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The Daily Signal has been able to get 217 pages from the National Security Administration (NSA) under FOIA. Those pages show the huge effort to “torpedo” the Trump administration before they even took office with an effort to go after Gen. Michael Flynn, the man who would be National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump.Flynn’s conversation with the Russian ambassador in the period between November 2016 and Jan. 2017 was intercepted by intelligence officials for the Obama administration, and then his name was unmasked.The Signal requested the information in March 2021 and didn’t get the documents until June 30, 2023.Some...

Senior U.S. officials knowingly lied to the public about their progress throughout the 18-year war in Afghanistan, consistently painting a rosier picture of the state of the war than they knew to be true, according to a cache of documents obtained by the Washington Post. In private interviews conducted by a watchdog that span the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations – which the Post obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request -- U.S. officials frequently acknowledged a lack of understanding, strategy and progress in a war they regularly described publicly as being on the cusp of success. “After the...

The Teares of the Muses : Pavin of Albarti & Galliard Innocenti Alberti (1535 - 1615)

"My time in the Obama administration turned out to be a deeply disillusioning experience." It was close to midnight on Jan. 20, 2009, and I was about to go to sleep when my iPhone beeped. There was a new text message. It was from Richard Holbrooke. It said, "Are you up, can you talk?" When I called, he told me that Barack Obama had asked him to serve as envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He would work out of the State Department, and he wanted me to join his team. "No one knows this yet. Don't tell anyone. Well, maybe...

Uh-oh.From the Homeland Security system that “worked,” we now have word that Secretary Janet Napolitano is mobilizing a broad response to the underwear bomber. As part of this security “review,” Napolitano is dispatching her deputy, Jane Holl Lute, “on a broad international outreach effort [1]” to review security procedures with “leaders from major international airports in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.”Who is Jane Holl Lute? Or, more precisely, what kind of hands-on experience is presumed to qualify Lute for the serious responsibility of serving as the #2 official at Homeland Security?Why, the United Nations, of course. Before joining the...

Uh-oh. From the Homeland Security system that “worked,” we now have word that Secretary Janet Napolitano is mobilizing a broad response to the underwear bomber. As part of this security “review,” Napolitano is dispatching her deputy, Jane Holl Lute, “on a broad international outreach effort” to review security procedures with “leaders from major international airports in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.” Who is Jane Holl Lute? Or, more precisely, what kind of hands-on experience is presumed to qualify Lute for the serious responsibility of serving as the #2 official at Homeland Security? Why, the United Nations,...

A top United Nations official who once served on the White House National Security Council has been picked for deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, a move that would place two women at the top of the department for the first time. President Barack Obama's nomination of Jane Holl Lute, a retired Army major who worked on the NSC under President Bill Clinton, was announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Napolitano and Lute are the first women to hold their positions. Since it was launched in 2003, the department has had three secretaries, two men and one...

Tucson doctor gets restraining order against Olson's ex-wifeBy PATRICK FINLEY Arizona Daily Star Friday, November 07, 2008 The day UA coach Lute Olson announced his retirement, his ex-wife threatened the coach's doctor by placing a bullet-riddled target sheet in his office, according to a restraining order issued against Christine Olson on Tuesday. The order was obtained by Dr. Steven D. Knope and signed by Pima County Justice of the Peace Susan Bacal, saying Christine Olson was to have no contact of "any sort" with Knope. The court papers list her as Christine Toretti, her name before she married Olson. According...

The Pentagon sharply rejected Monday a key general's assertion that a return to the military draft has always been "an option on the table" and should be considered. "I can tell you emphatically that there is absolutely no consideration being given to reinstituting the draft," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "The all-volunteer force has surpassed all expectations of its founders." Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, a White House deputy national security adviser, discussed the draft in a radio interview Friday in which he said military leaders were right to be concerned about the impact of repeated deployments on military morale...

Special contributor Jennifer Reynolds suggests that 2008 US Presidential candidate Ron Paul may be the only hope of avoiding a draft. The subject of a draft came into play this week. A top U.S. military officer in charge of co-ordinating the U.S. war effort in Iraq said yesterday that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the U.S. military's needs. Lieutenant-General Douglas Lute, said the all-volunteer military is serving "exceedingly well" and the administration has not decided a draft is needed. But in an interview with National Public Radio, he said, "I think it makes...

Aug. 12, 2007 The so-called war czar who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has once again raised the issue of whether or not America might consider reinstituting a military draft. "I think it certainly makes sense to consider it," Lt. Gen. Douglas Luke told NPR. "And I can tell you this has always been an option on the table. But, ultimately this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security one means or another." Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is a long-time champion of the idea. The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee...

Said the Breck Girl today, Edwards, a former North Carolina senator said that Lute's remarks show "the true danger of the administration's breathtaking failures in Iraq and around the world," according to a campaign statement. "Now, instead of ending this war and doing what is right for our troops, their families and the nation, President Bush is floating the idea of a draft that would send more young Americans to Iraq," Edward said.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, says he is concerned about the toll the war in Iraq and extended deployments are taking on U.S. forces. The man who is widely known as the "war czar" also says that from a military standpoint, a return to a draft should be part of the discussion. On the ground in Iraq, Lute tells Michele Norris that there has been "demonstrable progress" on the security front. But on the political front, the Iraqi government is lagging behind, though he does cite progress at...

Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday. "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." "And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," Lute added in his first interview since he was...

Military draft should be considered: US war czar Aug 10 06:00 PM US/Eastern A top US military officer in charge of coordinating the US war effort in Iraq said Friday that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the US military's needs. Lieutenant General Douglas Lutte, who serves as White House deputy national security adviser, said the all-volunteer military is serving "exceedingly well" and the administration has not decided it needs to be replaced with a draft. But in an interview with National Public Radio, he said, "I think it makes sense to certainly consider...

WASHINGTON — Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday. "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." "And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," Lute added in his first interview since...

Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook) WASHINGTON (AP) - The military buildup in Iraq has a high-profile skeptic in the Bush administration: the army general President George W. Bush has chosen to manage that war and the one in Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute questioned Bush's strategy of sending thousands more troops into Iraq, a position he was expected to discuss Thursday at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services...

BUSH CHOOSES LT. GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE NEW 'WAR CZAR' TO OVERSEE CONFLICTS IN IRAQ,AFGHANISTAN--ABC NEWS