Much ado about Mullah Barader

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Military on Feb 17 

Yesterday it was announced that a joint US/Pakistan task force picked up a High Value Target in Karachi. The name of this HVT is Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader – no relation to the elephant with a similar name. Barader is evidently the Taliban’s number two man in the area. His capture – last week according to some news outlets – is the most significant HVT capture in several years.

In years past, the question of what to do with this Mullah would have been easily answered. He would have been flown to Guantanamo Bay where he would have been interrogated and pumped for all the useful information in his Islamofacist Murdering Thug skull. Eventually he would have been tried before a military tribunal, found guilty, and (hopefully) executed.

Oh, wait. I forgot about Hope and Change.
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Questions that haven’t been asked

By Steve Feinstein

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Feb 9 

There’s been a lot of discussion and controversy over the Administration’s plan to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his 9/11 accomplices in civil court in NYC. Most Conservative lawmakers and a great majority of the American public feel they should be tried under the auspices of a military tribunal, and treated as enemy combatants, not as civil criminals: (From CNN Politics)

According to a just-released CNN poll, Americans are giving a big thumbs-down to the Obama administration’s decision to try the Sept. 11 terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court. Sixty four percent of us want KSM tried in a military court; only 34 percent agree with President Obama that KSM should be tried in a civilian court in New York City.

“The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in front of a civilian court is universally unpopular – even a majority of Democrats and liberals say that he should be tried by military authorities,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, said that KSM et. al, qualify as both enemy combatants and civil criminals and therefore the Government had a choice to make as to where to prosecute them.
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Three 2010 flashpoints in U.S. politics

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Feb 3 

While I know the New York Times is not held in high esteem by most of the readership here, they do produce provocative op-eds on a fairly regular basis. This one was sent to me by a colleague, and it analyzes three economic issues that could lead to political craziness in the next 12 months.

No question, the world’s major economies badly need 2010 to be another quiet year politically and geopolitically, but that will require, at a minimum, that three major struggles — the banks vs. President Obama, China vs. Google & friends, and the world vs. Iran — can be defused with win-win compromises rather than win-lose confrontations.

What seems the most likely to you?

First Thoughts?

By Red State Eddio

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs, Obama News, POTUS, Policy on Jan 27 

So what did you think about the President’s first SOTU address? Was it as pleasurable as root canal?

Weigh in, PD gang, with what you heard and saw. We know he gives good speeches; but did he “ring the bell” yet again?

Terror ideology

By Steve Feinstein

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Jan 6 

The Christmas-day terror attack on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines plane by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab reveals the wide chasm of discord that exists in American political thought today regarding terrorism. That his attack was not successfully carried out does not mean it was not a terror attack—the attempt was made unimpeded; it was just blind luck that allowed us to avert catastrophe.

President Obama’s first, instinctive reaction was to characterize the incident as “isolated,” and to describe Abdulmutallab as an “extremist,” rather than using the “T” word. It’s apparent that he wanted to promote the idea that terrorism—especially Islamist-based terrorism— is not a major, overriding issue confronting America.

Then instead of treating him as an enemy combatant and interrogating him under military jurisdiction, he was instead Mirandized and appointed a lawyer, as if he were a common criminal who had just robbed a convenience store. This is the classic pre-9/11 “terrorism-as-a-law-enforcement-matter” mentality for which Liberals are criticized by Conservatives. For the second time in only two months (the first being the Ft. Hood shooting in Texas by an admitted al-Qaida sympathizer), the Obama administration has demonstrated a distinct lack of “toughness,” an astonishing aversion to even acknowledging that Islamic terrorism exists as a threat to our country.

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Update from Copenhagen

By East of Eden

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Outside the Track on Dec 11 

This is an un-hacked update on the Copenhagen, (or Copenhaaaaaagen if you are one of those people) Climate conference.

“Rich nations must make big emissions cuts”. Hmmm, rich nation = the USA, and the USA only. Brit PM Gordon Brown even went on to say that the agreements made in Copenhagen must be legally binding. Of course if you read between the lines that means leagally binding only for the US. World government anyone? Read more

Obama’s teleprompter gets hacked

By Neil Braithwaite

Filed Under Foreign Affairs on Dec 10 

That has to be the only explanation for Obama’s Nobel speech.

Or… is he trying to draw fire from the left to give him a more centrist appeal?

We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history, the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

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Rate the President

By Alaina Segovia

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Military, POTUS, Policy on Dec 1 

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of the folks on PD disagree with Obama’s plan for Afghanistan.  Instead of focusing on why you disagree, rate Obama on the following his delivery and content. Did he inspire confidence and did he articulate a clear plan?  However, if you do agree with his plan, I think we’d all be interested in your reasoning.

Yet another Obama promise reaches its expiration date*

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, POTUS on Nov 18 

Remember all the pomp with which The One announced that one of his first acts as POTUS would be to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay? Well, that much heralded appeasing promise just reached its expiration date.

Saith The One:

Guantanamo — we had a specific deadline that was missed. We are on a path and a process where I would anticipate that Guantanamo will be closed next year.

People, I think understandably, are fearful after a lot of years where they were told that Guantanamo was critical to keep terrorists out. [Closing the facility] is also just technically hard. (Emphasis Added)

There is, dear reader, a “strategery” at work here. Bear in mind this announcement was made during a flurry of fast moving interviews at the tail end of The One’s Asian junket. In other words, it was thrown in with the rest of the trash in hopes that it might slip through with little notice.

As for the “technically hard” part of closing Gitmo, the reason we put these thugs on that island is because of all the issues bringing them anywhere else would raise. I guess governing really is harder than campaigning after all.

*Apologies to Jim Geraghty for the shameless theft of his trademark.

An ill-conceived legal decision

By Steve Feinstein

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Nov 17 

The decision by Eric Holder to try the 9/11 defendants in New York City is puzzling on several counts. It certainly isn’t clear who is supposed to benefit from this, in either practical or political terms. The decision does not appear to have been thought through with any substantive analysis.

First of all, it’s been presented to the public as having been “Eric Holder’s decision.” Really? Why is that? This is arguably among the highest-profile legal proceedings in the country’s history, with far-reaching implications as to how we’ll conduct similar future terror trials. Public safety, national security, and America’s world image are all impacted directly. However, the decision to bring Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to NYC for civil trial has been put forth as coming not from the President himself, but from his top legal officer. President Obama is sending the message that either he couldn’t make the call himself, or that he was unwilling to take the political backlash if such a decision proved unpopular. For those who view the President as weak and indecisive on terror, outsourcing the decision to Holder just makes Obama look that much weaker, with no discernible political upside.

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Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.* Over.

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, POTUS on Nov 14 

obama-japan-bow.jpg

Take a look at this picture. The man on the left is the President of the United States, otherwise known as the Leader of the Free World. The man on the right is the Emperor of Japan.

Would someone please give me a good – and by good I mean one I can stomach – why The One is bowing (yet again) before a foreign monarch (yet again) at an angle which – were it any steeper – would cause him to fall over on his fool head?

Sigh.

I’d write more, but right now I’m afraid anything else I would type would violate the PG nature of this blog.

*this is a technical term which I cannot here expound upon.

9/11 Terrorists to be tried in civil trial in NYC

By Alaina Segovia

Filed Under Foreign Affairs on Nov 13 

Eric Holder announced today that five of the 9/11 terrorists currently being held at Guantanamo Bay will be brought to New York City, mere blocks from the site of the the most horrific attack we have ever seen on American soil.

Holder is confident that each will receive the death penalty.  I’m not a lawyer and I’ve never even been in a courtroom, but it’s my understanding that the decision of a person’s guilt and their sentance is set by the jury and judge presiding over that trial.

These people are terrorists.  They committed an act of war on our soil and, therefore, do not have the right to a civil trial.  There is no punishment harsh enough.

It’s a mockery of the memories of the innocent Americans and the heroes of the NYPD and FDNY that died that day and a slap in the face to the men and women in the military who protect this country and have given their lives so we can walk down the street without fear of another terrorist attack.

Is Obama poised to cede US sovereignty?

By Troy La Mana

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs, Policy on Nov 11 

Is the Obamanation about to sell out this country to the environutjobs? Listen to Lord Monckton’s speech on the United Nations Climate Change Treaty that is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009. Could it be that the marxists and comunists are using this as another step to destroy this country by using the “Climate Change” crowd as a means to an end?
You decide.

European “leadership”

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, POTUS on Oct 27 

In May of 2008, an unTelePromTered Obama made the following statement regarding the American lifestyle:

We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say “OK”.

The One has gone to great – even super human – lengths to lionize Europe’s role as a global leader. He has apologized profusely over and over about America’s tendency to ignore Europe’s feelings and opinions. I think it’s important to point out to whom Obama looks for leadership on the global stage. One of these players is none other than World Bank economist and British subject Lord Stern of Brentford. He is in full agreement with The One’s denouncement of the American lifestyle and Lord Stern boldly declares that the world must go vegetarian in order to “save the planet”.

Stop laughing. I’m not making this up. How dare you make such an insinuation! Saith Lord Stern:

I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating. I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food.

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Are we listening?

By Brian

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Military on Oct 11 

We may have elected an American apologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner to the POTUS with the ability to lecture and mesmarize the world with his auditory and teleprompter skills, yet, the entrance of Barack Obama and the exit of George W. Bush is not enough to calm the thirst for American blood.

In a recent op-ed by Thomas Friedman, hardly a right wing bomb thrower, Mr. Friedman reminds us that the threat posed to us by Islamic radical fanatics has not seized to exist.

Thomas Friedman writes

”He didn’t want to wear earplugs. Apparently, he wanted to enjoy the blast. That is what The Dallas Morning News reported about Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, the 19-year-old Jordanian accused of trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper. He was caught by an F.B.I. sting operation that culminated in his arrest nearly two weeks ago — after Smadi parked a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, supplied by the F.B.I., in the garage of a Dallas office tower.

“Inside the S.U.V. was a fake bomb, designed to appear similar to one used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing,” The News wrote. “Authorities say Smadi thought he could detonate it with a cellphone. After parking the vehicle, he got into another vehicle with one of the agents, and they drove several blocks away. An agent offered Smadi earplugs, but he declined, ‘indicating that he wanted to hear the blast,’ authorities said. He then dialed the phone, thinking it would trigger the bomb. … Instead, the agents took him into custody.”

Mr. Friedman continues…

If that doesn’t send a little shiver down your spine, how about this one? BBC.com reported that “it has emerged that an Al Qaeda bomber who died last month while trying to blow up a Saudi prince in Jeddah had hidden the explosives inside his body.” He reportedly inserted the bomb and detonator in his rectum to elude metal detectors. My God.

The full article: Still Not Tired

While President Obama accepts his prize for which he admits he has not earned others will continue to hate, plan, and implement ways to kill Americans and our allies. For those who wish us dead it is not about “party” politics or who wins and loses American elections. It is not about “tone” from our Dear Leaders or the swagger in their walk. It is not about being patronized with meaningless platitudes and apologies, as those devices only satisfy our so called “allies”. For those who wish us harm the only endgame is to win or lose.

The enemies of America are trying to tell us that the phrase “We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail” goes both ways. We all recognize and appreciate President Obama’s ability to speak, what we have yet to recognize is his ability to listen. Let us pray he is.

Obama’s first “command decision”

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Military on Oct 6 

The past two months or so have not been exactly stellar for The One. His congress spent the summer being chased by angry town hall protesters wielding everything except torches and pitchforks to show they were less than enthused with the prospect of entrusting their healthcare futures to an administration that couldn’t even screen out 9/11 truthers and self proclaimed communists from the ever growing Czar staff.

The One thought he could defect his domestic difficulties with foreign policy victories in Europe and South America. First he stood tall in his defense of a justly ousted wanna-be Honduran dictator. Then he waved the white flag of appeasement at Russia and boldly deep sixed America’s missile defense program. The left applauded his acquiescence to their conventional wisdom. Those still able to remember 1939 began to feel a sense of déjà vu.

Meanwhile unemployment inched upward to 9.8%. Where was The One? Off to Copenhagen in hopes of sealing the deal for Chicago to hold the 2012 Summer Games. We all know how well that turned out.

While he was in Copenhagen – the land that gave birth to my marauding Viking ancestors – he somehow managed to carve out twenty-five minutes to meet with the man he appointed to oversee America’s operations in Afghanistan. This was the first time in some 70 days that the Commander in Chief had met or spoken with his battlefield commander.

Compare and contrast this communication style with the “other” president from Illinois. Abraham Lincoln, by many accounts, spent many a late night in the telegraph office pouring over dispatches from battlefields near and far. He also made several arduous and very inconvenient trips to the battlefield to meet with his commanders and discuss the best way to bring about victory. He took his duty to protect and defend the United States from all enemies – foreign and domestic – very seriously.

The jury is still out as to whether or not Barack Obama really wants to win the war in Afghanistan. In this day of modern telecommuincations, he can’t even pick up the phone and talk to his commander from the Big Chair in the Oval Office.
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The end of dollar dealings for oil

By Scott A. Robinson

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Oct 6 

The world is quickly changing. From The Independent of the UK:

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

But I though President Obama was supposed to bring a era of international cooperation, restoring our respected status among other nations? Once again, we see that one human can never be the answer. Rather, our insistence on not tapping our own resources will lead us to dependence on our enemies.

The New York leg of the apology tour

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs on Sep 24 

My office is full of eclectic curiosities collected from previous careers and travels. There’s a shellacked piranha from my trips to Brazil and a replica of a sign Ronald Reagan had on his desk in the Oval Office which reads “It Can Be Done”.

On one wall hangs a picture of the Lincoln Memorial taken at night with the following quote written on it:

I was born an American; I live an American; and I shall die an American; and I intend to perform the duties incumbent upon me in that character to the end of my career. I mean to do this with absolute disregard for personal consequences.

These words are attributed to the venerable lawyer and Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852). I keep this on my wall to remind myself that there really is something special about being an American. Since its founding some 233 years ago, no nation has sacrificed more for the freedom and well being of this world than has America. No nation has freed more people from tyranny and despotism than has America. For this effort we have taken no treasure and asked only for land sufficient to bury those of our countrymen who gave the last full measure of devotion in order that others might breathe free.

Daniel Webster understood this. Abraham Lincoln understood this.

Barack Obama does not understand this basic fact about the nation he purports to lead. You need not take my word for this supposition. Read just some of the reaction to his speech before the assembled dictators, thugs, and terrorists gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly. His speech – during which he saw fit not to chastise Iran but rather unload on Israel – was warmly received by the audience.

The One spent his time on the world stage apologizing for the past “unilateral” actions of his nation. I wonder if he’s given much thought about what kind of world he would live in had America been a little less “unilateral” over the past 65 years or so.

Leadership, Mr. President, is often very lonely. Had you ever been in a position where you had to make the tough calls and take the unpopular course of action, you’d have figured that out by now. Sadly, we’ve got to sit here and watch you continue to bumble and fumble your way through on-the-job training we can ill afford.

Where do I get my change back?

Obama bows and scrapes across Poland and the Czech Republic

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Foreign Affairs on Sep 18 

In the winter of 1921-22, the world’s sea-going powers met in Washington DC in an attempt to prevent another world war by limiting the size and scope of naval warships. With a few strokes of the pen, more naval hardware was scrapped or otherwise rendered useless than had been destroyed in any war. The United States did not lay another battleship keel for nearly 20 years – which meant the US entered World War II with roughly the same fleet she had fought World War I with.

When I was a younger man, I lived in the shadow of Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs. Not far from that mountain is found another mountain the bowels of which contain the North American Aerospace Defense Command, then known as NORAD. Everyone in town knew that our little corner of God’s Country was targeted by numerous Soviet missiles and that , in the event of a first strike we were figuratively and literally toast. There was, we were told, simply no way to defend against an inbound Soviet ICBM with MIRVs.

Even though the Cold War ended and was replaced by a few hot ones, the guys with the nine-inch foreheads and bulging pocket protectors still worked hard on finding a way to “hit a bullet with a bullet” in order to find a way to do that which was previously deemed impossible. Historically, Americans have been known to do that on a regular and recurring basis. These days we’re more likely to put our faith in diplomacy and promises of our opponents than in the capabilities of our own people.
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Obama believes the bears won’t kill him

By Neil Braithwaite

Filed Under Domestic Policy, Foreign Affairs on Sep 17 

Remember Timothy Treadwell, the bear enthusiast and environmentalist who lived for many seasons with the coastal grizzly bears in Alaska? And, remember what happened to Timothy and his girlfriend that fateful season in 2003 while they were living among the grizzlies? Sadly, those same grizzlies Timothy had grown to love and understand killed and partially ate both he and his girlfriend.

You see, while Timothy understood the danger involved with getting so close to a wild predator, he never really imagined those bears would kill him. Any rational thought of imminent danger Timothy may have had previously, was overruled by his obsession to live with the wild grizzlies year after year. Unfortunately for Timothy and his girlfriend, the grizzlies finally did what all predators do — kill and eat.

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