EX-CON CONVERTS: YEMEN, HERE WE COME!

From the “Fancy That” file …

The religion of peace is wrapping its ever-loving, all-inclusive arms around the dregs of American society and inviting them to blow up infidels. According to a new Senate report, it turns out that a number of ex-convicts who saw the light and converted to Islam while behind bars in American prisons have made the most out of their post-incarceration lives by going to Yemen and trying to become new Al Qaeda team members.

(But don’t think it necessarily has anything to do with Islam).

Richard Sisk of the New York Daily News writes:

The focus on ex-cons was part of an intensified effort by Al Qaeda to involve Americans who could more easily slip through security and pose a “significant threat” to carry out attacks in the U.S., said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“These Americans are not necessarily of Arab or South Asian descent” but “include individuals who converted to Islam in prison,” Kerry said in a foreword to the report by his committee.

As many as 36 of the ex-cons, nearly half from New York, were believed to be in Yemen, and U.S. counterterror officials were on “heightened alert because of the potential threat from extremists carrying American passports,” the report said.

The FBI and CIA were also concerned about a separate group of fewer than 10 Americans without criminal records who went to Yemen, converted to Islam and married Yemeni women to be allowed to remain in the country.

The report quoted a U.S. official who described the smaller group as “blond-haired, blue eyed-types” who fit the profile of Americans wanted by Al Qaeda for terror missions.

So Al Qaeda is racially profiling?

Bastards!

Most interesting (and painfully typical of those who live in Leftsville) is this post from a blogger at the Daily News website called hjo4:

When you keep people disenfranchised, placing them in prison, the only (thing) that’s being done is that we’re creating Home grown terrorist. I often wondered what would America’s reaction be when her own citizens became suicide bombers, I guess we’ll find out.

So, according to hjo4, imprisoning people – which disenfranchises them – transforms these individuals into home-grown terrorists.

In short, we are to blame.

We keep people disenfranchised.

By coming down hard on larcenists, thieves and embezzlers, we alienate them. By laying down the law with child abusers, sexual deviants and violent miscreants, we make felons feel terrible about themselves. By throwing murderers and rapists behind bars, we shackle the souls within.

Where has the self-esteem inside our nation’s prisons gone?

This is one reason why the closing of Guantanamo Bay won’t be happening anytime soon, despite President Obama’s waffle-in-the-sky dreams of eradicating everything George W. Bush.

Real life has a way of intruding on the dreams of even the most idealistic water walkers.

But it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Islam. What about all of those abortion clinic bombers?

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THEY’RE THERE … BUT NOT SO MUCH IN POLITICS

Conservatism doesn’t suffer from a lack of articulate, eloquent spokespersons. Talk radio is rife with right-sided pundits and raconteurs who espouse the principles of limited government and personal responsibility in remarkably entertaining and informative ways. Some of America’s greatest thinkers are conservative opinion columnists, proffering the greatest and most effective arguments of our time in support of a strong national defense, lower taxes, decreased federal spending, and far less intrusion into our lives.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party (conservatism’s traditional home) is much like water from a faucet in a run down Brooklyn tenement – sometimes hot, sometimes cold; sometimes murky, sometime clear. There are times when someone actually steps up and makes the case for conservative values – like when Senator Lindsey Graham grilled Attorney General Eric Holder on why the 9/11 terror trials are being held in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal, or when Senators Jim DeMint and John Ensign (among others) openly called the constitutionality of ObamaCare into question. (It’s a shame that these are thought of as conservative values, instead of American values).

Then there are those times when even the most mild-mannered among conservatives feel like opening up a giant can of “Shut Your Damn Mouth” and pouring it down the throat of some misguided, wishy-washy, right-leaning yakkity-yakker until the larynx is rendered unusable – like when RNC Chairman, Michael Steele, took a page from the “How To Be Ineffective And Sound Like A Moonbat Songbook,” saying that he didn’t think Republicans could win in this year’s midterm elections.

Way to lead, Michael.

No wonder most Americans view talk radio hosts as the nation’s most influential conservatives, instead of – oh, I don’t know – politicians.

One of my favorite conservatives who “gets it” – and one who is quickly becoming a favorite of conservatives everywhere – is not a politician, if you can believe it. She is, however, the child of one.

These days there is hardly anyone who is as well-informed on the War Against Islamo-fascism (the correct name for the war), or as passionate about this country’s need to fight to win, as Liz Cheney. She has been very outspoken about the incompetency that defines the Obamacrat prosecution of the war.

On Thursday, Cheney spoke out again.

Robert Costa from National Review’s The Corner wrote:

“Over the course of the last year, President Obama has taken his eye off the ball and allowed America’s counterterrorism systems to erode,” says Cheney. “Brennan and Napolitano both said they were surprised to learn from the review released today that al-Qaeda in Yemen was operational. Napolitano went on to say she hadn’t realized previously that al-Qaeda might use an individual to attack us. Yet, in the past year, we’ve had three attacks on America from individuals with Yemeni connections — from the terrorist at the recruiting station in Little Rock to the terrorist at Ford Hood and now the Christmas Day bomber.” Thus, she says, “it is inexplicable that our nation’s top counterterrorism officials would be surprised by a method of attack we’ve repeatedly seen before.”

…

“The president says he’s using every tool at his disposal but he’s not,” says Cheney. “We can’t prevail against terrorists without intelligence. When President Obama treats terrorists like criminals, reads them their Miranda rights and allows them to lawyer up, he ensures we won’t get the intelligence we need.” In addition, Cheney says, “When the president stopped the enhanced-interrogation programs and revealed our tactics to our enemies, he significantly reduced our ability to successfully interrogate any senior al-Qaeda leaders. Intelligence is key. Let’s be clear: We’re not going to win this war through more intense airport screenings.”

Take a huge bravo out of petty cash.

She’s right, of course.

Something has to be done to get this administration out of Nobel Peace Prize mode and into adulthood.

They need to act like this is a war – a genuine, honest-to-goodness, let’s-destroy-the-enemy-until their carcasses-are-pulverized-into-a-fine-paste kind of war.

They need to act as if the enemy is really out there, plotting terror attacks against America - and not sitting across the aisle trying to keep health insurance “reform” from happening.

Perhaps someone ought to convince President Obama that the Christmas Day terrorist was an avid reader of National Review, listened incessantly to Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh, was an anti-abortion advocate, believed that public displays of the Ten Commandments were fine, had a Sean Hannity coffee mug, and was wearing “I Love The Second Amendment” underwear when he whipped out his explosives on that plane.

You know … pretend he was a conservative.

That’ll get the old Waffle Man moving again.

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THE “GITMO” APPROACH TO DOING THE “OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY” THING

A bit of a follow-up to my piece yesterday, “Enough With The ‘Gitmo Is A Recruiting Tool’ Crap”…

According the AFP, Al Qaeda says that last week’s suicide bombing that killed seven at a CIA base in Afghanistan was retaliation for American drone missile strikes in Pakistan.

While I obviously applaud the President for carrying out those strikes (being the slobbering, war-mongering, gun-loving, kitten-kicking ruffian I am), I can’t help but wonder …

Now that Al Qaeda has been very specific in saying what the US has done to prompt them to take their “revenge,” what will Barack Obama do? How will he react?

Will he take a page from his “I Hate Gitmo” handbook and conclude that air strikes – like the existence of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility itself – are a powerful recruiting tool for Al Qaeda?

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

If a prison for enemy combatants in the Caribbean is enough to bring in new suicidal talent to Al Qaeda Re-Up Centers, certainly full-blown missile attacks would be at least as effective in attracting fresh blood. I would think American war planes dropping bombs anywhere is a good propaganda tool for enemies of the United States, no?

Maybe we should quit the whole “dropping bombs” thing, too.

Hmmm.

There must be a way to keep the enemy in check while doing all we can to make them happy.

Man, it’s tough to be President, isn’t it?

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BLAME BUSH, TAKE ONE-MILLION

It’s always an adventure of sorts to try and make some semblance of sense out of liberal thinking. Whether one finds himself (or herself) genuinely fascinated at the childlike cognitions that underlie liberal idealism, or aggravated at the disgustingly simplistic – and often destructive – “stage-one” notions that define modern liberal thought, it is often too tedious and far too bumper-stickery to be considered seriously substantive.

Unfortunately for this country and lovers of liberty, Democrats are in power.

Therefore, modern liberal thought must be taken seriously … for now.

Liberals, for instance, were dead wrong about the War in Iraq – on every level. From the moment they decided it was politically expedient for them to be opposed to it, the wrong side of history was theirs for the keeping – a trend for libs. Despite the overwhelming majority of Democrats voting in favor of military action against Iraq, opposition to the war became their “default” position once the invasion began. (Remember, Dems weren’t opposed to Bush because of the war. They were against the war because of Bush).

Indeed, libs still nosh on the dusty nuggets that fill up their ever-stale snack platters, blaming “Bush’s War” on everything from starving children in America’s inner cities to post nasal drip.

The fact is, Democrats don’t want to remember how the post-9/11 climate in America demanded a nation as terrorist-friendly as Iraq – with a ruthless dictator constantly violating Gulf War resolutions and firing on American war planes – be taken down for repeated failures to comply to the terms of those resolutions. To this day, Dems call the Iraqi War pointless, saying Bush should never have gone in. But had a terrorist attack on America been planned from the ever-accomodating confines of Hussein’s Iraq – or if training camps for terrorists had been allowed to thrive there (like under the Taliban in Afghanistan) - given the intelligence at the time, President Bush would have been hung from the village square for doing nothing – and rightfully so.

It’s likely “Bush’s War” will continue to be the beacon of blame for every malady that will befall America in the foreseeable future. One won’t be able to swing a dead mongoose without hitting an Obamacrat finding some way to blame the current state of affairs on “Bush’s War.” From unemployment to terrorist threats, from migraine headaches to anal fissures, it will all be Bush’s fault.

It’s how they think.

It’s their “default” position.

Take, for example, this commentary from Deputy White House Press Secretary, Bill Burton, traveling with the President in Hawaii, as he “recapped” the Sunday talk shows:

Robert Gibbs and Secretary Napolitano made clear that we are pressing ahead with securing our nation against threats and our aggressive posture in the war with al Qaeda. We are winding down a war in Iraq that took our eye off of the terrorists that attacked us, and have dramatically increased our resources in Afghanistan and Pakistan where those terrorists are.

Right on cue - the obligatory Iraq refrence.

So, if I am to understand … it was the Iraq War that led to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day? America’s eye was “off the ball” because of George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq? Conditions were such that if there was no invasion of Iraq, Abdulmutallab would never have been able to board that plane with explosive materials?

Yeah, okay.

But it gets better.

On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, “One thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked.” And yet, both she and Gibbs announced that the President has asked for all procedures and policies at the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security be reviewed. Bush-era policies will, in effect, need to be dissected with a fine-tooth comb … but somehow, the system worked?

How could it have worked when it took passengers and members of the flight crew to thwart the attempted attack? And if it really did work, why the need to suddenly “review” everything?

The terrorist Abdulmutallab got on the plane, didn’t he? What worked exactly?

What are these people talking about?

Do they ever pull their heads out long enough to observe the happenings of the real world?

Again, note the instinct to laud themselves and blame everyone else. “It worked” because we are living in the Messianic Age. Whatever went wrong must be the fault of the other guy – the previous guy. Otherwise, all went quite well … even though a review of Bush-era implementations will be necessary … even though it worked … even though it will have to be looked at … even though it went like clockwork … blah, blah, blah..

Napolitano was forced to do an about-face this morning, admitting that after further review of the painfully obvious, the system actually did not work, saying, “”Here, clearly, something went awry. We want to fix that problem.”

Nothing escapes her.

Meanwhile, expect the “Blame Bush” brigades to keep it up. 

As [President Obama] said in West Point, we must put aside petty politics and recapture the unity that we had after 9/11.

Enough with the “unity” blather, okay? It is this administration that, at every turn, finds some way to place the blame for every blight and blemish on George W. Bush. No matter what the issue is, poor poor Obama constantly reminds the American people that he has been saddled with a host of inherited complications, so extensive and so problematic, that he may or may not be able to rectify them.

Convenient.

That’s how you get a B+. (Or an “A,” if you’re Arnold Schwarzenegger looking in).

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IT’S US, SAYS BAM

Are you aware that recruitment into Al Qaeda was bolstered because of the existence of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay? Did you know it became a symbol for that recruitment? Did you ever stop to consider that because the United States kept known or suspected terrorists under lock and key at Gitmo that otherwise complacent, law-abiding folks were compelled to join the ranks of Al Qaeda? Doesn’t it make sense that as a direct result of the actions of the United States of America, and the very existence of Guantanamo Bay, terrorism remains alive and well?

How do I know this?

The President of The United States has said so.

He has effectively placed the blame at the feet of his own country for the recruitment of otherwise halo-sporting, olive-branch carrying people into the Al Qaeda network. If not for maintaining a facility that affords a collection of human debris far more respect and conciliation than they deserve – a place where American soldiers, in order to accommodate their prisoners, are not even allowed to touch the Qur’an with their bare hands – the world would see Al Qaeda’s numbers shrinking and world opinion of America shooting up exponentially.

Bam said on Thursday:

“Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol to help Al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.”

Pray tell, how ever did Al Qaeda recruit folks into its ranks before Gitmo came along?

Stripping away the mesmerizing dulcet tones that wrap themselves around the text of his speech like a ravenous rattler on a field mouse, attempting to find any real meaning in what Obama says can become a full-time vocation.

According to Obama, Gitmo’s mere existence created terrorists.

Interesting logic.

In a nutshell, according to my Obama/English dictionary - no Gitmo would have to mean fewer terrorists.

Does that mean, for instance, the existence of maximum security prisons serve to recruit people to become criminals? Would violent felons rethink things if jails were closed? If certain penitentiaries were shut down as a sign of good will toward malcontents and miscreants everywhere, would crime suddenly plummet?

Thus, can one draw the conclusion that fewer prisons mean fewer criminals?

Do liberals ever listen to the things they say?

And how many people have been held at Gitmo in its entire existence? Hundreds? Is the President aware that there are tens of thousands of people involved in terrorist groups the world over that are not Al Qaeda?

To hear it from the president, the war isn’t about fighting the evil that is Islamo-facism. That kind of big-tent thinking can get you in real trouble. It’s all about Al Qaeda, stupid.

And that’s it.

(Love that renowned liberal nuance).

Lord help us.
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COWBOY PANETTA – TEA, LOVE AND FALAFEL

let's be friends again

Bush bashing.

Gee, how original.

The new CIA Chief has decided that Congress needs a big hug, maybe more – and he’s ready to start dispensing the love. According to the agency’s new chief, Leon Panetta, all of those years under President Bush saw a nasty rift fester between the CIA and Capitol Hill – a relationship Panetta says was “badly damaged” with W in the lead – and the time has come to make it all good again. In other words, those lousy Bush-era policies that kept this nation safe from attack for over seven years need to be tossed onto the Ash Heap of History in favor of some new-fangled, open-minded, back-rubbin’ DC lovin’. Panetta is calling for what amounts to bureaucratic make-up sex to “to restore the trust between this Agency and Capitol Hill.”

Mike Allen at the Politico writes:

CIA Director Leon E. Panetta says the relationship between the intelligence agency and Congress has “had a lot of problems” under the last administration and “has to be repaired,” which he said is one of his top priorities.

“Frankly, I can’t do my job unless I have their trust.” (Panetta) said. “And since I’m a creature of the Hill and understand what it means to be a member up there and have this kind of information, I’m prepared to try to do whatever I can to try to repair that relationship.”

…

“This country has to operate by a set of rules that are in line with our Constitution and in line with the laws of this country. … We swear to support and defend that Constitution in taking these jobs … If we stand by our ideals, if we stand by the beliefs that we have about what this country is all about, I think it makes us stronger, not only here but throughout the world.”

And, of course, what the world thinks of the United States is far more important than whether or not the United States is upholding those values that make her the greatest nation the world has ever known. To liberals, being loved is as much a value as healthcare and equality of outcome. Securing the favor and approval of the world’s nations is a foundational American liberal tenet. It far outweighs doing what’s right and just.

Personally, I couldn’t give a damn what the rest of the world thinks of the United States. Remember, as I have written many times, as a rule of thumb, whatever world opinion is on a given matter, go with the opposite.

Allen continues:

For one thing, (Panetta) said, “We are closing black sites,” a reference to secret prisons abroad used to hold and question suspected terrorist combatants.

The phrase “war on terror,” a hallmark of President George W. Bush’s White House, is rarely used in the Obama administration, but Panetta (says) that “there’s no question this is a war. There are those who threaten us to come here and kill Americans. … CIA is engaged on the front lines to try to develop the intelligence necessary to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

In his opening remarks, Panetta said: “Al-Qaeda has obviously suffered some key setbacks in recent months and with the …strong support of the president, the vice president, national security director, we are not going to let up on [counterterrorism]. We are going to continue to pursue. We are going to continue to bring pressure.”

Heaven help the terrorists now.

Panetta has surely instilled fear in them by announcing that the United States is going to “bring pressure.”

Hold me.

If nothing else, it was surely nice of Mr. Panetta to acknowledge the existence of the war – and to once again announce to the world that “black sites” are being shut down – just for good measure. That’ll certainly get the bad guys to take pause and reconsider their murderous ways.  The kinder, gentler approach to those who crave death is bound to melt icy hearts all across the Islamo-fascist world.

But if the goal is to undo Bush-era intelligence policies – the very policies he acknowledges has inflicted key setbacks to Al Qaeda – how can he and the Obama administration realistically expect the same kind of successes?

And why would he – or anyone – want to undo policies that have kept the country safe?

(Rhetorical meter spikes into the red).

This hackneyed and tedious ”blame-Bush-for-everything-wrong-in-the-world” approach to life that has been the fuel of liberal motivation for eight years is literally going to cost innocent American lives. It precludes the ability to acknowledge anything Bush did right – like his prosecution of the war against Islamo-fascism – and it will, without question, lead to a disaster that will make 9/11 pale in comparison. 

Disgusting.

 

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OBAMA, MEET OSAMA

The terrorist threat to the United States is either a Bush-concoted exageration, or an unintended consequence of imperialist war-mongering – according to much of the American leftorcay. After all, the human fecal matter who fly planes into buildings and strap bombs to the guts of their children were just minding their own business, planting radish gardens, baking Dome of the Rock shaped fig cookies until we came along.

The “fundamental transformers” of America – i.e. the Democrats – are probably not taking too much notice of this one, but I’ll waste my time with it, being one of the brainwashed Bush monkeys.

According to a Yemeni al-Qaeda operative, in a story published on the front page of an Arabic newspaper in London – Al-Quds Al-Arabi – “the terrorist organisation (al-Qaeda) has entered a ‘positive phase’, reinforcing specific training camps around the world that will lead the next “wave of action” against the West.”

(Osama) bin Laden is himself closely following preparations for an attack against the US and aims to “change the face of world politics and economics”. The operative is quoted as saying that “this will be shown by the fact that we now control a major part of the south of Somalia“.

The source also said that during the next few days the terrorist organisation may send a sign of its violent intentions.

The warning has emerged at the same time as publication of a report leaked to The Telegraph newspaper which reveals that a document drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence says that thousands of extremists are active in the UK.

Security officials, The Telegraph reports, are convinced al-Qaeda cells will attempt another “spectacular” inside the UK with major transport centres, such as airports and train stations, the most likely targets. Other targets include the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall and Buckingham and St James’ palaces, with the threat level described as “severe”.

Let’s hope this “change” that President-elect Obama keeps talking about isn’t the seven-years the United States has been free of terrorist attacks.

Hey Obamacrats …. Do America a favor, okay? Just pretend the terrorists are greehouse gases, or free enterprise.

Go after them. Yeah, it’s that serious, lefties.

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