OBAMA'S ROAD TO VICTORY HAS SERIOUS OBSTACLES

Candidate Obama won the Presidency in 2008 with a healthy 365 Electoral College votes.  It takes 270 electoral college votes to claim the throne and Obama's 2012 road map to victory is becoming a lot harder to navigate.   President Obama's top operatives recently met with former President Bill Clinton to seek his advice on how to win re-election in 2012, but it's going to take more than advice from the golden-boy of the Democratic Party to pull out a victory.   

New CNN polling has Obama's approval rating at 46% vs. 52% disapproval. This ranks higher than only former Presidents Carter and Ford for a first term President in recent elections and we all know how those elections turned out.  In the CNN survey, Obama had a 54%-42% disapproval margin with Independent voters and the Independents usually swing the election.  Independents played a key role in the nomination and subsequent election of Barack Obama in 2008, with about 19 million Independents voting for Obama.  One of the key swing states Obama must win is Florida (29 electoral votes) and winning Florida requires that Obama not only turn out his base in huge numbers, but he must also win at least 50% of the Independents as well.

Pennsylvania is also a must win state for President Obama’s re-election (20 electoral votes) bid, but early polling reveals the right GOP candidate could flip this state.  Ohio (18 electoral votes) is another state that Obama won in 2008 and it's a state that must to be a part of his winning formula for 2012.  It is no accident that since becoming President, Obama has visited Ohio more than any other state.  During the 2010 midterm election, Democrats in Ohio were swept out of power, but union thuggery at the polls in 2012 cannot be overlooked by the eventual GOP nominee.  Ohio is defiantly up for grabs this election cycle and whichever candidate wins Ohio, may go on to win the election.  

In a side note, there is an interesting development occurring in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in regards to how the two states allot their electoral votes in a Presidential election.  Republican legislators have introduced bills that would change how electoral votes are allotted in a presidential election. Under the current system, the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote receives all of the electoral votes of that state.

The US Constitution allows states to distribute their electoral votes how they see fit, but if the Republican bills become law in either Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, those states would change how electoral votes are awarded. The proposed legislation would award electoral votes on the basis of vote totals within congressional districts. If a candidate wins a congressional district, that candidate would win one Electoral College vote and whichever candidate wins the statewide race would receive two electoral votes.  This legislation has whiny liberals up in arms and they are accusing Republicans of trying to “rig” the election...only Liberals are allowed to rig elections don't you know.  

Virginia (13 electoral votes) is another state that Obama won in 2008 and it may be up for grabs in 2012.  In the recent November election, Virginia Republicans won state-wide races and now have complete control of state government for only the second time since the Civil War---this does not bode well for Obama.  

The eventual GOP nominee will need to pick up at least 100 electoral votes that McCain failed to muster in 2008 (McCain received 173 electoral votes) to win the election.  If the GOP can turn FL, OH, PA, NC and Virginia from blue states into red states and keep the states won in 2012 that would bring us to about 95 electoral votes.  The states I outlined can be won and there are other states Obama won in 2008 that can be retaken as well.  Obama is not polling well in past reliable Democratic rust belt states and if just a few of these can be turned, it’s all over for the Obama regime.  Of course many things (SCOTUS ruling on Obama-Care, war with Iran, Fast & Furious investigation et al) can occur in the course of eleven months, however, this is how I read the tea leaves at present. 

Sphere: Related Content

IAEA confirms Iran is working on nuclear weapons

Now that the IAEA has confirmed what the world has known for some time, it's time for the international community to do the right thing before it's too late.  This is the last opportunity for the West to impose serious sanctions on Iran's central bank and Iran's oil industry.  Israeli leaders will be watching to see if the international community accepts this challenge, or punts the ball like they have in the past.  Quite frankly, the UN will not impose crippling sanctions on Iran because they cannot get the cooperation of the Nu-Soviets and the Communist Chinese.  The Russians and the Chinese have helped Iran cross the nuclear weapon threshold and they are not going to help stop, what they have helped start.  Iran is a danger to the world, but the Russians and the Chinese are even more dangerous because they willingly help rouge states obtain nuclear weapons.

The Iranians will act offended and surprised by the IAEA's findings, but the world knows what their intentions are and those intentions include obtaining a deliverable nuclear weapon and then using this weapon against the state of Israel.  The recent "leaks" coming out of Israel indicating that Bibi Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were trying to gain cabinet support for a strike on Iran, were not leaks at all in my opinion.  Israel is not that sloppy when it comes to state secrets.  The "leaks" were intended to spark some action from the UN and to mess with the minds of the psychopaths in Iran.  I surmise Israel will give the UN weeks, not months, to act decisively.  While they wait for the UN to act  fail, Israel will be putting the final touches on their military plans.  Israel knows the UN is worthless and they know there isn't a Winston Churchill waiting in the wings, so Israel will be required to act.

The ultimate question is, will the United States, France and Great Britain help our ally militarily in their attempt to survive this threat from Iran?  Only time will tell, but if NATO can help some Islamist's in Libya, they should be willing to help Israel in a time of need!
         

Sphere: Related Content

The "Mad-Dog" of the Middle East is dead!

Reuters is reporting that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte.  The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official said.  "Gaddafi's body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters.  His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.  "He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."  ALJAZEERA is reporting that another NTC commander said that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Gaddafi's fallen government, was captured near Sirte.  Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the 11th brigade, also said he had seen the body of the chief of Gaddafi's armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr.  "I've seen him with my own eyes," he said and showed Reuters a picture of Jabr's body.  "Moussa Ibrahim was also captured and both of them were transferred to our operations room."  Good riddance, Gaddafi was responsible for many innocent deaths and now Gaddafi is regulated to the dustbin of history.  

Al Jazeera Publishes Alleged Gadhafi Death Video

Sphere: Related Content

Iranians plot assassinations on US soil--Saudi Ambassador targeted

Five days ago I posted a story about a top Iranian official that called for terrorist attacks "in the heart of Europe." Now we discover the Iranians were plotting to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington while dining in a Washington restaurant.  According to a news conference by the Justice Department, the Iranian terrorist had also planned to bomb the Saudi and Israeli Embassies.  A criminal complaint, which was unsealed in federal court in New York City Tuesday, identified the two alleged plotters as Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, both with ties to Iran, Reuters reported. Arbabsiar has been jailed in New York since September and Shakuri remains at large.  Arbabsair, a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport, allegedly expressed disregard for the collateral damage that the attacks in Washington would have caused.  It is being reported that one of the Iranians had tried to contact the Mexican narco-terrorist Zetas organization to help with the assassination.  I wonder if this information will resonate with the Obama administration and make them realize we need to seal our southern border.  The Iranians kill our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq with no consequence.  Will the Obama administration finally get tough with the Iranians?  I will post more info when it becomes available.      

Sphere: Related Content

Top Iranian official calls for terrorist attacks "in the heart of Europe"

Top Iranian calls for terrorist attacks "in the heart of Europe." Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi was quoted as saying, "Today, we must be prepared. In the past, our operational units went to the west and south. Now they must prepare to go to northern Africa, to eastern Asia, and to the heart of Europe. We must prepare for operations worldwide," reported MEMRI. The Iranian leadership could be characterized as evil, or better yet, insane. Comments like Mr. Azghadi's, are all too common for those in power in Iran and are proof of why we cannot allow the Iranians to obtain nuclear weapons. We cannot allow mentally unstable lunatics to have the power to annihilate another nation and if given the chance, the Iranians would do just that.  Click the link below for the full video of Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi.  

Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution Member Hassam Rahimpour Azghadi Calls on Iranians to Conduct Sabotage Operations in 'The Heart of Europe' and Worldwide

Sphere: Related Content

Syria threatens to annihilate Tel Aviv

Embattled Syrian President Assad threatens to level Tel Aviv if NATO takes military action against his murdering regime.  In a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Assad said: "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv." Assad also reiterated that Damascus will also call on Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch such an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel that the Israeli spy agencies could never imagine.  "All these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the US warships in the Persian Gulf and the US and European interests will be targeted simultaneously," the Iranian news agency FARS reported.

The threats made by Assad are reminiscent of the threats made by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War.  In fact, Saddam fired 39 Scuds towards Israel (Tel Aviv, Haifa) during that war and caused the deaths of 74 Israelis as a consequence.  The missiles in the arsenals of Syria, Hezbollah and Iran pose a much greater threat to Israel than the Scuds fired by Saddam.  Arab dictators are known for their bluster, but when their power is threatened, all bets are off.  According to DEBKA, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have charted a coordinated military operation for flattening metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel's financial, industrial and cultural center, with thousands of missiles launched simultaneously by all three - plus the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami firing from the Gaza Strip.  Could this be the reason The United States, United Kingdom and France have been reluctant to take significant action against Assad?  My guess would be yes.

DEBKA also reported that Israeli officials have never publicly admitted that this threat is on record, but Western intelligence sources have reported that Israel reacted with a warning of its own: If a single Syrian missile explodes in Tel Aviv, Damascus will be first to pay the price, and if the missile offensive persists, one Syrian town after another will be destroyed.  The Israeli message to Assad cited the warnings Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other government members addressed in the past year to Hezbollah, that if Tel Aviv comes under attack from its missiles, not only Beirut but all of Lebanon would go up in flames. Assad was given to understand that Syria would go the same way as Lebanon if it engaged in missile belligerence against Israel.  It is reported that Israel may have about two hundred nuclear missiles and I would guess they would use these assets to destroy the Syrian towns if attacked.

NATO member Turkey has announced plans for a 10 day military exercise in the southern province of Hatay along the Syrian border and this action is apparently what twisted Assad into his tirade.  Turkey in the past has threatened to invade the border area of Syria, so as to carve out a "safe' zone for Syrian refuges trying to escape Assad's murdering onslaught.  The dentist trained dictator is reported to have killed about 2700 of his own people during the crackdown, but if history is any guide, the carnage will turn out to be much higher.  Arab despots tend to have a fondness for mass graves and I'm sure they will find many more victims once this is all over and Assad is regulated to the dustbin of history.               

Sphere: Related Content

Texas Lt. Governor Dewhurst continues to dodge the voters

US Senate candidate Ted Cruz continues to impress Texas Conservatives.  Lt. Governor Dewhurst continues to dodge the voters.  Dewhurst has skipped NINE candidate forums since he entered the race — he’s skipped Tea Party forums, Republican Women forums, and County Party forums. Dewhurst clearly does not want to attend and answer the tough questions from voters across the state.  Texas Conservatives must ask themselves, why is Dewhurst avoiding the voters.  The answer is quite clear, Dewhurst is NOT a Conservative and he doesn't want to answer the tough questions.  Dewhurst would rather try and cruise to victory on name recognition alone.  I have one thing to say to the Lt. Governor.....That dog won't hunt sir!  
    

Sphere: Related Content

New York's 9th District voters reject Obama!

The race for disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner's seat should have been a slam-dunk for Democrat David Weprin. After all, New York's 9th. District is the bluest of blue and has been in the control of Democrats since the 1920's. This is the same district that voted for liberal Chuck Schumer and Anthony Weiner for years. Tonight's victory for Republican Bob Turner is a major slap in the face to President Barack Obama and his failed agenda. It's also a repudiation of Obama's treatment of Israel, because the 9th District has a large Jewish voter base that went for the Republican candidate. Barack Obama received an astounding 78% of the Jewish vote nationwide in 2008 and many New York Jewish voters have said they were sick and tired of the way this administration has treated Israel and wanted to send a message.

It will be interesting to see how the White House tries to spin this huge loss in the coming days. President Obama won this district by 11% in 2008 over Republican John McCain, but his approval rating stands at 33% at present. The Turner campaign has sought to prevent voter fraud at the hands of the Democratic machine by asking a judge to impound the non-regular ballots (i.e. absentee & provisional) because of “gross incompetence” on behalf of the Board of Elections, citing “absentee ballots being mailed to dead people and people who did not request them. There has been many close elections lost because of Democratic zombie (dead voters) voters in the past, so this was a smart move by the Turner campaign. This victory by a Republican candidate in a solid liberal district will send shock waves throughout the country. Will the tone-deaf White House take notice? Doubtful, too much arrogance with this bunch, but it will send a wake-up call to the other elected Democrats throughout the land.

Sphere: Related Content

Never Forget the 2,977

On the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, let's not forget who and what brought death and destruction to our country. Nineteen Muslim terrorists commandeered four commercial airliners and flew three of the fuel laden cruise missiles into our buildings. Since that time, Muslim terrorists have carried out 17,720 terrorist attacks around the globe....all in the name of Islam. The current occupant of the White House may have changed the verbiage, but the fact is, we are still in a global war against Muslim terror. Never Forget who we are fighting!

The complete list of victims from that day can be found HERE.

Sphere: Related Content

Classified report: Russia tied to blast at U.S. embassy

The Washington Times is reporting that " Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September." According to the Washington Times, the highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to the paper by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer. This is just more evidence that Putin and the Nu-Soviets are not friends of the United States and will resort to cold war tactics to advance their cause.

Putin resents the fact the United States supports and trains the Georgian military and if it wasn't for that support, Putin would have recaptured the former Soviet state. Ever since the "Rose Revolution" and the resignation of former Communist Eduard Shevardnadze in 2003, the Republic of Georgia has been in the cross-hairs of Nu-Soviet aggression. Russian troops invaded the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008 after skirmishes broke out between Georgian and Russian forces in South Ossetia. To this day, Russian troops remain in the provinces.

READ ENTIRE WASHINGTON TIMES ARTICLE

Sphere: Related Content

Iran threatens to strike US and NATO assets in Turkey

Turkey is reportedly ready to send troops into Syria to set up a buffer-zone to protect Syrian protesters. Several thousand Syrians have fled into southern Turkey fearing a military assault by President Assad's murdering armed forces, but Turkey now fears that number to increase exponentially. Syria's military has moved into a village near the border with Turkey causing more Syrians to flee the violence. The death toll of Syrian protesters is climbing near the 2,000 mark, which Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally condemned. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed his concerns about Turkish intervention in a meeting with Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei, which prompted the Iranian Ayatollah to warn Turkey not to provide any territory to NATO, otherwise it would strike U.S. and NATO targets on Turkish soil.

Iranian warships and submarines have been deployed in the Red Sea and are said to be tracking the movements of United States aircraft carriers. Currently, the USS Enterprise and USS George H. W Bush are patrolling the the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The United States Navy has a huge concentration of naval missile interceptor assets in the area, and the Los Angeles-class USS Bremerton nuclear-powered attack submarine off Bahrain opposite Iran. In early June, the United States Navy deployed the USS Bataan amphibian air carrier strike vessel opposite Syria's Mediterranean coast with 2,000 marines, 6 war planes, 15 attack helicopters, including new V-22 Ospreys, and 27 choppers for landing forces aboard.

To make matters worse, Lebanon braces for the U.N. probe into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which is reportedly going to be released within days. If this report names members of Hezbollah and the Syrain regime, new violence could break out in Lebanon. I think it's reasonable to assume that if hostilities break out between Turkey/U.S. and Iran, Israel will be drawn into the conflict. Iran will do all they can (including war) to keep Assad propped up, because Syria is their most important ally in the region. Iran's Great Prophet Mohammad War Games VI, which was launched June 27, should be seen as a warning to Turkey, U.S. and Israeli leaders.

Sphere: Related Content

Obama wants credit for cleaning up ‘big mess’??

President Obama told supporters at a fundraiser in Miami on Monday night that he deserves credit for cleaning up the mess he inherited. The new talking point of the this administration is that Obama has created 2 million new jobs. Let's assume for a minute they are right and then let's examine the new jobs. The quality of the jobs the U.S. is creating right now in terms of pay, benefits, hours, and skills leaves a lot to be desired. Half of last month's new jobs came from a single employer — McDonald's. 90% of the new jobs created in the private sector since Obama's immaculation have been created by temporary job agencies.

According to Rightpundits.com, a new study by Ohio State economists, Timothy Conley and Bill Dupor, concludes that the Barack Obama Stimulus program from 2009 may have saved 450,000 state and local government jobs, but destroyed one million private sector jobs in the process. Known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the program was promised to stem the rising unemployment rate following the financial crash. The Obama administration trotted out endless officials from the White House saying that the nearly $1 Trillion dollars in Federal stimulus would keep the unemployment rate below 8%. Not only did the rate exceed 10%, combined with the long-term unemployed and under-employed, about one in four adult, working-age Americans either have no job or are barely working just to make ends meet.

Most of the stimulus money went into propping up state and local school systems, as well as help propping up state Medicare outlays. Less than 10% went for building highways, bridges, etc, those much talked about shovel-ready infrastructure. The ARRA was promised to “save or create” some 2 to 3 Million jobs. But according to this latest study, the number is much lower, around 443,000 government jobs, most being just temporary jobs at that. The counter-effect of the ARRA stimulus program was the loss of some 772,000 HELP service jobs. HELP standing for Health, Education, Leisure and Professional. In the area of Goods-producing, the loss was 362,000 jobs. In other words, the Obama stimulus was an utter failure, as others and myself have been saying all along. The economy is still mired in uncertainty and volatility. Today′s housing news on new home starts shows a major decline in the past year of around 25%. The housing sector has always been the bell-ringer for the entire consumer market.

The new study published by the Ohio State economists cuts through the talking points and exposes the real numbers. The number of unemployed Americans at present is 13.9 million and the unemployment rate is a misleading 9.1 percent. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. This alternative measure creates a much higher number and it hovers around 16%-17%. You want credit for these numbers Mr. President?? I will give you all the credit you deserve, your policies didn't create this financial mess, but they have made it worse. It is your policies sir that are driving our economy into a double-dip recession. If Obama's true record is exposed, he should lose his re-election bid by 10 points.

IN A RELATED ARTICLE BY CNSNEWS.COM--READ THIS. 1.9 Million Fewer Americans Have Jobs Today Than When Obama Signed Stimulus

Sphere: Related Content

The death of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 as a combined military force to stem the Communist tide in Europe. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously stated the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down" and for next 40 years that goal was pretty much attained. In 1966, France being France, President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO's military command and relied on it's own nuclear deterrent to protect them against the Soviet threat. During the decades long Cold War, NATO successfully kept the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact from invading the democratic nations of Europe. In the early 80's, President Ronald Reagan made the controversial decision to place GLCM cruise missiles and the Pershing II missiles in Europe to counter the Warsaw Pact's nuclear capabilities. The first cracks in European support for NATO began to emerge and it wasn't until the USSR shot down a Korean airliner in 1983 did it galvanize support for the missile deployment.

The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 removed the de facto main adversary of NATO and this was the beginning of the end for NATO. The end of the Cold War caused a strategic re-evaluation of NATO's military purpose, nature and tasks. In practice this ended up entailing a gradual (and still ongoing) expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe, much to the chagrin to the former Soviet Union. The first military operation carried out by NATO was the bombing of Bosnia and Herzegovina in August of 1995 to undermine the Bosnian Serb Army. This operation was considered successful in regards to a military fighting unit, as it involved 400 NATO aircraft and 5,000 personnel from 15 nations. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 marked the second major combat operation in its history and again was considered successful by military standards.

In 2001, the United States and the United Kingdom attacked the Taliban led government in Afghanistan to root out the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003 and the ISAF initially included troops from 42 countries. The military roles and quality of NATO troops has been controversial during this conflict. NATO member states have what is called "national caveats", which is a restriction that NATO members place on the use of their forces in combat. These caveats have created opportunities for the insurgents in parts of Afghanistan, while also causing friction within NATO between those nations willing to send their soldiers to the dangerous parts of the country (to fight), and those not willing to do so.

During the Libyan uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by rebel forces, NATO was once again called upon to take military action against a non-European threat. NATO began enforcing UN resolution 1973 in March of 2011, which calls for a ceasefire, and authorizes military action to protect civilians from Gaddaf'si troops. Divisions within the alliance have surfaced because only eight of twenty-eight member states have actually participated in combat operations. France and Britain have taken the lead role in combat operations, while the United States military continues to fade into the background. NATO has become weak politically and militarily and it really cannot be seen as a cohesive fighting force any longer. Europe has been underfunding its defense capabilities for more than a decade and their political leadership are becoming more like Neville Chamberlain every day. NATO has a long-standing self-obligation for all members to spend at least 2% of their gross national product (GNP) on defense. Currently, only five of 28 members fulfill that obligation and this trend is expected to continue.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated today (June 10th 2011) that NATO faces a "dim, if not dismal" future. Secretary Gates went on to say, "The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress -- and in the American body politic writ large -- to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense." Without US funding, NATO is finished as a fighting force. There are three budgets within NATO: one civil and two military. Each NATO member country pays an amount into the budgets based on an agreed cost-sharing formula. The United States contributed about $470 million directly to NATO to support its three commonly funded budgets in 1997. In 2010, for the first time in its 60-year history, NATO was operating in the red with a $700 million deficit. Because of a lack of will and funding, the mightiest military alliance in the history of the world will be no more. Rest in peace NATO!

****ITALY BREAKS RANK WITH NATO***** READ STORY HERE

Sphere: Related Content

Is Obama finally going to take action against Syria?

DEBKAFILE is reporting the Obama administration is ready to step-up to the plate and finally take action against Syria for the murderous crackdown on protesters. The death toll is reported to be around one thousand, but I suspect it’s quite higher than that as a mass grave has been found near Deraa. Citizens from the southern city of Deraa say hundreds of Syrians are unaccounted for since a crackdown on protests began on March 18^th and intensified when the army moved in on April 25^th. President Obama is said to be readying sanctions on Syrian dictator Assad and plans to recall the American Ambassador Robert Ford for consultations. Obama has also decided to give the IAEA authorization to report Syria to the UN Security Council in regards to Syria’s apparent violation in building a plutonium reactor for military purposes at Deir A-Zour.

President Obama has been tardy when it comes to making decisive decisions in the foreign policy realm. Obama failed twice during the Iranian election fraud protests and was seen as weak in his response. Obama’s wavering response in Egypt left the State Department scrambling in trying to stay on the same page as the White House. In the end, longtime ally President Mubarak was essentially thrown under the proverbial bus, which helped pave the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to fill the leadership vacuum. When the protests erupted in Libya, Obama was once again asleep at the wheel…or should I say asleep at the golf cart wheel on the 19^th hole. The President dithered while the world watched as the protesters were routed by Col. Gaddafi’s henchmen. At a time, there was a small window of opportunity when the protesters could have captured Tripoli, but Obama waited until that opportune time had passed.

Whether or not Obama’s Syrian strategy will be successful remains to be seen, but I think more action is required. President Obama needs to put pressure on the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for President Assad and his brother Maher Assad for murder. Strong unilateral sanctions need to be applied to Syria. If the United States will actually lead in this arena, I surmise most of the International community will follow suit. The United Nations must be avoided for the most part because China and Russia will veto any meaningful sanctions. When it comes to Iran or their Syrian ally, Obama appears to be gun-shy about making real decisions. I appreciate the fact that Iran and Syria can make trouble for our national security interests in that region if we push too hard, but the failure to act because of that fact is seen as weak and is very dangerous. The Obama White House is currently in 2012 campaign mode and I’m confident most of the decisions they make will have political calculations aimed at the election. That could be good for our foreign policy because Obama will want to look decisive instead of looking like the dithering wimp he has been for the past two and half years.

Sphere: Related Content

Pakistan helped Bin Laden, Bush-era intel may have lead to hit

I think there is now no question that the Pakistani ISI helped Osama Bin Laden hide from U.S. forces. It has always been suspected Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISID) supported terrorist elements, but now the proof is in. Bin Laden was eventually tracked down and killed in a compound located just a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s prestigious military academy in Abbotabad and I don’t think that was by accident. In December 2009, the government of Tajikistanwarned the United States that efforts to catch bin Laden were being thwarted by corrupt Pakistani spies. According to a United States diplomatic dispatch, General Abdullo Sadulloevich Nazarov, a senior Tajik counterterrorism official, told the Americans that “many” inside Pakistan knew where bin Laden was. The document revealed: “In Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden wasn’t an invisible man, and many knew his whereabouts in North Waziristan, but whenever security forces attempted a raid on his hideouts, the enemy received warning of their approach from sources in the security forces.” It's time Congress takes a look at our relationship with Pakistan and withdraws all economic aid that goes to this country.

Information is now being released showing the Bush administrations use of enhanced interrogation techniques on GITMO detainees may have been the genesis behind the intel that resulted in the Bin Laden hit. U.S. officials say some of the initial strands of intelligence that eventually led to Sunday’s military operation came from terror detainees captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. We have heard over the years that water-boarding provided useful intel that saved lives and prevented future terrorist attacks. We know that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was water-boarded many times and now it’s being revealed he may have provided the name of the Bin Laden courier, the same courier that was tracked to Osama’s compound in Pakistan. President Obama is taking credit for the killing of Bin Laden and to some degree it’s deserved, but credit needs to be extended to the Bush administration as well. There will be those that will deny water-boarding had anything to do with the death of Osama Bin Laden, but I think history will show a different story. Ultimately, most of the credit goes to the men and women of our military and intelligence services. They are the true heroes!

Sphere: Related Content

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD. Al Qaeda Threatens Nuclear Hellstorm if Bin Laden is caught

According to Fox News, Osama Bin Laden

has been killed by US forces. The US

has been awaiting DNA results before going

public.

Last week it was reported at the

Statesman.net WASHINGTON, 25 APRIL: Al Qaida terrorists have threatened to unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” on the West if their leader and the world's most-wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, is nabbed.

A senior Al Qaida commander has said that the terror group has stashed away a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated, according to new top secret files made public by the Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks. The documents are secret details of the background to capture each of the 780 people held at or have passed through the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, along with their medical condition and the information they have provided during interrogations. The documents have been released to select European and US news outlets and reveal that the day 9/11 terror killings took place in the USA, the core of Al Qaida was concentrated in a single city of Karachi in Pakistan. The intellectual author of 11 September attacks watched the horrifying scenes of the planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre beamed live on TV with key Al Qaida commanders at a safe house in Karachi. While in a nearby hospital the accused mastermind of the bombing of the USS' Cole off Yemen waters was recovering from a tonsillectomy, the alleged organiser of the 2002 Bali bombing was buying lab equipment for a biological weapons programme. Within a day much of the Al Qaida leadership disappeared back to Afghanistan to plan for a long war, the Washington Post reported quoting the fresh leaks on the whereabouts of the international Al Qaida terror brigade. The cache of classified military documents portray the planning of the 9/11 terror attacks and the whereabouts of its plotters including the world's most-wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri on that fateful day. The Guantanamo detainees are assessed “high or medium or low” in terms of their intelligence value and the threat they pose while in detention and the continued threat they might pose if released. The leaks say that four days after 11 September attacks, bin Laden visited a guest house in Afghanistan's Kanadhar province where he told his gathered Arab fighters to “defend Afghanistan against infidel invaders” and to “fight in the name of Allah”. The Intelligence report says after the 9/11 attacks began a peripatetic three weeks for bin Laden and his deputy as they criss-crossed Afghanistan handing out assignments to followers, meetings with top Taliban leadership and delegating control of Al Qaida to the group's 'shura' council, presumably because he feared being captured or killed as the US forces closed in. ‘ISI a terrorist organisation US authorities have described Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency as a terrorist organisation and considered it as much of a threat as Al Qaida and the Taliban. Recommendations to interrogators at Guantanamo Bay rank the ISI directorate alongside Al Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon as threats, The Guardian reported quoting secret US files obtained by it. “Being linked to any of these groups is an indication of terrorist or insurgent activity,” the documents dated September 2007 said. “Through associations with these organisations, a detainee may have provided support to Al Qaida or the Taliban, or engaged in hostilities against USA or coalition forces (in Afghanistan),” the document said.

Sphere: Related Content

Texans need to call their Senators-Concealed Carry on Campus in jeopardy

Taxpayer paid university bureaucrats have leaned heavily on Texas Senators once again to block the rights of Texans to effectively defend themselves just because they are on a public university campus. This is much more about faculty and staff than students as one must be 21 year of age to have a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) in Texas.

You're phone calls, non-stop, constantly through Monday, as well as emails, are needed to members of the Senate. Tell them simply that you "want Campus CHL passed with no weakening amendments." Be polite but insist how important to you this issue is. Calls will be fast and taken by a staffer.

Here are some specific senators who need to be contacted (be polite as I do not know the current position on the bill of these senators, they could be for the bill):

Senator Duncan: 800-322-9538, 512-463-0128 and 806-763-1122 (contact emails here:http://www.senatorduncan.com/ContactUs/tabid/61/Default.aspx)

• Senator Fraser 512-463-0124 and 254-939-3562
• Senator Estes 512-463-0130 and 940-689-0191
• Senator Seliger 512-463-0131 and 806-374-8994
• Senator Ogden (has declared as a no vote): 512-463-0105 and 512-828-5224
• Senator Lucio (is blocking the bill): 512-463-0127 and 956-548-0227

We need to call as often, and as politely, as is possible until Monday mid-day. Thanks go out to PrattOnTexas for this bulletin.

Latest info on this bill-HERE and HERE

Sphere: Related Content

Ahmadinejad and the rise of the 12th Imam

Iranian President Ahmadinejad appears to believe that the recent events in the Middle East are unleashing the righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi or 12th Imam, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumor - denied by the Iranian government but widely believed - is that President Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran. CBN News has obtained a never-before-seen video produced by the Iranian regime that says all the signs are moving into place -- and that Iran will soon help usher in the end times. The Iranian terrorist regime now believes the chaos in the Middle East is divine proof that their ultimate victory is at hand.

The video is called "The Coming is Near" and it describes current events in the Middle East as a prelude to the arrival of the mythical twelfth Imam -- the messianic figure who Islamic prophecy says will lead the armies of Islam to victory over all non-Muslims in the last days. According to CBN, "This video has been produced by a group called the Conductors of the Coming, in connection with the Basiji -- the Iranian paramilitary force, and in collaboration with the Iranian president's office," said Reza Kahlil, a former member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. "Just a few weeks ago, Ahmadenijad's office screened this movie with much excitement for the clerics," Kahlili told CBN News. "The target audience is Muslims in the Middle East and around the world."

The Iranian President has in the past spoken in apocalyptic terms of Iran struggling against an evil West that sought to promote "state terrorism", impose "the logic of the dark ages" and divide the world into "light and dark countries". The speech ended with the messianic appeal to God to "hasten the emergence of your last repository, the Promised One, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace". As I have stated in the past, an apocalyptic despot cannot be negotiated with and one with nuclear weapons is truly dangerous.

Sphere: Related Content

Is Mr. Obama the worst foreign policy President in our history?

U.S. President Barack Obama is whistling by the grave yard while the rebels in Libya are being slaughtered. While Mr. Obama spends his time on ESPN offering his picks for the NCAA basketball tournament, Col. Qaddafi's troops have routed the rebels and are now poised for a final victory. US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has been quoted as saying, "We are discussing very seriously in (UN)Council a range of actions that we believe could be effective in protecting civilians." Someone needs to inform the good Ambassador that Qaddafi's troops are massed outside of Benghazi for the final push to eliminate the opposition. The Libyan Army appeared on state television on Wednesday to set a deadline for residents to leave Benghazi by midnight local time ahead a planned operation to "cleanse" the city.

It has been said that President Carter lost Iran during his four years in office, but Barack Obama will be known as the President that lost the Middle East. Mr. Obama failed to lead during the Iranian protests, he bungled his way through the Egyptian crisis and now his inaction almost assures the survival of the terrorist leader in Libya. Mr. Obama's failures didn't start in the Middle East, they started when he gave in to the Nu-Soviets and abandoned our missile defense bases in Europe. By doing so, Obama alienated our Polish and Czech allies and tarnished our credibility in the process. Barack Obama kicked our British friends to curb early in his administration and has thrown Israel under the bus multiple times over the last couple of years.

Mr. Obama stood by while the Iranian proxy Hezbollah toppled Prime Minister Hariri's government in Lebanon and in doing so we lost a valuable friendly partner in the Middle East. It has been reported that Iran has placed missiles in Venezuela which could reach our Southern border. According to the German daily Die Welt(Nov. 25, 2010), the Iranian regime is planning to place medium range ballistic missiles on Venezuelan soil. An agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October 19, 2010. What is President Obama doing to prevent this Cuban style missile crisis? Allowing Iran to place missiles on Venezuelan soil will be a major threat to our national security.

There is now a contest between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the Sunni-Shiite split in the Arab world, which ramped up to a dangerous level Wednesday. The all-out offensive launched by Bahraini and Saudi security forces, tanks and helicopters to drive the mostly Shiite protesters out of the main square has received the attention of Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the dispersal of the Shiite protesters as "unjustifiable and irreparable" and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said ominously: "The unexpected interference of foreign forces in popular uprisings in different countries, including Bahrain, whose people are peacefully after their legitimate demands, can lead the region toward a crisis that will have dangerous consequences."

Would Mr. Obama intervene militarily if Iran and Saudi Arabia were to go to war? Judging by Obama's track record the answer would have to be NO. He would most likely attend a fundraiser and then condemn Iran in the "strongest possible terms." He might send Ambassador Rice to the worthless United Nations to find a solution, all the while he taped an ESPN NFL draft special. After a couple of golf outings and an oversees vacation, Obama might find the time to intervene on behalf of Saudi Arabia. But to the dithering President's surprise, Saudi Arabia has already been defeated and occupied.

Sphere: Related Content

New never-before-seen video from 9/11

New video from an NYPD helicopter has emerged as it hovers 300 feet above the World Trade Center Towers. The 17-minute long film was part of the evidence used by the official inquiry into the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. The investigation, conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology used the Freedom of Information Act to get hold of the footage but it was not made public.

Sphere: Related Content

U.S. Warships move towards Libya

As the international community and the Obama administration dither, Col. Muammar Qaddafi regroups his forces in a final bid to cling to power. The behind-the-scenes talks between U.S., European and NATO officials about the possibility of flight restrictions over Libya may come too late if action isn't taken soon. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is repositioning its naval forces near North Africa indicating possible military steps to break the standoff between Muammar Qaddafi's army and rebel forces.

The U.S. naval forces that are being redeployed off the Libyan coast are the USS Enterprise from the Red Sea and the amphibious USS Kearsarge, which has a fleet of helicopters and about 1,800 Marines aboard. According to Fox News, the U.S. military is trying to figure out where to find a battalion of Marines to attach to the Marine Expeditionary Unit on board the USS Kearsarge. The unit's land troops are currently being used in Afghanistan, but the unit could be in a position to help a humanitarian effort in Libya if other troops are assigned from elsewhere.

Col. Qaddafi told Christiane Amanpour in a recent interview, "I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight al Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists (Libyan rebels) they have abandoned us," "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya." Qaddafi went on to say that President Obama is a "good man", but said he appeared to be misinformed about the situation in Libya. "The statements I have heard from him (Obama) must have come from someone else," "America is not the international police of the world," Qaddafi added.

The Obama administration must take action now or it risks pro-Qaddifi forces regrouping and overtaking the rebel opposition. We saw what happened when President George H. W. Bush failed to help the Iraqis that were trying to oust Saddam Hussein after Operation Desert Storm. President Bush's failure to eliminate Hussein in 1991 contributed to President George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003. Let's not repeat that failure!

Sphere: Related Content