Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

CURRENT OBAMA PLAN TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY HAS ONE TINY FLAW: It’s Illegal

Not that appears to have ever stopped this particular president. That said, Molly O'Toole at DefenseOne describes yet another bizarre White House plan to endanger Americans.

White House officials say they’re getting close to delivering a plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as Congress has demanded for years. There’s one problem: a key part is illegal — at least for now.

Current U.S. law forbids the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to prisons on U.S. soil — and yet there are some prisoners who cannot be sent anywhere else, Deputy National Security Advisor Lisa Monaco said Saturday.

“We are going to whittle down this group to what I refer to as the irreducible minimum, who would have to be brought here to a secure location, held under the laws of war, continuing under military detention, and that’s the only way we’re going to be able to close Guantanamo,” Monaco said at the Aspen Security Forum. These prisoners would be prosecuted in the military justice system or federal courts and subjected to a “supermax cell,” Monaco said. “Ultimately, that’s the way we’re gonna do it.”

“We gotta work with Congress,” she said, “but right now we aren’t even able to put that facility together because of the legal restrictions.”

Not only is it currently illegal to bring Guantanamo prisoners to the U.S. for prosecution or detention, the federal government is forbidden to spend any money to “assist” in doing so. This means no funding to build a U.S. prison to hold them, or improve an existing one, or even to perform an in-depth study on related options. This has left national security leaders to plan the future of U.S. detention while trying to avoid the appearance of spending taxpayer-funded time on options for moving detainees to U.S. soil.

Say, I've got an idea: let's have Lois Lerner and John Koskinen do all the planning for this patently illegal operation and the cover-up which is sure to follow. They appear to have all of the necessary experience.
 
 
Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Democrat on powerful Foreign Affairs Committee goes on record opposing Iran deal, but DNC head can’t make up her mind

At least one Democrat has stopped goose-stepping with Barack Obama toward a nuclear Iran.

Calling the recently announced Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 powers “historic … for all the wrong reasons,” Rep. Juan Vargas (D – Calif.), who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote that he will vote against the nuclear agreement in an op-ed published Saturday in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Vargas argued that instead of providing limited sanctions relief and cutting Iran’s “path to a nuclear bomb,” the deal gives Tehran a “rapid payday” of up to $150 billion and “[legitimizes] its path to nuclear-threshold status.” The congressman noted that Iran never explained its past nuclear work to international inspectors and continues defying demands to do so.

Vargas further pointed out that the JCPOA threatens to spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East by allowing Iran to become a nuclear-threshold state. In addition to failing to stem Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Vargas criticized the deal for failing “to halt Iran’s aggressive imperialism in the Middle East.” He also observed that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah, praised the deal because it “will also reinforce the position of [Iran’s] allies.”

...Declaring that the vote is “not a partisan issue,” but “an issue of national security,” Vargas urged his Congressional colleagues to oppose the deal.

Conversely, the chairperson of the Democrat National Committee, a Jewish representative named Debbie Wasserman Schultz (whose district is heavily Jewish) just can't seem to make up her mind. It's all so confusing.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

The irony of the expulsions from Gaza

By Caroline Glick

Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza 10 years ago was a strategic disaster. But it could have been much more devastating if the ideologues behind it had had their way.

Formally, the withdrawal was supposed to do two things. It was supposed to strengthen Israel’s diplomatic position vis-à-vis the US and Europe by demonstrating Israel’s commitment to Palestinian statehood, and it was supposed to enhance Israel’s security by redeploying the IDF along more defensible lines.

Neither argument for the withdrawal was particularly plausible. But due to the media’s lockstep support for it, neither was seriously challenged.

The truth is, these justifications were never anything more than a smoke screen to hide the true purpose of the withdrawal from the public. The real purpose of the withdrawal from Gaza was to deal a strategic blow to Zionism and the Jewish character of the state.

The destruction of those communities – and the expulsion of the 350,000 Jews who live in them – was also not an end unto itself. For the leftist ideologues who invented the idea of unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza, destroying the settlement enterprise is a necessary precondition for destroying religious Zionism.

And religious Zionism has to be destroyed in order to destroy Zionism.

This true purpose of the Gaza withdrawal was made clear by leftist ideologues in the months that preceded the withdrawal.

You won’t believe this stunning and credible theory on the secret Iranian nuclear side deals

A note from a reader stuck a chord with me and I thought I'd pass it along, edited slightly for clarity:

John Kerry is lying when he claims he doesn't know what is in the Iranian side deals. He would rather pretend ignorance than admit their contents.

No one calls the ruling class on their lies. With a dysfunctional media -- that is now fully intertwined with the government -- the American people are left bereft of real news and thoughtful analysis.

We live in an alternate reality. Nothing is real, except their lies and only their lies. Lies are now the truth.

As for me, I believe the secret side deals with Iran are quite specific. Incredibly specific.

And I believe they call for an international military alliance and a protective force for Iran. An international force, sponsored by the United Nations.

And that deal is to protect Iran... from Israel.

We already knew this administration represented an existential threat to Israel, from its calls for pre-1967 "Holocaust borders" to its repeated intelligence leaks.

This sets the stage, ladies and gentlemen, for global aggression. Against Israel. And reprisals. Financial. Diplomatic. Even the boys in blue, firing their weapons for the very first time in recorded history.

Against the Jews.

It's called Armageddon.


Related: Former Marine Strike Planner on Obama's Azerbaijan Leak: "Start viewing this administration as an existential threat to Israel".
 

Saturday, July 25, 2015

FORMER SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Obama’s Iran Deal is Far Worse Than the One With North Korea

In a recent letter to the editors of the Washington Post, the former Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. blasted the Obama-Kerry-Iran nuclear deal in no uncertain terms.

Pundits are saying that President Obama’s Iran deal stirs deja vu of President Clinton’s 1994 North Korean nuclear deal [“A landmark nuclear pact with Iran,” front page, July 15]. I humbly disagree. President Clinton made his decision based on a strategic foreign policy analysis, top-secret intelligence and a desire to save the people of North Korea from starvation induced by its leadership.

It turned out that the strategic foreign policy analysis was wrong. If Mr. Clinton had known about the major intelligence failure, he would have made a different decision. Mr. Obama made his decision on the Iran nuclear deal aware that the strategic foreign policy analysis, the national intelligence information and intelligence from U.S. allies in the region predict a worse outcome than in North Korea — and Iran will have access to billions of dollars.

This deal will wreak havoc in the Middle East, which is already a disastrous environment. Iran is a major player in the destabilization of the region. Why would Mr. Obama go ahead with such a deal with Iran? It is definitely not because Mr. Obama is not smart enough, because he is. He must believe that what he is doing is right. Still, I am convinced that my good friend Henry Kissinger was correct when he said, “America’s enemies should fear America, but America’s friends should fear America more.”

People in my region now are relying on God’s will and consolidating their local capabilities and analyses with everyone except our oldest and most powerful ally.

Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


Hat tip: Western Journalism.
 

Congress "Alarmed" by Secret Side-Deals in Iran Nuclear Pact

Writing at Bloomberg View, investigative journalists Eli Lake and Josh Rogin reveal new and crucial details of Barack Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. As we find out more about the nature of the deal, it is little wonder that members of Congress are growing increasingly "alarmed" (emphases mine).

As the White House campaign to persuade Congress about the wisdom of its Iran nuclear deal moves into its second week, important components of the complex agreement are emerging that will be shrouded from the public and in some cases from the U.S. government itself.

The existence of these secret clauses and interpretations could undermine the public's trust in the Barack Obama administration's presentations about the nuclear pact. Already Republicans and other critics of the deal have seized on the side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency as a weakness in the deal closed last week in Vienna.

The controversy began on Wednesday when Secretary of State John Kerry told House lawmakers behind closed doors that he neither possessed nor had read a copy of two secret side deals between the IAEA and Iran, according to Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee who was inside the session. Congress hasn't seen those side agreements either.

“Kerry told me directly that he has not read the secret side deals,” Pompeo told us in an interview. “He told us the State Department does not have possession of these documents.”

Any "agreement" with a country that has dedicated itself to your destruction is inherently insane. The legacy of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry will center around the transformation of Iran from a terror state into a nuclear terror state.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY: Iranian Leader Posts Picture of Obama Shooting Himself in the Head

Ah, nothing says peaceful coexistence like a prospective suicide note to a negotiating partner.


As The Right Scoop observes, "But we were told that everyone’s totally happy about the Iran deal and they love us now."

Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

Obama Trusts a Terror State, But Not the American People

By Richard Larsen

It’s disturbing to witness the collapse of logic, especially when perpetrated by our own president. After all, if we were to believe what so many of his devotees claim prima facie, he’s among the smartest on the planet. But his nuclear deal with Iran proves to the contrary; not just by its terms, but his illogic in support of it.

President Obama said this week, with regard to the agreement inked with Iran, “There really are only two alternatives here. Either the issue of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through a negotiation or it’s resolved through force, through war. Those are—those are the options.” There are so many more options available, that even he should be aware of, yet he’s reduced to employing the common false dichotomy, or fallacy of bifurcation, in support of it. But it explains his inanity in signing a deal that all but assures a nuclear Iran in the foreseeable future, and further underscores why Obamacare was foisted upon the nation; to him, there are but two options – his way or no way at all.

Obama added that no better deal was or is possible than the one he has negotiated. Since the bargaining table was approached from a position of weakness, acquiescence, and appeasement, he’s likely correct. But if the process had been approached from a position of strength, like Reagan did with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, then the final agreement would have been much more inhibiting to Iranian nuclear ambitions, and we, and our allies, could have come away from the negotiations feeling much safer and assured.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS: Hillary Clinton Lied; Used Personal Email Server to Transmit Classified Documents


“I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. I’m certainly aware of the classified requirements and did not send classified material.”


Try and contain your shock, but it turns out that Hillary Clinton blatantly lied to the American people about the use and nature of her illegal, personal email server. Simply operating her own server to conduct official business was in all likelihood a direct violation of federal statutes; but sending and receiving classified information using personal servers is another set of crimes entirely.

Several Inspectors General in the Obama administration have reviewed a tiny fraction of the Clinton emails and determined that 10 percent were classified SECRET or higher at the time they were transmitted.

Friday, July 24, 2015

TED CRUZ EXPOSES THE LIES, DISSEMBLING AND DECEIT OF MITCH McCONNELL: Now This is Speaking Truth to Power

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the architect of the Republican Establishment's serial campaign of "Failure Theater", which is designed to deceive the party's base. McConnell and company pretend that real action is being taken to defend the Constitution while actually accomplishing nothing or, worse yet, conspiring with the most radical and corrupt administration in modern American history.

Failure Theater is the process by which the Establishment deliberately fails to do achieve anything, but wants credit from the Dumb Conservatives they’re playing to for allegedly “trying.”

Each of Boehner’s and McConnell’s “defeats” are in fact planned in advance. They are not trying to advance the conservative agenda; they are attempting to con conservatives into believing they have attempted to implement conservative policy, when in fact they were delivering their political deliverables to their Donor Class paymasters all along.

Uneducated, gullible, and easily led: if we stand for this, we are exactly what the Washington Post slurred us as 30 years ago.

Failure Theater has most recently embodied itself in McConnell's bogus attempts to repeal Obamacare; stop the insane deal to fund Iran will hundreds of billions of dollars and let it develop nuclear weapons; and pursue Planned Parenthood's child organ harvesting.

The one man who dares to speak truth to power -- willing to attack both parties for their lies -- is Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Today he rose to speak in the Senate of Mitch McConnell's devious machinations.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT: Will Schumer and the Democrats Finally Step Up and Defend America?

By James Soviero

Shortly after the November, 2014 Republican landslide we posted an article titled, “Wanted: Gutsy Dems to Rescue Our Constitution”. The piece went on to explain some of the rationale behind what appears an irreconcilable statement. Some excerpts:

“So given the undeniable Republican ascendancy, why would they need gutsy democrats to rescue our Constitution? One, because President Obama’s clinical narcissism will not allow him to admit to either errors in policy or judgement. Two, because this delusional thinking will have him press ahead with his extra-constitutional, “pen and phone”, assault on the “supreme law” of our land. Three, because most GOP leaders, paralyzed by the president’s pigment, will likely duck a serious, principled fight….even if the very health of the Republic is at stake.”

“Sadly, to this point, aside from some lone, outraged conservative voices, the overall reaction to Obama behaving in ways Richard Nixon never dreamt, has been marked by soft commentary from Republicans and complete silence from Democrats. But now, with the dramatic shift in D.C. power, the dynamics have changed and the stakes are much, much higher. The only way for “The One” to get what he wants is to brazenly bypass an overwhelming majority in Congress….that has been duly elected to stop him from advancing his increasingly unpopular and reckless agenda.”

Nine months later, Obama’s attack on our preeminent governing document has only accelerated. While fellow party members may have enjoyed Barack’s rewriting ObamaCare, and changing immigration laws to fit their partisan needs, his handing the Iranian Nuclear Arms Deal to the United Nations before Congress has even read it, is very, very different. It puts Democrats in an extremely tough spot on a two levels.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

FreedomWorks: We Refuse to be Silenced by the IRS

By Iris Somberg

In light of recent revelations that the IRS used donor lists to target right-leaning groups for audits and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) stating that targeting of conservatives is still possible, FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon commented:

"It is completely unacceptable, and 100 percent illegal, for the IRS to target donors of right-leaning groups for audits. Even after the Lois Lerner scandal, this problem has not been fixed. This has to change now."

Brandon added, "Punishing people for their political views, no matter what they are, is a violation of our most basic freedoms. We will not be intimidated by the IRS or any government agency that wants to silence our beliefs. We stand with our 6.9 million activists in asking for basic protection of our First Amendment rights."

Click here to support FreedomWorks
 

Kill the Obama Deal. Before it Kills Us.

By Frank Gaffney

Team Obama’s sales campaign for the Obamabomb deal is running into growing concerns about myriad concessions it has made to an Iranian regime that explicitly promises to destroy our country and its people.

These include: promises to enhance and protect Iran’s nuclear program; agreeing to allow Iran to get renewed access to conventional weapons and ballistic missile technology; and removing some 300 designated Iranian terrorists and their organizations from sanctions lists.

Worst of all, Team Obama is giving our avowed enemies hundreds of billions of dollars to pursue their oft-stated promise to bring Death to America, its citizens and allies.

I was one of tens of thousands who packed New York’s Times Square yesterday to urge Congress to kill this deal before it kills us. Please do the same with your representatives.


Read more at CenterForSecurityPolicy.org
 

Yes, Beatrice, Obama Hates Our Military

By Karl Denninger

Why do we have anything to do with this clown-car crap?  When is it enough?

The White House has now reversed itself and ordered flags flown at half-mast -- but not until after they refused to do so while the Capitol (and the States) did.

How much more do you need to see when five of our servicemembers are gunned down in an act of terrorism on our soil, potentiated by a government that refuses to recognize everyone's 2nd Amendment rights, including members of our militaryand then goes even further by posting "gun free zone" signs on the door!

Oh, it doesn't stop there either.  If your grandmother has a gun for personal protection (and is not a frail older person the exact sort of person for whom that equalizer is most important) but has someone else (like you) run her bank account for her Obama wants to confiscate her gun.

Where is your limit of tolerance for this crap America?

You don't need any damn permit to write a blog or start and operate a newspaper.

You don't need any damn permit to worship as you see fit.

If anyone tried to tell you that needed a permit to write either in print or online, or before you could pray, you'd stick up the middle finger.

A right is not conditioned on any damn permit and the Second Amendment is clear in its language just as is the First Amendment -- so why is your middle finger not in the air right here and now?


Read more at Market-Ticker.org.
 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

SELF-DELUSION: The Chamberlain-Obama Comparison is Apt

By Thane Rosenbaum

There’s been a lot of talk lately proclaiming Barack Obama the second coming of Neville Chamberlain. The analogy may be facile, but it is not far-fetched. The accord just reached in Vienna, at best, only temporarily cools off Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Iran deal will be remembered either as a masterful display of diplomacy or as a hopelessly naïve delusion.

Wishful thinking is not a sound basis for foreign policy. When it comes to Iran, the stakes are too high to gamble on good faith. Israel and Saudi Arabia have good reasons to worry. And when before have these two nations had anything in common?

Congress now readies itself for 60 days of peeking underneath the Persian carpet of this Iranian deal, while the President threatens to test his veto powers over congressional action.

Americans should be skeptical. Iran is not just a regional menace. Long-range missiles can erase complacency in an instant. The seeming vast distance on a map between Iran and the United States, in the modern world, can resemble a commuter stop. The days of trench warfare are over because there isn’t enough time to dig any of those trenches. Iran may end up convincing the United States that it needs its very own Iron Dome.

Monday, July 20, 2015

“You were given a choice between war and dishonor, Mr. Obama. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.”

By Sara Noble

The U.N. Security Council endorsed the nuclear deal Monday morning. The statists in the U.N. have been given the power to decide the fate of the nuclear deal with no intervention by the American people thanks to the unilateral president and the Corker bill. The Corker bill allows international law to supersede our Congress and our Constitution.

The negotiations began when the President engaged in secret correspondence with the Ayatollah and his minions. Valerie Jarrett made secret trip(s) to Iran. The Logan Act suggests that this is not within his rights to engage in secret correspondence with the enemy.

The negotiations of the P5+1 were always a sham because they were always between the U.S. and Iran. China and Russia? Russia wants the U.S. to be harassed by Iran and they want to sell arms to the Iranians. China is already preparing for war against the United States with cyber as the first front. The U.K., France, Germany depend on Russia for their oil.

Lawyers involved in the negotiations and an Iranian reporter who sought asylum in the U.K. claimed that the U.S. acted as Iran’s agents throughout the negotiations.

PASS THE POPCORN, NAHANNI: Federal judge warns State Dept. it will “have to answer for” any missing Hillary emails

Our friends at Judicial Watch have been indefatigable advocates for liberty and the pursuit of the Obama administration's many high crimes and misdemeanors (a list that exhausts one simply to read it).

In any event, using tools like Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, JW has been doggedly seeking answers with respect to Hillary Clinton's secret email server. And, as Inspectors General throughout the massive government bureaucracy have publicly stated, the least transparent administration in history is covering up everything germane to the investigation.

Namely, what exactly did Hillary Clinton promise foreign entities, international corporations, and others who were contributing to her family's foundation under the aegis of her official role as Secretary of State?

...a federal judge warned the State Department that it will “have to answer for” any destruction of Hillary Clinton email records. U. S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras made the statement at a July 9, 2015 status conference concerning a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for records about the State Department vetting of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s potential conflicts of interest (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00688)). The transcript of the July 9 court hearing is available here.

At the hearing, attorney Chris Fedeli pressed Judicial Watch’s concerns about the preservation of records, especially email records that were not part of the 55,000 pages of records turned over by Mrs. Clinton to the State Department late last year.

In response, Judge Contreras said he was also “concerned” about the preservation of these records:

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Iran Deal Infographic

Courtesy of RJC


The RJC is an organization worth supporting, no matter your race, religion, creed or ethnicity. Click here to visit.
 

I’ve Read the Nuclear Deal, Mr. President, and It’s Atrocious

By David Gerstman

Deal rewrites history: Iran committed no violations in the past

In his combative press conference last week to defend the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama issued the following challenge:

So to go back to Congress, I challenge those who are objecting to this agreement, number one, to read the agreement before they comment on it; number two, to explain specifically where it is that they think this agreement does not prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and why they’re right and people like Ernie Moniz, who is an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issues, is wrong, why the rest of the world is wrong, and then present an alternative.

First off it’s worth noting that Energy Secretary and MIT nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz said back in April that to be effective the deal would have to include “anytime, anywhere,” inspections, so Obama’s explanation about why 24 days notice is now good enough fails to convince me.

I want Moniz to explain why he changed his position on this AND why 24 days is now acceptable. I would like Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes to explain why he walked back his comments on requiring “anytime, anywhere” inspections.

And I want a more convincing explanation than negotiator Wendy Sherman’s excuse that the term was just a “rhetorical flourish.” (If that was a rhetorical flourish, I’m curious how many other administration comments about the nuclear deal were rhetorical flourishes.)

But in that paragraph, Obama limits the grounds of questioning the deal to whether the language of the deal is insufficient to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear breakout over the course of the deal.

Here’s where I have problem. Even if the agreement was airtight, and I doubt that it is, there’s a matter of the administration’s behavior during the Joint Plan of Action, which was agreed to in November 2013. The problem is that the Obama administration has acted as “Iran’s attorney” covering for Iran’s violations of the previous agreement.

In a notable episode last month, administration officials attacked The New York Times for reporting that Iran would likely fail to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium by the June 30 deadline. In the end Iran did reduce its stockpile but not by the method prescribed and not to the form that it was required to.

The nonproliferation think tank, the Institute for Science and International Security, earlier this month, explained why the administration’s behavior in this case was troubling:

What "Smart Meters" are really all about

"Smart meters" aren't about saving power; they're about government control. Witness the latest from Johannesburg, South Africa where authorities are pleading with residents "not to panic" when power is shut off to households that are consuming more than their fair share of electricity.

Load Limiting is a technology that enables City Power to accurately identify and ascertain household consumption in real time in relation to the available generating capacity.

The deployment of load limiting will enable City Power to remotely disconnect households that don’t comply with requests to reduce consumption, remotely using smart meters.

Households that have an excessive consumption would experience repetitive disconnections at five minute intervals for a period of 30 seconds until they have reduced their consumption to required levels.

Should they fail to abide by instructions to reduce consumption, non-compliant residents will be disconnected remotely via smart meters.

I would encourage every American to reject smart meters, no matter how tempting the incentive from your local power company.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.