CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Ted Cruz: Secure the U.S., France, and NATO from Daesh Infiltrators

I feel for the French. I remember how I felt on 9/11, and for quite a while afterwards. Following the terror attacks in Paris, I feel that way again. Only now I am far less optimistic that our leaders will do what is necessary to protect us and to defeat the evil doers.

Yesterday morning before the Daesh terror attack on Paris, ABC broadcast part of an interview with President Obama in which he says we have contained ISIL:

I don’t think they’re gaining strength, What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them. They have not gained ground in Iraq, and in Syria they’ll come in, they’ll leave, but you don’t see this systemic march by ISIL across the terrain.

No, we don't see a "systemic march by ISIL across the terrain." We see a horrific terror attack in Paris after an ongoing Islamic invasion of Europe, which Obama wants to extend here by transporting tens of thousands of Syrian War "refugees" to the U.S. 

We could see this coming. In February DAESH (Islamic State) threatened to send 500,000 migrants to Europe as a psychological weapon to cause chaos. We saw it first in Greece as the migrants started landing on Greek islands, in all sorts of water craft, after hundreds had died trying to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy. Shortly thereafter it was the chaos in Calais as thousands of the migrants tried to storm their way into the Chunnel to get to Britain. Next the migrants began to storm police lines to cross into Macedonia from Greece. Then by the hundreds of thousands they continued to break all kinds of barriers and go wherever they choose. Instead of intercepting the so-called refugees at sea and returning them to their point of origin, European leaders welcomed them.   

Today I read that U.S. political reaction to the Paris terror attack is split along party lines. According to NPR's Domenico Montanaro, Democrats' responses were generally to thoughts and prayers policy specific intimating that what's being done — and been done in the past seven years by President Obama — to keep the country safe is not enough:

They [Republicans] are calling for increased U.S. footprint in the Middle East, including "boots on the ground," a halting of plans to increase the numbers of Syrian refugees to the U.S., and an increase in the role of the National Security Agency in surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz has the best response. In the statement he issued in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris he suggested the following:

• Consult closely with our NATO allies who may be targeted for additional attacks.
• Immediately declare a halt to any plans to bring refugees that may have been infiltrated by ISIS to the United States.
• Redouble our efforts to prevent ISIS agents from penetrating our nation by other means.
• Recognize that our enemy is not 'violent extremism.' It is the radical Islamism that has declared jihad against the west. It will not be appeased by outreach or declarations of tolerance. It will not be deterred by targeted airstrikes with zero tolerance for civilian casualties, when the terrorists have such utter disregard for innocent life.
• Make it crystal clear that affiliation with ISIS and related terrorist groups brings with it the undying enmity of America—that it is, in effect, signing your own death warrant.

You can read the full Cruz statement below.

In an appearance on Fox and Friends this morning, Cruz had more to say about the terrorist attacks in Paris:

These attacks underscore that we are facing an enemy who is fierce, who is relentless, who is at war with us even if our own president does not understand that it is at war with us, and who will not stop until it is defeated. That enemy is radical Islamic terrorism. As long as we have a Commander-in-Chief unwilling to even utter the words radical Islamic terrorism, we will not have a concerted effort to defeat these radicals before they continue to murder more and more innocents, whether Europeans or Israelis or Americans.

Cruz explained more about why we should stop the plans allow Syrian Muslim refugees into the U.S.:

You know President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s idea that we should bring tens of thousands of Syria Muslim refugees to America is nothing less than lunacy. If you look at the early waves of refugees that have flooded into Europe one estimate was that 77 percent of those refugees were young men, that’s a very odd demographic for a refugee wave. The director of national intelligence here in America has said of those refugees in Europe, it is clear that a significant number of them may well be ISIS terrorists.

It makes no sense whatsoever for us to be bringing in refugees who our intelligence cannot determine if they are terrorists here to kill us or not.

Asked whether he would apply military force against ISIS, Cruz replied he would use overwhelming military power against the evil doers:

Let me tell you what that would look like. That would look like number one, using overwhelming military power, particularly air power. You know in the first Persian Gulf War we had roughly 1,100 air attacks a day. Obama right now is doing 15 to 30 attacks a day. It's pinprick, it's photo op foreign policy.

 Number two, we should be arming the Kurds. The Kurds are on the ground fighting ISIS. They are fierce allies of ours. They're out armed, and yet they are our the boots on the ground and Obama for political reasons, he doesn't want to upset Baghdad so he won't arm the Kurds.

 In a Cruz Administration we would be using overwhelming air power and the Kurds as our boots on the ground, and it would be clear to any militant on the face of the earth if you go and join ISIS, if you wage jihad against America, you're signing your death warrant.

You can watch the entire Cruz on Fox and Friends here. And you can read the full Cruz statement below:

America must stand with our allies against the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism. This is an evil that does not discriminate between French, German or American, Christian, Muslim or Jew, soldier, football player, or concert goer. Their only goal is to murder those who do not submit to their vicious, totalitarian ideology. Our deepest condolences go out to our French allies, and I know the government of the United States stands by to offer any assistance necessary.

 We must now face the facts. Between the downing of the Russian jet over Egypt and this massive coordinated attack on Paris, we are seeing an unmistakable escalation of ISIS’ ambitions and the scale of their terrorist attacks outside Syria and Iraq. Even as chaos rages in Paris, we need to take immediate, commonsense steps to preserve our own safety. We need to consult closely with our NATO allies who may be targeted for additional attacks. We need to immediately declare a halt to any plans to bring refugees that may have been infiltrated by ISIS to the United States. We need to redouble our efforts to prevent ISIS agents from penetrating our nation by other means.

 Such steps, however, are defensive reactions to an enemy that will continue to try to attack us until they succeed once again. We must immediately recognize that our enemy is not 'violent extremism.' It is the radical Islamism that has declared jihad against the west. It will not be appeased by outreach or declarations of tolerance. It will not be deterred by targeted airstrikes with zero tolerance for civilian casualties, when the terrorists have such utter disregard for innocent life. We must make it crystal clear that affiliation with ISIS and related terrorist groups brings with it the undying enmity of America—that it is, in effect, signing your own death warrant.

We must engage and destroy the radical Islamic evil doers that continue to wage war against us.

A day for remembering - September 11, 2014

As has become my custom on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks against America, below I have republished my first written remembrance of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks [originally posted September 11, 2004.] There are a couple other pieces I have posted about 9/11 that I recommend:

• The falling man
• Victims

[Originally posted September 11, 2004.]

Remembering

It was such a gorgeous day. I remember driving to the office and saying out loud to myself "what a beautiful day!" I don't remember ever doing that before, or since.

I was out of my office, but in the building, when I was told that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I was thinking how could a pilot hit the World Trade Center in such perfect weather. I thought of the Army B-25 bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945.

When I got back to my office I was told that both towers had been hit by planes. I still didn't get it. I was still thinking small private planes - then I saw a replay of the second plane, a 757, crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. That's when I realized the world was different.

We were short staffed, two attorneys were attending a conference in New Orleans, and I still had a lot work I wanted to get done, but I kept going back to the television. We watched the burning smoking towers.

The brother of one of our attorneys was working in the south tower, she was worried. I kept trying to reassure her, telling her how tough the towers were. I spoke with my wife. I tried to reassure her and she had been doing the same with worried friends.

We heard that the Pentagon was attacked. Then we heard reports [just bad information] that there was an explosion at the State Department. The news coverage was confused. Hell, no one knew what was going on.

Then the towers fell. I just couldn't believe it. We didn't understand how many firefighters were lost in the towers, but the firefighters did. One of my most vivid memories of 9/11 is of fire fighters withdrawing to the West Side Highway after the towers fell. The TV broadcast I was watching showed one of those firefighters take his helmet and throw, no slam, it to the ground many feet away. That act captured all the anger, frustration and fatigue both physical and emotional.

I remember more, I remember the President reassuring the nation, more than once. I remember watching Palestinians dancing in the street. There is more. I remember my co-worker's relief when she learned, hours after the towers fell, that her brother got out of the tower and was safe. I remember the people streaming out of New York. I remember the hospitals staffing up to treat the thousands and thousands of injured we all anticipated would be pulled from the ruble. I remember the burning rubble. I remember more.

I especially remember how happy and relieved I was to get home and to just be with my wife and children. These are the things I think of first whenever I think of 9/11. I wish I was able to convey the emotions the memories conjure up in me, but I'm sure you know how it felt.

Alan Jackson captured all those feelings in his "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning):"

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
that September day?
Out in the yard with your wife and children;
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children
that lost their dear loved ones?
Did you pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
and sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out in pride for the red white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer?
And look at yourself for what really matters?

[. . .]

Teaching a class full of innocent children;
Driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
in a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that bible at home?

[. . .]

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers?
Stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

[. . .]

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
that September day?

Flame Of Hope

[My son, then a freshman at George Washington University, wrote this after attending a 9/11 vigil on September 14, 2004. I thank him for sharing it with us.]

Flame Of Hope

I just returned from a vigil at University Yard, remembering the victims of September 11. Services like these always hit home; especially for events remembered firsthand.

We each received a candle upon arriving at the yard, surrounded by a plastic cup to keep the wax from our hands. At the conclusion of the service, after speakers and prayers, messages and memories, we lit the candles and stood in silence. Gradually, people drifted off; it was, after all, a Saturday night. I waited, with my roommate, a friend from PE Wild, and her friend from American. We remained until 9:12, allowing for a minute of silence at 9:11 as I remembered doing back home. While waiting, I let my mind wander inside itself a bit, doing its usual pondering about life, the universe, and everything; about existence and reason, emotion and liberty, life and freedom. I'd like to share those thoughts that stuck out.

A breeze started about the time of the candle lightings. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was chilly enough to force notice. It also required paying attention to the candle, lest the wind extinguish it.

As I'm sometimes wont to do, I made a little metaphor. The candle reminded me of the often-used phrase, almost cliché now: the Flame of Hope, of Freedom, of Life itself. It required an effort on my part to maintain the flame's strength. I found that, after letting my mind wander for a minute early on, the wind extinguished the flame, and I required someone else's candle to ignite it again. Such is often the case with Hope. When faced with an unusual situation, one that discourages and scares us, humans cling to this concept of "Hope," a belief that the storm will pass. Sometimes, when the storm continues to batter us, that hope begins to wane, even dying completely. In those situations, we require the presence and support of others. Through their strength, we can rekindle our own Hope, reignite its flame.

A second time, I caught myself gazing at the sky. The clouds which had eclipsed the stars during the vigil now began to move elsewhere, and the lights of the heavens began to shine through. When I glanced down at my candle, however, I found the flame almost dead. Cupping my hand around it, I shielded it from the chill and strength of the wind, allowing it to remain. It reminded me of our Freedom, such a fragile concept. When our grip on the concept slackens, when we let the idea slip to the background, it can disappear far too quickly. Each of us has to realize the concept, to live it every day, lest that Flame die as well. Freedom is a much harder flame to reignite once it dies.

Before those in attendance lit their candles, the names of nine GWU alumni killed on 9/11 were read aloud. At each name, Omar, the president of the Student Association lit a candle, placing it on a table in front of him. The wind picked up as he tried to light the first candle, and I actually felt my pulse pound as I prayed the light would not go out. Each candle here symbolized a life, and Omar refused to let the lights of those lives burn out. He made sure each candle caught before replacing it, and not once was the wind able to extinguish a flame. Though the lives those candles symbolized had already ended, their memories carried on through the flames. Not even the cold acts of terror, which ended their mortal existence, could erase the marks they as people left upon the Earth and their fellow humans.

We all require assistance at times. Hope can falter, but others can right it. Lives may end, but others will remember the deeds done. Freedom may fall under attack, but those who live it and believe in it can save it.

Cherish your freedom, the life you live, and the hope you carry, for yourself and all those who follow. May all Humanity one day relish in the joys of freedom, from fear, from oppression, from terror. Live your life, and realize you don't have to do so alone.

A day for remembering - September 11, 2013

 

Below I have republished my first written remembrance of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks [originally posted September 11, 2004.] There are a few other pieces I have posted about 9/11 that I recommend:

• The falling man
• Victims
• The AP's today in history for September 11th [published in 2008]
• 9/11: the day the world stood still Tthe 9/11 tribute produced for the RNC, which so offended Keith Olbermann]

[Originally posted September 11, 2004.]

Remembering

It was such a gorgeous day. I remember driving to the office and saying out loud to myself "what a beautiful day!" I don't remember ever doing that before, or since.

I was out of my office, but in the building, when I was told that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I was thinking how could a pilot hit the World Trade Center in such perfect weather. I thought of the Army B-25 bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945.

When I got back to my office I was told that both towers had been hit by planes. I still didn't get it. I was still thinking small private planes - then I saw a replay of the second plane, a 757, crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. That's when I realized the world was different.

We were short staffed, two attorneys were attending a conference in New Orleans, and I still had a lot work I wanted to get done, but I kept going back to the television. We watched the burning smoking towers.

The brother of one of our attorneys was working in the south tower, she was worried. I kept trying to reassure her, telling her how tough the towers were. I spoke with my wife. I tried to reassure her and she had been doing the same with worried friends.

We heard that the Pentagon was attacked. Then we heard reports [just bad information] that there was an explosion at the State Department. The news coverage was confused. Hell, no one knew what was going on.

Then the towers fell. I just couldn't believe it. We didn't understand how many firefighters were lost in the towers, but the firefighters did. One of my most vivid memories of 9/11 is of fire fighters withdrawing to the West Side Highway after the towers fell. The TV broadcast I was watching showed one of those firefighters take his helmet and throw, no slam, it to the ground many feet away. That act captured all the anger, frustration and fatigue both physical and emotional.

I remember more, I remember the President reassuring the nation, more than once. I remember watching Palestinians dancing in the street. There is more. I remember my co-worker's relief when she learned, hours after the towers fell, that her brother got out of the tower and was safe. I remember the people streaming out of New York. I remember the hospitals staffing up to treat the thousands and thousands of injured we all anticipated would be pulled from the ruble. I remember the burning rubble. I remember more.

I especially remember how happy and relieved I was to get home and to just be with my wife and children. These are the things I think of first whenever I think of 9/11. I wish I was able to convey the emotions the memories conjure up in me, but I'm sure you know how it felt.

Alan Jackson captured all those feelings in his "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning):"

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
that September day?
Out in the yard with your wife and children;
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children
that lost their dear loved ones?
Did you pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
and sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out in pride for the red white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer?
And look at yourself for what really matters?

[. . .]

Teaching a class full of innocent children;
Driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
in a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that bible at home?

[. . .]

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers?
Stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

[. . .]

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
that September day?

Flame Of Hope

[My son, then a freshman at George Washington University, wrote this after attending a 9/11 vigil on September 14, 2004. I thank him for sharing it with us.]

I just returned from a vigil at University Yard, remembering the victims of September 11. Services like these always hit home; especially for events remembered firsthand.

We each received a candle upon arriving at the yard, surrounded by a plastic cup to keep the wax from our hands. At the conclusion of the service, after speakers and prayers, messages and memories, we lit the candles and stood in silence. Gradually, people drifted off; it was, after all, a Saturday night. I waited, with my roommate, a friend from PE Wild, and her friend from American. We remained until 9:12, allowing for a minute of silence at 9:11 as I remembered doing back home. While waiting, I let my mind wander inside itself a bit, doing its usual pondering about life, the universe, and everything; about existence and reason, emotion and liberty, life and freedom. I'd like to share those thoughts that stuck out.

A breeze started about the time of the candle lightings. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was chilly enough to force notice. It also required paying attention to the candle, lest the wind extinguish it.

As I'm sometimes wont to do, I made a little metaphor. The candle reminded me of the often-used phrase, almost cliché now: the Flame of Hope, of Freedom, of Life itself. It required an effort on my part to maintain the flame's strength. I found that, after letting my mind wander for a minute early on, the wind extinguished the flame, and I required someone else's candle to ignite it again. Such is often the case with Hope. When faced with an unusual situation, one that discourages and scares us, humans cling to this concept of "Hope," a belief that the storm will pass. Sometimes, when the storm continues to batter us, that hope begins to wane, even dying completely. In those situations, we require the presence and support of others. Through their strength, we can rekindle our own Hope, reignite its flame.

A second time, I caught myself gazing at the sky. The clouds which had eclipsed the stars during the vigil now began to move elsewhere, and the lights of the heavens began to shine through. When I glanced down at my candle, however, I found the flame almost dead. Cupping my hand around it, I shielded it from the chill and strength of the wind, allowing it to remain. It reminded me of our Freedom, such a fragile concept. When our grip on the concept slackens, when we let the idea slip to the background, it can disappear far too quickly. Each of us has to realize the concept, to live it every day, lest that Flame die as well. Freedom is a much harder flame to reignite once it dies.

Before those in attendance lit their candles, the names of nine GWU alumni killed on 9/11 were read aloud. At each name, Omar, the president of the Student Association lit a candle, placing it on a table in front of him. The wind picked up as he tried to light the first candle, and I actually felt my pulse pound as I prayed the light would not go out. Each candle here symbolized a life, and Omar refused to let the lights of those lives burn out. He made sure each candle caught before replacing it, and not once was the wind able to extinguish a flame. Though the lives those candles symbolized had already ended, their memories carried on through the flames. Not even the cold acts of terror, which ended their mortal existence, could erase the marks they as people left upon the Earth and their fellow humans.

We all require assistance at times. Hope can falter, but others can right it. Lives may end, but others will remember the deeds done. Freedom may fall under attack, but those who live it and believe in it can save it.

Cherish your freedom, the life you live, and the hope you carry, for yourself and all those who follow. May all Humanity one day relish in the joys of freedom, from fear, from oppression, from terror. Live your life, and realize you don't have to do so alone.

The New York times sacrifices its credibility on the Obama altar

Yesterday, the New York Times published a blistering editorial, titled "President Obama's Dragnet," which took President Obama to task for the massive amounts of data that the federal government routinely collects about our phone calls:

Within hours of the disclosure that the federal authorities routinely collect data on phone calls Americans make, regardless of whether they have any bearing on a counterterrorism investigation, the Obama administration issued the same platitude it has offered every time President Obama has been caught overreaching in the use of his powers: Terrorists are a real menace and you should just trust us to deal with them because we have internal mechanisms (that we are not going to tell you about) to make sure we do not violate your rights.

Those reassurances have never been persuasive — whether on secret warrants to scoop up a news agency’s phone records or secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism — especially coming from a president who once promised transparency and accountability. The administration has now lost all credibility. Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it. [Emphasis added.]

Shortly after it was published, the editorial, which had been called "damning," was toned down. I was fortunate to have snipped a copy of the original version which is displayed above. The softened version changed the highlighted sentence to "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue." That change makes a huge difference in meaning and tone. In making the change, which the Times has yet to disclose or acknowledge, the editorial board sacrificed its credibility for Obama's. One can only imagine the phone call between the editorial board and the White House (and maybe the National Security Agency (NSA) eavesdropping).

We should not expect more from the Times. After all, when the Times first revealed the NSA terrorist surveillance program, it did so after sitting on the story for a year. Senator John Cornyn accused the Times of endangering American security to help James Risen sell his new book. And the Washington Post similarly took the Times to task.

Back in those days I wasn't particularly bothered by the NSA's secret program to intercept al Qaeda communications. I don't think the program described by Attorney General Gonzales would bother me much even today. According to Gonzales, President Bush authorized a program that made electronic intercepts of contents of communications only where one party to the communication is outside the United States. That program was limited to situations where there was a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication was a member of al Qaeda, affiliated with al Qaeda, or a member of an organization affiliated with al Qaeda, or working in support of al Qaeda.

The untargeted and overbroad collection the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon revealed by The Guardian is a whole different matter that I cannot accept.

Obama disagrees. Today he defended his government's phone spying program.:

I came in with a healthy skepticism about these programs. My team evaluated them. We scrubbed them thoroughly. We actually expanded some of the oversight, increased some of the safeguards, But my assessment and my team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks. And the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers or duration without a name attached and not looking at content, that on net, it was worth us doing.

Some other folks may have a different assessment of that, but I think it's important to recognize that you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy, and zero inconvenience. We're going to have to make some choices as a society.

You can watch Obama defend his phone spying program in this video.

Two things about Obama's weak defense of his telephone spy program. First, we can not make choices about balancing security versus privacy if everything is top secret. Second, Obama said during his first inaugural address that "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." How can he square that with what he said today?

Obama rewards Susan Rice for misleading the American people

This afternoon President Obama will announce that Tom Donilon will be departing as National Security Adviser in early July and will be succeeded by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.

The National Security Adviser position is Rice's reward for appearing on five Sunday news shows on September 16, 2012 and misleading the American people -- claiming the vicious attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was unplanned and provoked only by an anti-Islam video.

Rice's comments were so misleading that even a member in good standing of the so-called fact-checking wing of the Democrats' party, the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, awarded Rice two Pinocchios. Kessler continues to "fact check" Obama's Benghazi obfuscation, including Obama's reticence to call the Benghazi incident a "terrorist attack," and Obama spokesman Carney's downplaying the State Department's involvement in redrafting the talking points.

Rice's National Security Adviser appointment is really her consolation prize. She wanted to be Secretary of State, but after her participation in the Obama regime's obfuscation about what happened in Benghazi on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks against America, Rice would not have been confirmed.

Rice will be replaced at the United Nations by Samantha Power. That's right, the same Samantha Power who served as a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign until she called Hillary a "monster."

You can watch Joe Scarborough, Tom Brokaw and Chuck Todd discuss these issues in this video from MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."

Fort Hood hero: President Obama 'betrayed' shooting victims

ABC News reports that Sergeant Kimberly Munley, one of the two then police Sergeants who stopped the deadly shooting at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, says President Obama broke the promise he made to her that the victims would be well taken care of:

"Betrayed is a good word. Not to the least little bit have the victims been taken care of. In fact they've been neglected."

During the shooting that many consider a terrorist attack, Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and a practicing Muslim of Palestinian descent, shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire and mercilessly shot 44 soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq and one civilian killing 13. Munley was shot three times in her confrontation with Hasan.

You can watch video of the shootings aftermath below:

Initially, Obama tried to capitalize on the heroic actions of Munley and her partner Sergeant Mark Todd. They were included as guests in the First Lady's box for the 2010 State of the Union address. A few months later they were again honored by Obama at the 2010 National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS award winners ceremony in the Rose Garden.

Despite the fact that there is extensive evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack, the victims were denied  Purple Hearts and the government shooting has been treating the incident as "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or terrorism. You can read a redacted report on the FBI's investigation of Hasan's ties to al-Awlaki here. Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011.

To add insult to her injuries Munley was laid off from her job with the base's civilian police force last year.

Last November, Munley and 147 other plaintiffs sued the U.S. government, Hassan and the estate of Anwar al-Awlaki seeking damages and a ruling that the shooting was a terrorist attack. Such a finding would clear the way for them to receive benefits available to those who injuries are classified as "combat related," which aren't available as the result of workplace violence. You can read the lawsuit here.

According to ABC News, former Sgt. Munley now believes Obama used her for political advantage in arranging for her to sit next to Michelle Obama during the President's State of the Union address in 2010. Munley says she  wants to help the others who were shot that day and continue to suffer.

"We got tired of being neglected. So this was our last resort and I'm not ashamed of it a bit."

Something to think about as you watch tonight's State of the Union political theater with its shooting victim props.

Obama's seven point lead up in smoke

Gallup's Presidential Election tracking poll for September 5-11 had President Obama leading Governor Romney by seven points 50% to 43%.

Now the Gallup tracking poll shows that Obama's seven point lead has gone up in the smoke from burning U.S. embassies. For the last two days Obama only leads Romney by a single point. That is why the biased media wing of the Democrats' party is desperately trying its darnedest to convince you the election is over.

As Obama's convention bounce rose to seven points, we saw the smoke from the burning U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya and we saw the smoke from the remains of the stars and stripes that riotous Muslim mobs pulled down from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. We also learned al Qaeda attacked the American-lead multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai. They also attacked a U.S. Marine base in Southern Afghanistan in an effort to kill Britain's Prince Harry.

The next day, September 12, we learned that four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Stevens, were killed in what the Obama regime finally admits was a terrorist attack in Benghazi. We also saw the smoke from the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, as more riotous Muslim mobs attacked there, in Khartoum,Sudan and Sana'a, Yemen.

On September 13, we learned that Obama did not attend any of his daily intelligence briefings since September 5. Obama didn't care enough about the fact that our adversaries are known to use the anniversary of 9/11 to target the United States to attend intelligence briefings during the six days before the terrorists' 9/112012 offensive. American Crossroads took Obama to task for his lackadaisical approach to critical foreign policy issues in this hard hitting video.

On September 16, we saw Susan Rice, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, appear on several of the Sunday morning news shows and mislead the American people by claiming the vicious attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was unplanned and provoked only by an anti-Islam video.

The hateful Muslim mobs have continued their rioting against American and the Obama administration was forced to close the U.S. consulate in Medan, Indonesia on September 19, due to ongoing "protests." An event which disproves Obama's naive belief that he could just say nice things, and because he had lived in Islamic country of Indonesia during his youth and his half-sister is Muslim, the Muslim hate for America would dissipate. On September 21, all U.S. diplomatic missions in Indonesia will be closed. 

So it is not at all surprising that the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that Obama's approval rating on foreign policy has dropped five points since August. Now, only 49 percent approve of the president's job in handling foreign policy. Last month, 54 percent approved of Obama's foreign-policy handling. Worse, only 41 percent of Independents approve of Obama's foreign-policy handling, versus 53 percent who did so last month.

The biased media incorrectly insisted Romney was wrong to Obama's incoherent response to the Cairo debacle, and to question Obama's now discredited policies of appeasement and apology that have left us so dangerously vulnerable in the Middle East and still hated in the Muslim world.

The lesson to be learned from the terrorists' 9/11/12 offensive is that despite Obama's protestations to the contrary, the War Against Terror is not over, and Governor Romney was right to criticize Obama for sending mixed signals about the violence of the hateful Muslim mobs.

Do not submit

Do you have enough faith in you religious convictions and your belief in the First Amendment to refuse to submit to the murderous Muslim religious zealots who not only believe, but actually preach, that it is okay to murder innocent people simply because you perceive yourself to be offended by something?

I'd like to think I do. My friend Peter Ingemi, also known as DaTechGuy, proved he does. After a fatwa was issued by one of those murderous Muslim religious zealots calling on the Muslim youth in America and Europe to kill the director, the producer and the actors and everyone who helped and promoted the so-called film, "Innocence of Muslims," Peter posted this video titled, "I will not submit to Islam."

Peter describes his video as follows:

"My response to the declaration of FATWA on anyone who makes a film insulting Islam, come and get me you murderous bastards, I won't give up my 1st Amendment rights I'm a American."

Before you say you are that courageous think about the ordeal the murderous Muslim religious zealots have put some folks through when they have been unable to actually have them murdered. Think about Salman Rushdie, who has been living in hiding and under police protection since 1989. Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death following the publication of Rushdie’s 1988 prize winning book, The Satanic Verses.

Like Peter, Salman Rushdie is courageous. He eloquently denounces the murderous Muslim zealots. Here is some of what he had to say during an interview broadcast yesterday on NPR's "Morning Edition.":

"STEVE INSKEEP: What do you think when you hear about violence in the Muslim world, because people perceive that their religion has been insulted?

SALMAN RUSHDIE: Yeah. Well, what I would say, in a general sense, is that I feel that something has gone wrong inside the Muslim world, because I can remember - within my living memory - when some of these now-beleaguered, embattled cities like Beirut, Tehran, Damascus, Baghdad, when these were cosmopolitan, outward-looking, cultured cities which were interested in the rest of the world and were much more like open societies.

And the fact that, in the last half-century, these cultures seem to have slid backwards into medievalism and repression is one of the - I think it's one of the great self-inflicted wounds. And out of that comes the rise of this new, much harsher Islam, come all these phenomena that you're talking about: the thin-skinnedness, the paranoia, the ease with which violence is engaged in, the readiness to believe that it's OK to kill people if you declare yourself offended by something. This is the mindset of the fanatic, the mindset of the tyrant. And it's a real shame that it seems to have spread so widely across the Muslim world.

INSKEEP: You're saying that it says more about the perpetrators of violence than it does about whatever was written that offended them.

RUSHDIE: Yes, of course. Of course it does. I mean, I think if we wish to live in any kind of a moral universe, we must hold the perpetrators of violence responsible for the violence they perpetrate. It's very simple. The criminal is responsible for the crime. I mean, it's quite clear that this YouTube film is a disgraceful, shoddy little thing. And it's, I think, perfectly proper to condemn it and the people who made it. But to murder people who had nothing to do with it because you deem yourself insulted and therefore other people's blood can randomly be spilled, that's clearly a deeply uncivilized attitude [Emphasis added]."

I can't say it any better than that.

Obama's U.N. Ambassador misleads America about Libya; earns two Pinocchios

Susan Rice, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, appeared on several of the Sunday morning news shows and mislead the American people by claiming the vicious attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was unplanned and provoked only by an anti-Islam video.

On CBS’s "Face the Nation," Libya’s head of state, Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf, president of Libya’s General National Congress, said that the attack on the U.S. Consulate was "preplanned, predetermined." You can watch Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf's comments here.

Shortly thereafter, on the same show, Rice disagreed with the Libyan leader

"Based on the best information we have to date ... it began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo, where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent.... We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned.”“Based on the best information we have to date ... it began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo, where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent.... We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned."

Rice's comments were so misleading that even  a member in good standing of the biased so-called fact-checking wing of the Democrats' party, the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, awarded Rice two Pinocchios.

Here are some of the facts relied upon by Kessler:

• The attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans took place on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. That may simply be a coincidence, but if so, it would be a pretty big one.
• In his interview, Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf, the president of Libya’s National Congress, said Libya had arrested 50 people, many connected to al-Qaeda. That would certainly bolster the notion that the date — Sept. 11 — was not a coincidence.
• One media report claims that key documents, including one with the names of Libyans working with Americans, were taken from the consulate. 
• That same report, in the Independent, quotes a Libyan military official as saying that a separate safe house also came under attack: "The building then came under fire from heavy weapons. 'I don’t know how they found the place to carry out the attack. It was planned, the accuracy with which the mortars hit us was too good for any ordinary revolutionaries,' said Captain Obeidi. 'It began to rain down on us, about six mortars fell directly on the path to the villa.'"
• News services reported last week that Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy, briefing lawmakers last week, said the attack appeared to be planned because it was so extensive and because of the “proliferation” of small and medium weapons at the scene. That also would seem to contradict Rice’s stance.
• ABC News reported that Glen Doherty, one of the former Navy SEALs who was killed, was not there to provide security but was on a mission to track down shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and destroy them. “Doherty said that he traveled throughout Libya chasing reports of the weapons, and once they were found, his team would destroy them on the spot by bashing them with hammers or repeatedly running them over with their vehicles,”
• According to ABC,  while Rice pointed to anger at an anti-Muslim film that appeared on YouTube as the spark for the demonstration, Doherty’s mission suggests that there were aspects of U.S. policy that may have directly affected militants in the country — and angered them. That also would strengthen the case that this was a planned attack. 

What Kessler didn't take for fact was the Independent's report that the Obama administration was warned, but failed to act on the warning:

"According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and 'lockdown', under which movement is severely restricted."

Nor did Kessler emphasize the CNN report that American intelligence warned the embassy in Egypt.

"A U.S. official told CNN's Suzanne Kelly that American intelligence was sufficiently concerned about the attention the movie was receiving online to warn the embassy in Egypt in a bulletin a few days before protesters stormed that compound in Cairo on Tuesday, the same day the consulate in Libya was attacked by armed militants."

Rice's misleading Pinocchio statements are a sign that the Obama campaign is desperate to prevent American voters from learning that Obama failed to take proper and necessary measures to protect U.S. diplomats from a terrorist attack on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Blaming Romney, not terrorists, Obama fuels Middle East bloodshed

Like many Americans I spend time on September 11 contemplating the terror attacks. This year my contemplation didn't end on the 11th. I have spent the entire week watching as riotous Muslim mobs, first in Egypt, then Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Sudan attack U.S. embassies espousing hate for American values and belief.

It got much worse. The hateful Muslim mobs multiplied throughout the Muslim world, even in countries not considered Muslim, such as Britain and Australia. And al Qaeda went on the offensive.

Under the cover of the rioting Muslim mobs in Benghazi, terrorists viciously attacked the U.S. consulate killing four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. That was the first time an American Ambassador had been murdered in the line of duty since the Carter administration.

Al Qaeda didn't stop there. They attacked the American-lead multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai. They also attacked a U.S. Marine base in Southern Afghanistan in an effort to kill Britain's Prince Harry. So there was much to contemplate on this extended anniversary of 9/11.

The lessons to be learned from the terrorists' 9/11/12 offensive are despite Obama's protestations to the contrary the War Against Terror is not over, and Governor Romney was right to criticize Obama for sending mixed signals about the violence of the hateful Muslim mobs.

Obama is so wrong here. His naivete has always been there for us to see. On November 21, 2007, presidential candidate Obama said, "The day I'm inaugurated Muslim hostility will ease." He actually thought he could just say nice things, and because he had lived in an Islamic country during his youth and his half-sister is Muslim, the Muslim hate for America would dissipate. Well perhaps the Muslim hate for America didn't diminish while President Bush was prosecuting the War Against Terror. But we never saw an uprising or offensive like this during his war, because those that hate us respect strength.

Obama sees things differently. His administration says "the war on terror is over," and Obama won't even use the term "war on terror."

So yes, Governor Romney was entirely correct to criticize Obama's incoherent response to the Cairo debacle, and to question Obama's now discredited policies of appeasement and apology that have left us so dangerously vulnerable in the Middle East and still hated in the Muslim world.

The most important lesson of the week is that we now know that the Obama Administration has put us right back where we were 11 years ago before 9/11. 

That is why yesterday we saw Obama's Press secretary flat out said that the hateful Muslim uprising -- formerly known as the Arab Spring, and the murder of an American ambassador was exclusively the result of a silly amateur video - despite the evidence to the contrary.

This statement and appearance was a turning point. Why? 

Not because it flies in the face of the evidence.  But because it shows EXACTLY why we're in the position we're in under Obama. Team Obama just doesn't understand that terrorists hate America, not a "video" that was used as a diversion to kill Americans. This video of makes this point.