Bergdahl Classification Isn’t What Matters – Don’t Miss the Larger Picture

All over the media there is horror and consternation in regards to the Bergdahl return.  He is being called a traitor and I have seen many calls for the death penalty floating about.  You are missing the bigger picture here.  First and foremost, the military never classified Bergdahl as a deserter.  That makes a huge difference in how the military should behave in trying to find and free him.  The military had an obligation to do so.  Secondly, the bigger picture seems to be getting missed here.  President Obama broke the law in order to get his return.  It doesn’t matter what the standing of the soldier is.  The law would be broken even if there were not serious questions about Bergdahl’s actions.

Now from the media reports I have read the sequence of events in this “trade” is that a video was made in December of 2013.  The White House was made aware of the video the following month.  In this very short video (I believe it is under three minutes) it reportedly shows Bergdahl in bad health.  In the statements made by the administration, as well as the president himself, the narrative that they are using is that they saw that his health was deteriorating and knew something had to be done.  Does that make sense to you?

If his health was so dire why did they wait close to five months to do something about it?  If his health was the reason for the “prisoner swap” wouldn’t they have done it in late January or early February?  This is one among many questions that must be answered.

Another one of the narratives that the White House is laying out there is the need for absolute secrecy.  Everyone knows that there are leaks coming out of Capitol Hill.  That can’t be denied.  But this is also the same institution that knew about the bin Laden raid months in advance.  Nothing of that leaked.  One would like to think that members of congress take national security seriously.  There are many who look at Bergdahl as a traitor, some of those people are members of Capitol Hill.  But that doesn’t mean that they would voluntarily risk the life of that man by leaking the information.  This is just a ginned up excuse that the administration is floating to direct attention away from the fact that he has clearly broken the law.  A law, I might add, that he signed.  It isn’t like he wasn’t aware that the law existed.  It seems like the touted Constitutional law professor has left those ideals behind.

This administration has emboldened the Taliban to take additional Americans hostages.  Not to mention many other rogue nations across the world such as North Korea, Iran, and a whole host of others.  We are now known for negotiating with terrorists.  We have crossed that line and there will be no going back.

Conservatives need to do themselves a favor and let the military justice system do what needs to be done and let them handle Bergdahl, we have much bigger fish to fry.

Impeachment must be discussed in this context.  I have never called for that before during the Obama administration because I don’t think incompetence is grounds for impeachment.  But this is a situation where multiple laws were broken, our national security has been endangered, and our troops all over the world have had a target put on their backs forever more.  That should not be allowed to stand.  This is the fight we should be waging.  Bergdahl is only a small cog in the wheel.  Let the Department of Defense handle him.

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In June of 2009, Asia Bibi, mother of fi…

In June of 2009, Asia Bibi, mother of five, was working in the fields on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees, near the village of Ittanwali, when her boss told her to fetch some water for the rest of the crew.

After Asia brought the water, some of the women–all Muslims–refused to drink it because it had been brought by a Christian, making it “unclean.” The women called Asia an “infidel” and called Christianity a “religion of infidels.”

Asia reportedly responded by telling the Muslim women that Christ died on the cross for our sins. She told them Jesus is alive. “Our Christ is the true prophet of God,” she reportedly told them.

Upon hearing this response, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia.

When Muslim men in nearby fields gathered to attack Asia, she fled to her home, but angry Muslims followed her, took her out of her home, severely beat her, and tortured her children.

They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey.

When local Christians informed the police, the police saved Asia’s life by taking her into custody, holding her in Nankana city “for her own safety.” Under pressure from local Muslim leaders, the police registered a blasphemy case against her.

Two courts in Nankana found Asia guilty of the “crime” of blasphemy and, on November 8, 2010, Asia was fined US$1,190 and sentenced to death by hanging.

Ashiq Masih, her husband, doesn’t have the heart to break the news to their two youngest daughters.

“They asked me many times about their mother but I can’t get the courage to tell them that the judge has sentenced their mother to capital punishment for a crime she never committed.”

Asia’s case is now under appeal, but she has been being held in isolation since June of 2009, essentially for the crime of sharing her Christian beliefs with her Muslim neighbors. Her family is one of only three Christian families in a village of more than 1,500 families. Asia’s family has lived in the village of Ittanwali for many generations.

Between 1986 and August 2009, at least 974 people have been charged with blasphemy against Islam.

This week, an anti-blasphemy resolution, “On Combating Defamation of Religion,” is coming to a vote at the U.N.

Pakistan has been actively pushing for passage of this resolution since 1999.

One thing you can count on, passage of this resolution will not offer protection for Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, or any other non-Muslims.

More Shariah law, anyone?
__________
Cross-posted at Bread upon the Waters.

Coloradan Hispanics Want an Immigration Law Like Arizona’s

How is Obama’s unrelenting push to kill Arizona’s immigration bill working out in America’s Southwest?

Not as well as expected, it seems, if the results of the first Denver Post/9News poll of the 2010 election campaign are any indication.

According to that poll, six out of ten Hispanic voters registered in Colorado (62%) would like to see their state enact an immigration law similar to Arizona’s, and only three out of ten (31%) would be opposed to such a law. That pretty much matches the opinions of Arizonan registered voters who identify themselves as White, among whom six out of ten (61%) would like to see a Colorado version of the Arizona law, and three or four in ten (35%) would not.

It’s public opinion like this that motivated Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman to quip,  “I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that almost every state in America next January is going to see a bill similar to Arizona’s.”

More and more, it looks like Americans aim to protect their country, not only from “unauthorized Democrats” flooding in illegally from other countries, but from their enablers in the White House and Congress.

More at Bread upon the Waters.

Mexican Drug Cartel Threatened to Blow Up Texas Dam

There are plenty of events that you might think would make big news but don’t because they contradict utterances made by Barack Obama or one of his high-ranking Obamatons. A case in point is the reported plan by a Mexican drug cartel, the Zeta cartel, to blow up Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande, southwest of San Antonio, Texas, as an act of vengeance against their rival, the Gulf cartel.

The plan came to the attention of U.S. officials when members of the Zeta cartel circulated handbills and drove around “the Mexican side of the river near the dam” with bullhorns to warn the population “to get out of the area.” Some members of the cartel are known to be ex-military members “trained in special forces tactics,  including demolition.” If  these drug thugs had succeeded in seriously compromising the dam, they  would have released 534 billion gallons of water stored behind the dam in Falcon Lake, not only disrupting the Gulf cartel’s smuggling routes from Falcon Lake to the Gulf but also flooding “massive amounts of agricultural land . . .  as well  as significant parts of a region where about 4 million people live along  both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.”

Contrast the Zeta cartel’s threat in May of this year with a statement made by Obama during his “immigration reform” speech of June 1:

So the bottom line is this:  The southern border is more secure today  than at any time in the past 20 years.

The threatened attack on the dam was met with secret actions by the “American police, federal agents and disaster officials” including the “U.S. Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety and even game  wardens,” according to officials. A “stepped-up presence by the Mexican military” may also have played a role.

Said Gene Falcon, director of emergency preparedness for Starr County where Falcon Dam is sited, “It would have been a hell of a disaster. There was plenty of concern.”

I’ll bet.

But will that concern ever reach the White House?

More at Bread upon the Waters.

What a Deal: A Ground Zero Mosque and Sharia Law in the U.S.

Who could resist a two-fer like that?

Not surprisingly, the imam spearheading this mosque is a big supporter of Muslim law ruling American Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and everybody else, and has written that the purpose of this mosque is to lay the groundwork to establish shariah law in the U.S.

This link will take you to a petition to stop the building of the mega-mosque in the Ground Zero kill zone. I strongly encourage you to make your opposition known to Mayor Bloomberg, the Financial District Committee who approved this plan, and Community Board No. 1 who gave them authority to do so.

You are asked to be polite in your communications by blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, co-founder of the human rights group, Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), which is hosting a rally at Ground Zero on June 6 at noon to protest the construction of this mosque.

More at Bread upon the Waters.

Car Bomb Attempt at Times Square

Last night around 7 p.m. (from the NY Daily News, via Jihad Watch):

Three heroic cops and a quick-thinking street vendor stopped a madman from detonating a car bomb in the heart of Times Square Saturday night, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.

According to Newsweek, the bomb design apparently depended on an timing device triggering commercially made fireworks, which would then ignite containers of gasoline, detonating propane tanks.

Jihad Watch is reporting something that the U.S. MSM is not:

[O]ne clue comes from Jihad Watch reader Michael M.: “the vehicle was parked on 45th Street between 7th and 8th avenues in New York City. This is the location of VIACOM, Inc. offices. VIACOM owns Comedy Central. Comedy Central as we all know is the home of ‘South Park’. This information is omitted from every article I’ve come across so far.”

Back home, according to Newsweek,

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that there is currently no evidence that the bomb was “anything other than a one-off.” But on another show, she said the event was being handled as a “potential terrorist attack … We’re taking this very seriously.”

More at Bread upon the Waters.

When smart power fails

This is pretty scary.

John McCain and William Jacobson already knew that Obama has no Iran nuclear strategy. But now it’s official.  NYT:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran’s steady progress toward nuclear capability, according to government officials familiar with the document.

Several officials said the highly classified analysis, written in January to President Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, came in the midst of an intensifying effort inside the Pentagon, the White House and the intelligence agencies to develop new options for Mr. Obama. They include a set of military alternatives, still under development, to be considered should diplomacy and sanctions fail to force Iran to change course.

Jennifer Rubin comments:

Really, it’s jaw-dropping that, at this stage, Gates must sound the alarm, reminding everyone that nothing they’ve done so far has or is likely to work. Indeed, it’s hard to see how what the Obami are presently doing won’t impair those military options. After all, Obama is giving the Iranians cover to move ahead with their nuclear program while the UN dithers over negotiations about ineffective sanctions. The problem, we must conclude, is Obama, himself, who seems blissfully unaware of his own inadequate and misguided efforts. (”Some officials said his memo should be viewed in that light: as a warning to a relatively new president that the United States was not adequately prepared. He wrote the memo after Iran had let pass a 2009 deadline set by Mr. Obama to respond to his offers of diplomatic engagement.”)

Allahpundit’s take:

Of course they didn’t prepare alternatives. How could they possibly fathom that diplomacy might fail? The core plank of “smart power,” such as it is, has always been the Obama charm offensive. Simply by being the anti-Bush and offering an open hand to Iran, he would convince Tehran to unclench its fist and open a dialogue. Bush was the problem (he always is!) and once the problem was removed, solutions would inevitably follow. So why bother developing a Plan B? The result: Iran’s now enriching uranium to 20 percent purity and rolling out advanced centrifuges, which means nuclear “breakout” capacity, i.e. the ability to build a bomb quickly even if they haven’t yet done so, won’t be long in coming.

Hubris can bring down more than just the tragic hero. Obama’s ego is a national, even international, liability.

Palin at the other Washington

Washington, Illinois. CBS2Chicago. Washington (DC) Times, “Palin taken aback by Obama remark”, with more:

Mrs. Palin’s remarks came in a question-and-answer session after a speech at an event in the central Illinois town of Washington to raise money for scholarships and a community center. She spoke to a crowd of about 1,100.

Oh, and she had a good quip at the end.

More here.

P.S. I left the picture in. I like it that she is not afraid to wear a cross in public.

Apt metaphor

Palin likens Obama’s new (and publicized–how incredibly stupid to telegraph it, no?) nuclear strategy to a kid who asks to be punched in the face.

So true.

“It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable,” said Palin on Wednesday evening while appearing on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program. “No administration in America’s history would, I think, ever have considered such a step that we just found out President Obama is supporting today. It’s kinda like getting out there on a playground, a bunch of kids, getting ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face and I’m not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me.’

“No, it’s unacceptable,” she continued. “This is another thing that the American public, the more that they find out, what is a part of this agenda, they are going to rise up and they are going to say ‘no more.’ National security, national defense is the No. 1 job of the federal government.”

Cross-posted at politicaljunkieMom

Governing With the Style and Grace of Rodney Dangerfield

This is not exactly a laughing matter, but the reference immediately came to mind on reading a report in The Telegraph:

Other foreign governments have also seemed to be going out of their way to embarrass the administration. Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, was in Russia this month to talk about sanctions against Iran, among other things. Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, picked the moment to announce substantial help for Iran’s nuclear power industry. In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai managed to invite Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, to Kabul at the same time as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president.

Mrs Clinton also ran into trouble in Brazil when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, made sure to warn the US not to “push Iran into a corner” while she was in town. She then had to share an uncomfortable stage with his foreign minister.

All of this follows the amazing snub by the Chinese at the Copenhagen climate conference at the end of last year. They held a crucial meeting without inviting the Americans, and then tried to stop Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton from entering the room.

We are not used to seeing the US probed and prodded for weakness in this way.

Read the rest, but the report outlines how Obama has failed to live up to his promise after the “disastrous loss of respect in the Bush years.” Strangely I don’t recall the Bush administration being probed and prodded for weakness this way.   Though Bush may have been characterized as more of a Rodney Dangerfield than the elitist Obama, it seems quite obvious who “gets no respect.”

Moat, not Gunboat Diplomacy!

Partly why it’s so expensive is because it’s in pricey London, but a moat? I guess you could interpret that as a historic approach to security–come on Brits, it’s a nod to local sensibilities. You could say a moat is diplomatic. More here.

Is There “Middle Ground” on Interrogations?

MarcThiessen, author of Courting Disaster, makes a good argument in his piece in the Washington Post yesterday for finding some middle ground in the interrogation debate. Coming on the heels of reports that new al Qaeda capture Mullah Baradar may not be cooperating under interrogation by the Pakistanis as much as we had hoped, Thiessen reports that the CIA has requested Barader be transferred to US custody.

At one time that suggestion may have put substantial fear into Barader, but no more. Once Obama revealed our interrogation secrets to the enemy, there is no fear of the unknown with which to bargain.

More here…