flip a "true-believer". I'm watching the FoxNews special "American Terorist". Alwaki, Al Wacky, Al the Goat Humper...either this guy is a freaking genius the way he played the US government like a symphony, or he had some serious help from people in high/low places. Its the second scenario which is most troubling.

They're laughing at us. They're sitting over there, (or sitting here) and howling with glee at the stupidity of Westerners. They know the majority of Americans do not take the threat of jihad seriously; its just a myth; it's a lie concocted to justify actions by Western agencies and governments to eliminate islam; its a continuation of the Crusades; we want to steal their oil.

Here's a newsflash for ya, Pally: Radical islamic jihadists are lying to you about everything. From the imams who encourage and inspire, to the foot soldiers who strap on the bombs or manage to convince others to do it, to the ones who scream brutality (there's irony for ya) when they are captured. They will tell you islam is a religion of peace. That it is no threat to Western society.

THEY ARE LYING TO YOU.

Its part of their operational strategy. The koran tells them to lie to further islam. mohammed is to islam what saul alinsky is to radical socialism. The koran and rules for radicals are identical in philosphy and implementation.

Subjugation of non-muslims, implementation of sharia law and total victory over Western Civilization by inveigling.

Check out this article from Political Islam.

We are all kafirs.

Is Holder Ignorant, Stupid, or Something Else?

Holder balks at blaming 'radical Islam' for terror attempts

Despite crediting the Pakistani Taliban with fostering the recent failed car bombing in Times Square, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was reluctant Thursday to say radical Islam was part of the cause of that and other recent attacks.

Mr. Holder, testifying to the House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly balked at a half-dozen questions from Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the committee, about whether "radical Islam" was behind the attempted car bombing, last year's so-called "underpants bomber" or the killings at Fort Hood in Texas.

"There are a variety of reasons why people do these things. Some of them are potentially religious," Mr. Holder told the committee Thursday, though he would not go further than saying people who hold radical views may have "had an ability to have an impact" on Faisal Shahzad, the man the Justice Department says tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.

Holder hasn't read Arizona law he criticized

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who has been critical of Arizona's new immigration law, said Thursday he hasn't yet read the law and is going by what he's read in newspapers or seen on television.

Mr. Holder is conducting a review of the law, at President Obama's request, to see if the federal government should challenge it in court. He said he expects he will read the law by the time his staff briefs him on their conclusions.

"I've just expressed concerns on the basis of what I've heard about the law. But I'm not in a position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with people are doing the review, exactly what my position is," Mr. Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.

This weekend Mr. Holder told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the Arizona law "has the possibility of leading to racial profiling." He had earlier called the law's passage "unfortunate," and questioned whether the law was unconstitutional because it tried to assume powers that may be reserved for the federal government.

Rep. Ted Poe, who had questioned Mr. Holder about the law, wondered how he could have those opinions if he hadn't yet read the legislation.

Thats what a lot of us would like to know.

We Should All Be Israeli

If they continue to succeed, there just might be peace in the Middle East after all.

Israel is accused of waging covert war across the Middle East

Israel is waging a covert assassination campaign across the Middle East in an effort to stop its key enemies co-ordinating their activities.Israeli agents have been targeting meetings between members of Hamas and the leadership of the militant Hezbollah group, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

They are also suspected of recent killings in Dubai, Damascus and Beirut. While Israel's Mossad spy agency has been suspected of staging assassinations across the world since the 1970s, it does not officially acknowledge or admit its activities.

The current spate of killings began in December when a "tourist bus" carrying Iranian officials and Hamas members exploded outside Damascus. The official report by Syria claimed that a tyre had exploded but photographs surfaced showing the charred remains of the vehicle - prompting speculation that a much larger explosion had taken place.

Several weeks later a meeting between members of Hamas, which controls Gaza, and their counterparts from Hezbollah in its southern Beirut stronghold in Lebanon was also attacked, resulting in several deaths.Hamas had sought to cover up the incidents because it was embarrassed, a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told The Times.

"There has been growing co-operation between Gaza and Iran. Israel can read the writing on the wall and they know that with the help of Iran, the Hamas Government in Gaza will become stronger and will fight better."

When asked about Mossad's involvement in the Dubai slaying, Eli Yishai, the Interior Minister, smiled and said: "All the security services make, thank God, great efforts to safeguard the security of the state of Israel."

The right to self-preservation comes from God. Israel has the right to pro-actively protect herself.

SEAL 3 Update

5 POTENTIAL WITNESSES COULD SUPPORT SEALS ACCUSED OF ABUSE
By Kate Wiltrout The Virginian-Pilot NORFOLK

Five sailors could offer testimony contradicting the government’s main witness in the controversial prosecution of three Navy SEALs accused of mistreating a suspected Iraqi terrorist. But whether they’ll take the stand is in question after the government denied their requests for immunity on Friday.

Attorney Charles Gittins represents the five potential witnesses, including two officers who led the SEAL detachment that captured Ahmed Hashim Abed in Fallujah in September. Abed is the alleged mastermind of the murders of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah in 2004.

Gittins said his clients’ testimony would be inconsistent with some or all of the statements made by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin Demartino, the Navy master-at-arms who claimed to have seen a SEAL hit Abed while he was being held in a U.S. detainee facility after his capture.

“If your intent is to have a fair trial, they are witnesses you’d want to hear from,” Gittins said.

Monica Lombardi, who is defending one of the accused SEALs, said the government’s decision not to grant immunity to key defense witnesses raises questions about the “fundamental fairness” of the process. “They contradict a lot of what the government is alleging as having happened,” Lombardi said. “Where is the government going with this case, and how are they going to ensure the accused’s right to a fair trial?”

The prosecutions of Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas, all assigned to SEAL Team 10 in Virginia Beach, have drawn widespread criticism, political heat and demonstrations outside the Norfolk base.

The cases are being handled locally, but the decision to press charges was made by Maj. Gen. C.T. Cleveland, head of Special Operations Command Central. Cleveland did so after the SEALs declined administrative punishment, which could have compromised their careers in special warfare.

McCabe, a petty officer second class, is charged with assault, making a false statement and dereliction of duty. Lombardi’s client, Petty Officer 1st Class Huertas, is charged with impeding an investigation, making a false statement and dereliction of duty, while Petty Officer 2nd Class Keefe faces charges of dereliction of duty and making a false statement.

Lombardi said she will consider asking the military judge overseeing Huertas’ case to “abate” the proceeding, a ruling that could force the government to either grant immunity or drop the charges.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 8 in Norfolk.

Eugene Fidell, a lawyer and president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said abatements are rare. “Although it can be done, it’s a tall order,” Fidell said.

My only question/concern is why defense witnesses, who would contradict prosecution witnesses statements, would need immunity. Are they afraid of retribution for telling the truth? If so, why?

I Got Yer Fatwad, Right Heah

Exclusive: Will Terrorists Be Allowed to Sidestep Security?
Gadi Adelman

Muslim-American groups are supporting a “fatwa” – a religious ruling – forbidding Muslims from going through body scanners at airports saying that the body scanners violate Islamic law. In a statement on February 9th, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) asked that scanner software be altered to produce only an outline of the body and urged Muslim travelers to avail themselves of alternative pat-down searches. (The term "fiqh" refers to Islamic jurisprudence.)

In a press release on February 10th, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) supported the statement. In the press release CAIR stated:

“It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women. Islam highly emphasizes ‘haya’ (modesty) and considers it part of faith. The Qur’an has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts. Human beings are urged to be modest in their dress. See Holy Quran, 7:26-27; 24:30-31; 33:59. Exception to this rule can be made in case of extreme necessity, such as medical treatment, to investigate a crime or in a situation of imminent danger. There must be a compelling case for the necessity and the exemption to this rule must be proportional to the demonstrated need.”

I don't need a book or a pedophile to "command" me to get dressed. I know enough to do that.

A "compelling case for the necessity"...."the exemption"..."must be proportional to the"..."need"

Weeelll alrighty then...I'd say protecting the public makes a "compelling case" and a simple scan certainly is "proportional to the need".

Here's my take on this:
It is a clear violation of international law and common decency for wackjobs, whether they be male or female, moooslim, Christian or Jew, to strap on fanny packs or crotch sacks of PETN and murder innocent civilians. Therefore I am issuing a fat wad to stop it.

Here's some more advice for CAIR...buy your own damn airline or learn to walk faster.

There, that should take care of things.

From the Gitmo...er Get Go

In the Crosshairs- Show Trials? No, Gitmo Trials
Blackfive.net

The Obama administration has been wrong about how to handle trials for captured terrorists from the Gitmo, I mean get go. Civilian trials make no sense and Congress specifically authorized military tribunals so we can try these scum without compromising our intel, or needing to follow CSI evidence protocols.

The current legislation was written in direct response to a Supreme Court ruling and is just as just as a civilian trial. The Obama team has the idea that they need to kow tow to their left wing and the international community to atone for the evil of the Bush crime family.

That is crap, Obama's job is to keep us safe. He needs to keep that in mind.

Public Defender Says Government Missed The Signs

Well, they were more like billboards than signs; with neon letters.


Attorney: Soldier’s death might have been stopped

This story is about two brave American recruiters, Pvt. William Long, who was murdered, and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, who was wounded, last June. The terrorist who murdered them came from, guess where?!
YEMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now the schmucky DUI lawyer, Claiborne Ferguson, who is representing the terrorist in this case, wants the state to pay his attorney fees because the government should have stopped this terrorist before he killed and wounded these two young Brave and Courageous Americans who stepped up to the plate to protect you and I. AND the Judge agreed!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Outside court, Ferguson questioned whether the FBI missed warning signs for the June 1 shooting, in which Pvt. William Andrew Long was killed and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula was wounded.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ferguson said Muhammad claimed he had been questioned by the FBI when he was in Yemen in September 2007, after he converted to Islam. Yemeni immigration officials arrested Muhammad in November 2008 after he overstayed his visa and possessed a fake Somali passport.

“I think somebody who recently converts traveling to Yemen, winding up getting arrested and thrown into jail in a foreign country, if it’s not a red flag, it’s certainly a yellow flag that should have gotten somebody’s attention,” Ferguson said.

(this reminds me of Michael Behenna's case, trying to tell his superiors that Ali Mansur had a Syrian passport and what was he up to and why are we releasing him?! God knows how many other American Soldiers Ali Mansur would have killed. Michael Behenna should be given a medal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And since the case will be that the FBI should have prevented the murder and wounding of these two brave young Americans because they knew about his Yemen trip and fake Somali passport, I can only imagine what would have happened to Michael Behenna if Ali Mansur had made it back to his village and blown up a whole convoy of our Soldiers, then Michael would have been held responsible for taking the terrorist back to his village.
What about all the signs that could have prevented Ft. Hood so I suppose this butcher will present the same defense and we're going to pay for this too folks!!!

The butcher terrorists are killing our Soldiers and we are paying to defend them even when they say they are guilty (but oh, wait a minute, the terrorists are justified in murdering us because we are killing their fellow butchers in the Middle East and they don't like it!)

How much more of this insanity are the American people going to stand for before we rise up into the streets and say NO MORE! As far as I'm concerned, the Judge and this DUI lawyer (crazy like a fox) are nutcases and should be locked up in the nuthouse but maybe we taxpayers belong in the nuthouse too.

And George Washington darn near froze on the Delaware River for liberty and justice for all. He warned us how to protect that liberty and justice he fought so hard to attain:

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."

Representative Sue Myrick NC-09

I really do like this lady's attitude.

Morning Must Reads from DCExaminer

Boston Herald -- Brown, Coakley will cross paths at event
Democratic chieftains have stopped scrambling for Senate Candidate Martha Coakley and now seem to be managing expectations: trashing her candidacy on background to reporters and even lamenting the low-energy speech President Obama delivered for Coakley Sunday night.
The state of the race right now seems to be Brown in the lead just outside the margin of error. Democrats assume that members of their party will show up stronger than the polls are showing, but a consistent under-sampling of 5 points seems unlikely. As remarkable as it sounds, Brown seems to have the edge going into the home stretch, something reporters and casual observers on the ground confirm.

As Examiner colleague Susan Ferrechio observed, while there was considerable excitement over the president’s visit to Boston on Coakley’s behalf, the bigger crowd and the energy was out at Mechanics Hall in Worcester with Scott Brown.
Writer Hillary Chabot tells us that Brown and Coakley will have their first meeting since their debate last week, when Coakley’s implosion really started picking up speed, today at a Martin Luther King breakfast. After that, Brown is back in his truck.
“Brown will meet up with Bruins fans today outside the TD Garden, then he’ll head to North Andover and Littleton. He’ll cap off the race at Luciano’s restaurant in his hometown of Wrentham for a final rally before voters head to the polls.
Brown was bolstered by former Gov. Paul Cellucci yesterday as he toured Wachusett Mountain ski area.
‘We need to send a message to Washington that we are not going to have business as usual,’ hollered Brown as he stood on a picnic table surrounded by supporters.”

New York Times -- Hoping It Won’t Be Needed, Democrats Ponder a Backup Plan on Health Care Bill

Democrats have hinted that if Scott Brown pulls off the biggest political upset in recent memory, they will still pass the health care plan currently lingering in fake-conference limbo. Letting the bill die would be a crippling blow to the Obamagenda and would mean that the 11th Congress was for naught.
Now Democrats are coalescing around the idea of passing the Senate plan straight through the House to avoid trouble in the Senate.
Both other options in the event of a Brown win – a rush vote before Brown can be seated and attempting passage of the new plan on a 51-vote parliamentary trick are too risky to use: both could fail and the political costs would be enormous.
While Union members might not like losing their $60 billion health insurance tax exemption and anti-abortion members of the House might not like Sen. Ben Nelson’s compromise on elective-abortion subsidies, and no one likes the sweet deals Nelson and a few others got for their votes or the big paydays for insurance companies and drugmakers, Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be empowered with her caucus by a Brown win, arguing that it would be the shoddy Senate bill or nothing.
Writer David Herszenhorn explains:
“A House Democratic aide said the House view of the Senate bill had not changed. ‘We are working toward a compromise bill,’ the aide said.
The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, appearing on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ warned that health care would be a political weapon under any circumstances.
‘I think the politics are toxic for the Democrats either way,’ Mr. McConnell said.”

Washington Post -- Security fears mount in lawless post-earthquake Haiti
One advantage that the U.S. had in dealing with the 2007 tsunami was that there was little official international presence in the region. Our troops, relief workers, and political leaders could charge in and provide immediate assistance.
Haiti, meanwhile, is the Times Square of international aid and NGOs, with every neighborhood already a pet project for sub UN sub-agency or French aid agency before the earthquake. With a dysfunctional government and a horrible local infrastructure before the quake, U.S. aid has been kept out by aid-group turf battles and literal turf battles between local street mobs.
Writers Manuel Roig-Franzia, Mary Beth Sheridan, and Michael Ruane explain that Haitians are calling for their old friends, the United States Marines, to come bring order so aid can start flowing. (“a typical sign read: ‘Welcome the U.S. Marine. We need some help. Dead bodies inside.’”) But today, 10,000 American troops will still be floating off shore because no one is in charge of the city of Port-Au-Prince and even getting flights to land at the airport requires diplomatic jostling with the U.N. and others.
“Still, some progress is being made. The U.S. 18th Airborne set up a headquarters at the airport, and the 82nd Airborne was establishing small posts around the city to protect food and water drops. The 82nd Airborne had 500 troops here as of Sunday night, and 750 more were expected Monday.”

Wall Street Journal -- Explosions Rock Kabul
Writers Yaroslov Trofimov, Alan Cullison, and Habib Zahori report on the most brazen attacks on the city of Kabul since the American invasion of 2001.
A team of 20 Taliban fighters and jihadi suicide bombers launched a coordinated attack on the capital city’s Justice building and other symbols of the West – a shopping plaza, movie theater, etc.
The attacks coincided with the swearing-in of embattled president Hamid Karzai’s new cabinet, installed after much bickering with the Afghan parliament.
“Militants seized the Aryana cinema, exchanging gunfire with Afghan and international security for hours as U.S. military helicopters hovered overhead. Other explosions, some carried out by suicide bombers and others by car bombs, were heard near the ministry of defense, the ministry of justice and the central bank – all of them located in a heavily guarded zone of Kabul that's lined with blast barriers and protected by military checkpoints.
An hour and a half after the attacks began, and as the firing began to subside, another blast occurred near the ministry of education, setting the nearby Gul Bahar shopping center on fire. According to witnesses, it was carried out by a car bomb hidden in a military ambulance vehicle.”

Los Angeles Times -- Obama speaks from pulpit, noting progress and difficulty in America
In his Martin Luther King Day sermon at a Washington church Sunday, President Obama sounded like a man who needed a refuge from persecution.
Obama lamented how his efforts to remake Washington had been thwarted by a system that resists change and by special interests.
Writer Mark Silva has details:
“‘Folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm,’ Obama said, his voice rising.
‘I have a confession to make here. There are times where I am not so calm. . . . There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt. There are times when the barbs sting. . . . During those times it is faith that brings me calm.’”

--Chris Stirewalt's column on political technology in the Massachusetts Senate race is here.

PROFILE: Middle Eastern Male 18-45, One-way Ticket

Screening must include religion, ethnicity
Steven Emerson - Jan 05, 2010
InvestigativeProject.org

In the wake of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day, security experts, political commentators and the media have been asking one question: How can the United States prevent terrorists from smuggling homemade bombs through security?

The most frequent answer has been full body scanners, a developing technology used in a handful of airports around the world. Although these scanners may be effective, they are at best the right answer to the wrong question.

The question that law enforcement and security professionals must ask is how to prevent the terrorists themselves from getting on the airplane. Once we focus our attention on individual terrorists rather than their potential weapons, one fact is immediately clear: We must completely change the way we go about airport security and counterterrorism in general.

The procedures are both inadequate and ineffective. The current random searches do only a minimum to improve security. Nothing is more unproductive than searching an 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair from Sweden or a 3-year-old child simply because she or he was the 10th person in line. Quite simply, the system has failed and must be revamped.

Recognizing existing deficiencies, on Monday the Transportation Safety Administration announced it has taken the first step toward implementing a revised screening process for airline passengers. TSA will mandate that "every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening."

This is a step in the right direction. But more should be done.

More after the jump.

Extreme Leftists and Extremist Islam

As I've noted here and elsewhere on numerous occasions, the radical left rails against some imagined threat of a Christian theocracy here, yet has no compunction about defending radical islamists as "freedom fighters".

More at the link.
Exclusive: Fatal Attraction – The Left’s Perilous Embrace of Radical Islam
Alex Alexiev

Shortly after 9/11 a lively discussion ensued on the pages of a prominent green journal regarding the possibility and merit of an alliance between the Greens, the Left and radical Islam. The discussion identified the emergence of radical Islam as a “geopolitical opponent of the dominant West, equal or greater in magnitude to the specter of communism” with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban providing a “charismatic voice articulating the vision of an Islamic revolt against the West.” Moreover, the green theoreticians argued, radical Islam was a “movement of social revolution” that may be “moving towards some form of socialism…” It concluded hopefully that “Greens and Muslims might somehow collaborate as parallel, overlapping movements of liberation from the dominance of capital.”

Eight years later, the putative romance of the American Left with radical Islam appears to have become an affectionate embrace. Congressional hearings have revealed that no less than 500 leftist lawyers, many of them hired by Attorney General Eric Holder’s law firm, Covington & Burling, rushed to defend pro bono the 244 Islamic extremists and terrorists held at Guantanamo. At least a couple of these radicals, now working for Mr. Holder in top positions, have already had to recuse themselves from prosecuting detainees because of their previous advocacy for them and more such cases are certain to come out.

DCExaminer Morrning Email Blast

Mark Hemingway - White House takes four days to respond to terror attack, but responds to Cheney criticism in matter of hours?
What I can't wrap my head around is that it took the President four days to acknowledge what he termed a "catastrophic" national security failure, but Cheney criticizes the administration's handling of the war on terror and they have a rapid response on the White House blog in a matter of hours? Priorities!

Chris Stirewalt - Prof. Obama shies away from tackling history
Rahm Emanuel was not the first to suggest that a crisis should not go to waste, but he and the other members of the Obama team applied the concept with more eagerness — and nakedness — than any new administration in American history.

Michael Barone - Should national Republicans contest Ted Kennedy's seat?
Democratic nominee Attorney General Martha Coakley has none of Ted Kennedy's magic and seems to be conducting a perfunctory campaign. Republican nominee state Senator Scott Brown is running TV ads. The current Democratic governor, Deval Patrick, has a dismal job rating. Barack Obama is not particularly popular in the state: he lost the Democratic primary (despite the endorsement of Ted Kennedy) to Hillary Clinton by a 56%-41% margin and carried only one of the 10 congressional districts (the one that includes Cambridge, natch).

If you look at the town by town returns, Clinton ran very well in ethnic and working class areas. In the general election Obama actually ran behind the percentage of Bay Stater John Kerry. And Obama's denunciation of Sergeant James Crowley undoubtedly did not play well in many of the areas where Obama did poorly in the primary; Massachusetts is still more town than gown.

Byron York - Michelle Obama not most admired woman -- even among Democrats
Gallup has released its annual poll on the most admired man and woman in the United States. In the most admired woman category, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the winner, named by 16 percent of respondents. Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a close second, with 15 percent. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is third, with eight percent, and First Lady Michelle Obama is fourth, named by seven percent.

More Stories
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Thirteen state attorney generals threaten lawsuit over Nebraska's health care deal

Is there a 'double standard' for Obama in terrorism case?

Does Janet Understand The Nature of the Enemy?

Napolitano: No War Here

William Kristol

It's worth reading (don't worry, it's short) Janet Napolitano's op-ed in USA Today.

As if to confirm Dick Cheney's claim that the Obama administration doesn't understand we're at war, Napolitano never uses the word...war. Nor does she mention Islam, Yemen or Nigeria -- nor any of the details of the incident, nor the particulars of the government failures over the last few months.

Lots of op-eds ghost-written for cabinet secretaries are stupid. But this one may outdo them all in its vagueness and avoidance of substance, in its managing to be at once bureaucratic and cloying, and in speaking to the American people as if they are children. She attempts to reassure, and fails.

By the way, since this was a plot hatched overseas by people whom our intelligence agencies are listening in on and trying to bump off -- is Napolitano really the appropriate lead official? It's revealing who the White House put out Sunday -- Napolitano and press secretary Robert Gibbs. For the Obama White House, it's all spin and TSA procedures. Do we still have a CIA director? I'd heard Panetta wasn't getting along with the White House...but is he even in the loop?

Six Important Facts Regarding the SEALs in Norfolk

Six Important Facts About the Assault Charges Three Navy SEALs Face for Doing Their Jobs
by Bob McCarty

In recent years, I’ve published too many posts about members of the Armed Forces facing undeserved charges:

First, it was the so-called “Haditha Marines” who faced trumped-up charges, thanks largely to idiots like Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) declaring them guilty before a mainstream media eager to paint them in a bad light.

Next, it was Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna who was wrongly convicted of executing an Iraqi detainee, Ali Mansur, on May 16, 2008, and is now serving a 25-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Now, I’m following the case of three Navy SEALs facing assault charges related to their capture of Ahmed Hashim Abed.

Who is Abed? He’s the alleged planner of the March 2004 ambush, killing and mutilation of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, Iraq. The SEALS gave this enemy combatant piece of dirt a fat lip while apprehending him.

As my first investigative reporting effort related to the SEALs’ case, I offer six important facts about the case you’re likely not to read about in the mainstream media supplied to me by a source whom I cannot name inside the Pentagon:

1) The charges or accusations against the three Navy SEALs were not made from within the SEAL community. Sources tell me they came from someone within the Navy’s Master-at-Arm community.

2) The SEALs were presented with the option of going to Captain’s Mast for these charges but declined this form of non-judicial punishment and opted for court-martial instead. Why? Because they did not want to be judged by those outside of the SEAL community and believed the court-martial route would assure them the representation necessary to prove their innocence.

3) At no time did anyone within the Naval Special Warfare community have any control over these accusations or events other than providing advice or guidance to the accused SEALs.

4) The integrity of the chain of custody of the prisoner is at question.

5) There are extenuating circumstances that indicate there is questionable evidence in some of the accusations made.

6) Evidence will come out in a court-martial that might not have come out in a Captain’s Mast in favor of the accused SEALs.

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.