Category Archives: War On Terror

Media, War On Terror

Obama Recognizes 'Mistakes' Of CIA

Visiting the CIA today in Langley, Virginia, President Obama came to justify to them why he released documents relating to interrogation techniques to the media, and al-Qaeda.

If you were under the impression that those interrogation techniques played a part in keeping us safe these last eight years, then you are mistaken. According to the President, that was a mistake.

Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge that potentially we’ve made some mistakes. That’s how we learn. But the fact that we are willing to acknowledge them and then move forward, that is precisely why I am proud to be president of the United States and that’s why you should be proud to be members of the CIA.


You’re not really mistaken. They did play a role in keeping us safe. That fact is not even debatable. What the President is saying is that he will not protect us as vigorously as his predecessor did. Does that make you feel warm and fuzzy, and secure?

link: Obama reaffirms support for CIA

Iran, War On Terror

The Good Guys Win In Iraq

Good news for Prime Minister al-Maliki and the people of Iraq. They won over the terrorists, the militias, and those who would want Iraq to return to some sort of autonomous Shiite enclave in Iraq led by the Supreme Council. Much to the disappointment of Mookie alSadr and Iran.

Some forecasts point to widespread losses for the party across the main Shiite provinces. The blows could include embarrassing stumbles in the key city of Basra and the spiritual center of Najaf – hailed as the future capital in the Supreme Council’s dreams for an autonomous Shiite enclave.

link: Iraqi election hints of troubles for Shiite giant | Maliki and Secular Parties Show Big Gains in Iraq

Politics, War On Terror

Obama Praises Iraqis On Elections

No criticism from here on this. Election day in Iraq goes peacefully in the first election under total Iraqi control.  This is part of ‘the plan’ you know.  President Obama rightly praises the Iraqi people. What? He forgot to mention  his troops and their families and Gen. Betraeus, all of whom also made this day in Iraq possible. Whether it was a tactical omission (so as not to offend Iraqis his base) or one born of inexperience remains to be seen. If we don’t soon see some praise for our troops for this then we will know which it was.

Obama said . . .

“Millions of Iraqi citizens from every ethnic and religious group went peacefully to the polls across the country to choose new provincial councils,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House. “It is important that the councils get seated, select new governors and begin work on behalf of the Iraqi people who elected them.”

Obama also noted that the U.S. provided technical assistance to the Iraqi electoral commission, as did the U.N. and other international groups.

Gen. David Petraeus . . .

who heads the U.S. Central Command, praised the Iraqi government for its efforts in making the elections “an event of which all Iraqis should be proud and an effort the world should applaud.”

Not only should the world (I’d settle for the UN) applaud Iraq’s election day, but a free Iraq will serve as an example of what a free people can do for themselves and their economy. Also part of the plan.

link: Obama praises Iraqis on provincial elections

Politics, War On Terror

President Obama's First Rash Decision

No, I’m not going to begin counting them. But President Obama’s decision to close Club Gitmo, Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta, the tropical resort where the world’s worst terrorists are being held, without first deciding what he plans to do with them is putting the cart before the horse. Sound like good judgment to you? Of course not.

His decision to close Gitmo within 12 months had more to do with political expediency than national security. Clearly, pacifying his far left base is more important to him. Either that, or he is more incompetent as a Commander in Chief than anyone has imagined. You can decide which, and there is no good answer.

Letting them go, or affording them the same Constitutional protections as U.S. citizens, which would end with the same result, so that they can again take up arms against us  does not make me feel safer. It does, however, make terrorists feel safer. Prisoner #372 probably likes the idea.

Cairo, Egypt: An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Yemen says the group’s No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee.

link: Report: Ex-Gitmo detainee joins al-Qaida in Yemen

War On Terror

Thank You President Bush

For all the ways that President Bush has stuck it to conservatives like myself in the last eight years (government spending, bigger government, lost veto pen), there remains a couple things he did right, and I hope his successor carries forward. He kept us safe to the extent that our enemy has been on defense and we have been on offense. He did not yield to his anti-war critics which has allowed us 7 years of safety at home by doing what was necessary (Patriot Act) against an enemy like no other we have ever faced.

Bobby Eberle at The Loft puts it in perspective in I’ll Never Forget Sept. 20, 2001.

Makes one wonder what could have or would have happened in the US had the war on terror not usurped his presidency. Nothing could be worse, however, than to forget that we are in a war.

Judiciary, 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

Iran, Media, Politics, United Nations, War On Terror

US Blocks UN Statement On Gaza

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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

MRIOTD, Pensacola, Politics, War On Terror

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

War On Terror

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

War On Terror

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.