FBI director defends surveillance programs, says 9/11 could have been prevented
[FoxNews.com]
Published June 13, 2013
Feb. 2, 2012: FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Following revelations about the federal government’s surveillance programs, FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the government’s collection of millions of U.S. phone records, emails and other information that people transmit online as vital to the nation’s national security. Mueller told a House Judiciary panel Thursday that law enforcement must stay “a step ahead of criminals and terrorists” while still heeding Americans’ civil liberties.
Early in the hearing, Mueller tried to make the case for the National Security Agency surveillance programs and said that law enforcement “must stay a step ahead of criminals and terrorists” while still heeding the civil liberties of Americans.
Mueller, who is stepping down from his post in September, says that if the metadata collection program had been in place before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, they would have identified one of the 9/11 hijackers in San Diego and most likely derailed the plot.
Issa looks to call back IRS official who refused to testify, says she voided 5th Amendment right
[FoxNews.com]
Published May 23, 2013
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa declared Thursday that the embattled IRS official who refused to testify Wednesday had no right to do so, and is now looking to haul her back before his committee.
Though Issa dismissed her from the hearing room, he questioned at the time whether she had waived her rights by delivering the statement. A spokesman told Fox News on Thursday that Issa had reached a decision.
“After consulting with counsel, Chairman Issa has concluded that Ms. Lerner’s 5th amendment assertion is no longer valid,” spokesman Ali Ahmad said. “She remains under subpoena, the Committee is looking at recalling her for testimony.”
Issa, citing the concerns over Lerner’s comments, never actually adjourned the hearing — where other current and former Treasury and IRS officials testified. He only called it into recess. The thinking among Republicans is that they can still call her back to testify.
Kerry Pledges to ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’ on Benghazi Culpability
[CNSNews.com]
Subscribe to Patrick Goodenough RSS
(CNSNews.com) – Amid potentially damaging new revelations about the State Department’s early assessments regarding attribution for the Benghazi consulate attack, Secretary of State John Kerry pledged Thursday that if any disciplinary action is found to be necessary, he will ensure it happens.“I am absolutely determined that this issue will be answered, will be put to bed, and if there’s any culpability in any area that is appropriate to be handled in some way with some discipline, it will be appropriately handled,” he told reporters in Rome as he wrapped up a four-day foreign trip.
“But that judgment awaits me in a report that will be forthcoming, and I’m confident that any recent evidence will be a component of that consideration.”
Responding to questions about claims made during Wednesday’s congressional hearing on Benghazi, Kerry said, “The State Department will leave no stone unturned.”
“I’ve already made it crystal clear to the chairmen of the relevant [congressional] committees that I have assigned my chief of staff, David Wade, to be responsible for liaisoning with them to answer any questions that they have.”
Kerry said he had only “seen the most cursory headlines” about the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing and said he would need to get back to the U.S. before he could “catch up to the full measure of what took place.”
State Dept. Won’t Say Its Own Officials Set to Testify on Benghazi Are ‘Credible People’
[CNSNews.com]
May 6, 2013
By Penny Starr
The burnt-out interior of a building at the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hannon)
(CNSNews.com) – When asked at a press briefing on Monday to say that two State Department officials set to testify in Congress on Wednesday about the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi are “credible people,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell would not do it.
The two officials are Greg Hicks, who was the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, and Mark Thompson, who was the deputy coordinator for operations in the department’s counter-terrorism division.
“Before we get to the specifics of what they’re expected to testify, I wonder if you could provide us with your assessment of the caliber of these two individuals,” James Rosen of Fox News asked Ventrell. “Are they credible? They’ve been working at fairly senior posts here and abroad for years and years. I wonder first what thoughts the Department has about the caliber of these two individuals.”
Why did no one object to the “Pentagon mosque”?
[Salon.com]
Muslims have been praying inside the Pentagon since Sept. 11 but right-wingers have been strangely silent
[Separation of Church and State in a Military Complex like the Pentagon? What's wrong with this picture?]
Navy imam Chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam lifted his voice to God as he called to prayer more than 100 Department of Defense employees Monday at a celebration of Ramadan at the Pentagon.
God is most great, sang the lieutenant commander and Islamic leader, in Arabic, as iftar — the end of the daily fast began.
Uniformed military personnel, civilians and family members faced Mecca and knelt on adorned prayer rugs chanting their prayers in quiet invocation to Allah.
The “ground zero mosque” story seems to be dying down, but nothing lays bare the absurdity of what we’ve just lived through quite so much as this Washington Times story, quoted above, from 2007.
Yes, Muslims have infiltrated the Pentagon for their nefarious, prayerful purposes — daring to practice their religion inside the building where 184 people died on Sept. 11, 2001. They haven’t even had the sensitivity to move two blocks, let alone a mile, away from that sacred site.
The “desecration” began shockingly soon after the attacks. Cox reported in October 2001:
Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More Justin Elliott.
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.”
Photos Show ‘Persons of Interest’ in Boston Marathon Bombings
[Newsmax.com]
April 18, 2013
The FBI is now sharing the photos with the public but the New York Post ran several photos that they linked to the investigation Thursday.
In the photos being distributed by law-enforcement officials, one of the men is carrying a blue duffel bag. The other is wearing a black backpack in the first photo, taken at 10:53 a.m., but it is not visible in the second, taken at 12:30 p.m, the Post reported.
“The attached photos are being circulated in an attempt to identify the individuals highlighted therein,” said an e-mail obtained by The Post. “Feel free to pass this around to any of your fellow agents elsewhere.”
Authorities know the names of the two men, but do not have enough evidence to make an arrest for Monday’s attack, which killed three and wounded 176, sources told the Post.
Fox said a reporter for the network had seen the photos and called them “clear.”
Bill Maher: ‘The Second Amendment Is Bulls—t!’
[Newsbusters.org]
By Noel Sheppard | April 13, 2013 | 12:43
HBO’s Bill Maher made a statement Friday that should deeply concern all Americans.
During the panel discussion segment of his Real Time program, he said to loud applause from the audience, “The Second Amendment is bulls—t!” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BILL MAHER: This is the problem with the gun debate is that it’s a constant center-right debate. There’s no left in this debate. Everyone on the left is so afraid to say what should be said which is the Second Amendment is bulls—t. Why doesn’t anyone go at the core of it?
In reality, the audience applause as well as his panelists – which included sportscaster Bob Costas, former Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, and former Reagan OMB director David Stockman – all appearing to agree with Maher is even more horrifying.
Welcome to the American left, ladies and gentlemen.
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.
Is The U.S. Funding Syrian Revolution Or Future Terror Attacks?
[PersonalLiberty.com]
March 4, 2013 by Sam Rolley
Since 2010, when the upheaval in the Mideast dubbed the Arab Spring began, the United States has been the friend of rebels seeking regime change in countries throughout the region. In some cases, that meant providing weapons to rebels as well as reportedly conducting clandestine U.S. military operations.
In recent months, evidence emerged that al-Qaida has taken advantage of the U.S.-backed chaos in the Mideast and North Africa to gain allegiance in the aftermath of regime changes. When the Arab Spring initially began, al-Qaida was believed to be strongest in Pakistan. But policy analysts point to the rash of violent protests at U.S. embassies in Cairo and in Yemen and the attack that took the life of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, as evidence of a proliferation of al-Qaida-initiated terror.
Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States was prepared to provide $60 million in aid to opposition groups working to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. That money will be in addition to $50 million already provided to the rebels to help them organize, as well as $385 million distributed to Syria and neighboring countries for humanitarian relief.
U.S. officials are reluctant to arm Syria’s rebels; the influx of monetary aid comes at a time when the United States and other outside nations have lost leverage over the Syrian opposition forces and radical Islamist groups like al-Qaida are gaining support among the rebel fighters. There is concern from some that the aid money could be making its way into the hands of terror groups.
A NATO researcher explained last week why the growing al-Qaida presence is cause for concern, saying Syria’s uncertain future could make it a top al-Qaida stronghold.
“It’s now clear that Syria is not undergoing a violent transition from one regime to another,” noted NATO researcher Jean-Loup Samaan. “In fact, the country is enduring a process of disintegration of its state structures. Planners for a post-Assad Syria are no longer eyeing the potential successors of Assad but [are looking] at the bewildering landscape of non-state actors that fight each other over the conquest of what will be eventually left of the Syrian state.”
Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Massoud Jazayeri urged U.S. officials to rethink support of Syrian opposition forces earlier this month, warning that terror groups have gained heavy control of opposition forces. He warned that the al-Qaida mission, such as it is, will lead to the armed rebels continuing their terrorist activities in the other countries, including the West, in the near future.
“The al-Qaida groups and those services which conduct their operations in line with the U.S. interests will soon change track of their operations to other places and they will cause new troubles for the U.S. and Europe henceforth,” Jazayeri said.
Feds admit: Gun laws won’t slow crime
[WND.com] EXCLUSIVE
February 19, 2013
By Garth Kant
Department of Justice report undermines bans
A study by the Department of Justice’s research wing, the National Institute of Justice, has the feds admitting that so-called “assault weapons” are not a major contributor to gun crime.
“The existing stock of assault weapons is large, undercutting the effectiveness of bans with exemptions,” it said. “Therefore a complete elimination of assault weapons would not have a large impact on gun homicides.” The report finds no significant link between “assault weapons” and murders.
White House [Obama aids] walks back leaked immigration plan amid GOP outrage
[FoxNews.com]
Published February 18, 2013
President Obama’s advisers tried to put the genie back in the bottle after a leaked White House immigration plan drew outrage from Republicans who accused the president of endangering the reform push.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key figure in immigration reform talks, was among those who slammed the president for the plan. After what was described as a draft White House proposal was first leaked in USA Today, Rubio said over the weekend it would be “dead on arrival in Congress.”
By Monday, Obama insiders were walking the plan back and suggesting the leak was not intentional.
One White House official told Fox News they were “surprised” that the “draft” language was given to the press and thought the publication was “unfortunate.”
“This was not the administration floating anything,” the official said, adding that the White House reached out to Senate offices Saturday evening to stress their support for ongoing congressional talks.
EXCLUSIVE — Soros-Backed Attack Dog Expands War on Fox
[Breitbart.com]
by Capitol Confidential 21 Dec 2012, 7:31 AM PDT
“Gabe Sherman is Jayson Blair on steroids.” That’s one tough assessment of Gabriel Sherman, the over-eager reporter and from-a-great-distance biographer of Roger Ailes. Who said it? A well-placed source close to Fox News. And the source makes a very strong case.
Jayson Blair, of course, was the serially dishonest reporter for The New York Times who was fired, finally, in 2003.
Today, in the opinion of many, Sherman is following in Blair’s disastrous and disgraced footsteps. On December 17, under the headline, “Rupert Murdoch Wants Stricter Gun Laws After Newtown, But Fox News Doesn’t Get the Memo,” Sherman falsely claimed that Fox News had put out an “edict” against discussions of gun control in the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting. The next day, Sherman’s claim was knocked down here at Breitbart.com, among other news outfits.
Now, having been nailed for his incorrect story, Sherman is currently scrambling to save his reputation by enlisting his Fox-phobic allies in the MSM.
Brian Terry family sues officials over Fast and Furious
[Politico.com]
PHOENIX — The family of a slain Border Patrol agent has sued federal officials over the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation.
Agent Brian Terry was mortally wounded on Dec. 14, 2010, in a firefight north of the Arizona-Mexico border between border agents and five men who had sneaked into the country to rob marijuana smugglers.
Two assault rifles acquired by a straw buyer for the gun smuggling ring targeted in the “Fast and Furious” operation were found in the aftermath of the shootout near Nogales.
Federal authorities conducting “Fast and Furious” have faced tough criticism for allowing suspected straw gun buyers for the ring to walk away from gun shops in Arizona with weapons, rather than arrest them and seize weapons.
The investigation was launched in 2009 to catch trafficking kingpins, but agents lost track of about 1,400 of the more than 2,000 weapons involved.
(more…)
NYT: Arms Shipments ‘Secretly’ Approved by Obama Ended Up in Hands of Islamic Militants
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on December 5, 2012 at 10:10pm by
Jason Howerton
Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 11, (Credit: AP)
The Obama administration “secretly” approved arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, however, U.S. officials quickly became concerned as evidence suggested Qatar was handing the weapons over to Islamic militants, The New York Times reports, citing a number of United States officials and foreign diplomats.
There is no evidence available that suggests the U.S.-approved weapons were involved in the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, which left four Americans dead on Sept. 11. But the revelation is sure to ignite speculation.
More from The New York Times:
But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government. The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from other countries.
What laser capability did Benghazi team have?
[FoxNews.com]
By Jennifer Griffin
CWN Posted: November 06, 2012
Has Libya attack become ‘politicized’?
Senior retired military officer wants answers on…
Sources who have debriefed the team that was at the CIA annex the night of the attack in Benghazi say that the CIA operators from the Global Response Staff, or GRS, were equipped with Mark 48 machine guns and had two types of laser capability. Each weapon had both a “passive” as well as a “visible” laser that could be used against the Libyan attackers.
The presence of laser capability on the roof of the CIA annex confirms what Fox News sources that night in Benghazi originally said, which is that they had laser capability and for 5 hours and 15 minutes were wondering where the usual overhead air support was, especially since, according to this source, they radioed from the annex beginning as early as midnight asking for it.
The presence of lasers raises more questions about why air support was not sent to Benghazi even protectively once it became clear that the fighting had followed the CIA rescue team back to the annex.
U.S. military officials say they “thought the fighting was over” after the team left the consulate and that there was a lull in the fighting.
Shock poll: Obama could lose Illinois, Romney leads in Chicago suburbs
[DailyCaller.com]
Political Reporter
President Barack Obama could lose his home state of Illinois in November, a new poll shows.
A poll conducted by Illinois-based pollster and political strategist Michael McKeon found Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 37 percent in Cook County, the home of Chicago. That puts him ahead by a far thinner margin than expected in a county he should be winning handsomely.
Cook is the most Democratic leaning county in the state. It is also the most populous.
Those numbers do not bode well for the president.
“He has to come out of Cook County with a big lead or he’s gonna have problems downstate,” explained McKeon, who said that based on the numbers he had seen, Obama polled only in the forties in downstate Illinois.
‘Politics of insult’ alive and well despite Obama’s 2008 lament
[FoxNews.com]
Published October 29, 2012
Four years ago, then-candidate Barack Obama decried what he described as [childish lies and] “the politics of insult.”
“You don’t deserve a bunch of name-calling,” he told a Virginia crowd in the summer of 2008. “You don’t deserve a bunch of mudslinging.”
But lately, there have been more than a few insults flying on the 2012 campaign trail. Whether it’s with cute turns of phrase like “Romnesia” or more serious invective, the president’s campaign has gotten increasingly aggressive over the last few weeks in its denunciation of Mitt Romney.
The tone likely reflects the polls, which have been tightening ever since the Republican nominee’s opening debate performance. Whatever the reason, it’s evident that the “politics of insult” have not faded.
The following were overheard on the 2012 campaign trail:
“Bullsh–ter”
The president took a rip at Romney after a recent interview with Rolling Stone. In the article, published over the weekend, writer and historian Douglas Brinkley said that editor Eric Bates told the president that when he asked his six-year-old daughter if she wanted to say anything to Obama, she said: “Tell him: You can do it.”
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.
Which Obama Debate Gaffe Does Krauthammer Think Might ‘Cost the President Dearly’
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on October 19, 2012 by
Jason Howerton
HEMPSTEAD, NY – OCTOBER 16: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question during a town hall style debate at Hofstra University October 16, 2012 in Hempstead, New York. During the second of three presidential debates, the candidates fielded questions from audience members on a wide variety of issues. (Credit: Getty Images)
While many scored Tuesday night’s contentious presidential debate as a draw, or as a narrow victory for one of the candidates, Washington post columnist Charles Krauthammer thinks President Barack Obama made a gaffe — and a big one. One that will cost him dearly in the final debate on Monday.
In his Thursday column in the Washington Post, Krauthammer predicts this line from the president will come back to haunt him:
“And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.”
American Crossroads Ad Appeals to Women’s Brains and Pocketbooks, Not “Ladyparts”
[Townhall.com]
October 17, 2012 02:49 PM EST
Political Editor, Townhall.com
Rattled by recent polling showing Mitt Romney drawing roughly even with President Obama among female voters, Democrats are making yet another hard play over “ladyparts.” American Crossroads is answering back with an ad blitz of their own, also targeting women. It seems conservatives view women as more than just uteruses. Weird, right?
This spot — which focuses on spending and debt — has $11 million behind it, and will air in swing states:
White House reportedly preps strike team to take out terrorists tied to Libya attack
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published October 15, 2012
WASHINGTON – The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali — if investigators can find the Al Qaeda-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.
But officials say the administration, with weeks until the presidential election, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on Al Qaeda is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group’s profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.
Details on the administration’s position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.
The dilemma shows the tension of the White House’s need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to Al Qaeda, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.
Vice President Joe Biden pledged in his debate last week with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to find those responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.
Obama Skirts Another Executive Duty To Pander to ‘The View’
[Newsbusters.org]
{OBAMA: MIA}
By Matt Vespa
September 24, 2012
In the wake of a rather tragic and tumultuous events regarding American foreign policy in the Middle East, President Barack Obama plans to forego the opportunity for a one-on-one meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the UN this week. The reason is simple. It just could not wait. The president needed to have a sit down with Barbara Walters and the rest of gals at The View.
Guy Benson at Townhall reported today on this development and cited Thomson Reuters and The Associated Press, no right-wing rags by any stretch, who are equally puzzled by this move by the president. From AP:
This Is a Recap of Mass Islamist Protests Against the U.S. Over Anti-Islam Film
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on September 14, 2012 at 11:34am by
Billy Hallowell
Protests in Tunisia (Photo Credit: AP)
Monitoring the massive protests that continue to spread to various cities and localities in the Middle East is a tough task, as the response continues to grow exponentially. Islamists and others who find themselves immensely offended over a now-infamous anti-Muslim film have taken to the streets to target U.S. interests and defend their faith, sometimes using violent means to do so.
TUNISIA
On Friday, protests in the Middle East hit Tunis, Tunisia, where a large cloud of black smoke has risen around the U.S. embassy there. Outside the building, protesters are throwing stones, as police attempt to stop the activity unfolding.
Thousands of demonstrators massed outside the embassy and several were seen climbing the outer wall of the embassy grounds and raising a flag on which was written the Muslim profession of faith, an Associated Press reporter on the scene says. ”There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet,” the flag purportedly read.
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