This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden

  • US less safe since 2011

    Talk about your “dog bites man” story; congressional guests on CNN‘s “State of the Union” program told the two or three viewers that the threat of terrorism is spreading like a wildfire in the last few years and the reason, of course, are this Administration’s policies;

    Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, agreed that the Obama administration has lost ground in the ongoing battle with global terrorism.

    McCaul said that though policies put in place as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks have prevented a similar large-scale event on U.S. soil, President Barack Obama is pushing a false narrative about the nation’s safety in the world.

    “When the President of the United States talks about the, downgrades the threat, his narrative is that al Qaeda is on the run, and since bin Laden has been killed the threat is no longer existing – I think is a false narrative and premise because, as we see this threat all throughout northern Africa, as we saw Egypt fall, Libya, now Syria is a great culmination of the Sunni-Shia conflict.”

    Well, it stands to reason, because there was virtually no threat of a terrorist attack in the mid-70s but by the time Jimmy Carter was voted out of office, he couldn’t step out of his armored limo. This administration has been able to extend the Carter Administration’s failed policies into the 21st century, all the while dismantling the military, again like Carter, and making military service less attractive to new recruits.

  • You lie!

    When that charge was yelled out during Obama’s address to Congress, the liberal media were in lockstep in their condemnation of the South Carolina congressman, Joe Wilson, who admittedly violated congressional protocol in defensible defense of his constituents and his country. Likewise, author, Jack Cashill, has for years been publishing growing evidence here at American Thinker that the man who calls himself Barack Hussein Obama is not what he appears to be. A Cashill piece posted yesterday elicited a comment with a link to a telephone interview from a black radio talk show to a woman in Hawaii who admits she knew Obama only peripherally in his formative years after his return from Indonesia. But her peripheral observations are damning if true.

    Most striking is her attestation that Barry, as she calls him, was a pathological liar, one of those that we’ve all encountered, who lies gratuitously, but most especially when the lie enhances the worth of the liar. Six years into the Obama administration it is easy to see that what that female teenager in Hawaii observed as self-serving, adolescent behavior is now being manifested on a national and global level as a continuing quest for self-aggrandizement by a man who has already achieved the political pinnacle.

    As Cashill noted, just this week we were served up another example of blatant dishonesty by this pathological president when his minions admitted that he did in fact know his previously disowned, troubled African uncle in Massachusetts. Not only did Barry have contact with the uncle he had earlier professed not to know, the White House now admits he actually lived with the man. The clumsy admission and attempted dodge to protect the president from yet another provable lie is so farfetched as to be laughable. How on earth does Jay Carney sleep at night? Their contention is that when they said the president had never known his wayward uncle it was because the media staff issuing that statement had not checked with the president to determine its validity. What an absolute crock! Sure, an uncle of the president, in this country illegally, is arrested on drunk-driving charges and faced with deportation and the White House press office issues a statement of total denial of contact with the perp by the prez without consulting said prez. Folks, they are so arrogantly supreme as to believe you will accept this crap.

    If you watched and listened to Reverend Manning’s radio interview with the woman in Hawaii, you could not help but note her multiple references to Barry Soetoro’s propensity for telling self-promoting lies. Supporting her charge is his behavior that has never changed in the five years of an Obama presidency that have left a trail of lies across America’s political landscape never before seen. Through Fast and Furious, the Benghazi treachery, IRS corruption and most of all, Obamacare, we have seen this is a morally-deficient, mendacious man with absolutely no compunctions about lying large to what he sees as a gullible, passively accepting nation and world, a core quality of a too-confident confidence man. Why is he so self-assured? Perhaps a good example is when a corrupt media and a dishonest Democrat party circles the wagons and covers for him when a sincere congressman yells the honest truth:

    You lie!

    Crossposted at American Thinker.

    Poetrooper encourages you to listen to the radio interview linked above.

  • US Sub-hunters to Okinawa

    P-8 Poseidon

    The Washington Times reports that the Pentagon has sent the first of six sub-hunting P-8 Poseidon patrol craft to its airbase at Okinawa near the East China Sea, ostensibly to patrol over the waters that were brought into the China’s unilaterally declared area of influence;

    President Obama, in response to the declaration, flew in two B-52 bombers into the so-called off-limits air space — a strong message that the United States would not abide China’s terms of designation. But Mr. Obama also said that U.S. businesses would obey China’s air zone declaration, and refrain from flying private craft into the zone without Beijing’s permission.

    I’m not sure which came first the chicken or the egg, neither do know whether this administration caused this confrontation by announcing a few months ago that they were shifting their focus to the Pacific Rim or if they actually arrived at the conclusion that the area would become a problem in advance of their shifted focus.

    Boeing says of it’s P-8A;

    The P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. It possesses an advanced mission system that ensures maximum interoperability in the future battle space. Capable of broad-area maritime, and littoral operations, the P-8A will influence how the U.S. Navy’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance forces train, operate and deploy.

    Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

    The P-8A Poseidon is a true multi-mission platform. On board P-8A, all sensors contribute to a single fused tactical situation display, which is then shared over both military standard and internet protocol data links, allowing for seamless delivery of information amongst U.S. and coalition forces. As an armed platform, P-8A independently closes the kill chain, while simultaneously providing data to everyone on the network.

  • Hatin’ on the drones

    Lead spokesman for the Taliban, Hamid Karzai, is once again attacking the US drone program, according to the Washington Post. It looks like two women might have been injured in a recent strike and a child killed. But Karzai said he heard about the strike from a local governor, so he really has no first hand knowledge of the casualties. And no one is mentioning how many Taliban might have been killed in the strike.

    “This attack shows that American forces are not respecting the life and safety of Afghan people’s houses,” he said in the statement. He added, “For years, our innocent people have become victims of the war under the name of terrorism, and they have had no safety in their homes.”

    He said he won’t sign the security agreement if such “oppressions by foreign forces continue.”

    It was unclear from his statement whether he was calling for an end of all drone strikes or just attacks that target homes.

    The alleged death of the child comes one week after Karzai accused U.S. Special Operations forces of killing two Afghan civilians during a raid on a house in eastern Afghanistan. Karzai’s assertion angered coalition commanders, who insisted that the men were “armed insurgents.” They accused Karzai of using “allegations of civilian deaths for political purposes.”

    Rumors have it that the new agreement for continued US presence in Afghanistan restricts American troops from entering or striking any dwelling – which means that enemy forces can simply go inside to avoid being killed by US troops. That sounds like a tough strategy.

    Last week, in Pakistan two Taliban commanders were killed while they were hiding out in a seminary, four others were killed who were clerics or students. It seems to me that the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan would be more upset that the enemy is hiding in innocents’ homes or churches, but I guess it’s easier to hate on the good guys.

    It also highlights the difficulty of this administration that leans heavily on the Joe Bite Me robot ninja zombie strategy instead of making the tough decision to fully staff the “surge” of 2009 like they should have in the first place.

  • President phones in Thanksgiving to troops

    Bush Thanksgiving

    Stars & Stripes writes that President Obama took time out of his holiday to call some members of the military;

    Hewing to past practice during his administration, Obama placed calls to several uniformed personnel. The White House said he talked to 10 service members – two each from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

    The White House said the president wished them and their families “a happy Thanksgiving.”

    What? I didn’t say anything.

  • China responds

    Yesterday we talked about the B52s that this administration used to fly over the Senkaku/Diaoyou island chain in the East China Sea in order to challenge China’s unilateral declaration that the islands were part of their new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Well today Australian News reports that China’s sole aircraft carrier is steaming toward the area;

    In response, China has ordered its only aircraft carrier – the PNAS Liaoning – into the disputed waters.

    This afternoon, China’s defence ministry said it “monitored” the US B-52 bomber flights in its newly-declared air defence identification zone

    In a statement China’s defence spokesman Geng Yansheng said: “The Chinese military monitored the entire process, carried out identification in a timely manner, and ascertained the type of US aircraft.

    “China is capable of exercising effective control over this airspace,” Geng added.

    Politico says the carrier isn’t alone;

    The official Xinhua News Agency said the cruise aims to test the Liaoning’s crew and equipment over long distances and a variety of sea conditions.

    It said the ship was accompanied by two destroyers and two missile cruisers – elements of a standard aircraft carrier battle group – when it left its northern home port of Qingdao. The Liaoning has launched and recovered jet fighters but not yet been given its full complement of aircraft.

    I guess we’re sending our new ambassador to Japan for her shake out cruise, too. Caroline Kennedy wasn’t pleased with China according to UPI:

    In her first speech as ambassador, Kennedy said Wednesday Beijing’s unilateral decision raised tensions while voicing support for Japan’s efforts to ramp up its security measures, such as establishing a national security council, The Japan Times reported.

    “Unilateral actions like those taken by China with their announcement of an East China Sea air defense identification zone undermine security and constitute an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea. This only serves to increase tensions in the region and create unnecessary risk,” Kennedy said at a welcome lunch in Tokyo.

    Just when you things can’t look more grim, Joe Bite Me is headed to China next week, says NBC;

    The senior administration official said that the visit will allow Biden to talk about China’s broader “emerging pattern of behavior.” A second official said that the U.S. believes China needs to help lower the tension, and that the move “causes uncertainty” in an uncertain region and raises the risk of “miscalculation and accidents.”

    The official said that Biden will discuss how China operates in international space and “how they deal with areas of disagreement with their neighbors.”

    I guess China will be foreclosing on us by Christmas. Thanks to Pinto Nag for a link in there somewhere.

  • That shift from military might to diplomacy

    The New York Times hails Obama’s apparent shift away from the use of military might to the “art” of diplomacy;

    At one level, the flurry of diplomatic activity reflects the definitive end of the post-Sept. 11 world, dominated by two major wars and a battle against Islamic terrorism that drew the United States into Afghanistan and still keeps its Predator drones flying over Pakistan and Yemen.

    But it also reflects a broader scaling-back of the use of American muscle, not least in the Middle East, as well as a willingness to deal with foreign governments as they are rather than to push for new leaders that better embody American values. “Regime change,” in Iran or even Syria, is out; cutting deals with former adversaries is in.

    For Mr. Obama, the shift to diplomacy fulfills a campaign pledge from 2008 that he would stretch out a hand to America’s enemies and speak to any foreign leader without preconditions. But it will also subject him to considerable political risks, as the protests about the Iran deal from Capitol Hill and allies in the Middle East attest.

    “We’re testing diplomacy; we’re not resorting immediately to military conflict,” Mr. Obama said.

    Well, the problem with this whole thing is that, in order to rely on diplomacy, Obama needs to negotiate from a position of strength, especially in that Bronze Age shithole in the middle east. Bush wasn’t “resorting immediately to military conflict” in Iraq. His “rush to war” took over a year after all of the sanctions, inspections, diplomacy failed and, in the end, Hussein didn’t really believe that we would invade Iraq. Twice. Bush’s father gave Hussein almost daily chances to un-ass Kuwait, but because of Vietnam and Beirut, Hussein didn’t think we’d have the cojones. And after Mogadishu, he thought the same of the Younger Bush.

    Iran poked their finger in the West’s collective eye throughout the Iraq War and there were no consequences. They’ve continued in Syria and throughout the Middle East, not to mention continued their nuclear program while the West wrings it’s hands, and we’ve done nothing. Now we’re rewarding them for their bad behavior and we celebrate that we’re civilized. The guy who a few weeks ago planned on bombing Syria with no real evidence is suddenly civilized when it’s Iran – dangerous-ass Iran who is closer to nuclear weapons than the world cares to admit. The country that proliferates more terror to every corner of the world than any other country on the planet. The country most responsible for Assad remaining on the throne in Syria.

    The only reason that Iran is at the negotiating table is because THEY think they’re negotiating from a position of strength, they think they hold all the cards, because we’re running away from Afghanistan as our sole strategy. We’re downsizing our military at a mind-numbing speed. We’re forgetting any lessons that we learned in the last decade of war. The things that worked are tossed aside as bad, because of who did them, rather than examined as to why they worked.

    But, at least we lift our pinky finger while we’re sipping our tea.

  • Obama and Iran

    Ex-PH2 and ROS sent us links to today’s story of the day which is the announcement last night that an “historic” agreement has been reached with Iran in regards to halting it’s nuclear weapon program. the way I understand it, we will lessen economic pressure on the terrorist nation and they will stop their march towards nuclear armament. From the Washington Post;

    The concessions not only halt Iran’s nuclear advances but also make it virtually impossible for Tehran to build a nuclear weapon without being detected, the officials said. In return, Iran will receive modest relief of trade sanctions and access to some of its frozen currency accounts overseas, concessions said to be valued at less than $7 billion over the six-month term of the deal. The sanctions would be reinstated if Iran violates the agreement’s terms.

    The Associated Press reported that hours after the accord was reached, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the deal recognizes Tehran’s “rights” to maintain an atomic program.

    Rouhani on Sunday repeated Iran’s claim that it would “never” seek atomic weapons.

    His reference to “nuclear rights” in a nationally broadcast speech touches on the country’s demand to keep its uranium enrichment program.

    I’m sure the Iranians will hold up their part of the deal because they’ve been such a rational actor thus far. From MSN;

    Obama pledged to hold off from imposing new sanctions during the terms of the six-month agreement, a position likely to anger some in Congress who have been pushing for even tougher penalties against Iran.

    “If Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month phase, we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure,” he said.

    I’m sure Obama will “turn off the relief” when Iran is caught cheating. Either he’ll turn off the relief, or he won’t bother to tell us that Iran is not meeting it’s obligations and the media will, characteristically, look the other way.