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State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf told Chris Matthews tonight that we cannot win this war with ISIS by killing them. She said we have to get to the root cause of why people are attracted to Jihad — you know like poverty, jobs, etc… “We’re killing a lot of them and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians. They’re in this fight with us. But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to...

Robert Ford to become first US ambassador to Damascus since 2005; opponents say move rewards Syrian regime for bad behavior. Talkbacks (30) WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama has bypassed the US Senate and directly appointed four new ambassadors, including Robert Ford, who will become the first US envoy to Syria since 2005. Specific senators had blocked or refused to consider the confirmations of the nominees for various reasons, including questions about their qualifications. But in the most high-profile case, that of the new envoy to Syria, a number of senators objected because they believed sending an ambassador to the...

President Barack Obama’s numbers have varied a bit on the Gallup Daily tracking poll for weeks — but today there is bigger overall jump. 48% disapprove and 43% approve which is unusual because BOTH his approval and disapproval ratings changed by 2% (2% less approval and 2% approval). There has not usually been a 48-43 gap. On some recent days Obama seemed closer to edging near 50 percent. No on is expecting the Democrats to do well at this point — except perhaps partisan wishful thinkers or partisans doing spin to try and not discourage Democratic voters. But these polls...

What is it about President Barack Obama's call for community service on the anniversary of 9/11? "By giving back to our communities, by serving people in need, we reaffirm our ideals -- in defiance of those who would do us grave harm," he said, according to a transcript. "We prove that the sense of responsibility that we felt for one another was not a fleeting passion -- but a lasting virtue," said the president on Saturday during 9/11 ceremonies at the Pentagon. Didn't the president already declare a day of national service on January 19, 2009, the day before he...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama appealed to an unsettled nation Saturday to honor the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks by hewing to the values of diversity and tolerance. "We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust," the president declared. Speaking at the Pentagon, where nine years ago a hijacked plane smashed into the west side of the building and killed 184 people, Obama conjured a solemn remembrance of that horrible day but also spoke strongly in defense of religious freedom. "As Americans we are not — and never will be...

With a tendentious, sneering speech in Cleveland this week, President Obama launched the fall campaign. The president who never stops campaigning even when he is denouncing the permanent campaign has only one way to actually signal to his (dwindling) troops that he is summoning them to a particularly important political battle. When Barack Obama gets serious, he personalizes the attack and he raises the volume. So the president went to the shore of Lake Erie to attack GOP House Leader John Boehner, whom the president rightly fears is close to becoming the new House Speaker, and thus his principal rival...

President Obama stressed that America was not at war with Islam as he decried the "sorry band of men" who attacked the nation nine years ago in memorial ceremonies at the Pentagon on Saturday. "The perpetrators of this evil act didn't simply attack America; they attacked the very idea of America itself -- all that we stand for and represent in the world," Obama said. "And so the highest honor we can pay those we lost, indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war, is to do what our adversaries fear the most -- to stay true to who we...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House said Tuesday that a Florida church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops abroad, while the State Department denounced the plan as "un-American" and said it would put American diplomats and travelers at risk. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs noted the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, has warned that images of a burning Quran would be used by extremists to incite violence.

Nine years ago this week, we began to chant: "We never will forget 9/11." Nine years later, I think too many of us have forgotten, especially those in the White House. Islamic extremists murdered almost 3,000 innocent Americans on 9/11. Who would have believed that within a decade of that tragic event, we'd have a president who believes, according to his own 2009 Cairo confession and creed, that it is part of his "responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear"? Not to mention his mission to fight for the new...

"(Today Mr. Obama is at Camp David with no public events on the schedule.)" Things that make you go "hmm" ...

Islamabad, Sep 2 (PTI) A Pakistani minister wants US President Barack Obama to offer Eid prayers at Ground Zero in New York and become the "Amir-ul-Momineen" or Caliph of Muslims. Minister of State for Industries Ayatullah Durrani, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People's Party, said the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival, expected to be observed on September 11, would be a "golden opportunity" for Obama to offer Eid prayers and declare himself the leader of all Muslims. Durrani, a former member of the Pakistan Ideological Council, contended that the Muslim world is in "dire need" of a Caliph and occupying this...