Please, Mr. President, help us out

A thoughtful defense of the raid on Al-Qaeda in Yemen, in which Navy SEAL Ryan Owens and a number of Yemeni civilians were killed. It notes that the planning took place under the previous President and castigates the “journalism” practiced. RTWT

It also illustrates what is already so wearying about Trump’s Presidency. A slice:

Rather than respond with reason and logic, however, Trump did what Trump does — tweeted personal insults.

There’s every sign that this will go on for Four. More. Years. I get the argument that the MSM is so corrupt that such behavior may be necessary, but Reagan was equally vilified and didn’t stoop to such tactics.

As usual in these cases, the administration’s response was needlessly strident, full of insults premised on slipshod exaggeration, distracting and petty. It is a) exactly opposite of what one expects in a leader, b) behavior calculated to enrage a peer, and c) cause for dismissal of a subordinate. There’s no place for it. None.

For those not on the train, but who would nevertheless like to see Trump do well, it’s exhausting. It’s alienating. It’s embarrassing. How many times can one drag oneself to the barricades to defend the boorish, simplistic flurry of 140 character mind farts? Mike Pence must be wondering.

Even the hard core of true believers must eventually get tired of all the whining.

It’s not going well. All the more so when Trump is actually right.

Sad.

This is a little much…

…coming from the party of Harry “The War is lost” Reid, John “Marines are cold-blooded killers” Murtha, Barack “We must leave Iraq in 16 months” Obama, Nancy “Bush lied” Pelosi, and John “Cut and run” Kerry.

The Obama Administration says criticizing their policy of Mirandizing terrorists aids al-Qaeda. John Brennan, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, writes:

Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.

Fools

Today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, along with Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan, held a Press Conference regarding the intelligence review occasioned by the Christmas Day airplane bombing attempt. The whole transcript is here, but I’d like to consider just one Q&A:

Q What was the most shocking, stunning thing that you found out of the review? And, Secretary, to you, as well.

MR. BRENNAN: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is an extension of al Qaeda core coming out of Pakistan. And, in my view, it is one of the most lethal and one of the most concerning of it. The fact that they had moved forward to try to execute this attack against the homeland I think demonstrated to us — and this is what the review sort of uncovered — that we had a strategic sense of sort of where they were going, but we didn’t know they had progressed to the point of actually launching individuals here. And we have taken that lesson, and so now we’re full on top of it.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO:
I think, following up on that, not just the determination of al Qaeda and al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula, but the tactic of using an individual to foment an attack, as opposed to a large conspiracy or a multi-person conspiracy such as we saw in 9/11, that is something that affects intelligence. It really emphasizes now the renewed importance on how different intelligence is integrated and analyzed, and threat streams are followed through. And, again, it will impact how we continue to review the need to improve airport security around the world.

These are the most shocking things Janet Napolitano is able to name: That al-Qaeda is active in the Arabian Peninsula, and that an individual executed the attack.

Madame Secretary, here are some examples of jihadist attacks launched from Yemen along with some US actions attacking al Qaeda in Yemen. You should not have been surprised at al-Qaeda’s activity in the Arabian Peninsula.

  • USS Cole attacked – Oct-12 2000
  • Head of the group al-Qaeda in Yemen killed by a Predator drone – Nov-3 2002
  • U.S. Embassy attacked apparently on a direct order from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. 19 dead – Sept-17 2008
  • The Yemeni and Saudi Arabian branches of al-Qaeda merge – Jan 2009
  • Obama Orders Cruise Missile attack on al-Qaeda sites in Yemen – Dec-17 2009

Madame Secretary, regarding your theory that an individual attacker is a novel tactic: What was shoe-bomber Richard Reid, a hive mind? How about Army Major Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood, did he have accomplices you’re not telling us about? What about José Padilla, the “dirty bomb” plotter? What about the many dozens of Palestinian suicide bombers?

I guess if you think of all these as “isolated individuals,” as the President described the Detroit bomber 3 days after Christmas, it is hard to even think about them as dots, much less connect anything.

Another "rehabilitated" detainee

So, can we use this as evidence if we catch these guys again?

Two men released from the US “war on terror” prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.

…”By Allah, imprisonment only increased our persistence in our principles for which we went out, did jihad for, and were imprisoned for,” al-Shihri was quoted as saying.

Al-Shiri was transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in 2007, the US counter-terrorism official said.

Or, will they avoid trial because we won’t be able to find a jury untainted by the publicity they just generated?

If we catch them we should just quietly turn them over to the Iraqis, assuming Obama doesn’t define that as extraordinary rendition.

Now what?

Our new President has moved to fulfill one of his campaign promises: Getting the prisoners, no few of them hard-core terrorists, out of our detention center at Guantánamo. This he did in the absence of any plan as to where the displaced guests might be transferred, as if their Guantánamo location was in and of itself the problem. We have no word, either, on what might be done with any newly captured enemy combatants after they have been requested to give their name, rank and serial number according to the rules of the Army Field Manual. I suspect this is not actually good news for any of them, since the obvious choice is to turn them over to such authorities as may be readily at hand in the country where they are captured.

Since the President has had a lot of time to ponder the Executive Order’s justification, content and timing, and is revered for his judgment above just about everything except his rhetorical flourishes and buff pectorals, announcing this decision without knowing how to implement it seems more base pleasing expedience than part of a plan designed to maintain national security, “restore US dignity,” “return to Constitutional principles” (which, in any case do not apply) or make other countries like us again. Furthermore, the President is well aware, even if his most avid supporters claim not to be, that George Bush wanted to close the Gitmo detention center, but was variously stymied by Congress, our own justice system, and the refusal (or deadly intent) of other countries to accept those detainees who already qualify for release. Bush was rightly wary of bringing terrorists into the US criminal justice system.

Gitmo’s detainees probably will be “released,” in some sense, on Obama’s timetable. Whether this will prove to have been a good idea is an open question. Take two examples from recent headlines:

Freed by the U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief

By ROBERT F. WORTH

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

His status was announced in an Internet statement by the militant group and was confirmed by an American counterterrorism official.

Al-Shihri is one of more than 60 persons (of a total of over 500) already released from Gitmo who have returned to trying to kill Americans. Those people were released on the presumption, by the military, that they did not pose further threat. This proves, if anything, that our military justice system has applied high standards to justify continued incarceration. They erred on the side of presumed innocence far too often for this to be otherwise.

Sleeper Agent

What will Obama do with the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil?
by Thomas Joscelyn

AS ONE OF HIS FIRST acts as president, Barack Obama ordered his new cabinet to review the case of Ali Saleh Khalah al Marri, the only “enemy combatant” held in the continental United States. On Thursday, January 22, President Obama ordered his executive branch to undertake “a prompt and thorough review of the factual and legal basis for al Marri’s continued detention, and identify and thoroughly evaluate alternative dispositions.”

Al Marri’s case has long been a source of controversy. Human rights groups and critics of the Bush administration charge that he is held illegally, and that he should be prosecuted in a federal court. The Bush administration countered that al Marri was a plotting al Qaeda operative who could be held indefinitely until the end of the “war on terror.” Al Marri’s status has been repeatedly challenged in the U.S. courts, with the critics winning some rounds and the Bush administration others. Obama’s order means that his cabinet members and their attending departments will now have to determine what, if anything, to do with al Marri, who is currently being held at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina.

Beyond the legal wrangling, however, there are some important angles to al Marri’s story that Obama’s cabinet should explore. First, and foremost, al Marri’s case underscores the gravity of the terrorist threat, including the depth of deception al Qaeda employs in its attempts to kill Americans. Second, al Marri’s story sheds light on how the Bush administration utilized “enhanced” interrogation techniques to uncover the details of al Qaeda’s plotting.

It is reasonable for a new president to review a long standing and sensitive case like Al Marri’s before making any decisions about the continuing disposition of it. Especially where it represents an area of major disagreement with the outgoing administration, sober second thoughts must apply. However, since it precisely illustrates one of the well-known potential problems of moving detainees out of Gitmo – what happens when enemy combatants are brought to US soil – one might expect the results of the review to inform any decision about moving them rather than, as seems likely now, the other way around. If Obama already had a solution for this problem, his embarrassing question to his White House counsel about what exactly his own executive order contained could have been avoided:

By Michael P. Tremoglie, The Bulletin

…The Obama administration is unsure of much of the details of their own policies regarding the capture, interrogation and imprisonment of terrorist suspects.

During the signing ceremony, Mr. Obama was unsure of what was specifically contained in his own Executive Order. He had to ask White House Counsel Greg Craig if there would be a separate order for disposing of the inmates.

We all do hope President Obama is successful in his resolution of the problems represented by terrorists captured on the battlefield; problems compounded by his rush to accomodate those suffering residual Bush Derangement Syndrome. We also hope he is resolute in preventing any remaining Al-Shihri’s from being freed because they weren’t read their Miranda rights.

Abu Khabab al-Masri at room temperature

Al-Qaida confirms death of leading commander al-Masri

CAIRO – Al-Qaida yesterday confirmed the death of a top commander accused of training the suicide bombers who killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole eight years ago. Abu Khabab al-Masri had a $5-million bounty on his head from the United States, and was believed to have been killed in a suspected U.S. airstrike in Pakistan last week.

In an Internet statement, Al-Qaida said al-Masri and three other top figures were killed…

Update 7:15PM –
Obviously, the title of this post should have been Shish Khabab

Three things

1- If you’ve read Michael Yon’s Moment of Truth in Iraq (and you should) you will probably take the following with caution. Security in Mosul is a big problem. It is Al-Qaeda’s last redoubt, however.

In Mosul, Al-Qaeda’s last redoubt, the group still held sway as recently as Easter. Now it lacks the strength to fight the army face to face and has lost the sympathy of most of the ordinary citizens who once admired its stand against the occupying forces and their allies in the Iraqi army.

If accurate, this is fantastic. “The surge” will have accomplished something almost unbelievable. Furthermore, this story is yet another you can’t find in the US Maim Scream Media™. RTWT

See Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda from the same source. Also, Fox news tonight had a reporter claim Al-Qaeda fighters in Mosul are down to 1,200 from 12,000. Maybe the defeat of Al-Qaeda in Mosul has happened. If so, and if we keep a presence there, Al-Qaeda is done in Iraq.

2- Apropos of last Wednesday’s comments on feminism and 14th Century cultures, here’s another way to look at Islamic feminism. With tongue firmly in cheek, TOC commented on this burgeoning phenomenon in January 2006: The Islamofeminist Chronicles.

Here’s a reality update from Dearborn Underground:

What I’m wondering is whether or not the women are extremists because they want to blow themselves up as Al-Qaida terrorists, or if they’re extremists because they’re feminists who see gender equality as achievable through self-detonation along with all those lucky men.

We can hope it is the latter. The matriarchs of martyrdom: Islamofeminism’s gentle side. RTWT

3- Obama’s position pivots have become so nuanced that no one can any longer be sure what principles he stands for, if any. He has espoused diametrically opposed views of the right to bear arms, campaign finance “reform,” flag pins as a patriotic gesture, unconditional talks with heads of terrorist states – and he’s inching away from his absolute guarantee to cut and run in Iraq by some date certain.

This latest example regards late term abortion regulation:

So as long as a woman can get her “blues” classified by a medical health professional as “depression,” she has a right to a late term abortion no matter how strongly the majority of citizens feel about the immorality of destroying a fully viable human entity? And that’s rigorous?

Incredible. That would be incredible even without the prior inconsistent statement.

Really. Does he think we are idiots?

Of course he does. Either that, or he’s one. RTWT

Note: When you are exposed to Obama’s extemporaneous word-smithing (see link immediately above) his dependence on teleprompters comes through loud and clear. This guy can’t string 2 sentences together without a prepared text.

Whatever your personal take on the issues mentioned above, you can’t possibly believe Barack Obama can be trusted.

Update 9:50PM, 6-Jul Link added – “inching away”