Obama’s New Adviser in the Terror War Wants International Community to Fund a Palestinian Government that Includes Hamas, a Designated Terror Organization.

7 Responses to Obama’s New Adviser in the Terror War Wants International Community to Fund a Palestinian Government that Includes Hamas, a Designated Terror Organization.

1. J. Soden says:

   Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 4:39 pm

   Remember way back in 2008 when Obumble named the new NASA head? And announced that NASA’s new goal would be to make “muslim outreach

   Reply
2. J. Soden says:

   Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 4:43 pm

   OOPS – please disregard previous comment. Hadn’t completed it yet Let’s try again . . .
   Remember way back in 2008 when Obumble named the new NASA head? And announced that NASA’s new goal would be to make “muslim outreach”?
   For anyone paying attention, that should’ve sounded an alarm as to how this admin would view both Americans and muslims.
   Although why Obumble thinks he needs another adviser when Valerie Jarret does his thinking for him is still a mystery.

   Reply
3. Chris says:

   Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 5:05 pm

   From the Breitbart article:

   “When Hamas took a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament in 2006, Malley wrote a piece for the Baltimore Sun cautioning the international community against withholding funds to the newly formed Hamas-led Palestinian government.

   “Without the leverage of Western funding, without the responsibility to ensure it keeps flowing, Hamas will be less constrained and freer to revert to past practice,” he warned.

   “An inflexible approach to the PA would carry other perils. Hamas, searching for a substitute source of funds, might turn to Iran or, convinced that it is being set up for failure, drop its political gambit and return to the familiarity of armed confrontation.

   I don’t know enough about geopolitics to say whether or not this is a good strategy or a terrible one, but it is a strategy. Malley didn’t say we should fund Palestine because Hamas is awesome and Israel sucks, he said we should continue funding Palestine in order to have political leverage against Hamas to prevent it from terrorizing. Again, disagree with this all you want, but the headline and tone of this piece makes his position sound far more sinister than it actually is.

   Meanwhile, nearly every single thing you wrote here is either wrong or hypocritical:

   “They refused to use language that distinguishes the terrorists or their targeted attacks.”

   Obama uses the word “terrorists” all the time. If you’re mad that he doesn’t usually call them Islamic, get mad at the Bush administration officials who made that decision. While you’re at it, explain why all the military experts who say calling ISIS and other terrorists Islamic embolden them and further their narrative of a war between the West and Islam are wrong.

   “They let terrorists out of Gitmo, knowing they would likely return to the terror war against the west and knowing this would signal weakness in the US.”

   500 Gitmo detainees were released under Bush. Did you complain then?

   http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/18/steny-hoyer/hoyer-correct-500-guantanamo-detainees-were-releas/

   “They’ve left our borders unsecured and porous inviting illegal entry by terrorists.”

   The border is more secure than ever, and illegal immigration is down.

   http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/19/432930086/analysts-see-u-s-border-with-mexico-as-more-secure-than-its-been-in-40-years

   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/flow-of-illegal-immigration-slows-as-us-mexico-border-dynamics-evolve/2015/05/27/c5caf02c-006b-11e5-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html

   “They’ve welcomed thousands of refugees, most of which are in the key age groups for terror, without adequate vetting.”

   Nope.

   UNHCR’s data show that 50.5 percent of refugees are women. Females age 18 to 59 make up 23.9 percent of the refugees, while males in that age group make up 21.8 percent.

   http://www.factcheck.org/2015/09/stretching-facts-on-syrian-refugees/

   And the vetting process is lengthy and rigorous, as Jeb Bush has pointed out:

   http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/15/jeb-bush/jeb-bush-it-takes-almost-year-refugee-be-processed/

   http://theweek.com/speedreads/589290/heres-what-process-vetting-syrian-refugees-actually-looks-like

   What would you add to the vetting process?

   “They’ve negotiated with the number one supporter of terrorism, Iran”

   One could definitely argue that Saudi Arabia beats Iran for that title, but it is hotly contested. As I recall, Bush not only negotiated with the leader of Iran, he held hands with him and kissed him on the mouth. It was gross.

   http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2005/04/the_idealist_in_the_bluebonnets.html

   Again, did you complain then? Or is negotiating with state sponsors of terrorism only bad when Democrats do it?

   Reply
4. Chris says:

   Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 5:10 pm

   According to this Politifact article, there were far more Gitmo detainees released under Bush than Obama, and the recidivism rate was much higher.

   http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jan/15/john-mccain/mccain-30-past-guantanamo-detainees-re-enter-fight/

   Pre-Jan. 22, 2009 (Bush) Post-Jan. 22, 2009 (Obama)
   Total detainees released
   532 88
   Confirmed of re-engaging
   101 (19 percent) 6 (6.8 percent)
   Suspected of re-engaging
   76 (14.3 percent) 1 (1.1 percent)

   Of course, the numbers could have changed since then, but I’d find it surprising if Obama’s managed to catch up to Bush’s huge numbers.

   Did any of this ever make you wonder “whose side” Bush was on?

   Reply
5. Tina says:

   Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 10:22 pm

   Obama uses the word “terrorists” all the time.

   Obama uses the word when he is finally backed into a corner and can’t avoid it. But that isn’t the entire point. We’ve been through this before. Obama changed the lexicon for the FBI and other agencies:

   around the same time the bureau interviewed Tsarnaev, changes in the FBI training manual took place as well. The FBI’s own departmental counter-terrorism analytic lexicon was purged of key words that could reference Islamic terrorism. Words like Muslim, Islam, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and sharia were not mentioned once in the FBI’s counter-terrorism lexicon afterwards.

   The FBI initially denied the existence of the document in 2012 until PJ Media’s Patrick Poole posted the unclassified doc in May of that year. Congressman Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX took the issue to the House floor and excoriated the administration for allowing the changing of the training manual to happen.

   More here: agencies:

   Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole confirmed on Wednesday that the Obama administration was pulling back all training materials used for the law enforcement and national security communities, in order to eliminate all references to Islam that some Muslim groups have claimed are offensive.

   In a Sept. 12 letter to White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan in September, Democratic Senate Homeland Security committee chair Joe Lieberman and ranking Republican member Susan Collins called for “meaningful standards” to govern counterterrorism training materials.

   “Proper training about violent Islamist extremism is absolutely essential for our law enforcement personnel in order to empower them to identify and understand this grave threat, and then protect the American people from it,” the senators wrote. “Part of this training must be an understanding of the clear and profound difference between Islamist extremism, which is a totalitarian political ideology that is at war with us, and Islam, which is a religion practiced by more than a billion people around the world, including millions of law-abiding and loyal Americans.”

   The move comes after complaints from advocacy organizations including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and others identified as Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the 2004 Holy Land Foundation terror fundraising trial.

   In a Wednesday Los Angeles Times op-ed, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) president Salam al-Marayati threatened the FBI with a total cutoff of cooperation between American Muslims and law enforcement if the agency failed to revise its law enforcement training materials.

   So the administration’s policy is directed by terrorist front organizations in America, unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation terror fund-raising trial. Smooth move, reminiscent of the Iran deal where they got what they wanted and we got nothing in return, making the world a more dangerous place.

   “explain why all the military experts who say calling ISIS and other terrorists Islamic embolden them and further their narrative of a war between the West and Islam are wrong.”

   Several reasons. 1. CAIR told them so! 2. All of the military experts that are worth a damn have retired out of disgust at how this administration approaches the terror war being waged on America. 3. Appeasement is the easier path for a community organizer. 4. Our leader is not all that interested in America’s interests and safety when compared to his belief that we are privileged and deserve to be taken down a peg. 5. Our leaders associations with militant Islamic Americans like Louis Farrakhan and the Muslim Brotherhood, and the radical church he attended for twenty years.

   “500 Gitmo detainees were released under Bush. Did you complain then?”

   Oh please. Don’t you remember the big complaint from the left? Bush rounded up innocent boys with those terrorists. Unfair! He was pressured a lot to determine which were terrorists and which not. Bush did try to determine if some were innocent, which accounts for some of them. When it was discovered that some had returned to the battle, yes I complained. I complained about that and about the lefts ignorance in being in such a hurry to let them go.

   “UNHCR’s data show that 50.5 percent of refugees are women. Females age 18 to 59 make up 23.9 percent of the refugees, while males in that age group make up 21.8 percent. ”

   And, after the San Bernardino attack, that means that nearly 50% are possible terrorists or ripe for radicalization.

   “The border is more secure than ever, and illegal immigration is down.”

   Reports from this administration http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/12611-house-judiciary-committee-obama-fudging-deportation-numbers“>cannot be trusted…:

   The Obama administration is fudging the numbers in claims it is deporting “record” numbers of illegal aliens, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee reported last week.

   The committee, led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas, pictured), accused the administration of inflating the numbers by including illegal aliens apprehended at the border in the total of those deported.

   Observers have noted the oddity of the president touting his administration’s deportations, given that his immigration deputies have flatly stated that they will not deport illegal immigrants who meet the criteria of the failed DREAM Act, a position Obama himself made official in June, when he announced that young illegals were free to stay in the country.

   The Numbers

   The committee put the numbers together with documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They “show that the Obama administration is cooking the books to achieve their so-called ‘record’ deportation numbers for illegal immigrants and that removals are actually significantly down — not up — from 2009,” the committee reported in a release.

   Obama began cooking the books last year, the committee reported:

   Beginning in 2011, the Committee has learned that Obama administration officials at the Department of Homeland Security started to include numbers from the Alien Transfer Exit Program (ATEP) in its year-end removal numbers.

   The ATEP is a joint effort between ICE and Customs and Border Protection that transfers illegal immigrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border to another point along the Southwest border for removal. But it is illegitimate to count illegal immigrants apprehended by the Border Patrol along the Southwest border as ICE removals. There are no penalties or bars attached when illegal immigrants are sent back via ATEP and they can simply attempt re-entry.

   …and locals dispute the administrations claims:

   Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said bluntly: “The border is not secure.”

   “I’m telling you that as somebody on the ground, as someone who experiences it every day. This is a lie that is being peddled by those who must convince the American people that it is secure and everything is just fine,” Babeu told Newsmax.

   “We have the most active drug and smuggling corridor in the country,” he added, saying that the intersection of major interstates, as well as rural and side roads and vast terrain, make it the perfect area for illegal immigrants coming to this country.

   “And the vetting process is lengthy and rigorous, as Jeb Bush has pointed out”

   Bush said it takes at least a year (up to three) and is “…at least enough to distinguish between Christians”

   The articles give generalized descriptions of the vetting process which means nothing, especially if the vetting is as adequate as everything else this administration has done. I donlt know what I’d add since I don’t really know what the process involves and I am not an expert in these matters. I do know this administration hasn’t offered much that creates trust or confidence and other polices suggest appeasement is the overriding policy…in the case of refugees the equivalent is a welcome mat, even if it’s two years long.

   I saw the obviously photo shopped picture of Bush kissing the Saudi King…really Chris?

   Working with the Saudi King to fight terrorism is a bit different than the Iran deal which assured Iran would have billions to fund terror activity, be able to develop nuclear weapons, be able to flood the market with more oil, and who knows what else for absolutely nothing…not even the return of a jailed American.

   Free Beacon:

   Iran this week reportedly conducted its second test of a ballistic missile since the deal was announced. Such testing is prohibited under United Nations Security Council resolutions, which Iran maintains it has not violated.

   U.S. State Department officials could not confirm that the test had taken place, but insisted that it is under “serious review” and could constitute a violation of U.N. resolutions. This review could prompt “appropriate actions,” according to the State Department

   Critics in Congress have continued to apply pressure to the Obama administration, which they accuse of sweeping Iranian transgressions under the rug in a bid to keep the deal intact.

   The missile test comes as Iran continues to increase its military presence in Syria and other countries. Additionally, the Islamic Republic has sunk financial resources into boosting its missile program, as well as its fighting forces.

   Breitbart:

   even the most optimistic analysts do not expect a deal that “prevents a nuclear-armed Iran,” but only one that puts nuclear “breakout” out of reach for a while. Most important of all, we have not “halted the progress” of Iran’s nuclear program. Earlier this month, the Tehran regime announced that it was building two new reactors, and is thought to be behind a suspected facility planned in Syria as well.

   In a lengthy essay in Commentary magazine, the invaluable Omri Ceren summarizes the history of President Obama’s appeasement of the Iranians, from the first failed “sucker’s deal,” as the French (!) called it, through the new veto threats against congressional sanctions.

   The scale of the Obama administration’s incompetence is simply daunting. Far from rallying international unity against Iran, Obama has destroyed it by giving away global demands decades in the making. …

   …There are at least five ways in which Iran has explicitly violated the interim agreement–a “bad deal” that has been extended twice but has failed to produce anything but more time for Iran.

   1. Trying to buy equipment for plutonium reactor at Arak, breaking commitment to suspend work. The Obama administration actually complained about the purchases to the UN Security Council, even as it told the world that Iran had “lived up to its end of the bargain.” Iran’s defense–adopted to some extent by the State Department, which is desperate to save the talks–is that the agreement did not apply to work offsite, or to onsite work unrelated to the reactor.

   2. Feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into a plant where it had agreed to suspend nuclear enrichment. The Institute for Science and International Security noted that Iran had begun enrichment at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz. It notified the Obama administration, which complained to the Iranians, which then claimed to have stopped the enrichment activity. Whether that is true or not, this is another case of the Obama administration knowing Iran cheated.

   3. Withholding camera footage of nuclear facilities, defying the International Atomic Energy Agency. A leading International Atomic Energy Agency official recently said the agency was “not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran” (original emphasis). The interim deal was to provide surveillance footage of Iranian nuclear facilities–but Iran has only provided what it wants to reveal.

   4. Testing new IR-8 centrifuges, advancing its enrichment program and making cheating much easier. A violation of the spirit, if not also the letter, of the agreement, the development of a new centrifuge that can work sixteen times faster than its first-generation centrifuges would make cheating far easier and verification far more difficult. The new device essentially nullifies the verification process agreed to in the interim deal (and which Obama promises to expand).

   5. Exporting more energy than allowed under the interim agreement, blunting residual sanctions. The deal capped Iran’s exports of crude oil to 1 million barrels per day. But early on, Iran was already breaking that agreement, according to the International Energy Agency–nearly doubling the allowed amount. That means the effect of remaining sanctions has been seriously undermined, meaning Iran has broken the interim deal and reduced its need for another.

   These five are simply the known ways in which Iran is cheating.

   Your last question is bitter smarmy leftist crap. Any attempt to seriously compare the Bush years to the last seven, in terms of a serious desire to fight the enemy and leep Americans safe would be a joke..your guy just doesn’t measure up.

   “Of course, the numbers could have changed since then, but I’d find it surprising if Obama’s managed to catch up to Bush’s huge numbers.

   Wow. In the Bush years the hard work was done, trying to determine who could be released. The more hard core terrorists are whats left when Obama takes the office!

   More importantly Gitmo releases should be a lesson to us as we consider border security, refugees, lone wolf terrorism, the new norm, closing Gitmo…and how to determine which Mulsims can be trusted.

   We are not at war with religion. We are at war with a political/social ideology based on a religion and its a serious war. This enemy doesn’t wear a uniform and is more than willing to lie, fool, outsmart and play appeasers.

   Bush gave me no reason to wonder whose side he was on. Mistakes were made, some since we were facing an enemy we had never before faced in terms of it’s tactics and strategy. Bush literally had to start from scratch in many ways. He made mistakes…that’s a darn sight different that taking an appeasing, enabling posture and ignoring the reality.

   Wake the he77 up!

   Reply
6. Chris says:

   Friday, December 11, 2015 at 6:38 am

   I wrote: ““explain why all the military experts who say calling ISIS and other terrorists Islamic embolden them and further their narrative of a war between the West and Islam are wrong.”

   Tina: “Several reasons. 1. CAIR told them so! 2. All of the military experts that are worth a damn have retired out of disgust at how this administration approaches the terror war being waged on America. 3. Appeasement is the easier path for a community organizer. 4. Our leader is not all that interested in America’s interests and safety when compared to his belief that we are privileged and deserve to be taken down a peg. 5. Our leaders associations with militant Islamic Americans like Louis Farrakhan and the Muslim Brotherhood, and the radical church he attended for twenty years.”

   Wow. Do not know what a “reason” is?

   Not a single thing you wrote here amounts to an actual counter-argument; every single one is an ad hominem. None of them explain why the Obama (and Bush) administrations were wrong to say that calling the terrorists Islamic emboldens and legitimizes them; they’re just reasons why you don’t like the people who made the decisions.

   Very immature.

   Ok, so you complained when Bush let go way more terrorists than Obama, but that’s still the fault of “the left” because Bush isn’t personally responsible for his decisions. Got it.

   “I donlt know what I’d add since I don’t really know what the process involves”

   Then why did you say there was no vetting? Are you saying you didn’t know what you were talking about?

   “I saw the obviously photo shopped picture of Bush kissing the Saudi King…really Chris?”

   Some of the pictures were photoshopped, but from what I can see the kiss really happened. At the very least the handholding pictures are legit.

   “Working with the Saudi King to fight terrorism”

   Again, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest sponsors of terrorism. Do you really think we should trust the Saudi king when he says he’s helping us fight terrorism?

   ” is a bit different than the Iran deal which assured Iran would have billions to fund terror activity, ”

   What do you think SA is doing with the billions we give them?

   “be able to develop nuclear weapons,”

   But they’re less able to build nuclear weapons than they were before. That’s what the inspections are for.

   “be able to flood the market with more oil, and who knows what else for absolutely nothing…”

   We do get something: inspections. How do you not know that?

   “not even the return of a jailed American”

   You’d complain about that too if it wasn’t the right American.

   Reply
7. Tina says:

   Friday, December 11, 2015 at 11:04 am

   “Not a single thing you wrote here amounts to an actual counter-argument; every single one is an ad hominem.”

   Bologna! You asked for an explanation and I gave you several! Obama is adhering to the “rule” that Islam and the prophet cannot be criticized or analyzed. CAIR pressured him in this regard. He and his advisers are cut from the same cloth in this regard. They take the position that appeasement will deflate the terrorists intentions and weaken their will.

   Everything going on today tells me this isn’t working!

   The opposition argument is you don’t back down from a bully, unless you want to be owned and controlled by them…unless you want to embolden them. They respect strength. they recruit by showing showing their strength, by showing it’s a war by their rules. So you fight to win and that includes naming them.

   Bush did show respect to the religion; he did not run away from naming the enemy as radical Islamic terrorists. He did not create phony words like work place violence and overseas contingency operations. You are attempting to put Bush and Obama in the same boat…sorry that boat just doesn’t float!:

   On September 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.

   Americans have many questions tonight. Americans are asking, who attacked our country? The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al Qaida. They are some of the murderers indicted for bombing American Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for bombing the U.S.S. Cole. Al Qaida is to terror what the Mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money. Its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.

   The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics, a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam. The terrorists’ directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.

   This group and its leader, a person named Usama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries. They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan, where they are trained in the tactics of terror. They are sent back to their homes or sent to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction.

   The leadership of Al Qaida has great influence in Afghanistan and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country. In Afghanistan, we see Al Qaida’s vision for the world. Afghanistan’s people have been brutalized. Many are starving, and many have fled. Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.

   The United States respects the people of Afghanistan – after all, we are currently its largest source of humanitarian aid – but we condemn the Taliban regime. It is not only repressing its own people; it is threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists. By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder.

   And tonight, the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban: Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of Al Qaida who hide in your land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every terrorist and every person in their support structure to appropriate authorities.

   Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating. These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

   I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world.

   We respect your faith. It’s practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.

   Our war on terror begins with Al Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.

   Americans are asking, why do they hate us?

   They hate what we see right here in this Chamber, a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms – our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

   They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

   They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.

   These terrorists kill not merely to end lives but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us, because we stand in their way.
   A long, invisible and open-ended war

   We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism and Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends, in history’s unmarked grave of discarded lies.

   Americans are asking, how will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command, every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war, to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network.

   Obama: ISIS is not Islamic. Give me a large break!

   “…but that’s still the fault of “the left” because Bush isn’t personally responsible for his decisions. Got it.”

   And you just implied I was immature? I didn’t say it was the fault of the left. I said the left was demanding releases…and they were! I said the obvious. After Bush released the least dangerous, they thought, what was left were the more dangerous of the group. that’s simple logic. Obama inherited the war but he also inherited what could be learned from the previous administration. Instead of learning he chose to change course entirely. He wanted to close Gitmo. He called Iraq a “stupid” war…very disrespectful…abandoned Iraq and created the atmosphere for the rise, growth, and spread of ISIS. And all the while refusing to speak or act forcefully while scolding Christians for centuries old “wrongs” in an attempt to create a moral equivalent.

   “Then why did you say there was no vetting? Are you saying you didn’t know what you were talking about? ”

   If I said there was “no” vetting I misspoke. I don’t think that’s what I said. You criticize me, but the truth is you have no idea what is required or whether what is in place is being well executed any more than I do. YOU are not an expert in this area, nor do you really know what you’re talking about either, so you can dump the superior attitude.

   “Again, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest sponsors of terrorism. Do you really think we should trust the Saudi king when he says he’s helping us fight terrorism?”

   It’s been done before; trust but verify. The Saudi family is quite large with many wealthy princes. I don’t know that the king is the one sponsoring terrorism; I do know that he aided the US in our efforts against terrorists.

   “What do you think SA is doing with the billions we give them? ”

   What do you? and can you prove it?

   “But they’re less able to build nuclear weapons than they were before. That’s what the inspections are for.”

   Please. they might as well be inspecting themselves…oh, in fact APthey are:

   An exclusive Associated Press report has revealed a secret side deal to the Iran nuclear agreement, signed last July 14, under which the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has permitted Iran to use its own inspectors to deliver findings on alleged prior military developments for explosive nuclear triggers at the contested military site of Parchin.

   Shockingly, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, told Iranian lawmakers: “In a letter to Yukimo Amano we underlined that if the secrets of the agreement [roadmap between Iran and the IAEA] are revealed we will lose our trust in the agency; and despite the US Congress’s pressures, he [Amano] didn’t give any information to them [Congress]. Had he done so, he himself would have been harmed.” This was reported by Fars, Iran’s semi-official news agency and published in articles inTimes of Israel (Aug. 18, Tamar Pileggi) and Freebeacon.com, (Adam Kredo, Aug. 18.)

   This makes clear that Iranians are willing and able to intimidate the IAEA, the inspection watchdog, which undermines the verification regime that Obama/Kerry claimed was a critical and key component of the nuclear deal. Additionally troubling is that any nuclear inspector, Iran reported, will have to be screened and approved by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry before being permitted to even enter Iran.

   WSJ:

   Iran has been allowed to self-inspect its suspected nuclear site at Parchin. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Monday that Iran had turned over samples that the Iranians had themselves collected from the military site that IAEA inspectors haven’t been allowed to visit in a decade

   “You’d complain about that too if it wasn’t the right American.”

   Noticing when things aren’t working can’t really be reduced to a “complaint”. I’m not complaining that we didn’t even get an American journalist released. I am noticing the failure of this administration to negotiate.

   You continue to act like a pompous jerk. What does it buy you?

   Reply