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(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday called Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an "American patriot" after a group of Republican lawmakers accused her of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political organization. "She has been nothing less than extraordinary in representing our country and the democratic values that we hold dear," Obama said at a White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "The American people owe her a debt of gratitude because Huma is an American patriot and an example of what we need in this country...

The head of the Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP) is defending controversial State Department official Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is suspected of playing a role in Obama Administration “engagement” with the anti-American Muslim Brotherhood. Neera Tanden, president and CEO of CAP and Counselor for CAP’s Action Fund, has sent out an email defending Abedin and asking that Rep. Michele Bachmann be thrown off the House Intelligence Committee for asking questions about the vetting process that Abedin was supposed to go through. “Michele Bachmann has gone from outrageous to dangerous,” Tanden said...

Hi: I was wondering if anyone can help me out. It seems most of the jobs in Bureau of Land Management (DOI) require: background check/security clearance. Some of them require SF-86 which includes travel history. I was born in Hong Kong (left young for Canada to escape communism), then came to US and ended up being citizen here. I still have citizenship status in HK and Canada (sorry Freepers, don't get mad at me). I traveled alot back to Canada, up to 5 times per year on very short trips (long weekend to 1-week trips), spending up to 1 month...

A jury on Friday acquitted a former military translator of secretly working as an Iraqi agent in the US but convicted him of making false statements when he sought a security clearance. The split verdict offered some relief to Issam "Sam" Hamama, who claimed he was only passing along basic information about Iraqis in the US when he reached out to Iraqi officials in the 1990s during the regime of Saddam Hussein. "We've been vindicated. They were accusing him of voluntarily working as a spy," defense lawyer Haytham Faraj said. Hamama, 60, of El Cajon, California, was found not guilty...

The funny thing was: his high school classmates were telling that me that a young Barry Obama used to scoop ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. They said one the side, he used to slip them some free ice cream and frozen yogurt. I sort of have coaxed it out of them because they didn’t want to acknowledge it first. And I said, look, the statute of limitations is past, it’s been 30 years now. They laughed and said, ‘OK, he gave us free ice cream.’” So, while working at one of the precious few jobs Obama has ever had, he stole...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr.,...

Note: The following text is a quote: Jury Convicts Defense Department Official of Unlawful Communication of Classified Information and Making False Statements James Wilbur Fondren Jr., was convicted by a federal jury today on charges involving providing classified information to a man working with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and lying to the FBI about it. Fondren was convicted of one count of unlawfully communicating classified information to an agent of a foreign government and two counts of making false statements to the FBI. He was acquitted of two unlawful communication of classified information, one count of conspiracy to...

SANTA ANA, CA—A former Rockwell and Boeing engineer from Orange County was remanded into custody this morning after a federal judge convicted him of charges of economic espionage and acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China, for whom he stole restricted technology and Boeing trade secrets, including information related to the Space Shuttle program and Delta IV rocket. Dongfan “Greg” Chung, 73, of Orange, Calif., who was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until its defense and space unit was acquired by Boeing in 1996, was found guilty by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who...

The appointment of Rosa Brooks to a mid level post in the defense department has largely gone under the radar, however it is one of the most perplexing and radical appointments of the Obama administration. Brooks, most recently an L.A. Times columnist, now heads to the Pentagon.

I've been a Clinton Kremlinologist for years, and although there are many armor-plated guardians of Clinton's inner circle, Huma Abedin has been the toughest to crack. No exaggeration: with Clinton heading to State, Abedin is going to be a major force in American diplomacy for the next several years. -snip- She is also a Muslim who speaks fluent Arabic --her mother runs a university in Saudi Arabia -- and brings that perspective on a complex part of the world to HRC's sphere. it's not uncommon to see Huma on Bill Clinton's important trips to the region, because he too values...

WASHINGTON - A Lebanese-American businessman who acted as a conduit for a last-ditch peace offer from Iraq to the United States faces federal charges of attempting to bring weapons on a commercial aircraft. The charges were filed Nov. 6 against Imad Hage, months after he was stopped at Dulles International Airport outside Washington when a .45-caliber handgun, five ammunition magazines and four stun guns were detected in his checked luggage. Hage said by telephone Thursday from Beirut that he intends to return to the United States in a few weeks to fight the charges, which he suggested were only brought...

Lost amid all of the jubilation of the Obama victory was the announcement by the Obama transition team that it had set up a separate transition program beyond the one that is paid for by the American taxpayer. Called the "Obama/Biden Transition Project," it is a 501(c)4 tax-exempt organization, with no limits on the contributions it can receive and no requirements to divulge the names of individuals or organizations that give it money. Traditionally, the victorious campaign has set up inaugural funds, as well as funds to deal with legal costs and other expenses to close down the campaign. Others...

Would it be amusing if hundreds of potential Obama Administration employees can't get security clearances because they are close with some of the same people that are close to Obama? Would it be amusing if hundreds of potential Obama Administration employees can't get security clearances because they are close with Obama?

Recently, FSM sat down with Buck Revell, former Associate Deputy Director of the FBI who was in charge of all FBI operations before his retirement in 1994. What he has to say about the idea of a security clearance for Barack Obama, a man who could be our next president, is stunning and sobering, to say the least. FSM: It has been said that Sen. Obama would not be able to get a security clearance now if he applied for one because of the many relationships he has had in the past, and now, with people like Khalid al-Mansour and...

With Colin Powell now repeating the lie that Barack Obama has "always been a Christian," despite new information further confirming Obama's Muslim childhood (such as the Indonesian school registration listing him as Muslim), one watches with dismay as the Democratic candidate manages to hide the truth on this issue. Instead, then, let us review a related subject – Obama's connections and even indebtedness, throughout his career, to extremist Islam. Specifically, he has longstanding, if indirect ties to two institutions, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), listed by the U.S. government in 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding trial;...

FYI: Cliff Kincaid is an investigative journalist who specializes in analyzing the effects of communist and terrorist influence on the U.S. media. He is founder and president of America's Survival, Inc., and editor of Accuracy in Media's AIM Report. He is the author or coauthor of nine books, including Why You Can’t Trust the News, and was instrumental in denying access to the U.S. media market to the Islamic terrorist Al‑Jazeera television channel. Source•Obama has been in the middle of two international communist networks – one in Hawaii and one in Chicago. •The Hawaii network included communists Frank Marshall Davis,...

A while back, radio talk show host Michael Savage brought up the notion that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama couldn’t pass a background investigation to become an FBI special agent. He doesn’t know how right he is. Sen. Barack Obama wouldn’t pass a routine government background investigation, not only to become an FBI agent, but a police officer as well. If he were a soldier, his background would preclude him from obtaining a security clearance. He wouldn’t even qualify to be a support person in a federal agency, such as secretary, for that matter. His past cocaine usage disqualifies...

secureputer.com/obamadeniedsecurityclearance Barack Obama Denied National Security Clearance Aug.20, 2008 in General Barack Obama cannot be Trusted with Classified Information How can the President of the United States be denied a basic security clearance? How can the Commander and Chief of the most powerful military be denied access to classified information? Barack Obama would be denied the necessary security clearance for President if he was held to the same standard as everyone else. If you can’t pass a Secret level background investigation, which is required for many soldiers, you should not be eligible for the Presidency. What is a Security Clearance?...

Islam probed: Heshem that is February 1, 2008comment by Jerry Gordon What is that careworn expression: "oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first begin to deceive". That is what eventuated after the journalistic endeavors of former Wall Street journalist and now resident sleuth at the Foundation for the Defense of democracy in Washington, Claudia Rosset pressed the Pentagon on inconsistencies in Defense Muslim outreach aide, Heshem Islam's resume. As we posted on this rapidly developing story, the DoD puff piece on Heshem Islam, the Muslim outreach aide to Deputy Defense Secretary England, who accused Pentagon Islamic...

NOTE: Although Hillary Clinton touts her foreign policy experience, being right there with her husband, the New York Times' Patrick Healy reports that she did not have a security clearance and did not sit in on NSC briefings. Now recall this from the late David Hackworth. Monica Lewinsky did have TOP SECRET clearance. Perhaps she should be the one in the Dem primaries touting her experience. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DEFENDING AMERICA David H. Hackworth 17 March 98 LOOSE LIPS, SINK SHIPS.. While at the Pentagon, Monica Lewinsky traveled with Defense Secretary William Cohen, sat in on briefings where the highest secrets...