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October 2011

FAST AND FELONIOUS….THE SCANDAL GOES STRAIGHT TO THE WHITE HOUSE

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/3/fast-and-felonious/

The “Fast and Furious” gunrunning probe is creeping closer to the Obama White House. It appears administration officials were willing to sign off on just about anything to accomplish their ends, and the result of this botched operation has has been over a hundred dead. Someone needs to be held accountable.

On Friday, the administration reluctantly released new and incriminating documents showing then-Special Agent William Newell with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had discussed details of Fast and Furious in a series of emails with White House National Security Council staff member Kevin O’Reilly. In one of the communications, Mr. Newell gave Mr. O’Reilly a heads-up about an upcoming press conference announcing indictments in a dozen “straw purchaser” firearms trafficking cases and a Gun Runner Impact Teams performance report containing statistics on investigations.

JERRY SEPER: WHITE HOUSE STAFFER INFORMED ABOUT “GUNWALKER”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/3/white-house-staffer-was-informed-about-gun-probe/
White House staffer was informed about gun probe
Emails exchanged with ATF
Documents detailing discussions between a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent and a White House National Security staffer concerning Operation Fast and Furious have been made public by the Obama administration, but reveal no new information about what top White House officials knew about the controversial investigation.

Released late Friday night, the documents include emails over a month-long period last year between William D. Newell, then-ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division, and then-White House National Security staffer Kevin O’Reilly. In them, they discuss the progress of gun trafficking investigations along the U.S.-Mexico border and Mr. O’Reilly displays a keen interest in the topic.

DANIEL GREENFIELD: THE POWER OF WEAKNESS

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/ Weakness is one of the greatest forms of power imaginable in the modern West. Weakness grants irresponsibility for personal actions and more importantly in a collectivist society, it provides freedom from for the collective burdens of society and civilization. The weak are not responsible for their actions. They can rob, kill and rape, and […]

MINN. WOMAN ARRESTED ON SOMALI TERROR CASE…AMY FORLITI

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9Q53UUO2&show_article=1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Minnesota woman on trial for allegedly funneling money to a terrorist group in Somalia was found in contempt of court Monday when she refused to stand for the judge and jury, citing religious grounds.

Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis found Amina Farah Ali in contempt for failing to stand as court convened and recessed several times during the day, and later sentenced her to 50 days in jail.
He also ordered Ali to be detained for the duration of the trial because of her “behavior in this courtroom.” She had been released pending trial as long as she did not violate any laws, but in a written order on Monday, Davis said Ali violated the law when she failed to rise and he revoked her release.

Ali, 35, and her co-defendant, Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, are accused of being part of what prosecutors called a “deadly pipeline” that sent more than $8,600 and fighters from the U.S. to Somalia.

BOB OWENS: “GUNWALKER” IS HOLDER FAST, FURIOUS AND FINISHED?

Gunwalker: Holder Appears To Be Fast, Furious, and Finished

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/gunwalker-holder-appears-to-be-fast-furious-and-finished/

News documents indicate that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder more than likely perjured himself in congressional testimony about Operation Fast and Furious earlier this year.

Sharyl Attkisson [1] of CBS News and William LaJeunesse [2] of Fox News have been the only mainstream media reporters diligently working on the most important scandal in White House history, and it is no surprise that they concurrently released information indicating that the attorney general, who claimed in direct testimony on May 3 of this year in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he first heard about Operation Fast and Furious “over the last few weeks,” had actually been briefed on the program in a memo by the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center almost a year earlier on July 5, 2010.

TUFAIL AHMAD AND YIGAL CARMON: THE FAILING U.S. STRATEGY IN AFGHANISTAN

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5689.htm

October 3, 2011

Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No. 744

The Failing U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

* Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI’s South Asia Studies Project (www.memri.org/sasp); Y. Carmon is President of MEMRI.

Introduction

The U.S.’s Afghan strategy is based on two factors: firstly, military victory on the ground, or at least major military gains in areas under Taliban control; and secondly, a policy of engaging the militants by encouraging the Karzai government’s reconciliatory efforts to the Taliban and by holding direct U.S.-Taliban talks.

Reflecting this strategy, a series of American media reports over the past year created a public impression that the U.S. is making gradual progress in negotiations with the Taliban. The U.S. media reports regularly quoted unidentified officials in the government and intelligence establishment to buttress claims of progress. It was expected that these secret talks, along with the military gains in southern Afghanistan, would stabilize the country and propel the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 2014.

Contrary to the claims made in the U.S. media, there are question marks on both the military and political fronts.

First, the military gains in southern Afghanistan are minor, and it is unclear whether the U.S. troops can secure such areas for long where some progress against the Taliban has been seen. On their part, the Taliban – supported by the Pakistani military’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – are escalating the war by mounting successful attacks in heavily secured areas of Kabul and other cities.

Second, there have been no negotiations with the Taliban on the future of Afghanistan. The U.S. media reports of secret talks on the future of Afghanistan were never true. In fact, it can be argued that the U.S. media, while claiming progress in negotiations with the Taliban, chose to completely ignore a series of statements issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban’s shadow government in the country.

THE EURO: A MONUMENT TO COLLECTIVE FOLLY: PETER MARTINO

http://www.hudson-ny.org/2470/euro-debt-folly “The European Union faces a huge crisis of confidence,” said Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, the EU’s unelected government, when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week during his so-called “State of the Union.” Rather than blaming the unaccountable, unelected EU bureaucracy which he is leading in Brussels, […]

ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES IN 2011: HERBERT LONDON

http://www.hudson-ny.org/2477/israel-us-2011 There is little doubt that Israel looks to the United States for support. It is somewhat like the picked on younger brother eager to have his older brother come to his aid. For the U.S. and Israel, that has usually been the case, albeit the 1956 war in the Suez was an exception. Now […]

MICHIGAN DRIVER SUSPECT IN SUPPORTING TERRORIST GROUPS TRIED TO CRASH INTO FBI SECURITY CAR

http://vinienco.com/2011/10/03/mi-terror-suspect-accused-of-trying-to-crash-car-into-fbi-agent/

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/02/2435051/terror-suspect-accused-of-trying.html#ixzz1Zh0ujWNL

A federal judge in Michigan has ordered a man suspected of supporting terrorist groups held on allegations he tried to crash into the car of an FBI agent who was following him as part of heightened security for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Reed S. Berry, 26, of St. Joseph was under surveillance because of his suspected terrorist links, according to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

The government has said the links include Internet communication with one or more groups involved in international terrorism.

Defense lawyer Elias Muawad said what the government has labeled terrorist links in court filings appear to be online speech protected by the First Amendment. He also said his client, Berry, has been upset about being under investigation for months, subject to searches and barred from air travel.

“He was feeling like a caged person,” Muawad told The Associated Press on Sunday.

FRANCO FRATTINI SHOULD BE HILLARY’S ROLE MODEL ON THE “APOSTATE” IRANIAN PASTOR

http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2011/10/03/italy%E2%80%99s-frattini-should-be-hillary%E2%80%99s-role-model-on-the-%E2%80%9Capostate%E2%80%9D-iranian-pastor/ Italy’s Frattini Should Be Hillary’s Role Model on the “Apostate” Iranian Pastor Posted By Andrew Bostom On October 3, 2011 [1] Franco Frattini: Upholding Western moral clarity on Pastor Nadarkhani’s “apostasy” conviction The fate of Iranian “apostate” pastor Youcef Nadarkani [2] still hangs in the balance. Contra Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s rather tepid […]