US, Taliban to hold Afghanistan peace talks in Qatar office this week, officials say
[FoxNews-AP]
Published June 18, 2013
June 18, 2013: A general view of Taliban office in Doha before the official opening in Doha, Qatar. In a major breakthrough, the Taliban and the U.S. announced Tuesday that they will hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan as the Islamic militant movement opened an office in Qatar. American officials with the Obama administration said the office in the Qatari capital of Doha was the first step toward the ultimate U.S.-Afghan goal of a full Taliban renouncement of links with Al Qaeda. (AP)
June 18, 2013: Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a ceremony at military academy on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Karzai announced at the ceremony that his country’s armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition. (AP)
Representatives from the United States and the Taliban will engage in Afghanistan peace talks Thursday in an office that has opened in Qatar, senior U.S. administration officials say.
The officials say detainee exchanges will likely be among the topics discussed in the Doha office, which opened Tuesday after months of delays. Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s High Peace Council is expected to follow up with its own talks a few days later.
SEAL Team 6 Families to Blame Government For Deaths
[Infowars.com]
“Never before revealed information” to be aired at press conference
By Paul Joseph Watson
May 8, 2013
Families of the SEAL Team 6 members who were killed when their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan in August 2011 are set to give a press conference tomorrow during which they will hold the Obama administration partially responsible for the deaths of their sons.
With the administration already reeling over today’s Benghazi revelations, a press release on the ‘Tea Party Command Center’ website promises “never before revealed information” about the circumstances behind the incident.
“Accompanying the families of these dead Navy SEAL Team VI special operations servicemen will be retired military experts verifying their accounts of how and why the government is as much responsible for the deaths of their sons as is the Taliban,” states the press release.
Special forces could’ve responded to Benghazi attack, whistle-blower tells Fox News
[FoxNews.com]
Published April 30, 2013
A military special ops member who watched as the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi unfolded last September told Fox News the U.S. had highly trained forces just a few hours away, and said he and others feel the government betrayed the four men who died in the attack.Speaking on condition of anonymity, and appearing in a Fox News Channel interview with his face and voice disguised, the special operator contradicted claims by the Obama administration and a State Department review that said there wasn’t enough time for U.S. military forces to have intervened in the Sept. 11 attack in which U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, an embassy employee and two former Navy SEALs working as private security contractors were killed.
“I know for a fact that C-110, the EUCOM CIF, was doing a training exercise in … not in the region of North Africa, but in Europe,” the operator told Fox News’ Adam Housley. “And they had the ability to act and to respond.”
“You know, it’s something that’s risky, especially in our line of profession, to say anything about, anything in the realm of politics, or that deals with policy.”
- Special Forces operator
The C-110 is a 40-man Special Ops force capable of rapid response and deployment specifically trained for incidents like last year’s attack in Benghazi. During the night of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Libya, in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in Libya, the C-110 were training in Croatia, just 3 ½ hours away.
“We had the ability to load out, get on birds and fly there, at a minimum stage,” the operator told Fox News. “C-110 had the ability to be there, in my opinion, in a matter of about four hours…four to six hours.”
Kerry to NKorea: New Missile Launch Would Be ‘Huge Mistake’
[Newsmax.com]
Friday, 12 Apr 2013 12:15 PM
(more…)
US Navy shifts destroyer in wake of North Korea missile threats
[NBCNews]
April 1, 2013
Most people in Seoul, South Korea think North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is bluffing, but the question is “why?” Experts say Jong-un is in the process of consolidating power and planning to eliminate his rivals. NBC’s Richard Engel reports from Seoul, South Korea.
The U.S. Navy is shifting a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific to waters off the Korean peninsula in the wake of ongoing rhetoric from North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.
The USS McCain is capable of intercepting and destroying a missile, should North Korea decide to fire one off, the officials said.
Still, U.S. defense officials insist that there is nothing to indicate that North Korea is on the verge of another launch.
DHS Seeks Millions More Rounds of Ammunition
[PrisonPlanet.com]
Market survey asks companies if they can provide 2 million bullets within 30-60 day period
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
May 3, 2013
The Department of Homeland Security has released a market survey asking companies if they are able to provide 2 million rounds of ammunition within a short time period, increasing concerns that the federal agency is continuing its arms build up in preparation for domestic unrest.
With the DHS already having committed to purchasing over 1.6 billion bullets over the course of the last year, a “request for information” on “reduced hazard training ammunition” posted on the FedBizOpps website quizzes bullet manufacturers on how fast they can supply large quantities of ammo;
- Are you capable of producing large quantity orders of any training caliber specified with a short turnaround time of 30-60 days?
- What would your lead time be for an order of 2 million rounds of a single type listed above?
- If you were awarded a contract for some of the calibers listed above, submitted a production lot of one million rounds and that lot or portion of the lot was not accepted, would you be able to replace that order with an additional one million rounds within 60 days?
Six months later, where are Benghazi’s survivors?
[HotAir.com]
posted at 1:21 pm on March 12, 2013 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday marked six months from the date that four Americans were killed in a terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, the first American ambassador murdered in the line of duty in 33 years. While the Obama administration begrudgingly cooperated with Congressional panels looking into the attack and the White House response by sending officials to testify, one group still has not yet been made available. CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson wonders — where are the survivors?
Today marks six months since the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Some watchdog groups, members of the media and Republican members of Congress are asking: Where are the more than two dozen U.S. personnel who survived the attack but haven’t been seen nor heard from in public since? There were also an undisclosed number of witnesses at the U.S. compounds in Tripoli but they also have not spoken publicly.
In a recent press report, Secretary of State John Kerry said he visited one survivor at “Bethesda hospital,” and referred to him a “remarkably courageous person who is doing very, very well.” Kerry added, “I’ve called his wife and talked to her.” But the identities, condition and testimony of the survivors and witnesses have been closely held from the public.
CNN Throws Liberal Smears and Talking Points at NRA
[Newsbusters.org]
By Matt Hadro | December 27, 2012
CNN’s Carol Costello threw ugly smears and liberal talking points at the NRA’s president David Keene on Thursday. Keene repeatedly had to deflect criticisms that the NRA is out of touch with most Americans during a lengthy 15-minute grilling.
Costello resorted to sharing smears of the NRA from her Facebook page. “And many, many comments said, ‘Why is the NRA crazy? Why are they, like, out of touch with reality?’ A lot of people said – why do you think that people say those things about the NRA?” she asked Keene. [Video below the break. Audio here.]
Costello also quoted GOP pollster Frank Luntz smacking the NRA as out of touch. She described Luntz “as conservative as you can get,” even though he also polled for the anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Israeli envoy meets with Egyptian officials about ceasefire with Hamas
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published November 18, 2012
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli envoy held talks with Egyptian officials Sunday on a ceasefire in his country’s offensive on Gaza as Israel widened the range of its targets, striking more than a dozen homes of Hamas militants and two media officials. Seven civilians were killed, including five children, in the conflict’s highest one-day civilian toll yet, according to security officials and witnesses.
Upon arrival at Cairo’s international airport, the Israeli official was whisked away directly from the tarmac and taken to talks with Egyptian authorities, Egyptian security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. They did not identify the Israeli official.
Egypt has been leading international efforts to broker a truce since Israel launched its offensive five days earlier aimed at stopping Gaza rocket attacks. But Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers remain far apart on any terms.
Thank you to our defenders of freedom
[HumanEvents.com]
November 12, 2012
By: Debbie Lee
It is with great respect, admiration and deep understanding that I write this letter to honor each and every Veteran that has served or is serving our blessed Country! I understand and appreciate all who have given so much for me, so that I could enjoy my daily freedoms.
I was able to sleep well in the safety of my bed last night, because you served.
I was able to pray before my meal this morning in a public place without fearing arrest, because you gave.
I am able to freely speak my mind and voice my opinion without fear of retaliation against me or my family, because you cared.
I am able to stand up for what I believe in and not have a Dictators thoughts and opinions forced down my throat, because you stood up to the call to defend.
I am free to worship the one true God who created me in His image, because you were selfless in your actions.
To each one of you I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are my heroes and I want to remember and honor you this Veterans Day. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of the sacrifices you and your families have given!
La Boca Grande [The Big Mouth]
American [Spectator.org]
Political Hay
By George Neumayr on 10.23.12 @ 6:10AM
Obama talks big [boca/mouth] in the final debate in Florida.
Barack Obama came to the last presidential debate ready for a fight. But he didn’t get one. Romney seemed more interested in talking to moderator Bob Schieffer than engaging Obama in a scuffle.
That relaxed strategy didn’t hurt Romney very much. At worst, the debate was a draw, which will only serve to seal the tightness of the race.
Though Romney kept stepping back from his punches, Obama didn’t tire of throwing them. Apparently Romney not only kills his sacked employees’ wives he also takes glee in outsourcing jobs to China and (in a new line of attack from Obama) invests in an Iranian company. Obama was unloading all the opposition research that he couldn’t cram into the previous debates.
Budget cuts to silence military buglers, replaced with recorded renditions of Taps at New York funerals
[FoxNews.com]
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published September 05, 2012
A bugler plays ‘Taps’ during the 2009 funeral for Army Spc. Stephen Mace at Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Due to a looming budget cut on Oct. 1, virtually all military funerals in New York state will use an electronic bugle instead of a live performance. (AP)
As budget cuts are set to silence live performances of Taps at military funerals in New York, one military bugler told FoxNews.com the iconic musical piece should always be performed by an Honor Guard musician.
Jari Villanueva, director of the Maryland National Guard Honor Guard and a bugler at thousands of military funerals, said having a phony hornsman hold up an instrument while a recording plays isn’t befitting of the somber task of burying a veteran. Yet, the piped-in version is what mourners will hear at virtually all New York military funerals beginning Oct. 1, due to a 25 percent reduction in federal funding for the state’s Military Forces Honor Guard.
Obama Afghanistan Deaths Top Those of Bush
[AllGov.com]
Friday, August 24, 2012
By Noel Brinkerhoff
Sgt. Louis R. Torres of Oberlin, Ohio, died August 22, 2012, of injuries sustained by an explosive device in Kandahar two weeks earlier.Now the longest conflict in U.S. history, the Afghanistan war has taken the lives of 2,000 Americans, half of whom were killed in just the past two and a half years.
During the first nine years of the war, about 1,000 military personnel died. Then, the Obama administration decided to deploy a “surge” of new troops to the conflict, resulting in a dramatic increase in casualties since 2010.
It took only 27 months for the U.S. to experience 1,000 fatalities following the deployment of 33,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
AMERICAN PEOPLE: FOREIGNERS IN OUR OWN LAND
[LibertyNewsOnline.com]
June 6, 2012
By: Darren Weeks – NewsWithViews.com
I’ve been watching for years as the United States has moved further down the road toward a system that embraces and resembles communism, but all the while, also possesses the characteristics of a corporate fascist state.
Stories of Chinese communist espionage penetrating U.S. military bases, laboratories, and academic institutions have been plentiful, as the People’s Liberation Army has sought to steal any sensitive information that could be used to improve China’s military surveillance and weapons systems.
The Cox Report to Congress dealt with many of those issues. Formally titled, U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China, this partially-classified report was released in January 1999. Despite the concerns outlined in the Cox Report, the situation has only worsened. Even more frightening, is the now undeniable complicity of those within federal, state, and city governments at opening up the U.S. — our economy, our infrastructure, our businesses, and our neighborhoods — to the People’s Republic of China.
Remembering our guardians at the gate
The solemn act of honoring those who have fallen in battle is a custom that seems to have faded in importance to our nation over time.
Nowadays, many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At cemeteries across the country, the graves of the fallen are sadly ignored, and worse, neglected.
While there are towns and cities still planning Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some think the day is for honoring anyone who has died, not just those fallen in service to our country.
Perhaps they do not know how deeply our nation once appreciated those who sacrificed their lives in defense of the principles we hold most dear. Perhaps those very principles of individual sovereignty, freedom and liberty are no longer so important.
It was not always so. In 1868, on May 5th, Memorial Day, originally called “Decoration Day,” was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11.
General Logan asked that we cherish “tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes. Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders.”
But times change. In the 1960s our warriors were not welcomed back from battle with parades and cheers, and the fallen were not honored as they had been in the past.
Perhaps reflecting those times, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed in 1968 as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends – time for fun and recreation, rather than remembrance and reflection.
Thus, from 1971 onwards, the Memorial Day holiday was officially observed on the last Monday in May and became the unofficial start of the summer, with barbecues, blockbuster movie openings and mattress sales.
No less than the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization was later moved to say “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
It was around that time as well that defense spending began a steep decline, and in 1976, for the first time, entitlement spending exceeded defense spending. It is a trend that has rapidly accelerated, with spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid more than double that of national defense, a core constitutional function of government.
Nonetheless, the United States of America still possesses the greatest military force the world has ever known. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen volunteer to protect and defend this country and all its citizens, and do so with honor, integrity and excellence. Our nation continually asks them to do more and more, with less and less.
We must never forget why we have, and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have “guardians at the gate.”
Those who serve today deserve our gratitude, those who are returning from the battlefield deserve our open arms, and those who will never return deserve our thoughts, tributes and remembrance.
In 2000, President Clinton passed a resolution asking all Americans to observe a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 p.m. on each Memorial Day “to remember and reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide freedom for all.” I know what I will be doing at 3 p.m. this Memorial Day. I hope I will not be alone.
For as General Logan proclaimed, “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”
They were steadfast and loyal.
Congressman Allen West is the U.S. representative for Florida’s 22nd congressional district and a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel.
Recovery? Half of American Households Living on Government Benefits
[Townhall.com]
Kate Hicks – Web Editor, Townhall.com
May 26, 2012 12:43 PM EST
Some astoundingly grim news on the “economic recovery” front: half of American households are receiving government funds to support themselves. No matter which way you slice it, this number isn’t good news for the Obama administration — they can spin the jobs numbers by ignoring the number of people who dropped out of the workforce, but this statistic is pretty straightforward.
The 49.1% of the population in a household that gets benefits is up from 30% in the early 1980s and 44.4% as recently as the third quarter of 2008.
The increase in recent years is likely due in large part to the lingering effects of the recession. As of early 2011, 15% of people lived in a household that received food stamps, 26% had someone enrolled in Medicaid and 2% had a member receiving unemployment benefits. Families doubling up to save money or pool expenses also is likely leading to more multigenerational households. But even without the effects of the recession, there would be a larger reliance on government.
The choice is clear: Romney will keep us safer
Barack Obama’s presidency has had profoundly negative consequences for our national security. From debilitating cuts in defense budgets, to gutting national missile defense efforts, to his unwillingness to acknowledge a continuing war against terrorism, to his inability to stem the nuclear proliferation threats posed by North Korea and Iran, to his echo of George McGovern’s 1972 refrain, “come home, America,” the picture is bleak.
Underlying these and many other foreign and defense policy mistakes is a common theme. Obama consistently rejects the ancient doctrine si vis pacem, para bellum: if you want peace, prepare for war. George Washington said almost exactly that in his first annual message to Congress in 1790: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”
CBO warns of US falling off ‘fiscal cliff’
[Townhall.com]
APNews, Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A new government study released Tuesday says that allowing Bush-era tax cuts to expire and a scheduled round of automatic spending cuts to take effect would probably throw the economy into a recession.
The Congressional Budget Office report says that the economy would shrink by 1.3 percent in the first half of next year if the government is allowed to fall off this so-called “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1 _ and that the higher tax rates and more than $100 billion in automatic cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies are kept in place.
There’s common agreement that lawmakers will act either late this year or early next year to head off the dramatic shift in the government’s financial situation. But if they were left in place, CBO says it would wring hundreds of billions of dollars from the budget deficit that would “represent an additional drag on the weak economic expansion.”
CBO projected that the economy would contract by 1.3 percent in the first half of 2013, which would meet the traditional definition of a recession, which is when the economy shrinks for two consecutive quarters. “Such a contraction in output in the first half of 2013 would probably be judged to be a recession,” CBO said.
Socialist-NO; Big Obtrusive Government Advocate-YES
[RebelPundit.com]
On Socialism
A friend who most often sees political issues differently than I recently sent me an excerpt from an article in Daily Finance with the subject line “not bad for a socialist.” The article said Fortune 500 companies’ profits increased 16.4% over last year and exceeded “the roaring economy” of 2006. (Interesting the left was not describing it such in that year’s midterm elections.)
I presume he saw the article as evidence that President Obama is not a socialist. To be clear, I believe it is a mistake to allege Obama is a socialist as it is counter productive. The last generation outputted from the state-controlled school system does not know the meaning of the word. Describing the President as an advocate of big, obtrusive government is descriptive with more impact.
Socialism is defined as an economic system in which the state has ownership or control over the means of production. Control can be acquired through regulation, taxation, public ridicule or other bullying tactics (think Boeing) without ownership (think GM). National Socialists (the real name rather than the acronym) found control more effective than ownership. Without outright ownership a scapegoat is available for politicians to lay blame for problems. Government ownership of BP, in which he was the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, would have hampered Obama’s ability to lay blame on the company for the oil spill.
Protection of chaplains introduced as amendment to defense authorization bill
The House Armed Services Committee will have a chance later this week to consider a measure that would protect freedom of conscience for military chaplains in the wake of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), Chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, introduced an amendment to the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would protect military chaplains and all service members, he said, from “persecution based on their religious beliefs.”
Earlier this month, Human Events wrote about a bill introduced in January by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) that would explicitly allow military chaplains to preach and practice their faith without fear of professional reprisal, following the repeal of a longstanding ban on gay troops serving openly, and reports that chaplains with moral opposition to homosexuality were experiencing pressure to stay silent about their beliefs.
The bill, which would also prohibit base chapels from being used for same-sex marriage services, has picked up four sponsors since the article was published April 30 and now stands at 49, but has languished in committee since January.
Obama in 2006: ‘I’ve Had Enough of Using Terrorism as a Wedge Issue in Our Politics’
[CNSNews.com]
(CNSNews.com) – Speaking in Iowa in 2006, Sen. Barack Obama said, “I’ve had enough of using terrorism as a wedge issue in our politics.” He said the war on terrorism “isn’t supposed to crop up between September and November of even-numbered years.”
But as president, Obama and his reelection campaign have consistently raised the issue — repeatedly referring to a 2007 comment by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to suggest that Romney would not have ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden as Obama did one year ago.
http://cnsnews.com/sites/all/modules/contrib/flowplayer/flowplayer/flowplayer.swf
Obama’s deceptive bodyguard
[DailyCaller.com]
By Neil Munro – The Daily Caller
But his office did lie on Monday for national security reasons.
On Monday evening the White House’s press office distributed a fake Tuesday schedule for the president. The deceptive document went to the White House press corps, and to the many other media outlets and non-media groups that track the president’s schedule.
“In the afternoon, the President and the Vice President will meet with Secretary of Defense [Leon] Panetta in the Oval Office,” said the 6:31 p.m. email, titled “Daily Guidance and press schedule for Tuesday, May 1, 2012.” The guidance also announced that Jay Carney, the president’s press secretary, would give a press briefing at 3 p.m.
GOP Senators renew plea to avoid ‘devastating’ defense cuts
Before departing for a two-week Easter recess Thursday, Republican senators renewed a plea for bipartisan collaboration to avoid a round of crippling budget cuts to the Defense Department.Under an agreement reached last year by legislators on both sides of the aisle, automatic budget cuts to the Defense Department could reduce its funding by $500 billion over the next 10 years–on top of the $487 billion the department has already been ordered to find and slash. The cuts, which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has repeatedly called a “meat ax,” would take effect on Jan. 1 and would create particularly dire financial straits for the department in Fiscal 2013.
Other federal departments, including Education, are expected to take a budget hit under this Budget Control Act requirement, called sequestration, but DoD has received most of the attention on the issue, as it is slated to absorb half of the cuts.
Arizona debate preview: The stakes for the four candidates
When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer parlayed the leverage that she had by threatening to move Arizona’s primary up and cause chaos in the primary calendar to get Arizona a nationally televised GOP debate, she ensured that all eyes would be on her state.
With Mitt Romney struggling in Michigan, Santorum challenging Romney’s front-runner status, Gingrich needing to climb back into the race and Paul being Paul, tonight’s debate will be critical in influencing not only the next three weeks in the GOP primary but perhaps being a determinative debate.
Here are the stakes for the four candidates going into the debate:
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