Tag Archives: War On Terror

International Wiretapping Upheld

In a decision made last August 22, but not reported until now, what the left calls warrantless wiretapping, and the courts call the National Security Agency’s secret eavesdropping program, has been declared constitutional and within the powers given to the president.

The decision marks the first time since the disclosure of the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program three years ago that an appellate court has addressed the constitutionality of the federal government’s wiretapping powers. In validating the government’s wide authority to collect foreign intelligence, it may offer legal credence to the Bush administration’s repeated assertions that the president has the power to act without specific court approval in ordering national security eavesdropping that may involve Americans.

Regardless, Obama has dismantling the most effective tools of the Patriot Act in mind for his first term. A testament to his selections for CIA director and DHS secretary.

To take this tool away is like trying to run a marathon blindfolded. What the left calls warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is this: a call originating from a known terrorist region and coming into the US. Who wants to bet their life that this program hasn’t helped save lives and hasn’t helped to get the bad guys? Will the resentment and refutation of the policies of George W. Bush take precedence over the safety and security of our citizens?

link: Intelligence Court Rules Wiretapping Power Legal

US Blocks UN Statement On Gaza

You’ve seen the media hype all the civilian casualties, women and children, before. In fact, it has become fashionable to report on women and children casualties as a result of war. We see it in our media and everywhere else in the world. We see it in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in Lebanon and the Gaza strip. Not so much in Israel, at the hands of Hamas. Since Israel’s enemy and our enemy choose to use their own families as human shields, women and children casualties are a given. So media, spare me the tears please.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, diplomats said.

With no history nor expectation that Hamas will live at peace and accept the existence of Israel, the US did the right thing at the UN. All the bleeding proportional-response.jpghearts be dammed. That war, as in any war, is not going to end until one side or the other wins it. Or to put it another way, until one side loses it.  ‘Cease fires’ where Islamofascists are concerned is Osama-speak for back up, regroup, re-arm, and attack another day. Not surprisingly, the Useless Nations has no memory of this tact, or Tora Bora, or Sadr City, or Fallujah.

Meanwhile, let the terrorist cleansing begin. It’s called peace through strength, not peace through surrender. And why doesn’t Israel have the same right to self-defense as other nations?

At this point, it is beginning to look like PEBO has his first test coming up shortly. Will he support our ally, or the terrorists and Iran?

links: Diplomats say US blocks UN statement on Gaza | The Jews Face a Double Standard

Time To Save The World

Air America Radio talk show host Mike Papantonio is all about a fossil fuel replacement program, and now a chemical replacement program, because chemicals can be used as a WMD. And, they are produced by big corporations, which by definition makes them almost criminal. So why stop there?

What this country, and the world, needs is a liberal replacement program. Liberal dogma, whether in ‘public’ education, economic principles, and ‘social’ matters, is just as much a weapon of mass destruction as any nuclear bomb and al-Qaeda combined where the United States is concerned.

Bio:Mike Papantonio hosts Ring of Fire, a nationally syndicated radio show on Air America Radio and is the founder of GoLeft.tv. He is a partner in the Levin Papantonio law firm in Pensacola.

link: Chemicals in U.S. might be used as WMD

Inside Mumbai, Was Early Warning Wasted?

Sunil, a resident of Mumbai, has agreed to become a free foreign correspondent for The Lunch Counter. I will be posting whatever updates he may send regarding the current terrorist and security situation in Mumbai. In the interest of full disclosure, Sunil is not a journalist. Neither am I for that matter. I worked with Sunil for seven years in New Jersey in the 90’s. He is a professional person who works in the financial and international shipping industries. His report follows.

Mumbai, Nov. 30, 2008

Well its over in one sense, but the fear in the common man remains. The roads are still comparatively empty as are theaters and cinema halls. Most movies released on Friday had dismal openings. People just don’t seem to be in the mood to indulge in anything entertaining and understandably so.

Also most people we meet seem to think that the actual body count is much more, probably closer to 2000 people, but official figures being quoted are much lower, because of the fear that higher figures would in fact provide motivation to the very wrong people.

There is a combined sense of anger even in the most timmidest common man and the hope that something will be done to stop the training camps and the flow of funds. There is an absolute disbelief as to how they could just walk/sail in to the city carrying so many arms and ammunition and it wasn’t noticed. Well in a sense it was, but heed wasn’t paid.

Listen to this. We have a friend staying around the area where the terrorists had put up and apparently they used to buy chicken from the same source. The terrorists used to ask for LIVE chicken EVERY DAY saying they would kill the chicken themselves. The vendor obviously found something fishy about it so informed a local corporator who informed the local police station, but the question asked by the police officer was what complaint do I write? That there are some people who want to kill chicken?

Not to deride or ridicule anybody in my country right now but just a statement to the effect that change has to come from the top. Apparently the boats were spotted by local fishermen and a letter was sent by their organisation but again no heed was paid.

Writing this mail to you on Sunday evening, when i would normally be out for a movie and dinner.
your foreign correspondent

It seems that Mumbai, India has just had a ‘9/11’ experience of their own. The main difference being, on 9/12 we knew who the perpetrators were and what their motives were. In Mumbai, all that is still unfolding. Even though the casualty count is not as high, the mood of the public is pretty much the same as it was here after 9/11. And no one thinks it is over. As as result of these attacks, India’s equivalent of our Homeland Security cabinet member has resigned.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who has become highly unpopular during a long series of terror attacks across India, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who accepted it, according to the president’s office.

Let’s hope that authorities will pay closer attention to citizens that report unusual behavior like Sunil mentioned. Like Americans have been told over and over, and for good reason, I’m sure the people of India will be similarly advised to keep your eyes open for suspicious behavior. What you see could be instrumental in foiling another attack. In this case, the citizens seem to have done their part, but someone higher up dropped the ball.

President Bush has offered help from the United States. Hopefully that will include cooperation in helping India develop security measures similar to what the Patriot Act has given us, if they’re not there already. The people of India need to also have the confidence that their leadership will leave no stone unturned in getting those responsible and in preventing future attacks. That is one part of Bush’s legacy that, for political reasons he gets no credit for, yet is so well deserved. The terrorists have been on defense ever since he took the fight to them.

It all remains to be seen, by Americans and Indians, just what kind of coordination and cooperation the new Obama administration will provide in that respect. Especially since Obama had run on discontinuing the Patriot Act. All that will depend on whether his skin is tough enough to withstand the heat that will come from his far-left supporters that expect him to abolish the Patriot Act and cancel the War On Terror.

related links: India security chief resigns after Mumbai attacks| Bush, Obama condemn Mumbai attacks, U.S. offers help | Specific intel warnings were ignored

A Glimpse From Inside Mumbai

Was checking up on some friends that live in Mumbai yesterday. Thankfully, they are safe. At least for now. The fact that the situation is still not over is unsettling. But not near as unsettling here as it is to my friends who are there. Sunil (and wife Sheila) writes . . .

Hii Ross!! So good to hear from you. My family and me are all safe, thank god as all this was more localised in South Mumbai and we stay in Central Mumbai. Good thing it wasnt on saturday as Sheila and me were wining and dining there on last saturday. i write this on Friday afternoon my time and its still not over. i feel that for once the people of Mumbai who are normally very resilient are very very shaken.

Praying for your safety and that of your countrymen. That and that the Islamofascist bastards get the justice they deserve.

Iraqi Army Captures alQaida 'Butcher'

The Iraqi Defense Ministry reported the arrest of Riyad Wahab Hassan Falih, deemed one of the most brutal agents of Al Qaida. Falih, along with nine other key alQaida cell commanders, was captured in an underground torture chamber, five others were killed. Most of the anti-Al Qaida operations have been conducted by Iraqi military and security forces.

‘Iraqi forces received intelligence on a very dangerous terrorist known as the number-one butcher who was responsible for a beheading squad that slaughtered innocent people,’ Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said.

Dang, looks like I missed that in the U.S. media too!

Look at the opportunities that the surge created for us in Iraq. It is what it is hoped will happen in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. . .

Over the last six months, Iraqi forces, bolstered by the Sunni-dominated Sahwa auxiliary police, have driven Al Qaida squads out of villages in Diyala. In some villages, the Baghdad government has restored order and established municipal councils to provide services.

‘Sahwa walks hand and hand with the Americans and that’s extremely bad for us,’ a Sunni insurgent in Faluja told the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. ‘There is no doubt we have been weakened. The surge was never the problem. The Americans are not that dangerous. They have the technology, but they don’t know the topography. But we’ve been betrayed by our own brethren.’

You betcha!

link: Al Qaida ‘butcher’ known for beheadings of innocents, captured in Diyala

Farifax County Will Count Military Overseas Ballots

As a follow up to this post, Military Absentee Ballots Rejected In Virginia of 3 days ago, the question of whether those 255 out of 260 ballots received would be counted due to lack of witness addresses, has been resolved. These ballots WILL BE counted.

According to an official at the Fairfax County Registrar’s office today, it was decided yesterday that federal law, which under these circumstances does not require addresses of witnesses, will trump state law that does.

Military Absentee Ballots Rejected In Virginia

Seems like Deja Vu of 2000 on election night down at the Court House, when hundreds of us were chanting ‘count every vote, every vote counts.’ That’s when Democrats sent their lawyers here to deny our military absentee ballots from being counted. Now, Fairfax County, in Virginia is rejecting 98 percent of the absentee ballots they have received, on a technicality that is of no fault of the voter. The ‘voter’ being the ones whose vote should count more than anyone’s, the ones who are actually fighting for that right.

Fairfax County Registrar Rokey Suleman is disqualifying an overwhelming majority of the military federal write-in absentee ballots received in his county on the basis that no address had been given for those witnessing the voter signatures on the ballots.

When asked how many ballots had been rejected, Herrity responded, “Out of the 260 military federal write-in ballots received to date, only five included an address for the witness. The other 255 have been set aside for rejection.”

The instructions say this in STEP 1:

Block 6: Provide any information that may assist the local election official in accepting this ballot or application.

Block 7: Sign and date in the presence of a witness. The witness must sign and date the form.

Then, STEP 2 of the instructions say to put the ballot into the security envelope. STEP 3, Submission Options describe where to mail the envelope.

Only in STEP 4 is there a mention about requiring the address of the witness, which says it was supposed to be put in block 6, which is actually part of STEP 1.

STEP 4: Follow-up

* Check the “Important Dates” section at the top of this page for deadlines.
* Registered Virginia voters can use the FWAB simultaneously as an absentee ballot request and ballot for Federal offices as long as it is received 5 days before the election. The FWAB Declaration/Affirmation must contain the residence address where the voter is registered in Virginia, the voter’s current military or overseas address, and the voter’s and witness’ signature and date. The witness must provide his or her printed name and address in Block 6.
* If you receive your state absentee ballot after submitting your Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, fill it out and return it. The state absentee ballot will be counted instead of the back-up ballot if it’s received in time.

If you use just a little common sense here, chances are good that the witness is not a resident of Fairfax County, or of the State of Virginia. Their current address is in the war zone. Are county officials going to call or write them to verify that the address they gave is correct? Would it not be logical to assume that they are not looking for witness’s war zone addresses?

I wonder if those instructions were written by the genius in Palm Beach County that made the butterfly ballot in 2000? Nevertheless, the instructions were misleading at the very least. Especially considering the ‘voters’ are in a war zone conducting the war and their ballots were not created by ACORN. Those ballots, all of them, should be counted.

links: Military Ballots Being Rejected in Virginia | Federal Voting Assistance Program

Barack Trumped Already, Iran Has Two Preconditions

Well isn’t this just too rich? Iran has two preconditions of its own before it will engage in any talks with the United States.

  1. Get all our troops out of the Middle East
  2. End our support of Israel.

Well, I’d say that presents quite a challenge to the Democratic presidential candidate, who has already capitulated to Iran by saying that he would meet with Iran without preconditions.

Are we still believing that Obama is ready to lead? Yeah, right after he telegraphs an invasion into Pakistan. Are we feeling any safer now?

It also, btw, is not being reported by the mainstream media.

h/t LGF

related links: FARS News Agency | alJazeera

Taliban Hurting, Let's Party

24 dead terrorists for one fake flag ain't a bad deal.
24 dead terrorists for one fake flag.

Here is a headline that will get your attention, from al-AP, Taliban said to be furious over US missile strike.

From the

, dateline DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan

The Taliban are furious about the latest apparent U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said Sunday.

My only wish is that we could see the dead leader hanging from a bridge. Even if it is only pieces of him scraped off of the ground and inside a garbage bag. These Islamofascists have a lot of nerve to be furious when they get blown up. That’s what war is all about. Isn’t that right Associated Press?