Obama plays both sides of the Benghazi issue, and loses

Commentary by James Shott

The terrorists in Benghazi, Libya who attacked our consulate last month on the anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks and killed four American Foreign Service personnel have highlighted in tragic detail how deeply naïve President Barack Obama’s idea of foreign policy is.

His manic effort to deny the existence of Muslim terrorism to avoid offending Muslims confounds those of us grounded in reality. He put an end to the “war on terror,” and in its place we now have “Overseas Contingency Operations.” When a Muslim U.S. Army doctor screamed “Allahu Akbar” as he mowed down 13 of his fellow soldiers, Mr. Obama’s administration prefers to call it “workplace violence.”  

With that background it is no wonder that Mr. Obama and his disciples inside and outside of the administration twisted themselves into illogical knots to avoid admitting what was obvious to most people: that it was a planned terrorist attack. 

However, Mr. Obama tried desperately to claim the opposite during the second presidential debate, declaring that he identified the attack as a terrorist act the next day in a Rose Garden statement, and moderator Candy Crowley inappropriately backed him up on it. But the facts do not support Ms. Crowley or Mr. Obama.  

The President made a five and one-half minute statement consisting of 801 words. Several times he used descriptive language, such as:

• “… four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi.”
• “The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack.”
• “ … we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people”
• “The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.”

Notice that he did not say “terror,” “terrorism,” “terrorist” or “terrorist attack,” and he did not utter any such word in the first three-fourths of the statement.  

About three and one-half minutes into the statement Mr. Obama referenced the 9-11-2001 attacks: “Of course, yesterday was already a painful day for our nation as we marked the solemn memory of the 9/11 attacks.” Still, there was no reference to terrorism.  

And then, four minutes and 15 seconds into the five and one-half-minute statement, and 618 words into the 801 words of the text, he spoke the words “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation …” That oblique reference – plural, not singular – was the only time the concept of terrorism entered into Mr. Obama’s text. Right after that he said: “We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act.” “Terrible,” but not “terrorist.”

If he truly wanted the nation to understand that he thought terrorists killed those four Americans, he deftly disguised the message.  

As if to prove the assertion that he didn’t “really” call the attack an act of terror, for the next two weeks members of the administration – including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Press Secretary Jay Carney and President Obama himself (who mentioned it again and again at a speech to the United Nations on September 25^th) – repeatedly blamed the attack on a violent protest in reaction to an anti-Islam video produced by an American. Yes, an American; that “shadowy character” who created a video about Islam was the cause of the Benghazi attack.

The administration offered the video as the only cause of the violence for days on end, despite the common sense reaction that people don’t show up with RPGs and mortars at a spontaneous protest, even in places occupied by radical Muslims.  

Was there a protest prior to the terrorist attack, or wasn’t there? It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that the security provided to our people in Libya was dismally inadequate. There were eight attacks in Libya in a 6-month period, one on a British convoy and another on the Red Cross facility, causing both the Brits and the Red Cross to leave Libya because of the growing level of violence. And in June, there was an attack on the American Embassy in Tripoli.  

U.S. personnel in Libya knew danger was mounting and practically begged for increased security measures. But Mr. Obama is fond of boasting that “Al Qaeda is on the run and Osama bin Laden is dead,” and mounting violence in Libya really doesn’t fit into that narrative. Al Qaeda is still alive and well, and Barack Obama’s dream of a “New Dawn in the Middle East” has proved to be a nightmare. Putting the “Dream” ahead of protecting Americans at home and abroad, the administration declined those requests for help, and now four brave Americans are dead.  

Extremists in the Middle East may make it impossible for that long-troubled region to ever become a peaceful place, and perhaps no president can change that. But a position of strength on the part of the United States best serves the interests of peace and stability. We don’t have that in President Obama’s America, where foreign policy focuses on offering apology and appeasement. Leading from behind just doesn’t cut it.  

Cross-posted from Observations

Prayers For Peace, Rockets, And A New Daycare Center.

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

This month has been busy for the residents of Sderot (pronounced:  STAY'rot).  Let us start with this bit of optimism.

Sderot, Israel (31.12.09): Hours before the new year, as hundreds of pro-Palestinian and Arab demonstrators gathered at the Erez Crossing chanting "Katyushas on Ma'alot, Qassams on Sderot," while Israeli demonstrators at another Gaza viewpoint a few meters away gathered together to communicate a very different message.

A group of Israelis singing songs of peace versus a group of Arabs calling for the bombing of these people.  And the idiots on the left (especially the ones in the White House, Speaker's Office and the Senate Majority Leader) all have concluded that Israelis don't want peace, only Arabs do.

And black is white, good is bad, up is down.  Nothing to see here folks...just move along.

That was the optimism.  Now for the news:

Worst Rocket Escalation to Strike Israel Since Operation Cast Lead

by Anav Silverman

Since Operation Cast Lead, over 306 rockets have been fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. On Sunday, January 10, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that he regarded the recent escalation of rocket attacks very seriously.

Rocket attack in Sderot. (Photo: Hamutal Ben Shitrit/Sderot Media Center)

"Last week 20 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Government's policy is clear: Any firing at our territory will be responded to strongly and immediately."

Both Netivot and Ashkelon were hit by Grad rockets in the recent rocket escalation. On New Years' eve, two Russian-made Grad artillery rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and struck Israel, with one hitting the southern town of Netivot, a city of about 26,000.

The Color Red system did not go off at the time of attack, and Netivot residents had no warning of the incoming rocket attack. No damages were reported but one woman suffered shock.

The last Grad rocket to strike Netivot had exploded near a synagogue nine months ago, causing heavy damage to the building.

A week later, on Thursday, January 7, a Grad-type Katyusha rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a field south of Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries. Air sirens, however, did sound, sending Ashkelon residents into panic.

Ashkelon, a coastal city with over 100,000 residents, has been a target of Palestinian-fired Katyusha rockets for nearly four years.

Since the start of 2010, tens of Iranian-supplied mortar rockets have also hit southern Israel. Terrorists also fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops on the Gaza border.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the recent firing of the rockets.

Hamas boasted on Friday Jan. 8, that it had managed to smuggle new types of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, published photographs on its website of the new weapons. The weapons include missiles with a double warhead, 107-mm caliber missiles that are designed to penetrate fortified structures and a new type of armor piercing RPG missile.

Abu Ubeida, the Hamas spokesman stated that the group "has thousands of fighters and good weapons capable of harming Israel."

Former OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samia predicted on Sunday that another war with Hamas was inevitable.

"We are before another round in Gaza," Samia told Army Radio in an interview.

"I am very skeptical about the possibility that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its ways without being hit much more seriously than it was during Cast Lead."

Will someone please explain the meaning of the word CEASE-FIRE to Hamas!  In a cease-fire both side stop shooting at each other.  If one side starts shooting again, then the cease-fire is over, battle begins anew.

Now for a little good news:

A new rocket-proof daycare center was inaugurated in the southern city of Sderot on December 27. The money for the furniture, equipment, and toys was donated by 13 year-old Thomas Cole of Toronto on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah.

United Israel Appeal of Canada’s website reported that the dedication ceremony was attended by 35 members of Cole’s family, including his parents and grandparents, as well as by Sderot Mayor David Buskila, who unveiled a plaque of recognition and affixed the mezuzah together with Thomas.

The daycare center was built to withstand rocket attacks and contains three classrooms. It will serve approximately 45 infants ranging in age from three months to four years. The center will specifically serve the Reut community, a group of 150 young families who have made Sderot their home over the last decade.

Eran Shmueli-David, director of UIAC’s Israel Emergency Campaign, said that “this gift was implemented thanks to the tireless efforts of Eddy Azran, UIAC’s local coordinator in Sderot. It was his persistence and determination that pressed the municipality to open the new building as soon as construction was completed.”

Thomas Cole personally chose to dedicate the money to the Sderot Daycare Centre out of several options given to him by the B’nei Tzedek program of UJA Federation.

Read the full story here.

Young Thomas Cole of Toronto not only is on his way in life to becoming a man of good character, but has shown to the world the true meaning of becoming a man.  The unselfish giving unto others.  In Master Cole's case, his generosity will help many children to have a better life.

His parents MUST be busting at the seams with pride.

You can HELP too.  It isn't hard.  Just a few dollars can and does go a long way.  Just click here and follow the instructions.  Your donation to the Sderot Media Center will help the people of Sderot and the Western Negev.  People who have been under rocket attack for the last 9 years.

The Children of Sderot sent out messages of peace and hope.
The Children of Gaza send out rockets to destroy them.

Yet Hamas screams bloody murder whenever the Israelis strike back at them.

Not this time.

The time is coming when the people of Israel will have had enough.  When they will attack in retaliation, and not stop until Hamas is fully destroyed.  This next time nothing will be able to stop the IDF from achieving their directive.  Not the UN, not the EU, and definitely not Barack Hussein Obama.  Let Hamas and their anti-Semitic allies on the left cry all they want.  They will cry, scream, and throw a temper tantrum like they did last year.  But things are different now.  Europe is fed up with their antics.  The US isn't buying their lies.  And there will be elections this year.  Now Hamas will have to contend with that.

And the Children of Sderot truly might have a peaceful childhood.

The Warning Signs Were Out There.

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle


As far back as 2007 officials at Walter Reed knew that there were problems with Nidal Hasan, yet they did nothing. They chose to ignore the signs for whatever reason they had.

Two years ago, a top psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was so concerned about what he saw as Nidal Hasan's incompetence and reckless behavior that he put those concerns in writing. NPR has obtained a copy of the memo, the first evaluation that has surfaced from Hasan's file.

Officials at Walter Reed sent that memo to Fort Hood this year when Hasan was transferred there.

Nevertheless, commanders still assigned Hasan — accused of killing 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5 — to work with some of the Army's most troubled and vulnerable soldiers.

Read the full story here.

I wonder if Hasan was a Christian or Jewish would he have gotten the same easy pass that he did.

Just read the memo and wonder what the US Army considers to be good psychiatric care?

The Memo:

National Capital Consortium
Psychiatry Residency Program
Borden Pavilion, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Bldg.6, Rm. 2059, 6900 Georgia Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20307-5001
XXXXXXX

Consortium Participating Instructions: Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center, Malcolm Grow USAF Medical Center

May 17, 2007

Memorandum for: Credentials Committee

Subject: CPT Nidal Hasan

1. I am the program director for NCC Psychiatry Residency Training Program. I took over as PD in MAR 2007 and was Assistant PD from July 2006. I have been a faculty member of the residency since July 2004.

2. This memo is based on my personal knowledge of and the documented incidences in CPT Hasan’s Resident Training File.

3. The Faculty has serious concerns about CPT Hasan’s professionalism and work ethic. Clinically he is competent to deliver safe patient care. But he demonstrates a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism. In his PGY-2 year, he was counseled for inappropriately discussing religious topics with his assigned patients. He also required a period of in-program remediation when he was discovered to have not documented appropriately an ER encounter with a homicidal patient who subsequently eloped from the ER. He did successfully remediate this problem. At the end of his PGY-2 year, he was placed on administrative probation by the NCC GMEC for failure to take and pass USMLE Step 3 and to obtain an unrestricted state medical license by the end of his PGY-2 year; as a result he was not promoted to PGY-3 on time. He did eventually complete step 3 and get a license and was promoted to PGY-3. He was counseled for having a poor record of attendance at didactics and lower than expected PRITE scores. One year he failed to show for his PRITE examination at all. During his PGY-3 year, he was counseled for being consistently late to NNMC morning report. During his PGY-4 year, he was discovered to have only seen 30 outpatients in 38 week of outpatient continuity clinic. He was required to make this missed clinic time up using his elective. He failed his HGT/WGT screening and was found to be out of standards with body fat % and was counseled on that.
Lastly, he missed a night of call for MGMC ER and then did not respond to numerous pages by my office the next day.

4. Take together; these issues demonstrate a lack of professionalism and work ethics. He is able to self-correct with supervision. However, at this point he should not need so much supervision. In spite of all of this, I am not able to say he is not competent to graduate nor do I think a period of academic probation now at the end of his training will be beneficial. He would be able to contain his behavior enough to complete any period of probation successfully. My purpose in writing this letter is to give the credentials committee the benefit of full disclosure and the opportunity to modify CPT Hasan’s plan of supervision following initial privileging.

5. I did discuss this memo with CPT Hasan and informed him I would be adding it to his initial credentialing paperwork.

6. POC is the undersigned and may be reached at 202-XXX-XXXX or email at XXX/

Sincerely,

Scott Moran, MAJ, MC
Program Director
NCC Psychiatry Residency Training

A memo like that by a civilian hospital would destroy anyone's career, regardless of race or religion. But not in the military. What the US Army only wants is diversity for the sake of diversity. Not competency. Thus Hasan's passing grade and promotion.

In the old US Army, Hasan not only would have been investigate for his anti-American, treasonous (it is treason to side with the enemy during war-time) views, but would have failed in his quest to become a psychiatrist, been given a discharge (or asked to resign) and forced to pay the taxpayers back for his medical school.

No one would have died at Ft. Hood, and Hasan could have emigrated to one of the 57 Islamic countries that could have used his talents.

Oh for the good old days!

Jihadis Attack Fort Hood!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle



For some years now there has been a lax attitude in background checks for members of the military. This is especially true of Muslim members of the military. This attitude is the result of CAIR forcing the military to adopt such position towards Muslims.

Today this has hit the US Army right in the stomach with the rampage at Fort Hood by Major Malik Nadal Hasan:

Eleven people plus a gunman were dead and 31 wounded after the gunman opened fire Thursday on a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.

The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said.

The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, according to a law enforcement source. The source believes he is 39 or 40 years old.

Ten of the other dead also were soldiers, while the remaining one was a civilian police officer who was working as a contractor on the base, Cone said.

Two of the injured were in "very serious" condition, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Hogue said.

The primary shooter had two weapons, both handguns, he said.

"The local police response forces were there relatively quickly and killed the confirmed shooter," Cone said.

President Obama called the shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence." He expressed his condolences for the shooting victims.

"These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times give, their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," Obama said. "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

Officials at Fort Hood, which is the Army's largest U.S. post, were asking people there to stay away from windows, CNN affiliate KXXV said. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area, the station reported.

A congressional aide said he was on the post to attend a graduation service when he saw a soldier with blood on his uniform near the building where the service was being held, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Read the full story here.

My prayers go out to the families of the dead and wounded. I ask each of my readers to include the dead and wounded in their prayers.

It is time that full background checks are done for each person in the military. Especially those of the Muslim faith. When the facts come to light, we shall find that Major Hasan was a member of CAIR (the US political arm of Hamas in the United States), the Muslim American Society (MAS), or even Hizbollah or al Qaeda.

In April Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that returning veterans would become involved in terrorism and anti-government activities. These veterans she inferred would be angry white men.

Secretary Napolitano should stop looking at white, male veterans and start looking at the Muslim community pronto!

I ask our leaders to stop appeasing those who wish to destroy us. I ask that we go very hard against those who wish to destroy us.

These attacks will only continue and get worse until we either destroy the enemy or cave into all of their demands. Given the attitude of our President, he will surrender as soon as he can!