Clueless
by Linda Chavez at Townhall.com
Clueless. It’s the word that best describes the Obama administration’s first year in office. They’ve proven themselves clueless about creating jobs; clueless about handling growing nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea; and now, most devastatingly, clueless about protecting Americans from terrorist attacks on our own soil. And with nearly one year under the belts, they can’t keep blaming the Bush administration for everything that goes awry.
It is hard to imagine a more incompetent handling of the thwarted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. jetliner. First, the commander in chief was too busy enjoying his vacation in Hawaii to do much more than issue platitudinous assurances that he was “actively monitoring” the incident, while dispersing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to the weekend talk shows to downplay the significance of the event.
When the news media began uncovering evidence that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was exactly who he claimed to be when taken into custody — a terrorist tied to an al-Qaida network in Yemen — the administration began backtracking on its earlier statements that the incident was not part of a larger terrorist plot and that “the system worked.” But it took the president three days to appear before the American public to insist on a thorough investigation. By that time, everyone knew that the would-be suicide bomber’s own father had alerted U.S. intelligence officials of his son’s threat to American security. But the warnings didn’t keep Abdulmutallab off a jetliner headed to the United States.
Even the words the president used in his press conference Dec. 28 suggest how clueless he is. He described Abdulmutallab as a “passenger (who) allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device,” repeatedly referring to Abdulmutallab in his comments as a “suspect.” These are the weasel words we use when talking about ordinary criminals, which is no accident. The Obama administration’s anti-terrorism philosophy is to treat terrorist attacks like criminal actions, not acts of war.
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How Will Importing Dangerous Terrorists Make America Safer?
Today the Obama Administration is announcing it plans to import the terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison – some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world – to the Thomson Correctional Center located outside Chicago, Illinois. This decision puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. Here’s how I addressed this issue at a press conference on Capitol Hill this morning:
The American people don’t want dangerous terrorists imported on to U.S. soil, and time after time the House and Senate have reaffirmed this position with bipartisan votes rejecting the Administration’s plan. Yet this Administration is defying the will of the American people and importing them anyway. What’s worse, this decision is completely unnecessary considering that these terrorists were already being tried by military commissions, which were specifically designed under the law to prosecute such heinous acts.
Republicans have offered a better solution. In May, we introduced the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act (H.R. 2294) to (1) affirm Congress’ opposition to transferring or releasing terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States; (2) prohibit the Administration from transferring or releasing any terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay to any state without express approval from the state’s governor and legislature; and (3) prohibit the President from transferring or releasing a terrorist detainee into the United States unless he provides notification and certification to Congress. Our proposal reflects the will of the American people, and it puts a premium on their safety and security first and foremost.
In their rush to bring Guantanamo Bay terrorists on to U.S. soil, Washington Democrats have repeatedly failed to articulate an overarching strategy to confront and defeat the terrorist threat. At the very least, the American people deserve to know how importing these dangerous terrorists and giving them the same rights as U.S. citizens will make us any safer. I have yet to see a good explanation, but Republicans will stand with Illinois families and seek every remedy at our disposal to stop this dangerous plan.
President Has “More Effective” Method to Get Intel from Terrorists – What Is It?
by Dennis Prager on Townhall.com
In his latest address – on Guantanamo detainees – President Obama said something of extraordinary importance that seems to have been missed by the media:“I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more…I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation.”As this President chooses his words carefully, these claims need to be understood.Note that Mr. Obama did not say what nearly all opponents of water-boarding say – that water-boarding is not an effective method of extracting reliable, life-saving, information. He took no issue with former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s claims that water-boarding or “enhanced interrogation” saved American and other lives. Indeed, he clearly leaves open the possibility, even the likelihood, that this claim is accurate. Rather, what he says is that “methods like water-boarding were not necessary to keep us safe” – not necessary, not ineffective. And why does he believe this? Because they are not “the most effective means ofinterrogation.” In other words, the President’s view seems to be that water-boarding the three terrorists did elicit vital, life-saving, information. However, he contends that we could have obtained all that information using means of interrogation that were both non-brutal and more effective.…More |
Bumbling Biden does it again
The Vice President must be competing with Nancy Pelosi for the top spot of thorns in the President’s side.
Obama may have thought he was safe for a few days when he sent “Loose-lips” Joe out of the country, but he managed to give the press another gaffe in Kosovo.
It’s no secret the President has suffered some setbacks on his plan to shut down the military prison at Gitmo, but he still claims to be in control of the situation and that America will be better off once the 240 hardened terrorists housed there are dispersed around the globe, or around the US, or anywhere but penned up on a secure island where they can do no harm.
After stating he “thinks” the administration will close the prison by its self-imposed deadline, he continued with “But, look, what the president said is that this is going to be hard. It’s like opening Pandora’s Box. We don’t know what’s inside the box.“
So Obama says it needs to happen. We must close down the terrorist home for the good of the country. But his second in command admits they really have no clue what the consequences of following through will be.
I seem to recall these fools harshly criticizing Bush for acting with haste, without a well thought out plan.
Joe-the-ever-ebullient-orator didn’t stop there though. In response to Americans’ concerns over these trained terrorists being incarcerated on our soil, Biden suggests we “go to some maximum security cells if you want to know some dangerous people. Matter of fact, it might be an awakening to them.“
So we should enlighten ourselves by dropping in on the Unabomber, or the infamous shoe bomber, get to know them a little and we’ll see just how nice these guys are down there at Guantanamo. We might even invite one or two over for supper, maybe let them date our daughters once we see what gentle creatures we’ve really been keeping down there.
Biden may well turn out to be the best asset the Right has at the moment.
1st Gitmo Terrorist to Be Tried in US
Obama’s administration is thumbing its nose at lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, who this week voted to block funding for the President’s plan to shut down the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by charging ahead to try a notorious terrorist in New York.
Democrats largely supported Obama’s decision to close the prison until it became clear the President’s plan involved bringing the murderous villains to the lawmakers’ own backyard. Suddenly, the idea didn’t seem so sound. The liberal lawmakers who previously praised the president’s plan voted not to fund the transfer earlier this week.
But the Constitution hasn’t stopped the President from enacting his radical agenda of societal reconstruction and he won’t let lawmakers concerned with housing international terrorists among their constituents stop his plan to bring the criminals home.
I have to go to work now, but update later to continue this rant.
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From the Conservative Net
This is the first of what I intend to be a weekly series.
It’s just impossible to write an original post on everything that needs covering, so each weekend I’ll post an excerpt from other blogs I follow of articles on issues that I simply couldn’t find the time to cover that week.
From All American Blogger
Haste Makes Waste: Feds Send Millions in Stimulus Checks to Dead PeopleThe government is saying the error happened because they had to get things done in a hurry. Because of the perceived time pressure, the have sent millions of dollars in stimulus money to people like “Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago.”…More |
From ARRA News Service
Obama Warns America’s Debt Load is UnustainableCan you believe it? After creating the largest spending program and largest deficit in American history, President Obama warns us about something every Tea Party American knows: that the American Debt Load is unsustainable. Thanks for putting us in this position Mr. Obama!……More |
From The Conservative Pup
The Right Stuff….I’m so proud of Carrie Prejean. When asked her opinion about a current divisive political issue during the Miss USA pageant, she took the more difficult path of honesty. Some might have chosen the easier, more traveled path of evasiveness or outright dishonesty, but she chose the “road less traveled.” She gave her opinion in an almost apologetic way, stating clearly that she didn’t wish to offend anyone.…More |
From The Foundry
New York Times Reports Half The Story in AfghanistanOn today’s front page, the New York Times goes to every effort to recreate the narrative of Mai-Lai in Vietnam, only this time in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they do so with only half the story. This much we think we know: One night last week, American forces in the middle of a drawn out battle with insurgent Taliban forces, launched an aerial attack on enemy targets. It appears many civilians were killed during the battle.…More |
From Michelle Malkin
Pelosi, the CIA, and the Dems’ dangerous blame gameWe had dueling press conferences this morning with Nancy Pelosi accusing the Bush CIA of lying to her about waterboarding and House GOP leader John Boehner defending the integrity of the briefers.Pelosi had a particularly frozen look on her face throughout her presser as she repeated the “Bush lied about Iraq” mantra to justify her own inaction:…More |
Maybe Bush was Right on Detainees?
At least that appears to be what the Obama administration is thinking now.
When this morning I read the President is now weighing the option of indefinitely detaining terror suspects I was taken aback. Wasn’t this man the same who, as a presidential candidate, steadfastly opposed every part of Bush’s strategy of dealing with detainees at Guantanamo? Who decried every action Bush took?
Responding to the McCain campaign’s criticism of his desire to extend constitutional protections to the residents of Gitmo in June 2008, Obama stated “…and I think, in fact, it’s the failed policies of the Bush administration and the unwillingness to look towards the future that is causing us so many problems around the world.” He was implying, of course, that Bush’s policies on the treatment of terror suspects jeopardized national security by creating anti-American sentiment around the world.
Now he’s going to continue a policy he so long denounced.
But this isn’t the only issue where Obama’s flipped to support a previously abhorred Bush policy now that he’s occupying the White House.
Late last month Obama was aboard a fast train Hell-bent to release more photos of detainee “abuse,” but switched yesterday when he announced the release of the photos would “…further inflame anti-American opinion, and to put our troops in greater danger.”
Too bad his mind wasn’t changed before the release of the so-called “torture” memos. Just four days prior to his reversal on releasing the aforementioned photos, he justified the release of the previously classified memos by claiming it would make the world like us more and we would therefore be more safe.
Photos bad, memos good according to Obama. A little contradictory, no?
Don’t forget his reversal on military tribunals either.
From the February 13, 2008 SFGate.com article on the pros and cons of tribunals in the cases of 6 terror suspects who faced the death penalty: “Obama said the men should be tried either in a U.S. criminal court or by military court-martial, either of which would ‘demonstrate our commitment to the rule of law.’ Both those systems are more protective of defendants’ rights than military tribunals, which allow evidence obtained through coercion and hearsay.”
Well, he didn’t really mean all that. Earlier this month, news broke that Obama’s going to fire the tribunal machine back up again. According to the NY Times, “The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military commission system…” and “the first public moves could come as soon as next week.”
You remember, the tribunals that denied due process to those poor guys at Gitmo who chop off people’s heads and fly planes into buildings.
So, Obama’s general frame of mind when the Bush administration ran the tribunals was that they were bad, really bad. Not only did they fail to protect the rights of folks who…oh…cut of American’s heads on camera and kill thousands by flying planes into buildings, but they made other terrorists mad at us.
Now that he’s getting his mail at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., military tribunals are just what we need.
Something changed his mind. Maybe he thinks his middle name will make the tribunals more palatable to radical Islamic terrorists?
This adoption of Bush policies opposed by Obama on the campaign trail appears to be a developing habit. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe he’ll adopt one more and keep Gitmo open since no other country seems to want the abused terror suspects and we certainly don’t want them here.
Okay, that may be too much wishful thinking.
But, with so much of Obama’s change so closely resembling Bush policy in this arena, Obama supporters might just have to admit that maybe Bush was right on Gitmo and the detainees all along.
Cantor (R-VA) Joins House GOP Members to Introduce Keep Terrorists Out of America Act
Press Release from Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA)
May 7, 2009
Contact:Brad Dayspring
202-226-5249
WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today joined several Republican colleagues to introduce the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act — legislation intended to prevent prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay from being relocated to the United States.
The Keep Terrorists Out of America Act requires pre-approval from governors and state legislatures to transfer or release any terrorist detainee into their respective state. The legislation establishes strict criteria and certification standards that must be met before any detainee is released into the United States.
Cantor is also an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1186, which seeks to prohibit prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility from being transferred to federal prisons or military bases in Virginia.
At a press conference earlier today on Capitol Hill, Mr. Cantor made the following statement:
“This is the one area where I’m going to take a protectionist stance—protection from terrorists. If there’s ever a time for protectionism, this is it.
“Coming from Virginia, where there are two facilities on the list of potential sites for relocating these terrorists, I am particularly passionate about making sure that the President’s desire, and some in this congress, to bring these enemy combatants to the soil of the United States does not happen. With the communities surrounding Naval Base Norfolk and those around Quantico, in their interest—this must not happen.”
View the Video Here
Facts on the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act (Courtesy of the Office of the Republican Leader):
Affirming Congress’ Opposition to the Release and Transfer of Terrorists. The bill affirms Congress’ opposition to transferring or releasing terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States. Most Americans do not support releasing these terrorists from Guantanamo Bay prison and transferring them into the United States. The bill gives Congress an opportunity to show that it stands with the American people on this critical matter, and opposes the release and transfer of these terrorists.
Governor & State Legislature Pre-Approval. The measure prohibits the Administration from transferring or releasing any terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay to any state without express approval from the state’s governor and legislature, and certifies to Congress that strict requirements have been met. For example, the Administration must certify to the respective governor and state legislature that the detainee does not pose a security risk to the United States. The certifications must be made 60 days before any transfer or release.
Presidential Certification Requirements. The measure prohibits the President from transferring or releasing a terrorist detainee into the United States unless he provides the following notification and certification to Congress regarding:
• The name of the detainee and transfer/release location in the United States.
• The release/transfer would not negatively impact continued prosecution of the detainee.
• The release/transfer would not negatively impact continued detention of the detainee.
• The ability of federal judges to release detainees into the United States.
Dems block funding to close Gitmo
from Move America Forward
Democrats today killed a request by President Obama for $81 million to close Gitmo. It’s a good start, but the Democrats could still fund the closure in other ways.
We at Move America Forward have been on the forefront of the fight to keep Gitmo open. Obama has no plans for the dangerous terrorists locked up on cuba in America’s prison.
Closing the prison “just never stood up to logic. There is no place on the planet to take the worst of the worst that would treat them as well as they are treated at [Guantanamo],” said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, who visited the facility a month ago.“The bottom line really is that [if the prisoners are released], innocent people will die and some of them likely will be Americans,” he said. |
A contingent from MAF visited the camps on Gitmo and found the same thing Obama’s administration found: The prison is well run and abides by all Geneva conventions. In fact, the prisoners are treated with kid gloves with meal plans given to them every week, doctors and nurses at their behest, English and Art lessons, and plenty of time outside to play soccer with other prisoners.
The Democrats did the right thing today. Now let’s see if they continue to protect Americans by keeping gitmo open.
Here’s the story from the Washington Times:
House Democratic leaders Monday dropped President Obama’s request for $81 million to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, bowing to strong Republican criticism that the administration lacks a plan to relocate terror suspects detained there.Mr. Obama requested the money as part a spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Democratic appropriators left it out of the bill circulated Monday among House Appropriations Committee staffers.Republicans have been criticizing Mr. Obama for rushing to keep his campaign promise to close the prison camp at the U.S. Navy base on Cuba without a plan for what to do with the roughly 240 terrorism suspects currently held on the island.Closing the prison “just never stood up to logic. There is no place on the planet to take the worst of the worst that would treat them as well as they are treated at [Guantanamo],” said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, who visited the facility a month ago.“The bottom line really is that [if the prisoners are released], innocent people will die and some of them likely will be Americans,” he said.Democratic leaders were not immediately available to comment.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, previously dismissed the Republicans’ objections as another example of partisan obstructionism by the minority.“It would be highly irresponsible for Republicans to attempt to hold up funding as part of their just-say-no strategy,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley said.Senate Democrats have not come out in support of using the war-spending bill to close the prison camp, a strong signal that the move by House appropriators could kill the funding in the bill.The administration could still move forward with Mr. Obama’s promise to close the detention center by January 2010 and seek funding through another supplemental spending bill.Lawmakers in both parties oppose bringing the prisoners to their states. Speculation about shipping the terror suspects to prisons in states including Florida, Montana and Virginia has met stiff resistance. A number of foreign countries also do not want to take the prisoners, either.The White House has not announced where it intends to move the detainees.The supplemental spending bill circulated Monday carried a price tag of about $94 billion, about $10 billion more than Mr. Obama requested.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, made a series of speeches in recent weeks blasting the president’s push to close the Guantanamo Bay camp.Last week, House Majority Leader John Boehner, Ohio Republican, put out a Web video that asked: “What are Democrats doing to keep America safe?” It charged that Mr. Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo and end harsh interrogation techniques that some criticize as torture would put the United States at risk of another terror 9/11-type attack.On the video, Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, says, “The real question we now face is, What is President Obama’s strategy to confront this threat from radical jihadists?”About 100,000 viewers had visited the video Web site as of Monday, according to Mr. Boehner’s office.On the Senate floor Monday, Mr. McConnell said the appropriate time for Congress to debate closing the prison camp is after “the administration has a plan to safely detain, prosecute, or transfer these detainees.”“With no safe alternative, this is the only sensible approach,” he said.The Defense Department has confirmed that 18 former detainees had returned to the battlefield and at least 40 more are suspected of having rejoined terrorist networks after being released from Guantanamo. |
More results of Obama’s foreign policy blunders…
Iraqi soldier kills 2 US soldiers, wounds 3
So maybe arbitrary deadlines for troop withdrawals do encourage the enemy.
Chavez Slams Terror Report, Claims ‘New Aggression’ by U.S.
I guess the hugs, handshakes, and gifts didn’t soften the two-bit dictator’s stone heart after all.
Suicide bomb kills 6 in Mosul
The deadliest month of the year for US troops in Iraq. Imagine that, the enemy is stepping up its attacks now that it knows we’re pulling out. But don’t worry, Hillary told Iraq we’re not abandoning them, and the Obamessiah promises increased violence won’t alter his plan to withdraw troops. Talk about mixed messages to our Iraqi allies!
U.S. to hold new talks with Syria
This should be interesting since Syria backs Hezbollah and Hamas. Former President Carter has used his trips to Syria to bash Israel and defend terrorists. I’m sure the terrorist sponsoring nation is looking forward to manipulating a sitting President for its propaganda.
Officials: Gitmo court system likely to stay open
This should play well overseas with all the countries that criticized Bush for not treating the terrorists like jaywalkers. Of course they thought things would “change” with Obama in the White House since this was one of his major criticisms of the previous administration.
I’m sure this list will continue to grow as long as our President thinks the best foreign policy is to stroke the egos of our enemies by condemning our own country. Stay tuned for more next week.
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