Monday, November 25, 2013

More Betrayal

From Fox News:
~~~~~~~~~~

Obama White House Betrays An American Pastor

The Obama administration has left an American pastor behind.

In its quest for a “deal” with the hostile, jihadist Iranian regime, The Obama administration has thrown an American Christian, Saeed Abedini, under the bus – the latest American victim in the administration’s continual, naïve (at best) quest to bargain with Islamic radicals.

Let’s go to the scorecard: A part of this “deal,” Iran not only gets to keep its centrifuges (key equipment in the quest to build nuclear weapons) but is permitted to continue enriching uranium.
In its quest for a “deal” with the hostile, jihadist Iranian regime, the Obama administration has thrown an American Christian, Saeed Abedini, under the bus.
 It also gets billions of dollars in sanctions relief and unspecified humanitarian aid from the West.
What does America get?

Iranian promises. Promises that they won’t enrich over a certain threshold and promises that it will dismantle a modest amount of previously-enriched uranium.

These promises would have been easier to believe had Iran taken at least one concrete step to demonstrate good faith -- by releasing an American pastor -- a U.S. citizen -- whom it has held and tortured for more than a year, tortured because of his Christian faith.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Idaho resident, last year received permission to enter Iran to help build an orphanage.

Shortly after his arrival, Iran’s radical Revolutionary Guard arrested him, threw him in one of Iran’s worst prisons, and tried and convicted him on trumped-up “national security” charges – charges that had nothing to do with national security and everything to do with his Christian faith.

Even after President Obama raised Pastor Saeed’s case directly to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Iran responded not by releasing Saeed but by transferring him to an even worse prison -- a prison full of murderers and rapists, where his life is in danger at every moment.

The Iranian regime rebuked the president of the United States, and we’re now supposed to believe it’s acting in good faith?

President Obama is now trying to spin our stunning act of weakness as a breakthrough for peace. In fact, we were so weak that (according to the administration) that the State Department did not even raise Pastor Saeed’s during the nuclear negotiations.

Fox News asked an administration spokesman why Pastor Saeed was not part of the agreement, and the spokesman responded: “The P5+1 talks focused exclusively on nuclear issues.”

This is self-evidently false. Even the administration’s own fact sheet on the agreement describes how the U.S. will not only ease the sanctions directly related to Iran’s nuclear program but also facilitate additional “humanitarian transactions” that are not related to the sanctions regime.

Why couldn’t we demand that Iran “facilitate” its own “humanitarian transaction” by releasing an American pastor (and all other Americans held in Iran) back to his wife and two young children?
This is an unconscionable betrayal and leaves the American people with no choice but to believe that Iran is unchanged – still our hostile enemy, ready to kill or imprison our people at every opportunity.
Iran’s record of wrongdoing is long and sordid.

Beginning with the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, moving through repeated terrorist attacks – from the deadly Marine Barracks bombing in 1983, to the Kobar Towers bombing in 1996, to the direct intervention of Iran’s Quds force against American forces in Iraq – and including ongoing deadly support for terrorists fighting American forces in Afghanistan, Iran has proven by its deeds and words that it is America’s enemy.

If Iran had released Pastor Saeed we would have at least one concrete action to give Americans confidence that this deal was anything other than a disaster. Instead, we are left with nothing but “commitments” from a regime that has proven itself committed only to killing and imprisoning Americans.

To make matters even worse, we have squandered a position of strength.

Iran was suffering under sanctions that were finally beginning to truly bite -- wrecking its economy and causing deep discontent within Iraq. This was our opportunity to drive a hard bargain, to reach a deal that didn’t depend solely on Iranian “commitments.”

But we squandered that opportunity and left an American behind.

The Obama administration has betrayed Pastor Saeed.

Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). Follow him on Twitter@JaySekulow.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

None Dare Call It Treason...

From Col. Allen West:

US rolls over on Iran nuke program

Nothing good happens late at night, and America just had a modern-day Neville Chamberlain moment. At 3 am in Geneva, Iran and 6 major powers agreed to “temporary relief” of sanctions in return for Iran stopping or scaling back parts of its nuclear program. President Obama has just empowered the number one state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, to pursue its nuclear goals and objectives.

This is not diplomacy, this is abject surrender and appeasement. Iran loses nothing, not a single facility, not any capability to enrich uranium, but we have conceded the one best non-military option: economic sanctions.

President Bill Clinton promised the same in regards to North Korea, and did that have any effect? Not to mention that North Korea has taken an 85-year-old Korean War veteran into detention, and of course we have done nothing.

Iran has held American Christian minister, Saeed Abedini, in prison for nearly a year, and President Obama said nothing about his fate, nor demanded his release. Israel and Saudi Arabia have lost all trust and confidence in America as a credible ally.

Secretary Kerry said the objective is “to require Iran to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.” Yeah, right. We have fallen for the biggest deception ever. Perhaps these inept progressives should study the model for Islamic totalitarian negotiations, Muhammad’s Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. As well, they need to understand the principle of taquiyya – lying to “infidels” to promote the advancement of Islamic conquest and objectives.

The goal of the sanctions was to bring Iran to its knees and force them to surrender their march towards a nuclear weapon capability — not to get them to negotiate. The agreed-upon measures are in effect for six months, then what?

Right, another red line, that ends up not being a red line, and then we do nothing. Iran already has a capability and are close to having the requisite plutonium. Who in the international community will verify?

The Obama administration is in such a hurry to have SOMEthing going right, they’ve done something that will go very wrong.

We are promising relief along with the lifting of economic sanctions, but this should not have been promised until after complete verification of the terms of nuclear capacity reduction, at minimum over the period of a year.

We will never be able to gather the international support to restart the sanctions, not after open trade has begun. We have just guaranteed the continuation of the theocratic Islamic totalitarian regime. Jimmy Carter could not have botched this up any worse.

Now liberal socialists and the media are going to chime in saying Obama has achieved peace — so said Sir Neville Chamberlain upon return from his “negotiations” with Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Some people only understand strength and might. For them weakness is enticing. The better alternative? Crush the mad mullahs.

Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2013/11/us-rolls-iran-nuke-program/#fYh0TG8FAyiYKQIA.99

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Important Advice

I believe this is important and wanted to share:

Advice for the Tea Party

tea_party_logo2010-med-wideThomas Sowell is without a doubt one of the most highly respected voices advocating Constitutional conservative principles. One of his most recent articles is a sort of an “after action report” for the conservative grassroots movement known as the Tea Party. He clearly applauds the efforts to highlight the faults and failures of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) i.e. Obamacare, which truly seem prescient at this point.

But Sowell does admonish the Tea Party Congressional members and supporters to learn from one mistake: the tactical error of inviting the government shutdown.

I would also like to make some recommendations for the Tea Party. First, the Tea Party needs its leadership to coalesce in order to have a more unified strategic vision. Then the Party must have Red Cell unit to war-game the Left’s response and have a proactive communications program and marketing plan that highlights the fundamental principles of the TEA Party in contrast to the corruption of Washington DC. The goal of the Left, and indeed for some within the GOP, is to define the Tea Party as a gang of incompetent amateurs who do not have the capacity to govern or comprehend policy — this is rich, coming from certain current holders of leadership positions in DC.

The Tea Party has to focus on solutions and stressing what they are for, not droning on about what they are against. Be strategic and play chess, not reactively playing checkers.
Another point of order that Sowell makes is whether the Tea Party will stay focused on its original goals or let itself become preoccupied with fighting other Republicans. I like the military metaphor: stay away from the circular firing squad.

There are many who are considering running primary contests against each other within the GOP. Mind you, the mainstream media will never highlight when the Far Left targets and takes out conservative Blue Dog Democrats — former Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) comes to mind. Sowell uses the example of the 1860 presidential election where abolitionists ran a single-issue candidate who almost tipped the election to pro-slavery candidates. Lincoln won that election with just 40 percent of the popular vote.

Sowell counsels, “Whatever your principles, you have to weigh the human consequences from whatever you do in the name of those principles.”

If America is to survive the disastrous presidency of Barack Obama and the onslaught of progressive socialism, it will require a unified loyal opposition — not a fragmented internal food fight. The Republican party cannot win by being a lesser version of liberals, there has to be a clear delineation in principles.

Those principles are rooted in our Constitution and promote the individual, not the collective. They encourage economic growth and opportunity, not dependence and welfare nanny-state expansion. Our principles inspire entrepreneurship and the free market, not government sponsored crony capitalism. We advocate equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes by way of social egalitarianism. We support traditional values, which strengthen our society, not abandon our faith heritage and redefine foundational values. And finally, we defend our nation’s honor and safety by peace through strength, not acquiescence and weakness by leading from behind.

The GOP was established to secure the promise of Jefferson: individual liberty and freedom for all. Then, it was against the physical chains of slavery, today it is against the metaphysical chains of economic servitude.

Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2013/11/advice-tea-party/#V0DfexOIMTfEis0X.99

Monday, November 11, 2013

Sharing!

Doing my part:



A Sane Society

Erick Stakelbeck is one of the premier experts on terrorism.  I highly recommend his book, The Terrorist Next Door, as well as his newest book, The Brotherhood.

The quote below is far from the essence of his work. In a chapter about the alarming number of mosques that are being built without question across our nation, Stakelbeck gives way to some frustration. It is by no means the most important message of his book. I am simply feeling frustrated, today, too; so I decided to share what I believe to be a dangerous truth.

I will say, there are very few people that I admire more than Erick Stakelbeck. We would be wise to pay attention.

From Erick Stakelbeck's new book, The Brotherhood, page 225:

"In a sane society, an ongoing, existential struggle against Islamists - of both the violent and stealth variety - would mean fewer mosques, not more.  But the West, including the United States, isn't too concerned with self or cultural preservation these days.  Besides, the new iPhone is out and Honey Boo Boo is on the tube - so who has time to worry about depressing stuff like jihad and sharia? Better to bury our heads in the latest gadgets, watch the Kardashians, and have another brew.  It'll all work out in the end: after all, in Barack we trust, and he shall protect and provide."

Saturday, November 2, 2013

One Line Sound Bites - PM B. Netanyahu

Truth is: 

                                                                    Standing strong...