CIA and Dick Cheney Assassinations

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

Democrats in Congress are outraged that the Pentagon and CIA were developing a plan to "assassinate" al Qaeda in Iraq. The assassination teams would be CIA personnel, and not U.S. Military. Especially heinous to Congress is that the Pentagon did not brief appropriate Congressional members about the incomplete and unimplemented plan.

CIA

Americans are no longer shocked to hear that we have not always targeted all al Qaeda members, including leaders...especially leaders...since the war began after 9-11. We are no longer shocked at much we hear, because doing what makes no sense is exactly what Congress always does. Nevertheless, while not shocked, we are surprised, and along with our surprise comes puzzlement. Why would we need a secret program, even assuming Congress is briefed, to kill top al-Qaeda members?

Targeted killing of terrorists is prohibited by presidential orders banning assassinations that date back to the Ford administration. But the president can waive that order, said Vicki Divoll, a former CIA counsel, because there is no specific federal law that bans the practice.

There's also no legal difference, she said, between killing al Qaeda targets with a hit team or with an unmanned drone, because the "intent to kill a targeted person" defines an assassination.

The "air strikes" are what made this never-implemented plan different. According to officials, it was okay to target and kill al Qadea with air strikes, but not okay to target and kill al Qaeda "at close range," - what might include hand-to-hand combat. Killing "at close range" might risk "civilian casualties." For now, the CIA will have to be satisfied with Predator Drones - except that Congress can't keep it's mouth shut about them either. While Pakistan recently complained about Predator drones taking off and landing inside their borders, officials assured Pakistan that only surveillance drones are used inside the country, not the Predator which is capable of launching missiles.

Privately, though, Pakistani officials doubt that claim, especially after the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Diane Feinstein, (D-CA), suggested 10 days ago that the CIA Predator drones do indeed use Pakistani airfields and not necessarily Afghan airfields, as most assume.

According to an anonymous source at the CIA, Dick Cheney directed the agency not to inform Congress of the specifics of the secret program.

Panetta told the committees there was no indication that there was anything illegal or inappropriate about the effort itself, the official said.

CIA directors since 2001 agreed with Cheney's decision not to inform Congress because the highly classified operation, described as "sporadic" and "embryonic," never managed to turn up the intelligence needed to carry out a kill and was not considered a covert operation, according to a former intelligence official. That official also was not authorized to discuss the program and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Congress has a right to know everything the CIA does, but the president can by law limit those told about covert operations to just the top four members of the House and Senate from the two parties and the senior members of the intelligence committees. Democrats on the House intelligence committee are pushing for a legal provision that would require the president to brief both committees in their entirety more often, but the White House has threatened to veto the move.

DefenseTech.org reminds us of Sandi Berger letting Osama bin Laden escape in Afghanistan, rather than chance civilian casualties: Doesn't this sort of smack of Sandi Berger-esque national security policy?

We know from the 9-11 commission report that Berger got cold feet when he had bin Laden in his sights for a proxy raid in Afghanistan because he was afraid of collateral damage and blowback. Now some of the same national security policy minds are back in the driver's seat so we can cancel a program to kill bad guys using CIA assets.

Here is the directive for how and when the CIA program would have been implemented:

Had it become fully developed, the CIA's aborted plan would have been a covert-action program. At the outset, the potential operation wouldn't have been limited to particular countries. The use of hit teams was in accordance with the authority granted by the 2001 order, said a former national-security official familiar with it.

In the most recent iteration of the project, top CIA leaders instructed officers involved to narrow its focus and report the plans to Congress if they reached a critical point where moving forward would involve activities that, if discovered, could embarrass the U.S., according to a former senior intelligence official.

Among all the punditry on this subject, we've heard little to nothing about the distinction between targeting for air strikes or targeting for "close contact," but surprisingly to me, there is a U.S policy prohibiting the "assassination" of anyone, not just heads of State!

Targeted killing of terrorists is prohibited by presidential orders banning assassinations that date back to the Ford administration. But the president can waive that order, said Vicki Divoll, a former CIA counsel, because there is no specific federal law that bans the practice.

There's also no legal difference, she said, between killing al Qaeda targets with a hit team or with an unmanned drone, because the "intent to kill a targeted person" defines an assassination.

However, that is not the end of the story. The rest of the story involves the Joint special Operations Command (JSOC). The JSOC is a somewhat secret branch of the U.S. Special Operations Command. The Special Operations Command is made-up of "special mission units." Among these units are the Delta Force and Seal Team Six. During the Iraq War other elite groups were known as "Grey Fox," "Capacity Gear" and "Titrant Ranger."

Pulitzer Prize winning investigating "journalist," Sy Hersh has charged that during the Bush-Cheney years the JSOC reported directly to Dick Cheney and no one else. He termed it an "executive assassination ring." The New York Times columnist didn't make the accusations in the NYT, but from podiums on college campuses, at the ACLU and public radio. New York Magazine writer Chris Suellentrop calls Hersh "the runaway mouth of America's premier investigative journalist."Bill Roggio writing for the Weekly Standard Blog says the Hersh claims that the JSOC reports to no one, or only to Cheney during the Bush-Cheney years, is false; they report to the Secretary of Defense and also falls under congressional oversight.

From Marc Ambinder:

JSOC units are very active in Iraq and Afghanistan; in those countries, since the U.S. is formally at war, their conduct can't really be analogized to an extra-legal hit squad....What's objectionable, in theory, is that the President can designate anyone as a terrorist and task JSOC with finding and executing them -- even if the person is not living in the war theatre and has never been charged with a crime. In practice, that's what presidents from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton have believed (the following from a 2001 report).

Senior intelligence officials confirm that a secret finding recently signed by President Bush, building on an earlier one by President Clinton, grant the CIA legal authority to conduct assassination operations against individuals designated as terrorists. As a result, the CIA is devising strategy and policy to that end, and is developing assets for assassinations within both the CIA and "uniformed military units," as well as foreign agents in Middle Eastern countries.

The outrage is likely a convenient smoke screen designed to take the focus off of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusation that the CIA "lies all the time." Target Dick Cheney's so-called assassination plots and the Dems might think they have a winner. Complain that the CIA targets al Qaeda and the Dems might think they have a winner...but maybe not. Just maybe we expect Congress to support every tactic possible to win these wars

Pull The Troops Out...Iraqis Are Stealing Water

~Snooper~

OK. So this is what the NYT has been reduced to...desperation. I can just hear them in their little meetings; "My [g]od! Isn't there SOME bad news we can report on in Iraq. I mean, like, damn! We look like fools being on the wrong side of the Iraq War, under the direction of that idiot Pelosi and that worm Reid!"

Naturally, the above "conversation" is completely made up by me. But, it is funny just the same. But, seriously, the headline in the NYT is, well, "Rather" peculiar to say the least. And, it is Front Page News! Good Lord. Oh. Wait. That should be good [l]ord, shouldn't it?

Nonstop Theft and Bribery Are Staggering Iraq

So, it is going on 24-7-365? It never stops? Does the NYT have someone there watching? If so, why haven't they told someone...before now? The NYT cracks me up. Maybe they should just merge with Kimberley Clark and get it over with...toilet paper we can read.

In the picture, there is a masked lad holding his hand out, holding a gun. Oh. Wait. That isn't a gun, is it? AHA! I KNEW I've seen that "weapon" before. It is a spray nozzle on the end of a hose of some sort. And, he is cleaning his outstretched hand! RUN FOR COVER!!

Jobless men pay $500 bribes to join the police. Families build houses illegally on government land, carwashes steal water from public pipes, and nearly everything the government buys or sells can now be found on the black market. [...]

LOCK THE DOORS! THINGS ARE RETURNING TO SOME KIND OF NORMALCY!

Like there isn't a Black Market anywhere else in the world?

[...] "Everyone is stealing from the state," said Adel Adel al-Subihawi, a prominent Shiite tribal leader in Sadr City, throwing up his hands in disgust. "It's a very large meal, and everyone wants to eat." [...]

As opposed to what once was...death, rape, murder, starvation, getting gassed...you know, all that fun stuff. I wonder if they were really reporting on someplace like West Philly?

This story in the NYT is a sure sign that we have won this war. I know, it isn't over yet and there is quite a bit left to do like finishing it and all but, Judas Priest! If this is what the Great and Vaunted NYT has been reduced to, what does that say?

I guess the Food For Oil scandal is on the same par as this story. I don't recall the NYT getting in too much of a huff over it.

Naturally, we will hear from the flakes at FireDumpPond.

Catch the wave at memeorandum...

Check out Don Surbers' take here...

A dingbat rambles here...

The Democrats Lied and Many Died

~Snooper~

I often wonder how the Leftinistra in this country we call The United States can sleep at night or, whenever, knowing in their hearts that their blatant BDS driven hatred for the military is getting our people in this country's uniform killed and wounded by their actions or, inactions. Is political standing and stature really that overwhelmingly important to them that they are directly responsible for the deaths and wounding of our troops by emboldening our enemy? Don't they realize that all the enemy is doing at the moment is waiting for the Democratic Party Leadership to win?

Why is it, that right at this very moment, when and, as we are winning this War In Iraq, they choose to pull the funds? The only explanation, both plausible and viable, is political expediency. How dare they. And, why are we tolerating this pathetic temper tantrum of theirs?

When we have reports such as this flowing into the news rooms across the globe, why are they being ignored? And, on the verge of Victory, our pathetic Democratic Party Leaders are just plain childishly wrong.

DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL SHENANIGANS CAUSES MORE US SOLDIERS TO DIE! Because democrats are choosing to delay funding to the troops at war more US soldiers will die!

[...] Politics is one thing, but politics that cause US military men and women to die is something completely reprehensible. This is an outrage! [...]

Like my Mother used to tell me when I did something dumb like this, "Are you happy now?" I know what my Mother would say to Christopher Dodd, a Presidential Aspirant..."Bugger off you bloody twit!". Check out Gateway Pundit's place for some amazing success numbers and related data.

[...] The poor democrats have got themselves in a pickle. Even The Washington Post admits that the situation in Iraq is improving. But, Democrats just can't see the obvious improvements. They are too blinded by their defeatism.

It goes deeper than this. The current pathetic inactions to fund the war to Victory is their last ditch effort to win in '08. They feel compelled to make amends to their base that they have lied to to get into power and a good shot at the White House back in '06. If they fail now, they are finished for a very long time. No one honors or respects empty shirts and empty promises. Especially the kind undeliverable.

Flopping Aces has said, "At least they are being honest."

[...] Why do the right thing when you can do the thing that will get you re-elected instead?

The surge is working, the Iraqi's are fighting back against al-Qaeda, the parties inside Iraq are starting to work together, violence and deaths are down, and our troops are beginning to come home. [...]

In the NYT the other day, we find this:

[...] Democratic lawmakers and strategists on Capitol Hill said their hope was that even if Republican support for Mr. Bush's strategy held firm, voters would reward Democrats for their efforts at the polls next November, and that there was no risk to failing again and again. [...]

Simply amazing and unconscionable. They think that the American People will reward them for being directly responsible for the deaths and wounds of our men and women in uniform. What kind of a demented mind-set is that?

My friend Susan said it fairly clearly last week:

Yesterday I repeated a question to the Democratic politicians that I had asked previously and have been waiting for an answer to, after showing what their choices were regarding Iraq:

The Choices:

Choice #1: They can acknowledge what is right in front of them and risk the ire of their far left, liberal base, like MoveOn.org and Code pink and the liberal bloggers that have shown they will "go after" anyone that dares speak up and tell the truth. (As they have done with Brian Baird and what they call the Bush Dog Democrats)

Choice #2: They can continue to ignore the progress and success that is being seen in Iraq and mollify their far left, liberal base, while they alienate the moderates of their party and the independents.

The Question:

Note to the rest of the Democratic politicians... eventually you are going to have to pick choice #1 or choice #2 from above because the days of ignoring it and hoping that things will go bad in Iraq are over, and it is time for you to either tell your moderates and the independents to go to hell or to tell MoveOn.org and the far left liberal, unhinged faction of your base to go to hell.

You have left yourself no middle ground. They will not let you have it both ways.

So, whats it to be Democrats?

We are waiting.

SPEAK UP, WE CANNOT HEAR YOU.

Via the New York Times we receive their answer. Petrified of their far left liberal base they would rather tell the moderates and independents to go to hell.

Democrats in Congress failed once again Friday to shift President Bush's war strategy in Iraq, but insisted that they would not let up. Their explanation for their latest foiled effort seemed to boil down to a simple question: "What else are we supposed to do?"

In answer to that question, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, gives the answer:

How about putting petty partisanship aside and doing what's right for the future of both America and Iraq?

I have said before that the definition of insanity was to continue to try what has failed 41 times already, expecting to get a different result, just to keep the far left, liberal, unhinged portion of their party happy.

What the Conservatives, Moderates and Independents are seeing and what the Democratic politicians are doing their best to ignore is evidenced by one of the many articles we are seeing in our media, this time in Newsweek. [...] read the rest...

Can you believe these cretins? They fear an insignificant group of loud-mouthed schnooks? They fear these old used up hippies? They fear these anti-Americanist groups? They embolden our enemies abroad AND here at home? All for political aspirations? One of them actually asked, "What else can we do?"

Good God Almighty. And they expect that the country will reward them for their treason? Yes. I said treason. Look it up. No...we will NOT reward them unless it be the gallows.

Pretty Bizarre: NYT prints A Positive Story (sort of)

~Snooper~

About 20 minutes ago, this story popped up in my reader and my first thoughts upon reading the title was, "Where's the 'but'?"

Baghdad Starts to Exhale as Security Improves

This is a story about a family that has returned to their home in Baghdad, seeing that the violence is down. It is indeed a touching story but the the usual taint of it is America's fault is readily discernible. I may be wrong about that but I doubt it. Of the several snips and quips I detected, this one stands out like a sore thumb to me. emphasis added is mine.

[...] The security improvements in most neighborhoods are real. Days now pass without a car bomb, after a high of 44 in the city in February. The number of bodies appearing on Baghdad's streets has plummeted to about 5 a day, from as many as 35 eight months ago, and suicide bombings across Iraq fell to 16 in October, half the number of last summer and down sharply from a recent peak of 59 in March, the American military says. [...]

So, is there any doubt? Please forgive the suspicions I have about the Lame Stream Media but just once...just once...i would Like to see a Good News piece without the "but" crap.

Catch the wave at memeorandum:

BREAKING: Bio-Chemical Masks Found In Diyala...UPDATE; Iranian Weapons and Det Cord Found

~Snooper~

Rolling Updates below...

We had the Right Brothers on the BTR show, American Truth Warriors, a while back and we also have the idiots Olberman's reaction to The Right Brothers...the poor slug owes all kinds of people apologies for just breathing, let alone for harm done to others in the name of falling ratings.

Bush Was Right...

I have been monitoring several news outlets for a Breaking News Story from Fox News in regards to Coalition Forces (read that SO) finding 40(+) biological/chemical (and nuclear) masks in a "insurgent" safe house and torture house in Diyala Province, Iraq.

I wonder what this Emir was up to?

Spree has a story running on this as well. We will keep y'all updated as the story unfolds.

I just heard it on the news and I will link when it hits the web but they are reporting that 40 biological and chemical warfare masks have been found in a torture house where al-Qaeda was executing people.

The possibilities at this point are two-fold.

1st: They were expecting to be attacked by biological or chemical weapons and had the masks to protect themselves.

#2: They were planning to use biological or chemical weapons and had the masks so it would not affect them.

They also found substantial weapon caches at that location.

As more news come out I will provide the links and more information.

Developing....

It could also be a stash that has gone undetected until now, in preparation for use against the US and others in the Free World.

Intel Reports: Saddam Could Have Had Nukes By 2007

[...] Saddam may not have had nuclear weapons in his arsenal in 2003, but if the United States would have bowed to international pressure and backed down from Saddam rather than invading, then the intelligence is overwhelming that he would have become a nuclear power in 2007; today. This isn't supposition or reading tea leaves either. It’s where this week's news stories come to the forefront. [...]

Great article over at Flopping Aces...go read it. Political Vindication has a good piece as well.

Ray Robison reports the same conclusions as does Ace and Newsbusters. There is more at MRC and macsmind. The Newsbusters coverage is outstanding.


[A Newt One UPDATE]

Fox News FINALLY comes up with video and a story to actually read. Spree and I have been following this closely and this is from Spree...

[...] [Update] They are now saying the house was also being used as a bomb making factory at one time.

[Update #2] The house was in Diyala Province, Iraq. [Once an al-Qaeda stronghold]

[Update #3] They are now announcing that Iranian arms and ammo has also been found in the torture house.

Flashback: Remember that back in March they were reporting that Chlorine attacks had been repulsed, in March that was the eighth attack of that kind.

Still waiting for links to hit the web to show you.

As more news come out I will provide the links and more information.

Developing....

Snooper at A Newt One is also all over the news on this too with some interesting links.

[Update #4] Finally a link online to the story:

BAGHDAD — Coalition troops in Iraq found a torture house with five skeletons and 40 nuclear, biological and chemical weapons masks, a U.S. general told FOX News on Thursday.

Brig. Gen. James Boozer said forces found execution equipment and chains in the house in the Diyala River Valley, an Al Qaeda stronghold north of Baghdad, as he touted progress in bolstering Iraqi security forces and said Iran seems to be holding to a commitment to thwart the flow of weapons into Iraq.

• Click here to view video.

"I think we're at here an historical point in the history of Iraq," said Boozer, commander of Multi-National Division-North in Iraq.

Boozer said it appears Iran is keeping its promise to Iraqi leaders to helping stop the flow of roadside bombs into Iraq, which has contributed to a decrease in attacks.

"We've seen no increase in or any indication that the Iranians have stepped up the influx of arms or weapons into Iraq. It looks like they are holding up to their agreement," he said.

This is the second time we have seen reports about a decline in Iranian weapons coming into Iraq... thats a good thing.

More to follow as others begin reporting...

The Day Nobody Was Killed In Iraq

Snooper brings good news from Iraq to our readers here at A Newt One and, at the same time, bring Bad News to the Leftinistra. Simply amazing. All of the hard work and all the Leftinistra attempts at losing The War In Iraq and all they can do to celebrate yet another Milestone in this war is the deafening silence.

Morons.

Hat Tip to Michelle Malkin, and news brought to us from The Australian:

IT is whispered about at the margins of meetings, and discussed in Washington parties where rumour is passed around with the wine and canapes.

It even appears, fleetingly, to be fact.

"The day nobody died from violence in Iraq" is a date that has been much anticipated in the White House - where US President George W. Bush is desperate to hail the success of his surge of 30,000 troops this year.

But no one can quite say when this event occurred.

"It was some time this week, wasn't it?" says a senior military source. "Or maybe last week."

Another diplomatic official confidently asserted that there were "at least two such days this month". When, exactly? "Not sure," he replied.

Such vagueness may be concealing a truly significant transformation on the ground in Iraq.

There have certainly been several days in the past month when no US or British soldiers were killed.

During a five-day stretch between October 19 and 23, there were no deaths among coalition forces. Although three US servicemen died from "non-hostile causes", this was the longest period without combat deaths for almost four years. And, between October 27 and 29, there were more days without coalition deaths. [...]

We, in The New Media, have been saying that this day will come for quite some time now, only to be raked over the coals and subjected to ignorant idiots from the opposition.

Paybacks are hell and at the same time glorious.

The fighting is far from over but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Iran In Deal To Cut Iraq Arms Flow

But, but, but, but, didn't AchmadImADingDong say that his country was NOT involved? Must have been the ludes, man.

From the LASlimes:

Petraeus says Tehran's pledge to Iraqi officials in August may have led to a dip in attacks associated with Shiite militants.

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has secured a pledge from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to help cut off weapons, funding and other support to extremist militiamen in Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Saturday.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said there were signs of a slight drop in the types of attacks associated with Shiite militants since the deal was reached in August, and he raised the possibility that U.S. and Iraqi officials might be able to do something in return. But he said it was too early to tell whether there had been a real reduction in cross-border support. read more

If a nation wasn't involved in the first place, how can they also become instrumental in stopping the flow? Hmmmm?

Catch the wave:

oops

Why We Are Winning In Iraq and The Libs Are Losinig At Home

Round up...

Why We're Winning Now in Iraq

Anbar's citizens needed protection before they would give their "hearts and minds."

Murtha must testify in defamation case
Hope he chokes on his own cowardly verbiage

WASHINGTON - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition about his comments alleging "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" by unnamed soldiers in connection with Iraqi civilian deaths.

A Marine Corps sergeant is suing the 18-term congressman for making the charge, which the soldier claims is false. Murtha, who opposes the Iraq war, made the comment during a May, 2006 Capitol Hill news conference in which he predicted that a Pentagon war crimes investigation will show Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005.

Murtha's office declined to comment on the ruling. A Vietnam veteran and retired Marine Reserves colonel, Murtha has said his intention was to draw attention to the pressure put on troops in Iraq and efforts to cover-up the incident. read more

It is about time the toad answered for his holier-than-thou cowardice and political football BS.

We are seeking out and killing the enemy...someone has changed the ROE...

Fox News:

WASHINGTON — U.S.-led forces have killed one of the most important leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Tunisian believed connected to the kidnapping and killings last summer of American soldiers, a top commander said Friday.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson said the death of the terrorist in a U.S. airstrike Tuesday south of Baghdad, and recent similar operations against Al Qaeda, have left the organization in Iraq fractured.

"Abu Usama al-Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders ... the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq and part of the inner leadership circle," Anderson said. read more

And this:

The U.S. military announced today that it has killed a “senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.” Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson “identified the man as Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a Tunisian described as a close associate and likely successor to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Egyptian leader.”

CNN quickly jumped on the story, reporting that al-Tunisi was “killed Tuesday south of Baghdad.” CNN’s Jamie McIntyre reported: read more

Does anyone see the "difference" in the two stories? The slight nuance is all telling if detected.

So, why are we winning? The Leftinistra have lost a vast amount of "ground" and their manipulative ways and means are no longer trusted. This has emboldened our military members and morale is high resulting in more Bad Guys getting dead.

Don't forget to send condolences cards to ReidCo and PelosiCo.

ISF Thwart Mass Kidnapping In Nineveh Province

TVC

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces prevented an attempted hijacking by terrorists who targeted two buses filled with passengers in Nineveh province Sept. 22.

After receiving initial reports, Mosul Iraqi police informed 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division of the attempted hijacking and a company of Soldiers immediately responded and engaged the terrorists, killing one and injuring another. The remaining individuals fled while IA recovered the buses without injuring any of the passengers.

“The swift coordination and response by Iraqi Security Forces prevented the kidnapping of these passengers,” said Col. Stephen Twitty, commander, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “Their actions ensured the safety and security of these innocent civilians.”

The two buses were enroute to Syria from Kirkuk. The passengers and buses were taken to a nearby combat outpost.

“These attacks during Ramadan show the lack of respect for the beliefs and traditions of the community during a time of peace for Iraqi people,” continued Twitty. “ISF showed their determination to end the violence and chaos caused by these senseless acts of terrorism.”

Another success...

Trackback: StormWarning's Counterterrorism

Vets For Freedom...They Have A blog

Just in case some of you wonder where I get quite a bit of my data in regards to Boots On The Ground, I get it from the blog at Vets For Freedom. I get data from other milblogs also but VFF has some interesting contributors.

The Leftinistra cannot boast of such purity in the stories at milblogs. Every time, in recent months, their "in the know" types have been discredited and exposed as the Fraud Veterans which they are.

A sampling of the contributors at VFF:

Of Mice and Men

Last week we heard Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proclaim that General Patreaus was out of touch with the situation on the ground in Iraq (as a refresher, General Patreaus is the one who is trying to win a war against ruthless extremists; Harry Reid is the one who wants to pack up and go home because he can win a few Senate seats out of an American defeat). This week we get word of a Gallup poll that shows how much the American people actual approve of the Harry Reids and the General Patreauses of the world:

"The percentage of Americans that expressed they had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the U.S. Congress was only a mere 14%. This is the lowest percentage ever recorded by the Gallup organization and was the lowest confidence level given to any of the 16 institutions evaluated. Gallup analysts asserted that this was the lowest level recorded in the past 30 years....

...Almost 7 out of 10 Americans (69%) said that they had "quite a lot" or a "great deal" of confidence in the military."

Good work, Harry.

I don’t think Harry Reid’s Democrats will care to read Ralph Peters’ (a retired soldier) op-ed today about our recent and remarkable successes Iraq:

And let's not lose sight of our own national-security priority, which is defeating al Qaeda. Terror International is having a really bad time in Iraq these days: More and more Sunni Arabs are breaking with al Qaeda and its affiliates over their insufferable brutality. The Baquba-area operations involve former enemies now fighting on our side against the foreign terrorists. That's not just good news for Iraq. It's good news for America....

...Still, there's reason for sober optimism at the moment: We've finally got a coherent approach to defeating our enemies, not just parrying them. It looks like our military leaders have gotten serious at last.

God help us, it almost looks like we want to win."

Read the whole article here.

And the leftinistra think they have "it" over such men as this...one of "ours".

Friggin morons.

Bush Asks Congress To Back Troop Levels

As ReidCo has once again attempted to take his ball and go home, seeing that the wee lad, spoiled brat at that, isn't getting his way, Vets For Freedom, allied with Families United, severely trounced all trolls encountered with courage, professionalism and without mercy.

It is organizations such as ours that has the Pulse of America and none others can make such claims with any substantiation, other than some convoluted poll from Iraq or some similar nonsense as that.

WASHINGTON - President Bush, cheered on by Iraq war veterans and their families on the White House's South Lawn, urged lawmakers Tuesday to back his plan to withdraw some troops from Iraq but keep at least 130,000 through next summer or longer.

"I ask the United States Congress to support the troop levels and the strategies I have embraced," Bush said, to loud cheers and chants of "USA! USA!"

As moonbats we encountered chanted inane, useless and rhetorical chants, reminiscent of the Love In Chants of "make love not war" of the 60s and 70s, we Patriots raised the clouds cover the South Lawn with chants of USA! USA!! USA!!!. There were multiple responses to the President via HOOAH! and OO-RAH!! We were and are, Brothers, banded together. Together, united in our cause, there can be no substantial or viable opposition. They flee from our presence as the cowards they are

Us Brothers were on the watch for the infamous Code Pinko anti-troop banner but the cowards either knew better than to present it or were too afraid of 250+ Vets and active duty warriors in one place.

The president briefly addressed about 850 members of military support organizations who were invited to the White House for coffee, juice and pastries. With almost everyone wearing red shirts, people from several organizations gathered at picnic tables set up on the South Lawn in the morning sun.

This was a first ever event such as this one hosted on the South Lawn. We asked several of the Overseers if this was a normal; event and we were told time and again by different people that never before have picnic tables and chefs been on the South Lawn.

As I have said in several prior writings, we have made history and we shall be victorious.

The following 4-month wonder and liar had 50 of his mutant cowards, liars and fools present and the idiot, still wearing the uniform violated several articles of the UCMJ with this statement.

"W need to refocus on the war on terror," said Jon Soltz, co-founder of Votevets, which is sending members around Capitol Hill to lobby on its position. "Right now, we have a policy where 90 percent of our military is stuck in Iraq. We need to have a strategy ... dedicated to destroying al-Qaida."

Not only is Stolz a fool, he is indeed a liar, reminiscent of "Juan Carry". Where this moron gets its skewed numbers from is beyond discussions of reality. If 90% of the military is in Iraq, where is the other 10%? According with this idiot's numbers, the United States military has approximately 200,000 members. Is it any wonder why members of CONgress consider this fool and ITS following to be complete fools?

We have a strategy that is working and we are winning this war. Stolz and company need to consult with Murtha The King Fool for better talking dulls.

Who "IS" Fred Kaplan...

...and what "IS" his major malfunction? One of the detectable malfunctions "IS" IT speaks in generalities and make the generalities read as if they are factual. "IS"n't that a trait of the Leftinistra? And are the Leftinistra trustworthy? The answers are yes and no, in that order.

The title of this...blitherance is; "Sorry, Mr. President, You're All Out of Troops"

First of all, Freddy needn't apologize...I don't recall anyone asking for a character reference.

He then goes on with a sub-title of; "But maybe France can help solve the Iraq mess"

Uh, Freddy? What "mess" would that be, Freddy? You know who this...individual...sounds like to me? Freddy Freeloader. Always with the whining and never offering anything of substance. Others cutting others down to elevate themselves. It doesn't work anymore Freddy. Give it up. You are an insignificant Leftists Troll that doesn't keep up with current events or, if you do, you cannot accept the Good News and try to distract from your own ignorance.

Typical Troll.

The rest of the article, all useless 4 pages of it, is enough to gag a maggot. Most everything is taken out of context to present a pretext and a lame attempt to make it sound like ITS opinions are fact.

Not hardly. We in The New Media aren't buying the trips.

Freddy's article has plenty of facts but the interpretation of those facts flies in the face of the news and facts coming out of The War In Iraq.

Try to keep up, Freddy. We know it is hard but you can do it if you put your heart in it instead of your...well, you know.

Iraq ‘IS’ The War On Terror

Cross posted from Right In A Left World

August 26, 2007

In their crafty endeavor at embarrassing the Bush Administration and causing defeat in the Iraqi Theater of the War on Terror, the leftists have been portraying the ongoing battle in Iraq as a separate war from the War on Terror. We hear that we dropped the ball by leaving Afghanistan, where terrorists are and invading Iraq, where they claim no terrorists were.

Nothing can be further from the truth, not that truth has ever been important to the anti-war left.

Given the events of September 11, 2001, which also revealed our total vulnerability to radical Jihadist and acknowledging that virtually every Intelligence agency in the world believed there was a massive stockpile of banned Weapons of Mass Destruction under Saddam Hussein’s control inside of Iraq, who would be willing to take the chance that those WMD’s would not fall into the hands of radical Jihadists such as Usama Bin Laden? Surely not me.

What leader worth anything wouldn’t take every step possible to safeguard the citizens that elected him to office? Given what was known and assumed, it would have been totally irresponsible to allow Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to remain as it was prior to 9/11.

However, Saddam’s refusal to abide by 17 United Nations Resolutions over the 12 years between the cease-fire he agreed to in 1991 and our invasion in 2003 was but one reason behind the invasion to depose Saddam and his brutal Baathist regime. Although no evidence has been found yet as to an operational link between Saddam’s regime and the horrific events of 9/11, links between Al Qaeda and the regime have been established and confirmed. During the Clinton administration links were established and I sincerely doubt they evaporated once the 2000 elections were finished. Even the vaunted 911 Commission Report stated there were ties, although not operational towards the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

After all the lies and obfuscation of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his CIA Analyst Wife, Valerie Plame, a declassified CIA Document on the debriefing of Joseph Wilson shows that Saddam’s regime was indeed seeking purchases of Yellowcake Uranium for nuclear purposes. In addition, we also now have proof that Wilson’s wife did indeed recommend him for the trip to Niger, revealing the lie’s of both of these people to the American Public.

Don’t hold your breath waiting to see either one of these two ‘darlings of the left’ prosecuted for ‘perjury’ as was L. ‘Scooter’ Libby.

A report produced by the Hudson Institute entitled "Saddam Hussein's Philanthropy of Terror," lists known terror groups as Hamas, the Palestinian Liberation Front, Ansar al-Islam and the Arab Liberation Front as having ties to Saddam’s regime. Additionally, known and suspected terrorists as Khala Khadar al Salahat (captured in Baghdad in April or 2003), Abu Nidal (who committed suicide in Baghdad in 2002), Ramzi Yousef (planner of the first WTC bombing of 1993), Abdul Rahman Yasin (conspirator in the first WTC bombing), Abu Abbas (captured just outside Baghdad in April of 2003) and Abu Musab al Zarqawi are listed as having been in Iraq, some for many years.

The report also mentions one of Hussein's diplomats at Iraq's Manila embassy was expelled from the Philippines for communicating via telephone with Abu Madja and Hamsiraji Sali, leaders of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf terrorist group as well as Saddam’s regime paying families of Palestinian suicide bombers upwards of $25,000 upon completion of a successful suicide attack against Israelis.

Clearly, when the anti-war left tells us there were no terrorists in Iraq before we invaded it in 2003, they are very wrong. Having now established there was just reason for invading Iraq, let’s move on to today and the calls to abandon Iraq and focus elsewhere to fight terror.

President Bush, vice-president Cheney, General Petraeus and others maintain that Iraq is the Central Front in the War on Terror. Leftist kooks, many Democrats, News commentators and RINO’s maintain that Iraq is NOT the Central Front in the War on Terror. Who is correct?

While we have Democrat candidates currently crisscrossing the nation pontificating such things as, "This is not our fight. Iraq is at war with itself and American troops are caught in the middle," (Hillary Clinton), "We cannot win a war against the terrorists if we're on the wrong battlefield," (Barack Obama), "By framing this as a war, we have walked right into the trap the terrorists have set—that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war on Islam," (John Edwards and his War on Terror is only a Bumper Sticker Slogan comment), “Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time,” (John ‘F’in Kerry in his failed 2004 campaign), I think it important to see what our enemies have said about it.

Al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri released one of his video’s urging Muslim youth to hurry to Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Palestinian areas to fight for their religion. In an earlier letter to Abu Mus’aab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, Zawahiri expressed Al Qaeda’s four step plan to, expel American forces from Iraq, establish a caliphate over much of Iraq, extend the Jihad to neighboring countries, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon and war against Israel.

Additionally, we have a report of bin Laden’s men breaking some bad news to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the elusive leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban. The message, “Al Qaeda would be diverting a large number of fighters from the anti-U.S. insurgency in Afghanistan to Iraq. Al Qaeda also planned to reduce by half its $3 million monthly contribution to Afghan jihadi outfits.” The reason, “Because bin Laden and his lieutenants see a great opportunity for killing Americans and their allies in Iraq,” effectively turning Iraq into the “Central Front in the War on Terror!”

If our enemies see Iraq as the “Central Front,” we would be foolhardy to abandon the Iraqi People to their fate while we focus our main effort elsewhere that we have been able to enlist the aid of Allies to stand with us against the radical Jihadists there.

When you hear those denying Iraq as part of the War on Terror, don’t let them get away with it. They are wrong. They are in denial. They are completely misled. They are fools.

Just as the battles throughout the Pacific were half a globe away from the D-Day invasion in World War Two, yet were all part of the same war, so are Iraq and the Global War on Terror.

Iraq is but one battlefield in the Global War on Terror and one that we must win, if Western Civilization is to survive.

Lew

Maliki Tells US Politicains To Kiss His...Well...You Decide

Throughout my years as a Red-Blooded White American Male, as I served this country we call the United States of America, in and out of the Armed Forces, I have always thought that the arrogance of our CONgressional Leaders has always been "Rather" out in left field.

The audacity exhibited by American politicians to even dare criticize other governments when those governments don't quite meet American Standards is overly disingenuous to say the least. Case in point? The birthing of a Democracy-like government in Iraq. How can our Leftinistra even begin to honestly criticize the government of Iraq for not being quick enough to restore order in that country when our own Leftinistra spend most of their time, hopefully inadvertently, supporting and emboldening our enemies in Iraq?

How long is it going to take to fix our Social Security issues that our CONgress has been working on for how many years now? That is merely one example and there are many.

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-al-Maliki lashed out on Sunday at U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton who had called for him to be replaced.

In a sign of increased tension between him and Washington, al-Maliki also criticized the U.S. military for killing civilians.

"There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," al-Maliki told a news conference.

"This is severe interference in our domestic affairs. Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton are from the Democratic Party and they must demonstrate democracy," he said. "I ask them to come to their senses and to talk in a respectful way about Iraq."

Clinton, a leading candidate to succeed George W. Bush as president, joined Levin, the head of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, in calling last week for Iraq's parliament to replace al-Maliki for failing to reconcile warring sects.

Hillary? It "IS" "Rather" difficult to "reconcile warring sects" when YOU and YOUR ilk work your hardest at NOT supporting the efforts. In case you haven't noticed, Hillary, et al, those SAME "warring sects" have united with American and Iraqi forces. Where have you been? Chasing cigars?

"I share Senator Levin's hope that the Iraqi parliament will replace Prime Minister Maliki with a less divisive and more unifying figure when it returns in a few weeks," Sen Clinton said in a statement on 22 August.

But the Iraqi prime minister hit back during a news conference in Baghdad, saying: "Leaders like Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin have not experienced in their political lives the kind of differences we have in Iraq.

That is called a Maliki Slap and good for him.

Do any of the Leftinistra have the guts, the moral fortitude, the moral courage to recognize just how long Maliki has been "in power"? Any takers? One year? Two years? Three? Four? Five? How many years has Maliki been in charge of the government of Iraq?

The uninitiated won't know the answer to that one.

related: Wake the hell up

	Bush reiterates support for Iraqi PM
	Iraqi PM rejects U.S. criticism

Google this!

more and more are getting on to this:

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Wake Up America

The Democrat Leadership Have No Ideals Of Their Own

Simply amazing, isn't it?

From IBD Editorials...I couldn't say it better myself..."they" are changing their tune(S)...AGAIN. So, what else is new?

Cut and Run? Not so Fast!
For a long time, the media have presented a defeatist narrative about Iraq, and Democratic politicians have obediently followed, demanding that America flee immediately. Now, with a presidential election approaching and Gen. David Patraeus's new strategy showing signs of success, a counternarrative is developing, and the Dems are changing their tune. Consider this astonishing report from yesterday's New York Times:

Even as they call for an end to the war and pledge to bring the troops home, the Democratic presidential candidates are setting out positions that could leave the United States engaged in Iraq for years.

John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, would keep troops in the region to intervene in an Iraqi genocide and be prepared for military action if violence spills into other countries. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would leave residual forces to fight terrorism and to stabilize the Kurdish region in the north. And Senator Barack Obama of Illinois would leave a military presence of as-yet unspecified size in Iraq to provide security for American personnel, fight terrorism and train Iraqis.

These positions and those of some rivals suggest that the Democratic bumper-sticker message of a quick end to the conflict--however much it appeals to primary voters--oversimplifies the problems likely to be inherited by the next commander in chief. Antiwar advocates have raised little challenge to such positions by Democrats.

What a change from January, when Mrs. Clinton, arguably the least unrealistic of the major Democratic candidates, was petulantly demanding that the president " 'extricate our country' from Iraq by the time he leaves office in 2009," as the Times put it at the time.

What about the Times's statement that "antiwar advocates have raised little challenge to such positions by Democrats"? There is certainly some truth to it. Markos "Kos" Moulitsas, the Angry Left's answer to the Htoo twins, was seen temporizing on "Meet the Press" yesterday:

We're not going to get out while we have George Bush as president. I mean, so if we say we want to be out in three months, clearly we could be out yesterday, I'd want to be out yesterday. I also understand, as a veteran who worked in logistics, that you can't pull out 150,000 troops overnight or even in three months. So, yes, there's an ideal situation, which is let's get them out as quickly as possible, so that the poll questions in that regard I think are very much moving in semantics. But I do agree with Harold [Ford] the, that we, we do need to work together, and I hope you'll be at next year's YearlyKos conference . . .

On the other hand, as blogger Jules Crittenden quips, "NYT, meet Cindy Sheehan." As the Associated Press reported, three days before that Times piece ran, Sheehan announced that she plans to run against Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, because Pelosi has not moved to impeach the president over Iraq's liberation.

It may be said that the Times was right to ignore Sheehan. After all, she is a fringe figure, an America-hating crackpot whose race against Pelosi is utterly quixotic and futile. But all this was equally true in the summer of 2005, when Sheehan camped out in Crawford, Texas, and became a media cause célèbre by issuing a series of demands for the president of the United States.

But back then, as a journalist recently said in another context, the narrative was right, even if the facts were wrong.

I Don't Get It...the UN? In Iraq?

Have France, Germany, Russia and the other crooks and charlatans of the Oil For Food Quagmire made restitution for feeding Saddam's Terrorist and Terrorist Supporting Regime for YEARS during the Vastly Ignored and Not Imposed Sanctions made BY the UN, yet?

12 YEARS of it? HELLO?

And "somebody" wants them BACK in? To do what? Bring peace? Not hardly. If ANYONE, INCLUDING GWB, thinks for ONE microsecond that the UN Peace-Keeping Forces are up to the mission at hand in Iraq, merely look back just a relatively short time ago how they "brought about the peace" between Hizbollah and Israel.

Was it not the UN that was HELPING Hizbollah? Was not Hizbollah flying the Hizbollah flag at a UN outpost? While the UN "soldiers" watched? And then whined and complained when Israel took the outpost out?

Hello? Is anybody out there?

Judas Priest. Some people's kids. I swear.

And the idiot that wrote the WaPo article has the audacity to blame the US for the "Iraq Mess".

Suggestion: how about if the politicos knock off the politicizing the War In Iraq and, anywhere else, come together, support the Troops AND The Mission at hand and win the damn war?

Moron.

Enough already with the BDS bull. EVERYBODY knows it is all BS, this BDS crap and I for one am Sick and Tired of the political rhetoric all in the name of Power and Control.



No "buzz" at memeorandum? Anyone awake over there?

A Day In History

1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate.

And the moonbats think that war was over. It is JUST NOW coming to a close.

Morons.

2000: Republicans nominated Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president and Dick Cheney for vice president at the party's convention in Philadelphia.

And he proceeded to beat democrats...TWICE!!

Driving The Leftinistra INSANE

A blurb from the NY Slimes:

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

Read the rest at the NYT

Wake Up America

UPDATE:
Moonbats and normal folk discussing this issue:

New York Times:

A War We Just Might Win — VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility.

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The Idgit Dems

GREAT little blurb by Ralph peters today in the NY Post...my sentiments exactly!

WINNING IN IRAQ AND LOSING IN WASHINGTON

July 26, 2007 -- TO a military professional, the tactical progress made in Iraq over the last few months is impressive. To a member of Congress, it's an annoyance.

The herd animals on Capitol Hill - from both parties - just can't wait to go over the cliff on Iraq. And even when the media mention one or two of the successes achieved by our troops, the reports are grudging.

Yet what's happening on the ground, right now, in Baghdad and in Iraq's most-troubled provinces, contributes directly to your security. In the words of a senior officer known for his careful assessments, al Qaeda's terrorists in Iraq are "on their back foot and we're trying to knock them to their knees."

Do our politicians really want to help al Qaeda regain its balance?

Gen. David Petraeus and his deputies sharply prioritized the threats we face in Iraq: Al Qaeda is No. 1, and Iran's Shia proxies are No. 2. Our troops hunt them relentlessly. And we don't face our enemies alone: Iraq's security forces have begun to pick up their share of the fight.

A trusted source in Baghdad confirmed several key developments that've gone largely unreported. Here's what's been happening while "journalists" focused on John Edwards' haircuts:

* Al Qaeda lost the support of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. The fanatics over-reached: They murdered popular sheiks, kidnapped tribal women for forced marriages, tried to outlaw any form of joy and (perhaps most fatally, given Iraqi habits) banned smoking. In response, the Arab version of the Marlboro Man rose up and started cutting terrorist throats.

* Since the tribes who once were fighting against us turned on al Qaeda, our troops not only captured the senior Iraqi in the organization - which made brief headlines - but also killed the three al Turki brothers, major-league pinch-hitters al Qaeda sent into Iraq to save the game.