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The recent media attention garnered by the relatively new J Street lobby necessitates an examination of the very notion of the term “Pro-Israel.” Until very recently the J Street was always self-branded as “Pro-Israel”. Intensifying the matter is the case of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel spoke on November 10, 2009 at the General Assembly/GA of the Jewish Federations of North America, the largest and most important event on the U.S. Jewish establishment’s calendar. Emanuel has been called “Pro-Israel” by the media. It should be clear that the label “Pro-Israel” must be defined if the term is...

As soon as President Obama had finished his West Point speech in which he pledged to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, conservative pundits started poking at the president's demeanor and message. Big mistake. If Obama's delivery seemed, well, unenthusiastic, so be it. What is important is that Obama delivered a policy that will keep Afghanistan from devolving into a terror pit. He offered the best plan that conservatives possibly could expect. Before the speech, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore wrote an open letter to Obama warning him not to become a "war president." And: "With just one speech tomorrow...

Note: The following text is a quote: Chicagoan Charged with Conspiracy in 2008 Mumbai Attacks in Addition to Foreign Terror Plot in Denmark Additional Charges Unsealed Alleging Retired Pakistani Major Conspired in Danish Plot New federal charges filed today allege that a Chicago man, who was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees, also conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attack on India’s largest city that killed approximately 170 people, including six Americans, and injured hundreds more. The defendant, David...

GWOT: The arrest of a Danish cartoon terror plotter for an even more lethal role in 2008's Mumbai terror attack reminds us the war on terror is global. So why is this being treated as a mere law-enforcement matter? David Copeland Headley, 49, a Pakistani-American resident of the north side of Chicago, was arrested in October for plotting the terror-killings of the editors of Jyllands-Posten, a Copenhagen-based newspaper that ran unflattering cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in 2006. A month later, the public learned it wasn't his first time. Headley, 49, a failed businessman and convicted drug dealer who'd changed...

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela has received thousands of Russian-made missiles and rocket launchers as part of his government's military preparations for a possible armed conflict with neighboring Colombia. "They are preparing a war against us," Chavez said during a televised address, repeating a charge he has been making for months. "Preparing is one of the best ways to neutralize it." Both Colombia and Washington deny having any plans to attack Venezuela, but Chavez argues they are plotting together a military offensive against Venezuela. Chavez says his government is acquiring more weapons as a precaution....

"What should we DO about Islam? What should be our strategy be for dealing with this threat?"

Obama has surrounded himself with a host of vehemently ant-Israel advisors including Lee Hamilton, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Samantha Power, Susan Rice and Gen Jones, many of who advocate imposing a solution on Israel. So it was no surprise that he started his term of office by attacking Israel, America’s best and most steadfast ally, and demanding a complete settlement freeze east of the greenline including Jerusalem. He went so far as to repudiate the US commitment set out in the Bush ’04 letter to Sharon saying there was no agreement. Elliot Abrams and others involved in the negotiations which led to...

Source Annie Jacobsen Gets a Visit from the Feds This is Part XIII of the ongoing series entitled "Terror in the Skies". By Annie Jacobsen 4/22/2005 The call came a little over a month ago, on my cellular phone -- which is not listed. It went like this: "Hello Annie, this is [name withheld, and name withheld, and name withheld and name withheld]. We're from the Department of Homeland Security." "Yes." "We'd like to set up a time to talk with you." "Okay, now is good." "Actually, we'd prefer to come to your house. How is March 15?" "Not so...

CAMP BUCCA — The 586th Air Expeditionary Group's 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron ended operations during a deactivation ceremony here, Dec. 3. The furling of the squadron’s colors marked the end of the its three-year partnership with the Army providing counterinsurgency, detainee operations and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. The 887th ESFS was activated in May 2007. Since that time, the squadron endured 40 improvised explosive device detonations, cleared another 16 IEDs, and withstood multiple small arms attacks. As a result of their accomplishments, they've been awarded more than 1,000 medals, including the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Meritorious Service...

Pvt. 2nd Class Cheston K. Bun, 1st Battalion (Air Assault) 377th Field Artillery Regiment, Bravo Battery Air Reactionary Force, leads a group of Iraqi commandos through a helicopter loading drill during recent training at Camp Wessam in Basrah. Photo by Spc. Maurice Galloway, 17th Fires Brigade. BASRAH — A group of 14th Iraqi Army commandos recently underwent an intense week of training here at Camp Wessam, honing their helicopter familiarity.  The course, taught by U.S. Soldiers with the 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th Field Artillery Regiment, "B" Battery (Bulldogs), Air Reactionary Force (ARF), was more of a refresher, as many...

Surror Yousif Nasar, president of the Basrah Blind Association, recently demonstrated talking software to a member of his association. With this technology, BBA members can now email and surf the Internet. The U. S. State Department's Basrah Provincial Reconstruction Team provided the software after hearing of the association’s needs. Photo courtesy of Multi-National Division – South. BASRAH — Under the former regime, many elements of civil society were neglected here, including the handicapped. Upon hearing of the needs of the Basrah Blind Association, the U.S. State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Team asked how it might help. "It's an honor to meet...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2009 – Afghan and international forces detained several suspected militants, including a bomb cell leader and Taliban commander, in operations in Afghanistan over the past three days, military officials reported. An international security force conducted an air strike today, destroying a known Taliban stronghold consisting of bunkers and enemy defensive positions in Kunar province. The force targeted the stronghold near Tsangar Darah village in the mountainous Watapur district after intelligence sources indicated militant activity there. Also today, an Afghan and international security force in Khost province detained a suspected Haqqani terrorist network bombing cell leader and several...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2009 – Iraqi forces, aided by U.S. advisors, arrested several terrorism suspects over the past three days, military officials reported. Iraqi security forces arrested seven people today near Baghdad and Mosul during operations conducted to find and arrest members of the al-Qaida in Iraq network. Near Mahawil, south of Baghdad, Iraqi police captured a wanted al-Qaida in Iraq member suspected of facilitating terrorist activities, including homemade-bomb attacks, in the region. Combined security team intelligence led Iraqi police and U.S. advisors to search homes where the al-Qaida in Iraq suspect may have been located. Based on preliminary questioning...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 7, 2009 – Earlier this year, troops from the Maine National Guard’s 286th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion supported the first Afghan buildup by transporting equipment, supplies and building materials to numerous forward operating bases. They’re scheduled to return home by January, but they show no signs of stopping. A U.S. military cargo truck bypasses a charred vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb while moving building materials to Forward Operating Base Leatherneck in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Nov. 24, 2009. The Maine National Guard’s 286th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion runs regular convoys to supply bases across southern Afghanistan....

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 7, 2009 – Educating children might not be the first thing Americans discuss when the subject of Iraq comes up, but for the soldiers of Task Force Pathfinder here, helping the next generation of Iraqis obtain a basic education is a critical part of their mission. Saleh Mustasher Fahad greets Army 1st. Lt. Dale Cox at the job site for the Al Salman School in Iraq’s Muthanna province, Nov. 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ronald Leydet  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For Iraq to be safe and stable when U.S. soldiers...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2009 – About 16,000 Marines and soldiers have been notified they will deploy to Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama’s new strategy. Obama announced his decision to deploy 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the first half of 2010 on Dec. 1. The troops in today’s announcement primarily will come from Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; and Camp Pendleton, Calif., Pentagon officials said today. More notifications will be made in the weeks and months ahead, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. These initial deployments will join the 68,000 American troops already in the country. At the...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 7, 2009 – A Task Force Protector soldier here is building unit pride and esprit de corps by using his artistic skills to decorate an office inside a refurbished shipping container. Army Sgt. Henry Harrell stands next to the artwork he painted on his brigade commander’s office door at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Nov. 20, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Garett Hernandez   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The many talents of Army Sgt. Henry Harrell, a counterinsurgency noncommissioned officer with Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, are evident on the office door of...

* Medvedev offers to help Afghan economy, military, police * Russia allows transit of military cargoes to Afghanistan (Adds quotes, background) ROME, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Russia is willing to do its part to help the United States and Europe achieve peace in Afghanistan, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. "We are obliged to help in Afghanistan ... what the armies of the United States and Europe are doing (in Afghanistan) is peacekeeping. This is very important because a threat for all Europe came from Afghanistan," Medvedev said. Speaking at a news conference in Rome after meeting Italian Prime...

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment will have a powerful new weapon when it deploys to Afghanistan next summer. On Thursday, 2nd Cav soldiers put the M1128 Mobile Gun System vehicle to the test at Grafenwöhr Training Area, firing rounds into range targets representing Taliban compounds. The MGS — as it’s known — can fire four types of ammunition, depending on the situation, to take out walls, bunkers, vehicles or enemy ground forces. In combat, the MGS is part of a platoon with three ordinary Strykers carrying infantry soldiers. The MGS sits back, keeping a lookout for enemy...

On the surface it might seem that Switzerland's law-binding vote to ban new minarets in mosques is petty, vindictive and unnecessary. And in a sense it is, but in another way it is understandable. It's pretty hard to depict Switzerland as a red-necked, xenophobic society. It is one of the few countries in the world that demands no passport for visitors entering, and it's famous for being a meeting place of cultures. It is a functioning society that manages to exist without wars, nasty linguistic or ethnic feuds. It is a society that flourishes peacefully in times of war in...

December 05, 2009, 7:00 a.m. The Unrealistic RealistLeader of the free world? Not Obama’s bag. By Mark Steyn If you happen to live in Kabul or Jalalabad, Ghurian or Kandahar, then a U.S. presidential speech about Afghanistan is, indeed, about Afghanistan. If you live anywhere else on the planet, a U.S. presidential speech about Afghanistan is really about America — about American will, American purpose, American energy. How quickly the bright new dawn fades to the gray morning after. In Europe, the long awaited unveiling of this most thoughtful of presidents’ deliberations got mixed reviews — some bad, some...

The TERRY ANDERSON SHOW.. Articulating the Popular Rage! A warrior in the fight against illegal immigration and those who promote it for over a decade! From the streets of Los Angeles to the halls of congress, Terry has been there. No one has the passion and common sense of Terry Anderson...He is A MUST listen! The BEST one hour of radio you'll find anywhere. Sunday Nights- Listen on the radio! 12-1 AM EDT, 11-12 PM CDT, 10-11 PM MDT, 9-10 PM PDT KRLA - 870 AM - Los Angeles -- KDWN - 720 - Las Vegas -- KFNX - 1100...

“Planned and choreographed” incident similar to USAir Flight 300 Security incident aboard AirTran Flight 297 suggests terror “Dry Run”On November 17, an incident took place aboard AirTran Flight 297 scheduled to fly from Atlanta Hartsfield Airport to Houston that the media does not want to cover and everyone from the airline to the TSA and other government agencies want to keep very quiet. The reasons, I have been told, is fear of predatory lawsuits, negative publicity from accusations of religious profiling, and the obligatory subjugation to mindless mandatory Muslim sensitivity training that make a mockery of our American system of...

<p>CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors say a Chicago man accused of plotting a terror attack on a Danish newspaper also helped scope out targets in the Indian city of Mumbai before they were attacked.</p> <p>Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Coleman Headley were charged in October with plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten out of revenge for a dozen cartoons printed in 2005 depicting the Prophet Muhammad.</p>

Given a chance to clear away some of the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the world's most wanted terrorist, U.S. officials seemed to add to it with what appeared to be conflicting assessments. National Security Adviser James Jones said Sunday that Osama bin Laden, believed hiding mainly in a rugged area of western Pakistan, may be periodically slipping back into Afghanistan. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday the United States has lacked good intelligence on Mr. bin Laden for a long time — “I think it has been years.” When asked whether the United States planned a fresh attempt...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Obama administration has asked an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former Bush administration attorney John Yoo of authorizing the torture of a terrorism suspect, saying federal law does not allow damage claims against lawyers who advise the president on national security issues. Such lawsuits ask courts to second-guess presidential decisions and pose "the risk of deterring full and frank advice regarding the military's detention and treatment of those determined to be enemies during an armed conflict," Justice Department lawyers said Thursday in arguments to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco....

The Washington Post presents a detailed version of the lengthy process that finally resulted in President Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. The early paragraphs track the White House's self-congratulatory line that Obama's close attention to detail resulted in the speeding up of troop deployment, thus creating a true "surge." This is consistent with Obama's attempt, in his speech at West Point, to excuse the three months it took him to make a decision. He claimed that the process didn't really delay anything because the plan Gen. McChrystal presented to him would not have deployed troops rapidly enough....

“It’s not often that Barack Obama and Hassan Nasrallah [the leader of Lebanese Hizballah, a Lebanese Islamist group backed by Iran and Syria] agree, but both made important speeches this week, and both appeared to concur that American power was on the decline.” The reference is to the president’s speech at West Point, which Young sees as gloomy and pessimistic, highlighting American problems and disunity; economic weaknesses; and eagerness to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan (though he is sending some more soldiers there temporarily). Young continues: “Listening to Hassan Nasrallah gloat at the weakness of the United States, you had...

Iranian security forces have clashed violently with opposition supporters in central Tehran, witnesses say. Police used batons and tear gas, according to the witnesses. There were also unconfirmed reports of security forces using live rounds. State media confirmed there had been clashes, though a foreign media ban means details are hard to verify. The violence came on the day that Iran holds an annual commemoration for the killing of three students in 1953. Early on Monday, hundreds of Iranian police were reported to have surrounded Tehran University to try to block protests. Iranian security forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guards,...

[Note: This is the latest segment in an ongoing series about Code Pink and its co-founder Jodie Evans.  Click [1]here [1] to read earlier articles.]In a move by the Obama administration that is gallingly cynical and would be considered treasonous in a less progressive era, a message sent by Code Pink [2] and an article published [3] by the left wing online publication AlertNet indicates the White House is working with the left wing terrorist support group Code Pink to agitate the public and undermine President Barack Obama’s newly announced Afghanistan war policy. Top Obama funder, Code Pink co-founder and...

On Pearl Harbor Anniversary Russell Asks Murtha to Support the Troops Murtha Interview, “not sure if Al-Qaeda is threat to National Security” December 7th, 2009 (JOHNSTOWN, PA) – On the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Republican candidate for the 12th District Congressional seat William Russell, called on the Democrat incumbent to voice his support for the troops and victory in Afghanistan. Russell said, “in interviews on MSNBC’s Hardball and WJAC-TV news on December 2nd, Congressman John Murtha, (D-PA 12th) once again demonstrated his ability to undermine our troops in the fight while continuing to posture himself...

snip Private Meier, who is seeking a medical discharge from the Army, was given counseling anyway. But he says he never opened up to his therapist, fearing that actions taken in the heat of battle might be disclosed to prosecutors. “How can you go and talk about wartime problems when you feel that if you mention anything wrong, you’re going to be prosecuted?” he said in an interview. He is not alone in his wariness. Many soldiers, lawyers and mental health workers say that the rules governing confidentiality of psychotherapist-patient relations in the military are porous. The rules breed suspicion...

slideshow In the age of balloon boys and party crashers, regular people just don't know what to believe any more. Last week, I spent more than my share of hours trying to track down the truth about an incident on an AirTran flight out of Atlanta on Nov. 17. Flight 297 to Houston, with about 70 passengers onboard, departed gate C-16 at 4:43 p.m. Until something happened that caused the pilot to turn around and come back. Two and a half weeks later, the incident is in high dispute, thanks to some passengers who have spoken out on the Internet...

TERROR THREAT CLIMBS YES, MUSLIMS WANT TO KILL US! thelastcrusade.org The Obama administration, faced with a sharp increase of recent Islamic terrorism cases on American soil, has concluded that the country confronts a rising threat from homegrown extremism.So reports The Los Angeles Times.Anti-terrorism officials and experts see signs of accelerated radicalization among American Muslims, driven by a wave of English-language online propaganda and reflected in trips of American jihadi wannabes to hot spots such as Pakistan and Somalia. In recent years, Europe has become the front line, the target of successive attacks and major plots, while the U.S. has...

It started as an odd case of the FBI raiding a meat packing plant with hundreds of agents and now it's morphed into something much bigger. I've been telling you for weeks this was coming. I guess it just seemed too hard to believe that an American was involved. Originally David Headley was only charged with plotting to blow up the newspaper in Denmark that published the Mohammad cartoons. That plot seemed rather amateurish and was thought of as aspirational. But it soon became obvious to any one paying attention that Headley also had a hand in India's worst act...

Fort Hood Texas Shootings Free Republic Archives PART IIORIGINAL Fort Hood Archives... If you create a new thread, feel free to post a link to it here as well. If you post a link, you don't have to ping it to me..just take my name out of the ping field. The last time it filled my ping box pretty fast. My thanks to ALL who helped create the previous thread. Our prayers Continue...... Fort Hood's Fallen HeroesBy Freeper La Enchiladita...