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Posted on 03/05/2008 5:59:39 PM PST by nwctwx
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080311-7.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 11, 2008
Statement by the Press Secretary on FISA
House Democratic leaders are subverting the will of a bipartisan majority of House members by failing to allow a vote on the Senate FISA bill - a bill which received overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 68 to 29.
Now, after weeks of inaction, the House appears to be taking a step backward and plans to introduce a bill that will deprive our intelligence professionals of the tools they need to protect the country from terrorist attack. If reports are accurate, the House Democratic leadership’s proposal has a number of serious flaws which would make it dead on arrival.
The proposal intends to put in place a cumbersome court approval process that could delay collecting intelligence on foreign terrorists, which could cause us to lose vital intelligence.
The authorities to conduct foreign surveillance - inadequate as they are - would sunset in less than two years. Our intelligence professionals cannot do their jobs effectively if the tools they use are continuously expiring.
The bill also fails to provide liability protection to companies believed to have helped defend the country after 9/11.
As the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded, the failure to extend liability protection will undermine the private sector’s willingness to help the Intelligence Community do its job. Without the assistance of the private sector, our intelligence agencies will be hobbled in their efforts to protect the country from attack.
It is clear that House Democratic leaders have once again bowed to the demands of class-action trial lawyers, MoveOn.org, and Code Pink and put their ideological interests ahead of the national interest. The priorities of House leaders are dangerously misplaced. Instead of providing liability protection to companies that did their patriotic duty, House leaders would establish a commission to examine intelligence activities in the past that helped protect the country from further attacks after 9/11.
We can draw only one conclusion from this - House leaders are more interested in playing politics with past efforts to protect the country than they are in preventing terrorist attacks in the future.
House Democratic leaders appear to have forgotten that the Administration has already briefed, among others, the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees on these intelligence activities and provided access to related documents. There is no good reason for additional review by a commission.
House Democratic leaders know that this proposal is unacceptable to the Intelligence Community, the U.S. Senate, and the Administration. It is time for House Democratic leaders to get serious about our national security, put aside these partisan games, and bring the bipartisan Senate bill to a vote immediately.
# # #
Fyi Only.
http://wtop.com/?nid=213&sid=1362728
“2nd Muslim Elected to Congress From Ind.”
March 12, 2008 - 1:11am
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Carson will represent a district that covers most of Indianapolis for the remainder of the year. In a primary in May, he’ll seek to be the Democratic nominee for a full two-year term.
In his victory speech, Carson told more than 100 supporters gathered at a downtown Indianapolis hotel that he would have to “hit the ground running.” One of his top priorities, he said, would be ending the war in Iraq.
“We need to bring our men and women back home and end this useless war,” Carson said.”
Note: Photo included.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17547&Itemid=1
Air Strike Destroys Torture House
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
FOB KALSU — A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped six 500-pound GBU-38 bombs onto a recently discovered al-Qaeda in Iraq torture house and prison in northern Zambraniyah, March 10.
Members of a ‘Sons of Iraq’ (SoI) group led Coalition forces to the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) torture house and prison in northern Zambraniyah last week.
The patrol was conducted based on intelligence provided by an SoI leader in the area, said Capt. Chris O’Brian, troop commander of Troop C, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, currently attached to 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div.
“The guy wants to clean up the area,” said O’Brian, a native of Herndon, Va. “AQI killed half his family.” The SoI leader, who heads a group of 300 SoI, worked with his men in support of Troop C Soldiers on the patrol.
SoI are pointing out the bad guys in the neighborhood, O’Brian said, adding that they have also provided actionable intelligence.
Much of that intelligence indicated that there may be an AQI prison or torture house in the town, O’Brian said, noting that he was receiving reports on the possibility for the past week.
That intelligence led Soldiers to a house full of materials used by insurgents for torture.
O’Brian said they discovered hand cuffs, an electrocution system consisting of bare wires linked to an on/off switch running to handcuffs on a window bar, and hanging hooks used for humans.
Twelve interrogation books written in Arabic were found along with several sets of female clothing. A bloody handprint was also present.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17540&Itemid=21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080311-02
March 11, 2008
Iraqi Police in western Iraq seize 5 major weapons caches, detain 1
Multi National Force – West PAO
HABBANIYAH, Iraq – The Rawah Iraqi Police and the Khalidiyah Iraqi Police and Transition Team and found and cleared 5 major weapons caches and detained one suspect earlier this month.
The Rawah Iraqi Police discovered a weapons cache approximately 7 miles west of Rawah March 7. They were directed by locals on-scene to three more cashes.
The four cashes consisted of 42 PG9 rockets, 28 60 mm mortar rounds, 28 107 mm rockets, 46 82 mm mortar rounds, 1,850 blasting caps, 47 14.5 mm rounds, 2 Sagger guided missiles, 3 Sagger practice guided missiles, 1,079 fuses, 1 tripod, 3 antiaircraft guns, 3 100 mm Heat-T projectiles.
The ordinance was collected and destroyed via controlled detonation.
The Khalidiyah Iraqi Police and Transition Team discovered a weapons cache consisting of 36,300 serviceable blasting caps and detained a suspected insurgent earlier in the month.
The IP transported the blasting caps to the Khalidiyah Police Station’s unexploded ordnance pit for disposition by 1st Iraqi Quick Reaction Force’s bomb disposal company.
The cache consisted of 24,900 non-electric and 11,400 electric caps.
The discovery of this cache eliminated key components capable of producing more than 11,400 improvised explosive devices.
-30-
http://threatswatch.org/rapidrecon/2008/03/muqtada-another-change-of-comm/
“Muqtada: Another Change of Command Inside Iranian-Backed Terror”
By Steve Schippert on March 11, 2008 at 1:32 AM
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080310-7.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
March 10, 2008
“Vice President’s Remarks at the Georgia State Republican Party’s President’s Day Dinner”
Hilton Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
5:56 P.M. EST
SPEECH SNIPPET: “The most solemn duties we carry are those in the field of national security. And here, too, the nation and the world have seen the character and the resolve of our President. Only a few Presidents in history have been called upon to make so many urgent and serious decisions. He has faced them all with the kind of realism, fair-mindedness, and decency that Americans expect in their President. Guiding this nation through a time of peril is a tough job, and the right man is in it. He will never yield in defending the freedom and the security of the American people. (Applause.)
This country has gone six and a half years now without another catastrophic attack like 9/11. (Applause.) Nobody can guarantee that we won’t be hit again. The fact is the danger remains very real — and we know the terrorists are still out there, still determined to hit us. I look at it every day and see it in our intelligence briefs. They are fanatical in their hatred. They have tried many times to cause more violence and death in this country.
And so, in a heightened threat environment, with a “persistent and evolving” terrorist adversary, the absence of another 9/11 is not an accident. It’s an achievement. (Applause.) And that achievement is the product of some very hard work by Americans in intelligence, law enforcement, and the military — and some wise decisions by the President of the United States.
Not long ago, President Bush said that he “knew full well that if we were successful protecting the country that the lessons of September 11th would become dimmer and dimmer in some people’s minds.” Then he said, quote, “I just don’t have that luxury, nor do the people that work with me to protect America, because we have not forgotten the lessons of September 11th.”
One great lesson of 9/11 was that we had to stop treating terrorist attacks merely as law enforcement problems — where you find out what happened, arrest the bad guys, put them in jail, and move on. The world changed when a coordinated attack ended the lives of 3,000 innocent people at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and on that field in Pennsylvania. As the President has made clear many times, we are dealing with a strategic threat to the United States. We are at war with an enemy that wants to cause mass death inside this country. And we must act systematically and decisively until this enemy is destroyed. (Applause.)
To wage this fight we have to marshal our resources to go after the terrorists, shut down their training camps, take down their networks, deny them sanctuary, disrupt their funding sources, and bring them to justice. We decided, as well, to go after the sponsors of terror, and to confront those who might provide these killers with more deadly capabilities. And because some of the early battlefields of the war have been right here in the United States, we have taken vital actions to defend the homeland against future attack.
To win a war like this you need good intelligence — the information that helps us figure out the movements of the enemy, the extent of their operation, the location of their cells, the plans they’re making, the methods they use, and the targets they intend to strike. Information of this kind is the hardest to obtain. But it’s worth the effort in terms of the plots that are averted and the lives that have been saved.
One of the ways we’ve prevented attacks and saved lives is by monitoring terrorist-related communications. Last year Congress passed major revisions to the foreign intelligence surveillance law, but those revisions expired last month. For Congress to let that happen was simply irresponsible, and it makes this nation more vulnerable to attack. (Applause.) Georgia Republicans are on the right side of this issue. Congress needs to follow their lead and to give our intelligence professionals the tools they need to protect the American people.
As we proceed on many fronts, we also recognize that the war on terror is more than a contest of arms and more than a test of will. It’s also a battle of ideas. To prevail in the long run, we have to remove the conditions that inspire the hatred that drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and come to kill us. And so President Bush made the decision: we wouldn’t just remove the Taliban and Saddam Hussein and let other dictators rise in their place. Instead, we would stand with the Iraqi and the Afghan people — as America did with other young democracies in earlier times — to help them chart their own destiny. If we keep our commitments, the free and democratic nations of Afghanistan and Iraq will become strategic partners, helping us to fight and win the war on terror.
There’s much more work to be done. The ideological struggle that’s playing out in the broader Middle East — the struggle against radical extremists who have declared war on us — will concern America for the remainder of our administration, and well into the future. And the men and women who have fought and sacrificed in this cause can be proud of their service for the rest of their lives. (Applause.) This state can be especially proud, because it’s home to many thousands of service members and some of our most important military bases. The good people of Georgia are always there with support and encouragement for the United States military. (Applause.)
Our lead commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, recently said the mission is “very, very hard. It’s going to remain very hard, and it’s going to take determination, persistence, additional resources, additional time and, occasionally, the sheer force of will.” Fortunately, we’ve got the best people in the fight — including General Petraeus himself. It’s been a year since the President sent him to carry out a new counterinsurgency strategy, backed up by a surge in American forces, to secure that country and to set the conditions for political reconciliation. And now we can see the effects: The new strategy is succeeding. The surge is working. The forces of freedom are winning in Iraq. (Applause.)
Our new strategy in Iraq has succeeded by careful planning, and by close attention to changing conditions on the battlefield. The same will be true of any drawdown in troops. On behalf of the President, I can assure you that the decision will be based on what is right for our security and what is best for the troops — without regard to polls, elite opinion, or flip-flops by politicians in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
From the very morning that our nation was attacked on 9/11, the President of the United States has had to make immense decisions. Every day he faces responsibilities that others would pale before. I’ve been there with him. I’ve seen him make the tough calls — and then weather the criticism and take the hits. President Bush has been tough and courageous. He’s made the right decisions for the right reasons — and he always reflects the best values of the American people. I’ve been proud to stand by him and by the decisions he’s made. And I would support those same decisions again today, because they’ve helped to keep this country safe. (Applause.)
The important thing to remember, six and a half years after 9/11, is that the war on terror is still very real, that it won’t be won on the defensive, and that we have to proceed on many fronts at the same time. For those of us who work in offices and sit at desks in Washington, D.C., the sacrifices required are pretty small compared to those of Americans serving in the Iraqi desert, or the mountains of Afghanistan, or the public servants who work day and night, with little margin for error, to detect a secret enemy before it’s too late. In a time of war, we’re only more sharply aware that the freedoms we enjoy and the rights we exercise can never be taken for granted. We have them because there have always been Americans who stand up for them, defend them, and when necessary fight for them. (Applause.) And all of us have a duty to pass along to the next generation the free, strong, secure nation that was passed along to us.
My good friend George Shultz often tells the story from his years as Secretary of State under President Reagan. Every time a new American ambassador was confirmed for the position, Secretary Shultz would invite him or her to the State Department for a farewell visit. During these meetings George would tell the ambassadors that there was one more test they had to take. “Before you can leave,” he said, “I want you to go over to that globe and show me that you can identify your country.” (Laughter.) It’s important. Every time, the ambassador would turn the globe and point out where he was going to serve.
One day George had a visit from Mike Mansfield, the former senator from Montana. Mike had been serving for some years as our ambassador to Japan, and he was on his way back to Tokyo. Secretary Shultz told him about the test and said, “Mr. Ambassador, it’s your turn. Show me your country.” Mike Mansfield went over to the globe, put his hand on the United States and said, “This is my country.” (Applause.)
As Americans we have every right to be proud, and to be thankful, that this is our country. The world we live in can be complicated, messy, and dangerous. But for millions who suffer under tyranny, and those who live a daily struggle against hunger and disease, or who fight to maintain newly won freedom — there would be little hope without the active involvement and leadership of the United States of America. (Applause.)
More than a nation of influence, we’re a nation of character. Our purposes in this world are good and right. And in those decisive years, we are serving those purposes with confidence.”
Thanks to Jet Jaguar for starting this thread.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984289/posts
Jordan releases leading al Qaeda mentor
reuters ^ | Mar 12, 2008 | Suleiman al-Khalidi
Posted on 03/12/2008 3:54:45 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordanian authorities on Wednesday released Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al-Qaeda mentor, after several years imprisonment without trial, security sources said.
They said Maqdisi, who was regarded as the spiritual mentor of slain al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been in solitary confinement since he was rearrested in July 2005 following his acquittal at a trial of al Qaeda sympathizers.
“He was released,” said one security source without elaborating on the circumstances of the release of Maqdisi.
The militant Jihadi shared a cell block with Zarqawi for four years between 1995 and 1999. Both were freed in an amnesty. Zarqawi later went to Afghanistan then Iraq.
U.S. intelligence officials say Maqdisi is a major Jihadi mentor who wields more influence over Islamist ideology than leading militants such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
A study by a private think tank of the U.S. military academy West Point in 2006 described Maqdisi, a self-taught religious intellectual, as the most influential living Islamist mentor.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020271.php
March 12, 2008
“OIC: “Combating Islamophobia is and will continue to be one of the biggest challenges faced by the Muslim World””
SNIPPET: “Well, Jihad Watch can offer a handy five-point plan for countering “Islamophobia”:
1. Focus their indignation on Muslims committing violent acts in the name of Islam, not on non-Muslims reporting on those acts.
2. Renounce definitively not just “terrorism,” but any intention to replace the U.S. Constitution (or the constitutions of any non-Muslim state) with Sharia even by peaceful means.
3. Teach Muslims the imperative of coexisting peacefully as equals with non-Muslims on an indefinite basis.
4. Begin comprehensive international programs in mosques all over the world to teach against the ideas of violent jihad and Islamic supremacism.
5. Actively work with Western law enforcement officials to identify and apprehend jihadists within Western Muslim communities.”
#
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080311/wl_nm/islamic_summit_dc_2
“Islamic body seeks new role to fight “Islamophobia””
By Diadie Ba
Tue Mar 11, 1:05 PM ET
DAKAR (Reuters)
UPDATE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7291444.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 10:22 GMT
“Pakistan buries victims of blasts”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Funerals have been held in Pakistan for the victims of two bomb attacks on Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore.
At least 24 people were killed and 100 injured in the attacks by bombers using vehicles packed with explosives.
Most of the victims were killed in the attack on a building housing a federal police agency. The other blast, in a suburb, killed three people.
Meanwhile, two police officers and at least two suspected militants have died in incidents in the district of Swat.
The police officers were killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb near the village of Charbagh, officials said.
The two suspected militants were killed in an explosion at a property in the Kabal district. It is unclear what caused the blast.
The Swat region’s beautiful scenery and ancient relics were once a major draw for tourists.
Recently however, the area has seen intense fighting between government forces and local militants keen to impose Islamic laws.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Pakistan has been hit by a wave of suicide bombings in the past year, most against security targets, says the BBC’s Barbara Plett in Islamabad.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “More than 500 people have been killed in the country since the beginning of the year in a campaign of attacks and bombings blamed on Islamist militants.”
FOX News....
Capitol Hill being evacuated.........security threat.
More.........unidentified aircraft entered “no-fly” zone.
BREAKING PER FOX
Unidentified aircraft strays into no-fly zone over
Capitol. North lawn is being evacuated.
Fox is saying this is the 2nd time this week.
Obviously we haven’t heard of this because they think
we care about the New York Governor more.
White House just issued “all clear”.
Thank God.
Capitol Police are calling it Aircom Orange.
White House has been allowed back in and now
Capitol hill and are going down to Aircom Yellow.
Have you heard about this happening once before during this week?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337176,00.html
Unidentified Aircraft Strays Into D.C. No-Fly Zone
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
DEVELOPING STORY: U.S. officials say an unidentified aircraft strayed Wednesday into Washington, D.C.’s no-fly zone. The alert was lifted by 12:30 p.m. ET.
Homeland Security told FOX News that the FAA had established contact with the aircraft, which was identified as a private plane that had strayed off course. FOX News confirms that two F-16s and a Coast Guard helicopter were scrambled as part of the alert.
placemark
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337150,00.html
Treasury Imposes Financial Sanction on Bahrain Bank for Alleged Link to Iran’s Nuke Program
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
WASHINGTON — The United States is imposing financial sanctions on a Bahrain bank the United States alleges is controlled by Iran’s Bank Melli, which has been accused of providing support to Iran’s nuclear program.
The Treasury Department’s action Wednesday targets Future Bank B.S.C. Any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the U.S. belonging to the bank must be frozen. Americans also are prohibited from doing business with the bank.
It marked the government’s latest effort to tighten the financial noose on Iran, which the United States accuses of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb. The administration also has accused Iran of taking steps to evade a range of financial sanctions.
snip...
No, I hadn’t. That was news to me.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337068,00.html
Pakistan Police Probe Possible Al Qaeda Ties in Twin Bombings That Killed Dozens
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
LAHORE, Pakistan — Investigators probed whether Al Qaeda was behind twin homicide attacks that killed 27 people as a new government prepared to take office, officials said Wednesday.
The bombings were the first major terrorism attacks since the parties of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and another former premier, Nawaz Sharif, announced Sunday they would form a coalition government and try to cut the powers of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf.
Tuesday’s blasts happened about 15 minutes apart in different districts of Lahore, Sharif’s stronghold. The first tore the facade from the seven-story Federal Investigation Agency building as staff were beginning their work day.
snip..
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