In Their Rush To Empty Gitmo, Obama Has Helped To Get Americans Killed. Another Failure Of Leadership?

Pentagon Official: American Deaths Have Come From Gitmo Releases

Paul Lewis, Department of Defense special envoy for Guantanamo closure (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Greg Richter   |   Wednesday, 23 Mar 2016 05:55 PM

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The release of terrorist suspects from the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay have resulted in the deaths of Americans, a Pentagon official told Congress on Wednesday.

"What I can tell you is unfortunately, there have been Americans that have died because of Gitmo detainees," said Paul Lewis, the Pentagon's special envoy for Guantanamo closure, in testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, The Hill reports.

Lewis provided no other details in the public hearing, according to The Hill, but The Associated Press quoted an unnamed Obama administration official as saying Lewis was referring to an Afghan suspect released during the George W. Bush administration.

"When anybody dies, it is tragedy and we don't want anybody to die because we transfer detainees," Lewis said. "However, it's the best judgment and the considered judgment of this administration and the previous administration that the risk of keeping Gitmo open is outweighed — that we should close Gitmo."

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California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said he was "disgusted," and added, "As far as I'm concerned, if one child is saved because she would have been blown up by someone who's been released, it's better to keep all 90 of those people in Gitmo."

"There are unfortunately going to be acts of terrorism, probably whether the facility is opened or closed," Lee Wolosky, the State Department's special envoy for Guantanamo closure, told the committee. "The proper analysis is, 'What are the risks of keeping it open in light of the very obvious use of that facility as a propaganda tool,' which, frankly, you should not have to question."

Rohrabacher said he isn't convinced by arguments that keeping the facility open is serving as a recruitment tool for terrorists.

"I think the bigger recruiting tool today is when our government, especially at this administration, is perceived as being weak," he said.

"The Obama administration's confirmation today that former Guantanamo detainees have killed Americans is the single most important reason why the president should cease his misguided efforts to close the facility and release dangerous terrorists," Maine Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte said in written statement.

There are still 91 detainees at the facility, and 36 have been cleared to be transferred. Obama wants to close the facility entirely and move the remaining detainees to U.S. prisons. That plan is opposed by Republicans.

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Israel's Retaliation Should NOT Stop And US Financial Support Should Be Suspended Until The PA/Hamas/Fatah Alliance Is Broken And The Parties Agree To Israel's Right To Exist.

by Roger L Simon

Obama Talks to Netanyahu—Did Bibi Tell Barry to Stuff It?  By Roger L. Simon

July 10th, 2014 - 10:08 pm

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Well, maybe not stuff it, but finally someone may be standing up to America’s ultra-reactionary, fumbling, paleo-narcissistic and now hugely unpopular president — and his name is Benjamin Netanyahu.  If we are to believe theJerusalem Post,  Bibi should be the leader of the free world.  Arrivederci, Barry. Take your favorite nine iron and head off to Maui or the Vineyard or wherever you want to be with our blessings — as long as you stay there.

From the JPost:

The United States is prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu by phone today.

In the call, Obama “reiterated the United States’ strong condemnation of continuing rocket fire into Israel by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against these attacks,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

But Netanyahu has ruled out a ceasefire with Hamas in the short-term. On the contrary, the Israeli leader has vowed a series of additional stages to Operation Protective Edge—his government’s response to continued rocket fire on Israeli towns and cities, after Hamas, a terrorist organization, stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets in the coastal territory over the last several years.

A ceasefire is “not even on the agenda,” Netanyahu told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, just hours before his call with the US leader.

Let’s hope Netanyahu does not fall prey to pressure and keeps on keeping on because someone sometime has to stand up to Islamofacism or it will continue its unstopped march across the Middle East and beyond.  It certainly won’t be Obama, who has allowed violent jihadists to flourish across Iraq, Syria and Iran — not to mention North Africa, Nigeria, the Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines and now the Islamic State (aka ISIS) installing their own caliphate.  Obama previously tried to help shore up Islamofascism in Egypt (Morsi) and Turkey (Erdogan). And all the while he  has been chasing a nuclear deal with the monstrous mullahs of Iran who want nothing more than the extinction of the West and a caliphate of their own to compete with the Sunnis of ISIS.

I’m confused. Weren’t “progressives” supposed to be for religious freedom and opposed to misogyny,  homophobia and theocracy? Oh, well.  Maybe I was misinformed.

Enough already.  Bibi, it’s up to you.  Western civilization’s last stand.

We should all be encouraging Netanyahu now, lining up behind him, no matter what our smaller biases. He needs friends at home and abroad.  So do the Israeli soldiers. Even though I am not religious, I will be praying for them.

I will also be applauding U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle who understand the gravity of the situation, how much is now at stake for the long term.  Further from the JPost:

“There is no moral equivalency between the self-defense actions of Israel and the barbaric actions of Hamas,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said on Thursday. Along with Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Graham is now proposing a resolution that would “reaffirm the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens” and “ensure the survival” of the Israeli state.

The resolution also calls on the Palestinian Authority, funded in large part by Congress, to end its unity government with Hamas, and condemns the firing of hundreds of rockets at Israel as “unprovoked.”

“Israel is entitled to take the steps necessary to protect itself from destructive rocket attacks from Hamas that are aimed at all Israeli civilians, regardless of their religion,” said Schumer. “This resolution supports Israel as it protects itself in a manner that values the safety of Palestinian civilians even as its own civilians face indiscriminate attacks from terrorists.”

The Congress can start by superseding the reactionary Obama administration and defunding the Palestinian Authority until it breaks with Hamas.  In fact, they should defund it forever until the PA recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. This is the moment.  Enough appeasement of barbaric Islamic societies.  Let’s start believing in ourselves.

Obama Administration Keeps Floundering, No One Holds Them Accountable.

Peter King: Obama's Troop Announcement Helps Enemy Prepare

Tuesday, 27 May 2014 09:58 PM

By Greg Richter and Todd Beamon

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President Barack Obama made a "big mistake" in announcing a timeline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, says Rep. Peter King.

Obama said Tuesday that the United States will leave 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after this year, and withdraw most of them by 2016.

"That just gives the enemy the opportunity to plan their strategy," King a Republican from New York, said Tuesday on CNN's "Out Front with Erin Burnett." 

King was one of many Republicans who slammed Obama's announcement. Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire jointly called the decision irresponsible and a "triumph of politics over strategy."

"The president came into office wanting to end the wars he inherited. But wars do not end just because politicians say so," the three senators said. "The president appears to have learned nothing from the damage done by his previous withdrawal announcements in Afghanistan and his disastrous decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq.

They said that Obama's announcement "will embolden our enemies and discourage our partners in Afghanistan and the region. His decision on Afghanistan will fuel the growing perception worldwide that America is unreliable, distracted, and unwilling to lead."

The more responsible move was a "limited-assistance mission" to aid the security forces, they said. The move would "preserve momentum on the battlefield and create conditions for a negotiated end to the conflict.King  said he doubts that the number of troops being left in Afghanistan is sufficient for the United States to carry out intelligence operations outside of Bagram and Kabul.

Obama said in Tuesday's White House remarks that Americans have learned it is easier to get into a war than out of one. King called that statement "condescending … as if we were in Afghanistan as some sort of lark."

The United States went to war with al-Qaida in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

Obama's withdrawal announcement is most likely a political move, said Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume.

In a commentary Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Special Report," the channel's senior political analyst Brit Hume Hume said it makes no sense why the announcement would be made publicly unless Obama wanted to seek political gain.

"Why would you need to let the enemy know that you're going to be leaving, or how much of your force that you're going to draw down?" Hume said. "Strategically it makes no sense. Tactically it makes no sense."

Hume also addressed the accidental release of the name of the CIA's top spy in Afghanistan over the weekend, calling it the latest case of the ineptness of the Obama White House.

The White House has said it learned of various scandals, including the current secret waiting lists at Veterans Administration hospitals, from media reports. Hume noted that the same happened in the leak of the CIA chief of station's name.

"In this case, this is something that his press office put out, and the mistake wasn't noted until somebody in the press told them about it," Hume said. "That's a high level of bungling."

King told CNN that someone should be fired for the leak. Though it probably was a mistake, he said, it was "an unpardonable error."

The name was included on a list supplied by the military, which was then reviewed by the White House press office before the list was released to a Washington Post reporter writing a pool report of the president's visit. King said there were multiple opportunities for someone to catch the error before the reporter noticed it and notified the White House.

"This was not something that just went out on Twitter," King said.

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Was Obama Missing In Action During Benghazi Raid? We Should Know.

Top GOP Senators Seek Obama's Whereabouts During Benghazi Attacks

Friday, 02 May 2014 10:52 PM

By Todd Beamon

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Three top Republican senators asked President Barack Obama on Friday to disclose where he was during the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans.

The letter was from Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. It comes a day after former National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Fox News that Obama was not in the Situation Room in the White House's basement following events as they occurred on Sept. 11, 2012.

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"Over a year and a half has passed since the terrorist attacks, and the American people still do not have an accounting of your activities during the attack," the legislators, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in the letter. "Mr. President, can you now confirm that Mr. Vietor's account of your absence in the White House Situation Room is accurate?"

Vietor told Fox on Thursday that Obama was in the Oval Office in the White House when he first learned of the attacks.

"It is well known that when the attack was first briefed to him, it was in the Oval Office, and he was updated constantly," Vietor told Fox.

He added that did not know where the president was at all points in the night because he does not have a "tracking device on him."

Vietor said that Obama did not have to be in the Situation Room to continuously monitor a a developing situation.

The issue of Obama's whereabouts that night came up in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in February 2013.

Leon Panetta, who was Defense Secretary at the time, told senators then that the president was absent, but that they had met in a pre-scheduled meeting at 5 p.m. The session lasted 30 minutes.

He testified that he and Obama spent about 20 minutes discussing the situation that was just unfolding in Benghazi.

But, otherwise, Obama left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under attack, “up to us” — meaning Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Obama did not call back to check further developments, Panetta testified, "but we got information that the ambassador, his life had been lost, it went to the White House.”

Panetta said that he did not communicate with anyone at the White House after the earlier meeting.

The letter from McCain, Graham and Ayotte was among several fast-moving developments on the Benghazi attacks on Friday.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., subpoenaed Secretary of State John Kerry to testify about emails released by Judicial Watch this week showing that Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes advised former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to link the attacks to an anti-Muslim video.

In addition, House Speaker John Boehner said the chamber would vote next week oncreating a select committee to investigate Benghazi.

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