A Maginot Line of TSA Screeners and Watch Lists That Are Not Watched

The Bad News: They know we are Stupid.

The Good News: “So much of what they know is wrong”. RWR

A Maginot Line of TSA Screeners and Watch Lists That Are Not Watched: The Need for Either or Both a Select Committee and a Special Commission – Hugh Hewitt.

Droning On – Bill O’Reilly

Droning On – Bill O'Reilly.

Leftards being creatures of habit with a limited scope of resources, I anticipate they will respond to Bill O’Reilly’s recent opinion piece with accusations about the “terror” bombing of Dresden. Well, here is my pre-response:

S.T.F.U. Evil has many tools and a lie is a handle that fits each one. You live in your world, with your tools and handles. You are a tool and you know where the handle goes, now stick it!

A 1953 United States Air Force report defended the operation as the justified bombing of a military and industrial target, which was a major rail transportation and communication center, housing 110 factories and

50,000 workers in support of the German war effort. Dresden was Germany’s seventh-largest city and, according to the RAF at the time, the largest remaining unbombed built-up area. An official 1942 guide to the city described it as “one of the foremost industrial locations of the Reich” and in 1944, the German Army High Command’s Weapons Office listed 127 medium-to-large factories and workshops that were supplying the army with materiel.

Colonel Harold E. Cook, a US POW held in the Friedrichstadt marshaling yard the night before the attacks, later said that “I saw with my own eyes that Dresden was an armed camp: thousands of German troops, tanks and artillery and miles of freight cars loaded with supplies supporting and transporting German logistics towards the east to meet the Russians.”

On 16 February, 1945, the German Propaganda Ministry issued a press release that stated that Dresden had no war industries; it was a city of culture. And now the leftards continue that tradition because they need to get a handle on their tolls of destruction and desolation.

Having been given a paraphrased version of Churchill’s memo by Bottomley, on 29 March, Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris wrote to the Air Ministry: I … assume that the view under consideration is something like this: no doubt in the past we were justified in attacking German cities. But to do so was always repugnant and now that the Germans are beaten anyway we can properly abstain from proceeding with these attacks. This is a doctrine to which I could never subscribe. Attacks on cities like any other act of war are intolerable unless they are strategically justified. But they are strategically justified in so far as they tend to shorten the war and preserve the lives of Allied soldiers. To my mind we have absolutely no right to give them up unless it is certain that they will not have this effect. I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.

The feeling, such as there is, over Dresden, could be easily explained by any psychiatrist. It is connected with German bands and Dresden shepherdesses. Actually Dresden was a mass of munitions works, an intact government center, and a key transportation point to the East. It is now none of these things.

“The Third Jihad” Movie

WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY “STAR TREK”’ PARODY

“(T)he planet “Notax,” where fraud, money laundering, and alien identity theft appear to be a problem.”

Just a thought on the leftard mentality. If there were no taxes, how would those problems occur?

Confuse, evangel, obfuscate, accuse others of what your doing, demand proof, make counter accusations, deny everything. These are not the traits of a mature mind.

Obama Throws South Korea Under The Bus

South Korea Must Determine Attack Response, Gates Says

By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2010 – It is up to South Korea, not the United States, to determine how it will deal with a North Korean attack on one of its ships, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.

Gates was asked by reporters at a Pentagon news conference whether a recent determination that North Korea sank the South Korean frigate Cheonan, killing 46 sailors on March 26, was an act of war.

“This was an attack on South Korea, and South Korea needs to be in the lead on the way forward,” he said.

Gates said the Defense Department supports the findings of a multilateral investigation into the attack that found a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the ship. “They’ve laid out some paths forward, and we will be consulting closely with them as they move forward.”

The military has not changed its normal readiness status in light of the findings, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the news conference. Mullen said he spoke with his South Korean counterpart yesterday, as well as with Navy Adm. Robert Willard, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, and Army Gen. Walter “Skip” Sharp, commander of U.S. Forces Korea.

“We’re all focused on the stability of that region,” Mullen said. “Certainly, we’re concerned. They are a great friend and a great ally.”

Asked if U.S. forces are stretched too thin to increase operations in the area if needed, Gates said “absolutely not.”

“We’ve known for a long time that if there were problems in Korea, our main arms would be the Navy and the Air Force, and they are not stretched the way the Army and Marines are.”

Gates and Mullen also took questions on several other hot spots around the world.

Asked about the latest NATO military campaign in Afghanistan, Mullen said the Kandahar campaign already is under way, and that leaders are not surprised at the increasing insurgent violence there.

“We expect this to be a tough year,” Mullen said. “The poppy season is over, and they’ve gone back to get their weapons. That violence would rise doesn’t surprise me at all.”

The admiral added that he is optimistic about the Kandahar outcome. “We’ve got the right strategy and the right leadership,” he said.

Turning to Pakistan, Gates and Mullen said Pakistani leaders are fully on board with fighting terrorist groups in the country, and recognize they share that interest with the United States. Pakistan is planning to execute a mission in the volatile North Waziristan region, and has seven divisions and 140,000 troops there, they said.

“We now have a mutual interest in trying to stop this group, to stop them from carrying out attacks outside of Pakistan, especially in the United States,” Gates said.

On Iraq, Gates said the military is on track to complete President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce troop strength there to 50,000 by Sept. 1. Some of the drawdown was postponed due to the delayed national election in March, but, Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of U.S. Forces Iraq, “has total flexibility” with how he wants to manage it, he said.

Asked about the recount of Iraq’s election results, Gates said it was “a positive development, in that it reaffirmed the original count and the legitimacy of the election.”

Finally, on the United Nations resolution for sanctions against Iran, Gates said it is “somewhat stronger” than he expected. The resolution is important, he said, because it is a reminder of Iran’s isolation, and it provides a legal platform for countries and organizations such as the European Union to take more stringent actions of their own against Iran.

There is evidence that the resolution is making an impact inside Iran, Gates said, noting the extent to which Iran is trying to keep it from passing. The resolution, coupled with any action by individual countries, “has the ability to change behavior” in the Iranian government, he said.

U.S. officials say they are considering a variety of options, ranging from useless U.N. Security Council action to additional insignificant U.S. penalties.

“North Korea should know that provocative acts have consequences,” said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, of course they need not be significant.

But looming over the discussions is concern that a harsh reaction could escalate tensions to the point of clashes. There is also concern an aggressive response could trigger the collapse of what is arguably the world’s most isolated and authoritarian regime, U.S. officials said. It must be pointed out that the Obama administration is planning negotiations over which sides of the streets in Seoul that the North may occupy.

U.N. Chief In Israel: Jews Must be Driven Into The Sea

Visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Saturday (20MAR10) adopted the terrorist position that “Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal”. That is a evidence that the U.N. is a body controled by the terrorists and dictators of the third world.

The death of 16-year-old Mohammed Qadus, who was shot in the chest by Israeli security forces, comes amid heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians after Israel announced plans last week for 1,600 new homes for Jews. The use of the term “disputed east Jerusalem” is a code word for people who wish to acknowledge that any dispute put forth by terrorists is legitimate.

The settlement announcement has sparked phony outrage by the political class and violence from Palestinians, as well as condemnation from politically motivated hacks in the United States.

“Jewish neighborhoods in traditionally Arab east Jerusalem” is the terminology the Associated Press uses to disguise anti-Semitic tendencies in the press.

Ban and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other major Mideast mediators — known as the Quartet — met in Moscow to try to find a way to pander to terrorists and destroy Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The mediators urged Israel to halt all settlement construction, which has emerged as a key obstacle to renewing talks. Israel has agreed to curb settlement construction in the West Bank, but not in east Jerusalem, claiming the entire city as Israel’s eternal capital.

‘Must be stopped’
On Saturday, Ban rejected Israel’s distinction between east Jerusalem and the West Bank terrorist terminology “occupied lands”.

“The (leftard and terrorist) world has condemned Israel’s settlement plans in east Jerusalem,” said Ban pandering to the a news media at a conference “Let us be clear. All settlement activity is illegal anywhere in occupied territory and must be stopped.” Everyone listening knows the terrorists consider all Jews occupiers.

The U.N. chief reassured his Palestinian hosts that the international community (of terrorists and thug dictators) supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the terrorists will consider this complete when the Israel’s are driven into the sea. Ban also expressed concern about what he said was a worsening humanitarian situation in blockaded Hamas-ruled Gaza, but had no proposals on the situation. This is more evidence that pandering can’t be moderated by constructive endeavors that would alienate him from his terrorist hosts.

Speaking later Saturday in Jerusalem alongside Israeli President Shimon Peres, Ban repeated the Quartet’s call for a resumption of talks and for the establishment of a Palestinian (code for sanctioned terrorism) state within two years.

Earlier this month, Israelis and Palestinians agreed to indirect talks, with U.S. envoy George Mitchell to shuttle between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the negotiations were put on hold after Israel announced its new settlement plans.

A phony diplomatic row between Israel and the U.S., initiated by the Obama clown troop including Hillary Clinton suggested that assimilation of the terrorist language hindered renewed negotiations. Clinton has asked Netanyahu for specific gestures, because leftard believe in symbolism over substance, including canceling the most recent housing plan. She will pretend to listen to the Israeli leader in a meeting in Washington early next week.

Senior U.S. officials in Washington say Netanyahu apparently has put in writing the pledges he made to Clinton during their telephone conversation on Thursday. The problem being that speaking and listening in code will lead to disappointment when negotiations result in a plan language agreement.

“Even though Palestinians fear that expanding settlements will take the land they want for their state” is the way media and politicians position their argument, those that know are not confused. Temporary arguments of the moment are a tool used to keep the useful idiots occupied while inroads are made in the plans to destroy Israel.

Netanyahu has agreed to a 10-month curb in West Bank construction that ends in September, but the the lefttard political machine and their compliant MSM outlets ignore that the apartment complex is schudled to start construction after the end of the 10 month dead line.

Nearly half a million Israelis live on war-won land, including some 180,000 in east Jerusalem and nearly 300,000 in the West Bank.

Ron Kovic; “Anit-Semite”, “Conspiracy Nut”

Under the banner of “Fund People’s Needs—Not War!”

I am not an anti-Semite, I just blame Jews for everything

Ron Kovic and the Islamic (terrorist) front groups are quoted to the fullest extent possible in order to avoid taking them out of context.

“On Saturday, March 20, people will take to the streets in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and in other cities across the country and around the world to say: “End Occupation—Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine” and “Fund People’s Needs—Not War!”

Ron Kovic, Vietnam Veteran and author of “Born on the Fourth of July,” will be leading the Mass March in Los Angeles. Kovic will be marching with Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, students, working people and thousands of others. Kovic will also be a featured speaker at the rally.

Ron Kovic issued this passionate call to action, urging everyone to hit the streets in protest on March 20:

“Like many Americans who served in Vietnam and those now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and countless human beings throughout history, I had been willing to give my life for my country with little knowledge or awareness of what that really meant. I trusted and believed and had no reason to doubt the sincerity or motives of my government.

“America is headed in the wrong direction, and I want to encourage everyone to join with us … to once again proudly and passionately fill the streets of our country and raise your voices on behalf of peace and nonviolence and an end to the war in Afghanistan. War is not the answer. Violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible.”

The March 20 action recognizes that only the people can end the wars and occupations being carried out by the U.S. or its proxies against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, the Philippines, Pakistan and elsewhere.

Contrary to its “anti-war” image, the Obama administration has called for a major increase in the obscene, trillion-dollar military budget, and the escalation of the war on Afghanistan.

In the United States, millions of people have lost or will lose their homes, jobs and health care due to the economic crisis. Funding for schools, colleges, health care and other programs has been slashed. At the same time, the White House and Congress handed over trillions of dollars to the biggest banks, insurance companies and investors—the same ones who caused the crisis through their wild risk-taking in search of ever-greater profits. Another trillion will go to the military-industrial corporations.

On July 4 2009, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic and hundreds of U.S. citizens planned to fly out from JFK to Cairo, where they planned to form a convoy of hundreds of vehicles carrying medical aid and head into Gaza. They planned to be in Egypt exactly one month to the day from when President Obama delivered his historic speech offering a new and more egalitarian relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. And that speech makes it all the more imperative that anyone and everyone gets on board this convoy.

For Obama’s speech, like his election campaign and presidency, can be looked at two ways. There were the expressions of general support for Israel and continuity in foreign policy, which it would be naïve not to expect from any U.S. president.

How easy it would be to slump into the cynical and knowing snorting that has been such an unappealing trait of too much of the left for far too long. Because at the same time, his skillful appeal for a more respectful East-West dialogue opens up many roads for friends of Palestine and the Arab cause. If you doubt that, look at the frenzied reaction of the Israeli right, which, in its usual understated way, is likening opposition to the settlement program to genocidal murder.

A Truthdig interview with Kovic:
Truthdig: Has this war surpassed the Vietnam War in any way?

Kovic: I think President Bush plans to provoke an even wider war in the Middle East in the coming months. That’s my prediction. He is going to escalate the war by sending more troops to Iraq in a war that we cannot win—a war that is only going to cause more violence, make us even bigger targets of terrorist attacks.

Like many veterans of the Vietnam War, I’ve been in this wheelchair for almost 40 years. I’ve lived with the wounds of American foreign policy for almost four decades now. I saw American foreign policy firsthand, as did many others of my generation. And we learned the lessons of that war. I have serious doubts whether President Bush or the architects of this particular policy in the Middle East right now learned those lessons. And how many of those who are making the decision this week—how many of those talking heads, those so-called experts, who made the decision to have a troop surge, to escalate this war, to put more young men and women’s lives in harm’s way, to put more Iraqi civilians at risk—how many of them really served in a war, how many really understand the human cost of a war? How many really understand what it means to be wounded—whether you’re American or Iraqi? How many understand what it means to come home wounded? What it means to lose a son or daughter in a war? How many of them have been directly affected by this war?

Truthdig: We hear so much about “support the troops” while they’re in war. But what does it mean to support the troops when so many of them are coming back home wounded?

Kovic: I don’t see how this administration is supporting the troops when they’re clearly cutting back the budgets of the veterans hospitals around the country. That is outrageous. That is unacceptable. How can you spend billions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq and not care for those who are wounded when they come back home?

I have opposed this war from the very beginning. I was speaking out against it before it began. I sensed we were being deceived just as we were deceived during the Vietnam War. I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I made one promise to myself in 1968 after I was shot and paralyzed in Vietnam. (During those years that I was involved with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, so I was speaking not only for myself, but for many, many other Vietnam veterans like myself who opposed that war, who went to jail with me.) We said back then, “We’re never going to allow what happened to our generation to ever happen again.” And to watch this nightmare unfold all over again….

And in particular this week, the outrage that not only I feel, but also all my brothers and sisters in the antiwar movement, and all my fellow citizens all over this country … that outrage that all of us feel, that the majority of the people of this country oppose this war, including many of our generals and the architects of this policy…. And yet the president of the United States is acting like a dictator. He’s not listening to the people. What do we have to do? How many demonstrations do we have to have? How many hearings and investigations do we have to have before this president begins to listen to the people? Because isn’t that what America is supposed to be about?

We can make a difference, and I think this is an important week of reflection. For every single American; not just me, Ron Kovic, sitting in this wheelchair, or people who have been directly affected by the wars of this government, and who have been so grievously injured by policies that should never have been to begin with—we are more important than we realize. I think this is a week of important reflection for all of us. We have to really think about the direction this country is heading in right now. We have to ask ourselves, “Have we done enough? Have we the courage to really say what needs to be said? Have we the courage to really do what needs to be done?” Because lives are at stake, and people are dying on both sides. This is unacceptable. This is outrageous. Rather than listening to the voice of the people of the United States, and rather than listening to the Iraq Study Group’s conclusions, rather than listening to reason, the president of the United States has decided to do the exact opposite. He’s putting us all in greater danger. He’s creating the potential for a wider war, for a potential cataclysm, and he’s putting Americans’ lives in jeopardy. If the United States is attacked again, if, God forbid, there’s another 9/11, it should be directly attributed to the fact that, this crucial week, Bush decided to push forward in this very reckless agenda.”

The BBC Is Warped! “The Red Service”

“The tank was parked in a narrow lane lined with houses, and seeing it made me think that it is not just the Taliban who are using civilians as human shields.” BBC

A human shield is a person who is not allowed to leave the immediate area of conflict by one of the combatants.

“The US Senate has overwhelmingly rejected plans to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay and refused funding to close down the prison camp.” BBC

Plan? Plan? There’s no plan!

“Guantanamo inmate ‘joins Taleban'” BBC
“A former Afghan inmate at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay has joined the Taleban’s high command in Pakistan, UK government officials say.” BBC

When you are captured and released, you “rejoin”.

“The Pentagon says more than 10% of 520 inmates released so far have returned to ‘what it calls terrorism’.” BBC

Does the BBC “report” what it calls “news”?

“One Somali suspect has already filed a lawsuit against Germany for what he has called his inhumane treatment since being handed over to Kenya, according to court papers filed in Berlin.” BBC

If you wish K.A.O.S., first subvert the lawyers.

“But there is no consensus as to sending suspects to a third country.” BBC

“Consensus” is the absence of leadership.

“The UN says that about 1.5 million people have been displaced since the army’s latest offensive began on 2 May, and two million since last August.” BBC

Don’t mention that the offensive began when the Taliban moved out of the Swat district and endangered other areas of Pakistan. And some parts of the BBC know this: “…the jihadis have already killed in Lahore and suicide bombers have launched three attacks from the city so far this year. And then there was the brazen attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.” BBC

“Obama takes aim at Bush-era security” BBC

Yes, to destroy it. I am surprised that the BBC even acknowledged that embarrassing diatribe.

The BBC’s disturbing body count!

“Medical sources told the BBC that at least 30 people had been killed in the latest clashes.” BBC

I had come to believe that body counts were unproductive.

“The current US administration admits some of these ‘mistakes’ and has now put Pakistan-Afghanistan on the top of its agenda. But the analysts fear this maybe a case of too little too late, and that the situation may already be lost.” BBC

There is no penalty for being stupid. If Obama thinks that “mistakes” were made, no penalty. If “analysts” think the situation is “lost”, no penalty.

“There was no comment from the Taliban on the latest fighting in Mingora.” BBC

But there has been, “Journalists are not allowed near the city so it is not possible to verify the army’s claims” BBC, is clearly a Taliban statement.

Pentagon to Release Photos From Detainee Custody Investigations

Pentagon to Release Photos From Detainee Custody Investigations
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2009 – The Defense Department soon will release a substantial number of photos associated with concluded past investigations of alleged abuse of detainees, a senior official said here today.

The photos were used as part of internal military investigations conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan, not including the photos used during allegations of detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

The pending late-May release of the photos comes from an agreement reached between the American Civil Liberties Union, the Justice Department and the Defense Department, Whitman said. The ACLU had sued the U.S. government for release of the photos.

A Justice Department letter filed yesterday in a New York District Court stated that the Defense Department would furnish 21 photographs ordered for release by the court and 23 other images involved in the lawsuit.

Additionally, the Justice Department letter stated, the Defense Department also will release “a substantial number of other images” contained in Army Criminal Investigation Division reports that have been closed. The Defense Department is to furnish all cited images by May 28, the letter said.

A number of the images being released in May were part of more than 60 investigations conducted by the U.S. military between 2003 and January 2006, Whitman said.

Since 2003, more than 400 military members charged with detainee abuse were found to be guilty of some form of misconduct, Whitman said. Punishment, he noted, ranged from imprisonment to bad-conduct discharges, reduction in rank and other types of punitive actions.

Defense Department policy always has advocated humane treatment of detainees, Whitman pointed out.

“We have, obviously, over time, found instances where performance has not matched policy,” Whitman said. “And when the performance hasn’t matched the policy, we’ve held people accountable for their actions.”

“There are a number of [lawsuits] that we’re dealing with for detainee photographs and so on,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said to reporters yesterday during his visit to Camp Lejeune, N.C. “There’s a certain inevitability, I believe, that much of this will eventually come out; much has already come out.”

ISF Arrest al-Mashadani for Suspected Crimes

Sunday, 29 March 2009

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
PRESS DESK
BAGHDAD, Iraq
http://www.mnf-iraq.com
March 29, 2009

ISF Arrest al-Mashadani for Suspected Crimes

BAGHDAD –Adel Karim Shaker al-Mashadani was arrested on March 28 in an operation led by the Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade and supported by Coalition Force advisors.

Mashadani was arrested under a warrant issued by the Iraqi government. He is suspected of illegally searching, detaining and extorting bribes in excess of $160,000 a month from the citizens of Fahdil, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that killed Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), leading an IED cell, leading an indirect fire cell, ties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and collusion with the terrorist network Jaysh al Islami.

He was not detained because of his involvement with the Sons of Iraq (SOI).

“We remain thankful for the extraordinary work of the Sons of Iraq, and the contributions they have made to the security of Iraq,” said Major General David Perkins, spokesman for Multi-National Force – Iraq. “The Sons of Iraq have provided a great service to the people of Baghdad.”

Fighting in Fadhil subsided overnight with sporadic gunfire ending by 2 a.m. ISF met with SOI leaders in the area on Sunday and made a call to turn-in weapons in the area.