Remember All of You Sheep-like Americans, Our Government HAS To Keep Us Safe

Granted, this isn't exactly the most compelling news item of the day but I thought it was absolutely shocking to see a modern day Liberal so confident that he would put this "1984" type of nanny state announcement out there for the American people to see.

Governor Mark Dayton is a Communist.  He is as progressive as Lenin and Mao ever were.  In his vetoing a bill passed by the Minnesota legislature that would allow the sale of fireworks in the state of Minnesota, Governor Dayton made this proclamation in his letter of veto:

In a letter to legislators, he said that while most Minnesotans are responsible, “some are not.”


“It is the government’s foremost responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of its citizens,” Dayton wrote.


He added: “Sometimes, it requires laws to protect people from themselves.”

The full story is here at SWC Bulletin.

Video: The Song, Inspired By 9/11, That Let Us Hear the Final Words Of Those WTC Victims

In an interview, Amy and Ben said that the 9/11 attacks in New York City inspired them to write this song.

  Source.http://www.last.fm/music/Evanescence/_/My+Last+Breath

Video: Islam 101: In Converting Infidels, Lie To Them

Al Qaeda Resorts To Acid Attacks To Get Yemeni Women Veiled

Oh how al Qaeda knows how to spread the love - with the terror group making some strides in southern Yemen, they are now patrolling the streets of Yemeni towns and villages making sure that all the women folk cover up their heads and faces.  And at least in one instance, the al Qaeda fighters decided to make an unveiled woman an example and doused her face with acid.


The story comes from Bikyamasar via Religion of Peace.

Spate of attacks on unveiled women in Yemen


SANA’A: Local residents in Aden told Bikyamasr.com that al-Qaeda militants in the region were now targeting unveiled women: harassing them, and at least one instance, physically abusing them as they are trying to enforce the full face veil.

Although the Qur’an only specifies that a woman should cover her hair, neck and ears, Ansar al-Sharia chose to understand this somewhat differently, arguing that since the wives of the prophet were covered, so should all Muslim women.

What the militants don’t mention, or don’t know, is that as with everything in Islam it is very much up to the individual to choose their path – as religion cannot be imposed by force.

Although Yemenis are considered traditional when it comes to Islam, and fiercely defensive of their faith and practice, the vast majority of southerners have said to be outraged by the recent spate of harassment.

“How can they dare attacks girls and women who do not wear the veil? It is a personal choice, which should not be imposed on anyone,” said Anessa Abdelaalem a school teacher in Aden.

According to reports from the local authorities several girls were sprayed with acid on their face by Ansar al-Sharia, for they refused to bow to their demands.

If only a few months ago, Yemenis did not feel threatened by al-Qaeda, assuming that the armed forces would end up crushing their advances, an insidious fear is slowly chocking Yemen as the dark cloud of extremism is gaining against the light.

Video: Kickstart My Heart

Boko Haram Strikes Again In Nigeria, Suicide Bomber On Motorcycle Kills 10

Two bodies of a victim of a suicide bomb lay on the street in Jalingo, Nigeria, Monday, April 30, 2012 amid a row of toppled bikes. A motorcycle-riding suicide bomber drove into a convoy carrying a top police official in northeast Nigeria on Monday, detonating his explosives and killing at least 10 people, rescue officials said.


The target of Boko Haram, the Islamic terror group in Nigeria, today was a high level police official and the result was 10 dead Nigerians as a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his payload on a convoy of vehicles.  Welcome to the Middle East, Nigeria.  Welcome to the evils of Satan.  The Nigerians are waking up to the reality of the Jews of Israel that has been going on each and every day for 64 damn years.


The story is from CNS News.

10 killed in suicide blast in northeast Nigeria


JALINGO, Nigeria (AP) — A motorcycle-riding suicide bomber drove into a convoy carrying a top police official in northeast Nigeria on Monday, detonating his explosives and killing at least 10 people, rescue officials said.

The attack targeted police commissioner Mamman Sule who was being driven in a convoy toward his offices, near the governor's office in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba state, said police spokesman Ibiang Mbaseki. The bomber missed injuring Sule, but the explosives caused massive damage at a roadside market and blew out the glass windows of the nearby state Ministry of Finance building, witnesses said.

The commissioner "was the prime target," Mbaseki said.

Rescue officials collected 11 corpses after the attack, which left 26 injured, according to a report by the Nigerian Red Cross. The dead included the suicide bomber, the Red Cross report said.

Speaking to journalists after the attack, Sule said officers would immediately begin an investigation into the attack. He also said only three people died, though police and the military routinely offer lower casualty numbers to make attacks appear less serious than what they are.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It comes after gunmen attacked Christian worship services Sunday at a university campus and a church in northern Nigeria, killing at least 21 people.

Sunday's attacks mirrored others carried out by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. Representatives of Boko Haram, who typically speak to journalists at times of their choosing in telephone conference calls, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Boko Haram is waging a growing sectarian battle with Nigeria's weak central government, using suicide car bombs and assault rifles in attacks across the country's predominantly Muslim north and around its capital, Abuja. Those killed have included Christians, Muslims and government officials. The sect has been blamed for killing more than 450 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

Diplomats and military officials say Boko Haram has links with two other al-Qaida-aligned terrorist groups in Africa. Members of the sect also reportedly have been spotted in northern Mali, an area where Tuareg rebels and hardline Islamists seized control over the past month.

On Thursday, the sect carried out a suicide car bombing at the Abuja offices of the influential newspaper ThisDay and a bombing at an office building it shared with other publications in the city of Kaduna. At least seven people were killed in those attacks.

A statement Monday from President Goodluck Jonathan's office condemned the church service attacks and other assaults in recent days.

"The terrorists ... have shown even more clearly by their latest attacks on the media and the academic community that their objective is to destabilize the nation and its vital institutions," the statement read.

Another statement Monday from the president condemned the Jalingo attacks.

"President Jonathan urges Nigerians and foreigners living in the country not to be discouraged or deterred from going about their regular affairs by the persistence of the mindless bombings and gun attacks," it said.

He "reaffirms his administration's unwavering commitment to curbing terrorism in Nigeria," it said.

However, Nigerians are growing impatient with the federal government's inability to stop the ever-increasing bloody attacks.

Taraba state, a largely rural expanse that borders Cameroon, has remained largely peaceful while Boko Haram attacks have raged across Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. However, the state has had involvement with the sect in the past.

In February, secret police officers and soldiers in Taraba arrested the alleged mastermind of a Catholic church bombing by Boko Haram that killed at least 44 people. The suspect previously escaped police custody in Abuja.

Obama Bypasses the Law To Ensure That Your Money Goes To Funding Baby Killing Hamas

I think that a lot of you have heard about the recent funding that America provided to the so-called Palestinians in Gaza but I'm not sure many of you were enlightened just how this was accomplished...considering that the ruling and governing body in Gaza is Hamas and they are a listed terror group with our country.


From the article at Family Security Matters:

We need first to understand that the US Congress froze a $192 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority last September after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defied the US and sought to attain UN endorsement of Palestinian statehood.

The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2012 states under section 7040 (a) PROHIBITION OF FUNDS,

None of the funds appropriated by this Act. may be obligated or expended with respect to providing funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Section 7040 (b) WAIVER states,

The prohibition included in subsection (a) shall not apply if the President certifies in writing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations that waiving such prohibition is important to the national security interests of the United States.

So, after you read that...it's very clear that Barack Hussein Obama has to PERSONALLY request this "go around" with the law.  He needs to actually write a letter requesting that the law be set aside so Islamic terrorists can have money to kill Jewish women and children.

Well....here's what Sheik Obama wrote:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Waiver of Restriction on Providing Funds to the Palestinian Authority

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7040(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 (Division I, Public Law 112-74) (the "Act"), I hereby certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions of section 7040(a) of the Act, in order to provide funds appropriated to carry out Chapter 4 of Part II of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended, to the Palestinian Authority.

BARACK OBAMA

So, there you have it.  Reason #1,486 why Barack Hussein Obama needs to lose in November.

Billions to Terror, But It’s For Your Safety


The AFP reported on Friday,

President Barack Obama has signed a waiver to remove curbs on funding to the Palestinian Authority, declaring the aid to be "important to the security interests of the United States."

We need first to understand that the US Congress froze a $192 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority last September after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defied the US and sought to attain UN endorsement of Palestinian statehood.

The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2012 states under section 7040 (a) PROHIBITION OF FUNDS,

None of the funds appropriated by this Act. may be obligated or expended with respect to providing funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Section 7040 (b) WAIVER states,

The prohibition included in subsection (a) shall not apply if the President certifies in writing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations that waiving such prohibition is important to the national security interests of the United States.

In simple English, section ‘a', "no funds to the Palestinian Authority" may be ‘waived' according to section ‘b' if "it is important to the national security interests of the United States."

Obama has now signed a waiver and instructed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to inform Congress accordingly.

By citing section ‘b' the ‘waiver' Obama signed circumvents Congress and releases all funds immediately,

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Waiver of Restriction on Providing Funds to the Palestinian Authority

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7040(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 (Division I, Public Law 112-74) (the "Act"), I hereby certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions of section 7040(a) of the Act, in order to provide funds appropriated to carry out Chapter 4 of Part II of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended, to the Palestinian Authority.

BARACK OBAMA

Obama never wanted these funds to the Palestinian Authority held back to begin with, last October, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated during a press conference in Israel,

"The administration opposes holding these funds from the Palestinians. This is a critical time and it is not a time to withhold those funds".

Israel National News reported in October of last year,

The Obama administration is in "intensive" discussion with lawmakers to release $200 million in blocked aid to the PA.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was quoted as having said that the administration was in "intensive" discussions with key lawmakers who had put holds on the money.

On April 11, a report in the National Journal called it "a rare display of executive-branch authority" and stated,

Administrations generally do not disburse funding over the objections of lawmakers on relevant committees.

The article quoted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida,

"The U.S. has given $3 billion in aid to the Palestinians in the last five years alone, and what do we have to show for it?" Ros-Lehtinen said on Wednesday in a statement to National Journal. "Now the administration is sending even more. Where is the accountability for U.S. taxpayer dollars?"

Kudos to Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for making a simple yet extremely relevant point, 3 billion in the last 5 years "and what do we have to show for it?"

Well, let's see. According to our own US Department of State there are 50 groups listed on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) that was updated as recently as January 27, 2012. Of those listed, 8 groups are either Palestinian terror organizations or offshoots thereof,

Abu Nidal Organization
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
Army of Islam (AOI)

With these terrorist organizations located in and operating out of the West Bank and Gaza, where is that money really going to end up and how exactly does it fall in to the category of being "important to the national security interests of the United States"?

Does Obama, as President of the US. need to explain to Congress how releasing these funds are in any way "important to the national security interest"? Evidently not, and by signing a waiver on these grounds he is able to totally ignore and bypass Congress.

I have to wonder what if anything this has to do with campaign contributions. Journalist and radio host Aaron Klein reported back in August 2008,

Palestinian brothers inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are listed in government election filings as having donated $29,521.54 to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.

Donations of this nature would violate election laws, including prohibitions on receiving contributions from foreigners and guidelines against accepting more than $2,300 from one individual during a single election, Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission, told WND in response to a query.

Then there is the video report from al-Jazeera from March 2008. Palestinians working phone banks in Gaza for the Obama Campaign.

Yes, that's correct; the poor, poor Palestinians living in squalor somehow not only have internet cafes, but can afford to call all the way to the US to help Obama during his campaign.

Then again, perhaps the money is in the hopes that so-called "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians would continue, a bribe if you will. After all, the last scheduled meeting didn't go quite as well as hoped.

Once again, the Palestinians backed out, yet again. As was reported less than two weeks ago,

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pulled out of a planned meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netayahu on Tuesday.

The move scuttled what was set to be the highest-level talks between Israeli and PA officials in nearly two years.

Fayyad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening in what the PA portrayed as "a last-ditch effort to salvage peace talks" before the US election season.

But of course, Israel will be blamed yet again and the Palestinians will get the $192 million.

It is after all for your safety.

Former Bodyguard For Bin Laden Killed By U.S. Drone In Yemen

Mohammed Saeed al Umda (also known as Ghareeb al Taizi) thought he might be a wee bit safer in Yemen than he had been guarding Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan, found out he wasn't and fell victim to a U.S. hellfire fired by a drone earlier this month.  Too bad, huh?   LOL

The story is from The Long War Journal.

AQAP confirms commander linked to Osama bin Laden killed in drone strike


Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula confirmed that a senior leader was killed in a recent US drone airstrike in Yemen. The commander had trained in Afghanistan and served as a member of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard.

AQAP confirmed that the commander, Mohammed Saeed al Umda (also known as Ghareeb al Taizi), was killed in the April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area, near the border of Marib and Al Jawf provinces. The terror group announced his death in a martyrdom statement that was released yesterday on jihadist websites. The statement was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"'Ghareeb al Taizi,' may Allah have mercy on him, ... was martyred ... with two mujahideen as a result of an American bombing in Samdah district of Marib," the statement said, according to SITE.

AQAP stated that Umda had served in Afghanistan, where "he was close to Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, and was in his special guard." Bin Laden's special bodyguard was also known as the Black Guard.

The terror group also said al Umda was on a US wanted list and had been detained by the Saudi government and then transferred to Yemen, where in 2006 he broke out of prison in Sana'a along with 23 AQAP leaders and fighters.

A Yemeni official told The Long War Journal on April 24 that al Umda was killed in an airstrike two days prior. The Yemeni official said that al Umda provided "logistical and financial support" and "commanded a number of AQAP military operations in Yemen." Al Umda has also been featured prominently in AQAP's propaganda, such as an interview posted on the Ansar al Mujahideen web forum in 2010.

According to the Yemeni government, al Umda had attended the Al Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan before the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Al Farouq was one of al Qaeda's primary training facilities in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. Foreign recruits were shuttled to the camp, where they were given training on light arms and other basic instruction. Those who were selected for operations in the West or elsewhere were sent on to specialized training camps. Other recruits were selected to fight alongside the Taliban in al Qaeda's Arab 055 Brigade.

Al Umda was involved in the October 2002 suicide attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. He was convicted by a Yemeni court and imprisoned in 2005. In February 2006, he was among 23 al Qaeda operatives to escape from a Political Security Organization prison in Sana'a under suspicious circumstances. The Political Security Organization is known to support al Qaeda. After his escape, Al Umda was listed as the fourth-most-wanted man in Yemen.

The US has carried out 13 drone and conventional airstrikes in Yemen since the beginning of the year. Six of those strikes have taken place this month. From 2002 to the end of 2011, the US carried out just 16 drone and conventional airstrikes in Yemen.

The CIA and the US military have stepped up the targeting of AQAP leaders and fighters as the terror group is believed to be interested in striking inside the US. AQAP has taken control of vast areas in southern Yemen and has been waging an insurgency against the government under the banner of Ansar al Sharia.

Video: Apache Team Doing Some Hunting

Video: Monday Morning JDAM(s)

Chicago Style Politics In Full Gear As Obama Plays Up Bin Laden Operation With Interview In Off Limits Situation Room

Good old Barack Hussein Obama paid Brian Williams, the tool of the White House who sometimes works as a journalist at NBC, off by granting an interview in the top secret "Situation Room" in the White House - hell, let's just open the whole place up and bring Oprah and Chris Matthews in, too.


Once again we see the leader of this country acting like a total moron - a rank amateur from Chicago who runs things like he's running for city council on the south side of Chitown.

This is exactly why I created my "Want List" that I broadcast at The Awakening last night - it's high time we demanded someone leading this country that has at least a lick of common sense, a man or woman who, after you shake hands with, you don't have to count your fingers.

The story comes from Politico.

Obama talks bin Laden in rare sit room interview


Brian Williams of NBC News held a rare interview with President Barack Obama about the killing of Osama bin Laden in the White House Situation Room yesterday.

The interview, which will air on Rock Center with Brian Williams on May 2, comes at the one-year anniversary of bin Laden’s killing, an event the Obama campaign is touting in a new ad that goes after Mitt Romney.

"One year ago, they brought down Bin Laden. Now, for the first time, the main players are talking -- only to Brian Williams," a 15-second promo of the interview, which aired this morning on the Today show, said. "Exclusive access inside the situation room. Rock Center, Wednesday, 9/8 Central on NBC."

(Also on POLITICO: Bin Laden operation, Part Two)

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest resisted questions regarding rumors of the interview this morning, as well as the suggestion that Obama was politicizing Bin Laden’s killing by holding an interview in the Situation Room.

“What I can tell you is that the President has conducted a couple of interviews over the course of the last year about the successful mission against Osama bin Laden,” Earnest said during a press gaggle on the way to an event in Georgia. “What the President did yesterday and what he has done many times before over the course of the last year is talk about that mission and talk about the success of that mission.”

White House officials did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Of note: In a 2011 interview with Wolf Blizter, host of CNN's Situation Room, Obama said Blitzer could come to the White House situation room, but couldn't bring cameras.

"I hope you'll be coming and joining me in my Situation Room," Blitzer said. "And if you invite me to yours, I will be happy to come to yours as well."

"Thank you, Wolf. You can visit any time," the President said. "Just you can't bring cameras. That's the only difference."

"I will come by myself," Blitzer replied.

(Also on POLITICO: Judge keeps bin Laden photos under wraps)

UPDATE: NBC News sent out the full press release late Friday afternoon, noting that Williams has also interviewed Vice President Biden; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Admiral Mike Mullen, USN, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (from 2007 to 2011); Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor; Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor; and John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

UPDATE 2: Late Friday afternoon, National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor explained the White House's decision to open up the situation room. Read his comments here.

The NBC News release in full:

April 27, 2012 – New York, NY – In a first for network television, NBC News has been granted unprecedented access to the most secret and secure part of the White House, the Situation Room. In a “Rock Center with Brian Williams” exclusive airing on Wednesday, May 2 at 9p/8c, President Obama and his national security and military teams, relive the pivotal moments of the raid targeting Osama bin Laden.

The iconic photograph taken inside the Situation Room offered the world the first glimpse of a national security team at work during the Special Operations mission. Now, we will hear from many of the people in that photograph about what was taking place on that historic night.

“We want to present the definitive account of what took place leading-up to and during the tension-filled hours of the mission targeting Osama bin Laden. The NAVY Seals Special Operations teams executed an ambitious, dangerous mission months in planning. Our viewers will hear details never before revealed and see the nerve center of the White House Situation Room in this special broadcast,” said Steve Capus, President of NBC News.

On “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” Williams interviews President Obama in the Situation Room about one of the country’s greatest military missions, which until now, has been shrouded in great secrecy. Williams also interviews Vice President Biden; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Admiral Mike Mullen, USN, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (from 2007 to 2011); Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor; Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor; and John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

Hooray! The Drones Are Back At It In Pakistan - 4 Jihadis Are Cream of Wheat After Drone Strike In North Waziristan

It's been far too long since the U.S. has conducted a predator drone strike anywhere in Pakistan as attention has shifted over to Yemen but today the latest drone strike in North Waziristan killed 4 Taliban/Al Qaeda and good for that.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

US drone strike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan


Today the US launched its first drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency in nearly a month. The strike in North Waziristan targeted an abandoned school that is known to be used by foreign fighters.

The unmanned Predators or the more heavily armed Reapers fired a pair of missiles at the abandoned high school for girls that is located in the bazaar in Miramshah in North Waziristan. Four "militants" were said to have been killed in the strike, SAMAA reported, but their identity was not disclosed.

"We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," the official said, according to SAMAA. Another Pakistani official told AFP that the school was occupied by Uzbek and Tajik militants, which is likely a reference to the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IMU is closely allied with the Haqqani Network and is known to conduct operations with the group in eastern Afghanistan. During a raid in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak on April 25, Coalition special operations forces attempted to capture a senior Haqqani Network operative who is linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's leadership cadre in Pakistan.

A Pakistani security official said today that intelligence officials intercepted communications between the militants that included a request for "four coffins for the slain men." More than two dozen fighters were believed to be occupying the school before it was struck.

Miramshah serves as the headquarters of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban subgroup that operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and is supported by Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance that was brokered by al Qaeda late last year. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; Mullah Nazir's group; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

US strikes in Pakistan in 2012

Today's strike in Miramshah is the first since March 30, when the US hit a compound in Miramshah's bazaar, killing four militants. Since that strike, Pakistan's parliament has demanded that the US end the drone strikes in the tribal areas as a condition for the reopening of NATO's supply line into Afghanistan that runs through Pakistan.

The US has carried out 12 strikes so far this year. Three took place in South Waziristan, and nine in North Waziristan; seven of those strikes have been executed in or around Miramshah.

The program has been scaled down from its peak in 2010, when the US conducted 117 strikes, according to data collected by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US carried out just 64 strikes in Pakistan's border regions. With only 12 strikes in the first four months of 2012, the US is on a pace to carry out just 36 strikes in Pakistan this year.

The first strike this year took place on Jan. 11; it was the first by the US in Pakistan in 55 days. The previous strike took place on Nov. 16, 2011. The pause was the longest since the program was ramped up at the end of July 2008 [see LWJ report, US drone strikes in Pakistan on longest pause since 2008, from Dec. 19, 2011].

The program was put on hold from the end of November to the second week in January, following a clash between US forces and Pakistani Frontier Corps troops on the border of the Afghan province of Kunar and the Pakistani tribal area of Mohmand on Nov. 25-26. The US troops struck in Pakistan after taking mortar and machine gun fire on the Afghan side of the border from Pakistani troops. Twenty-four Pakistani Frontier Corps troops were killed.

The clash led to Pakistan's closure of the border crossings in Chaman and Khyber to NATO supply columns destined for Afghanistan; the supply lines remain closed to this day. In the aftermath of the Mohmand incident, Pakistan also threatened to shoot down US drones flying in Pakistani airspace, and ejected US drones and personnel from the Shamsi Airbase in Baluchistan.

US officials told The Long War Journal on Dec. 12, 2011 that the program had been put "on hold" due to tensions over the Mohmand incident, but that the drones would strike again if a high value terrorist target that could not be ignored was spotted.

The Jan. 11 strike killed Aslam Awan, a deputy to the leader of al Qaeda's external operations network. Awan was a Pakistani citizen from Abbottabad, the same town where Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in a cross-border raid in May 2011. Awan is the most senior al Qaeda leader killed in a drone strike since mid-October, when Abu Miqdad al Masri, a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis who also was involved in al Qaeda's external operations, was killed. [For a list of senior terrorist leaders and operatives killed in drone strikes, see LWJ report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012.]

Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, was also rumored to have been killed in the Jan. 11 strike. His death has not been confirmed, however, and the Pakistani Taliban have denied he was killed.

The US also killed Badr Mansoor, a senior Taliban and al Qaeda leader in a Feb. 8 strike in Miramshah's bazaar. Mansoor ran training camps in the area and sent fighters to battle NATO and Afghan forces across the border, and linked up members of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with al Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan.

Despite the US airstrikes, al Qaeda operatives claim they are still capable of conducting training and operations in the area. Abu Zubaydah al Lubnani, a Lebanese member of al Qaeda who operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border, has said that while the drones have "delayed some operations or even stopped them," the terror group is still functioning in the region.

"I want here to confirm that Qaedat al-Jihad is still standing in Khorasan, solid and strong, despite what hit it, and it is still producing operations and it doesn't know the path of despair...," Lubnani said in statement that was recently released on jihadist forums and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/04/us_drone_strike_kill_3.php#ixzz1tSUAVtvY

Iranian Security Officials Crack Down.....On Terriers and Pomeranians

The doggie prisons in Iran are full again today as Iranian security personnel spent the other day round up dogs of all sorts who were being walked by their owners...the dogs ripped away from their owners and put behind bars!   LOL

From the story at Mohabat News via Religion of Peace:

The Iranian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (SPCA) says that 20 pet dogs were recently arrested in a park in Tehran.

The dogs were reportedly being walked by their owners in the Pardisan park last week when security forces took the canines away and transferred them to what appears to be a detention center.

Reza Javalchi, the spokesman of the SPCA, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the dogs will likely be kept in the detention center for a while and then released after their owners sign a written document promising not to walk their dogs in public.

Now, just yesterday, I submitted here a post that the Iranian government was locking down the internet and now they are taking away the family pets????   This is once again the ageless struggle in Iran where ties to the Persian legacy of this land butts heads with the Islam of the Arabs who conquered them.

 Paws Up Fido! Pet Dogs Arrested In Iran


The dogs were reportedly being walked by their owners in the Pardisan park last week when security forces took the canines away and transferred them to what appears to be a detention center.

The SPCA has posted on its website a video of the arrested dogs inside a cage. The group warns that the dogs are being kept in "unhygienic and difficult conditions" and that their owners have not been yet able to secure their release.

Reza Javalchi, the spokesman of the SPCA, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the dogs will likely be kept in the detention center for a while and then released after their owners sign a written document promising not to walk their dogs in public.

But every day in confinement is dangerous for the animals, Javalchi says.

"Unfortunately, because these dogs are being kept together, they often become sick and they're not being given enough food. There have been some cases where some of the dogs have died during their detention."

This isn't the first time that security forces have cracked down on dogs and their owners in the Islamic republic, where dog ownership has always been a sensitive issue. In 2007, a number of dogs in the Iranian capital ended up in a "dog prison" after police forces took them away from their owners who were walking them in the streets.

Dogs are considered dirty by Iranian clerics, who have denounced dog ownership as morally corrupt. In recent years, police officials have issued warnings against dog owners. Dog owners and their pets have been harassed, detained, and forced to pay fines. That hasn't stopped Iranians in Tehran and other big cities from keeping dogs as pets, however.

Javalchi says there are no legal prohibitions in Iranian law against it.

"We've asked police forces not to act against the laws in many cases. We've written many letters and we've also prepared a complaint. It is due to be processed in the name of some of those people whose pets have been hurt as the result of these actions. We'd like to ask the judiciary to prevent security forces from breaking the law," he said.

One woman who owns a small terrier told RFE/RL that dog ownership is becoming increasingly difficult in Iran.

"It's ridiculous," she said. "Instead of solving people's economic problems, the [authorities] harass us for having dogs."

 

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The Embracing of Islam By Barack Hussein Obama

The story comes from Family Security Matters.

EDITORIAL: Obama embraces Islam


The Obama administration is doing its utmost to promote the fortunes of the Islamist parties in Egypt. A State Department official declared that with the rise of these radical groups after the Arab Spring, “people who once might have gone into al Qaeda see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.” They see this as a victory. The problem is, so do the terrorists.

Last year, the White House began peddling the line that the uprisings in the Middle East were a repudiation of the al Qaeda model of seeking change through terrorism. The argument was that while America opposed violent extremism, the rise of nonviolent radical movements was just fine, and even commendable. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri quickly dismissed this claim, saying that from the terrorists’ point of view, it didn’t matter whether an Islamist victory came through violence or not. The means were unimportant except as they related to the end state: the imposition of hard-line Shariah-based laws and policies.

From Zawahri’s point of view, it makes no difference whether the caliphate is born of the ballot, bomb or bullet. The important thing is the victory of Islamism, which the White House also seems to endorse.

The notion that there is a legitimate form of Islamism reflects a serious intellectual failing on the part of the Obama administration. President Obama seems to believe the Islamists are legitimized simply by participating in the political process. Some argue that the demands of electoral politics will moderate the Islamist parties, whose members will evolve from stern-eyed theocrats into social reformers. Others believe the only path to modernity is through embracing the Muslim Brotherhood’s barbarous values.

No matter what the source of the delusion, no political movement that exalts the Koran can peaceably coexist with the concept of freedom at the root of Western governance. Islamist notions of democracy are constrained by the strictures of their religion. Radical Muslims reject the humanistic values that gave birth to modern Western government; the self-evident truths regarding everyone’s inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are just so much infidel heresy to the Islamists. There are no inalienable rights under political Islam, only submission to the will of Allah.

The Islamist parties in Egypt and elsewhere are promoting democracy simply as a means of consolidating their power. They see the process as a ratchet effect, with every gain they make as one more step toward erecting a Shariah-based theocracy. Increased power will not lead - and in fact, never has led - to moderation, but to further demands to implement their blueprint for Koranic rule. The model is the Iranian Revolution, in which a brief period of openness was followed by the ascent of Islamic hard-liners who snuffed out any hint of liberty and executed those who had the nerve to differ.

To anyone who believes in the Western concept of freedom, Islamism by its nature cannot be legitimate. The White House needs to answer the question: If Islamism is a legitimate political movement, should it come to America, and if so, how soon?

The Washington Times

Video: Egyptian Cleric: "Europe will become a single Islamic state"

Video: Justice From Above

Iran Decides To Cut Off Internet To Entire Iranian Population

Oh boy, I guess if the Ayatollah and mullahs and Ahmadinejad have decided they don't care a lick what the Iranian people think of them, then their new plan to cut off all internet access in the entire country won't be a big deal - but I have a sneaking suspicion that this latest move by the madmen at the helm of Iran will backfire on them.  Big Time.


The story comes from The Telegraph.

Iran planning to cut internet access to rest of world


Iranians are already used to censors blocking Facebook, Gmail and foreign news sites, and being spied on with surveillance software purchased from Western companies.

But the ambitious plans would go much further, blocking access to foreign-based social media sites and email. Instead, there will be an Iranian version of Facebook and a new email service, to be called Iran Mail. Users will have to register their home address and social security number with police.

The plans have received the backing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful man in Iran, who has denounced the internet as sinful and a means for the West to wage "soft war" by invading Iranian culture.

But his real target is anti-regime activists who have relied on the internet since the failure of the "Green Revolution" which followed the disputed 2009 election. Since then security has been so tight on Iran's streets that protests are broken up almost as soon as they start.

When the system, called Halal internet or National Internet by the regime, is introduced this summer only a few approved and carefully monitored businesses and government departments will have access to the World Wide Web. In effect Iran will have a giant, country-wide intranet, with cyber police blocking websites that are not approved.

The Iranian regime has been badly shaken by the use made of the internet by its own opponents and then by revolutionaries during the Arab Spring last year.

In particular mobile phone footage of a young woman called Neda Agha-Soltani, shot dead by government thugs in Tehran in 2009, spread rapidly on the internet, providing a powerful image to the world of the regime's brutality.

Amir Bayani, of anti-censorship group Article 19, said: "The government doesn't want video of another Neda going viral, so controlling the internet is a priority for them.

"People rely on the internet for information now. Nobody trusts official government news sources. The only uncensored information comes from blogs and Facebook, and that is under threat.

"Businesses are worried the new system may hurt their profits, and I can only hope that their opposition will be enough to shelve these plans."

Video: Kiowas Cleaning Up Some Trapped Taliban

Iraqi Shiites Retaliate For Sunni Bombing Attacks...They Enter an Apartment and Kill a Mother and 3 Children

Oh boy, the "real" warriors of Mohammed are alive and well in Iraq - those magnificent Mohammedan warriors this time decided to retaliate against some attacks by Sunni insurgents so the Shia "men" decided to break into a Sunni apartment and shoot dead a woman and her three little kids.  You can almost hear Mo's cries of delight knowing those three children's last breaths were garbled with the blood of their siblings and their mother.

From the report at Emirates 24/7:

A mother and her three children were shot dead in an apparent sectarian attack in a village in central Iraq, after twin bombings killed eight people, police said Friday.

"Unknown gunmen broke into a house in the village of Abu Garma and killed a 45-year-old woman and her three children," who were between 10 and 15 years old, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Karkhi said.

The attack with silenced weapons probably occurred between 3:00 and 4:00 am (0000 and 0100 GMT) on Friday, he said, adding the bodies were found about 9:00 am (0600 GMT) by a family member.

A police lieutenant colonel involved in the investigation said the attack might have a sectarian motive, and could lead to further violence.

"Most of those killed in the two attacks yesterday (Thursday) were Shiite, and the family killed later was Sunni," he said.

I'm sure most Americans would settle their disputes the same way, right?  (note:  sarcasm is in high gear here)...I mean, if your neighbor gets pissed off at your mowing job and comes over and breaks a window in your SUV, your first inclination would be to wait for him to leave for the store and then while he's gone...you'd go over to his house and beat the shit out of his wife and three little kids.....right?

Mother, three children gunned down in Iraq


A mother and her three children were shot dead in an apparent sectarian attack in a village in central Iraq, after twin bombings killed eight people, police said Friday.

"Unknown gunmen broke into a house in the village of Abu Garma and killed a 45-year-old woman and her three children," who were between 10 and 15 years old, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Karkhi said.

The attack with silenced weapons probably occurred between 3:00 and 4:00 am (0000 and 0100 GMT) on Friday, he said, adding the bodies were found about 9:00 am (0600 GMT) by a family member.

A police lieutenant colonel involved in the investigation said the attack might have a sectarian motive, and could lead to further violence.

"Most of those killed in the two attacks yesterday (Thursday) were Shiite, and the family killed later was Sunni," he said.

"It seems like a sectarian incident, and there is a risk that it might lead to more sectarian violence in the area."

Karkhi said a suicide car bombing near a cafe in Abu Garma on Thursday followed by another bombing inside it as the casualties were being carried out killed eight people and wounded 18 others.

Abu Garma is a small village of between 150 and 200 people north of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province. Its centre is mainly Sunni, while its outer areas are mainly Shiite.

The 2006 bombing of the Shiite Al-Askari shrine in Samarra unleashed an orgy of sectarian bombings and death squad murders in which tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed, and many more forced from their homes.

The violence was eventually brought under control when Sunni tribesmen switched sides and began battling militants and the United States sent thousands of additional soldiers.

But while violence is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common here, killing 112 Iraqis in March, according to government figures.

Lebanon, Doing the Bidding of Hezbollah, Intercepts Ship Loaded With RPG's For Syrian Rebels

It appears that the al Qaeda elements in Libya sent a fairly large cargo of RPG's on a ship headed for a northern Lebanese port - those arms were for the Syrian rebels to fight against the Assad regime but the Lebanese intercepted the ship and the cargo.  This is a case of the Lebanese government stopping the arming of terrorists in Syria because of their allegiance to Hezbollah while, of course, for years, the Lebanese government didn't raise a finger to stop a single shipment of arms and rockets to Hezbollah coming in from Syria.


The story comes from The Jerusalem Post.

Lebanon intercepts Syria-bound smuggling ship


BEIRUT - Lebanese authorities have found weapons on board a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean which may have been trying to supply Syrian rebels, security sources said on Saturday.

They said the ship, the Lutfallah II, was on its way to Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli when it was intercepted and taken to Selaata port, north of Beirut, for inspection.

An overnight search uncovered weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and rifles in three freight containers, the sources said.

The Sierra Leone-flagged ship had sailed from Libya, via the Egyptian port of Alexandria, the sources added.

Syrian authorities have repeatedly said weapons are being smuggled from neighboring countries, including Lebanon, to arm rebels fighting President Bashar Assad.

Lebanon's mainly Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli has seen frequent demonstrations in support of anti-Assad protesters and insurgents. There have also been armed clashes between minority Alawites - from the same sect as Assad's ruling family - and majority Sunnis.

Last week, the Israel Navy intercepted the HS Beethoven cargo ship 260 km off Israel's coast, suspecting that it was being used to smuggle arms to Gaza. After a 12-hour search, the IDF declared that did not find any weapons aboard and allowed the ship to continue on its path.

Two weeks ago, Germany intercepted the Atlantic Cruiser, suspecting that it was being used to smuggle arms to Syria. The ship was towed to a Turkish port, where officials failed to find evidence of arms smuggling.

Video: THESE Are the Guys Obama Wanted In Power In Egypt?

Video: A Classic

Pakistan's Prime Minister Convicted of Contempt, Refuses To Step Down

As if a country can get any more fucked up than Pakistan already is (well, okay...it's not exactly Somalia or Yemen, yet) but now there are thunderous cries for the resignation of Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani after his conviction of contempt of court by Pakistan's Supreme Court.

I'm not going to get into the boring details of the conviction but as is usually the case in Pakistan, the furor is all about corruption in the government and of course, those calling for Gilani's resignation are just as corrupt if not more.

The issue of all of this is stability - it's hard for some of us to sleep at night knowing just how many nukes Pakistan has and how many enemies are already INSIDE of that country working tirelessly to take over those same nukes.

The story comes from DAWN.

PM says only parliament can remove him


ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday refused to step down after his contempt of court conviction, saying only the country’s parliament could remove him from office.

“There is no law to remove an elected prime minister, parliament is the supreme authority and only this parliament has the authority to remove me,” he said in a defiant appearance in the National Assembly a day after the Supreme Court verdict.

He had faced opposition calls to quit after the Supreme Court convicted him for refusing to write to authorities in Switzerland asking them to reopen a multimillion dollar graft probe into President Asif Ali Zardari.

MNAs from the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) staged a walk out from the assembly.

The prime minister rhetorically asked whether he was not an elected representative of the people.

I have protected the Constitution of this country, he said, adding that he was convicted “for protecting the Constitution”.

He insisted he had done nothing wrong.

“I have not committed a crime, I have done nothing wrong but I have protected the constitution of this country,” he said.

He challenged the PML-N to “bring a vote of no confidence” against him.

“I am an elected prime minister, representing 180 million people. How can any body order an elected prime minister to go home?” he said.

“Only the speaker of the house, who is the custodian of this house, has the authority to decide. I am ready to quit if this parliament disqualifies me.”

“I don’t have ego issues, I am the longest serving prime minister of this country,” he said.

Referring to the Sharif brothers, the prime minister said: One brother does not accept the president, the other does not accept the prime minister.

“I was congratulated on the conviction, more times than I was on becoming the prime minister…I was congratulated for protecting the Constitution of this country,” the premier said.

He said: “Nawaz Sharif should decide who he is with…on some occasions he talks about the DG ISI and on others he talks about the parliament.”

Gilani is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan.

The corruption allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and a prosecutor in Switzerland has said it will be impossible to re-open them as long as he remains head of state and so is immune from prosecution.

Gilani insists the president has full immunity, but in December 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians.

Video: More of the Danes vs. the Taliban

Obama's Political Hammer: The EPA

This article over at Family Security Matters is further evidence of how the Obama administration rolls...it rolls the Chicago Way.  And believe me, there is nothing "Presidential" about it - it reeks of intimidation, political bullying and Marxist sociopath indoctrination.  The fact of the matter is that Barack Hussein Obama has used the Environmental Protection Agency, not to clean up our lakes and streams or our air, but to hammer home his ideas of a Marxist homeland - and businesses and industries have had to cower in fear over the regulatory hammer held over their heads.

"Crucify Them": The Obama Way


Environmental Protection Agency administrator Al Armendariz, an avowed greenie on leave from Southern Methodist University, gave a little-noticed speech in 2010 outlining his sadistic philosophy. "I was in a meeting once, and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting, but I'll go ahead and tell you what I said," he began. In a video obtained and released by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., Armendariz then shared his bloody analogy:


"It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw, and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. . So, that's our general philosophy."


Echoing President Obama's "punch back twice as hard" treatment of his political enemies, Armendariz explained to his underlings that "you hit them as hard as you can, and you make examples out of them, and there is a deterrent effect there. And, companies that are smart see that, they don't want to play that game, and they decide at that point that it's time to clean up."


In other words: Suck up, fly left, or face prosecution. The goal isn't a cleaner environment. The goal is political incitement of fear.


Publicly humiliated by the video release of the persecution strategy session, Armendariz said he regretted his "poor choice of words" this week. "It was an offensive and inaccurate way to portray our efforts to address potential violations of our nation's environmental laws. I am and have always been committed to fair and vigorous enforcement of those laws."


Tyrannical actions, of course, speak louder than weasel words. And the record shows that Obama environmental overlords run amok.


It was Obama's power-mad Interior Secretary Ken Salazar who vowed to keep his "boot on the neck" of BP after the Gulf oil spill in 2010. Salazar and former eco-czar Carol Browner colluded on a fraudulent report -- condemned by federal judges -- that completely distorted a White House-appointed expert panel's opposition to the administration's job-killing, industry-bashing drilling moratorium.


It was Obama's EPA that railroaded a senior government research analyst for daring to question the agency's zealous push to impose greenhouse gas rules. When Alan Carlin asked to distribute an analysis on the health effects of greenhouse gases that didn't fit the eco-bureaucracy's blame-human-activity narrative, he was gagged and reprimanded: "The time for such discussion of fundamental issues has passed for this round. The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision. . I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office." Public relations management trumped truth in science, the deliberative process and fairness.


It was Obama's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cahoots with the witch hunters at the Department of Justice, that raided Gibson Guitar factories in Memphis and Nashville three years ago over an arcane endangered species of wood. The guitar police have yet to bring charges, leaving the company in costly legal limbo.


And as Inhofe pointed out in response to Armendariz's "apology": "Not long after Administrator Armendariz made these comments in 2010, EPA targeted US natural gas producers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. In all three of these cases, EPA initially made headline-grabbing statements either insinuating or proclaiming outright that the use of hydraulic fracturing by American energy producers was the cause of water contamination, but in each case their comments were premature at best -- and despite their most valiant efforts, they have been unable to find any sound scientific evidence to make this link."


Indeed, Armendariz the Executioner tried nailing a drilling company -- Texas-based Range Resources -- to the cross in 2010 with an emergency declaration that its fracking work in the Lone Star State had contaminated groundwater. The Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, found no scientific evidence of the Obama EPA's claims.


Forbes magazine reported: "In recent months a federal judge slapped the EPA, decreeing that the agency was required to actually do some scientific investigation of wells before penalizing the companies that drilled them. Finally in March the EPA withdrew its emergency order and a federal court dismissed the EPA's case."


Vice President Joe Biden is right about Obama's "big stick." Too bad he's using it to beat down America's domestic energy producers and wealth creators instead of our foreign enemies.

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New Jersey Democrats...Now's the Time To Send Your Jew-hating, Islam-loving, Pro-Sharia Congressman Packing

 Bill Pascrell warmly greets Imam Mohamad Quatanani during a 2009 interfaith event marking the start of Ramadan. Photo by The Record and Herald News.



Not much pisses me off worse than a non-Muslim dhimmified Liberal advocate for the ways of Islam so I've never been one to tolerate Rep. Bill Pascrell from New Jersey.  This clown doesn't just sit on the sidelines and watch as Islam and Sharia Law creep into our nation, hell, he doesn't even just cheer lead for it - this asswipe actually AIDS and ABETS the Muslim terrorists among us.


Well, this November we actually have a chance of ridding the U.S. House of this traitor to America and no, it's not because some Republican crusader has ridden in on a white horse.  No, there's a Dem challenger for Pascrell's seat and while he is a Democrat and a Liberal, he's 100 shades better than the dhimmi, Pascrell.

So here is your choice New Jersey - are you going to continue to vote in an enemy of Israel, a supporter of the likes of CAIR and a supporter of destroying the American Constitution or are you going to send this piece of shit packing?

Well?

The story comes from The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Islamist Fellow Traveler: Rep Bill Pascrell


For more than a decade, Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., has routinely coasted to re-election over token opposition in the Democrat-dominated 8th Congressional District. This year is different, and the eight-term congressman – a close Capitol Hill ally of Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – is fighting for his political life.

After the New Jersey Legislature eliminated fellow Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman's neighboring district last year, he decided to run against Pascrell in the new, heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District. Before redistricting, the two men (both of them liberals first elected to Congress in 1996) were considered political allies. With the primary less than two months away, they have been transformed into bitter opponents.

Rothman supporters are emphasizing his strong support of Israel, contrasting it with that of Pascrell – one of 54 House members who joined Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., in sending a January 2010 letter to President Obama denouncing Israel and Egypt for blockading Hamas-ruled Gaza. The letter accused Israel of imposing "de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."

Former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block said the differences between Rothman and Pascrell on Israel couldn't be clearer. Pointing to the letter to Obama, Block told the New Jersey Jewish Standard in January that Pascrell (whose hometown of Paterson includes large Arab and Muslim populations) had "actually sided against American support for Israel's right to defend herself against weapons smuggling and attacks by terrorists."

Thus far, there are no public-opinion polls measuring whether the perception that Pascrell is hostile to Israel is damaging him politically. But Orthodox Jewish leaders in the district have launched a campaign to persuade registered Republicans to change their registration to Democrat in order to vote for Rothman in the June 5 primary. Earlier this month, a local newspaper reported that since New Year's Day, a net total of 900 voters registered as Republican or unaffiliated had switched their registration to Democrat, with less than 200 switching the other way.

As this report details, the Gaza letter is just one of many troubling things in Pascrell's record. Others include:

Collaborating with CAIR. Despite its established roots in the Islamic Association for Palestine, a Hamas front group, Pascrell speaks with pride about his connections with CAIR. The organization's website includes a glowing testimonial from Pascrell in which he "personally commend[s] CAIR for its work on issues including civil liberties" and calls it "the preeminent organization representing the concerns of Muslim Americans."

*Whitewashing the radical record of Imam Mohammad Qatanani. Qatanani, imam at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, was targeted for removal from the United States for failing to disclose his Israeli court conviction for membership in Hamas. Qatanani has also made comments condemning Christians to eternal hellfire and advocating support for the children of suicide bombers. Pascrell lobbied against Qatanani's deportation from the United States and submitted a court affidavit calling the imam "peace-loving and magnanimous."

Refusing to condemn anti-Semitic slurs by his political supporters. In February, Arab-American activist Aref Assaf, a Pascrell supporter and contributor, suggested that Jews who support Rothman are putting Israel's interests over those of America. Pascrell refused to condemn Assaf. Earlier, the congressman refused to condemn one of his fundraisers, Lebanese-American businessman Sami Merhi, who had likened Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Hitler while speaking at a Pascrell fundraiser.

Disparaging law-enforcement efforts to acquire intelligence on radical groups. Although he has refused to criticize political allies for anti-Semitic remarks, Pascrell has not hesitated to attack law enforcement agencies like the New York Police Department based on incorrect information. He criticized the NYPD for using "religious profiling" in conducting surveillance at New Jersey mosques and suggested the NYPD had conducted surveillance without communicating with New Jersey officials – despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

Ridiculing the existence of a jihadist threat. At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on radicalization last year, businessman Melvin Bledsoe testified about his son's transformation from a normal American teenager into a jihadist. Pascrell mocked the premise that Islamist terror deserved any special concern, saying that "some pretty bad people" are Catholics. He belittled Bledsoe's call for American unity against jihadist recruitment, denying that any divisions exist.

"When you say 'the other side,' I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Pascrell said.

Main Story:

Islamists on Capitol Hill have few better allies than Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. A former mayor of Paterson, Pascrell, 75, is in his eighth term representing Passaic County in New Jersey's 8th Congressional District. He is an outspoken critic of congressional efforts to investigate Muslim radicalization in the United States and a top ally of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Redistricting has placed Pascrell in the new 9th Congressional District with fellow Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman, prompting a tough June 5 primary. Like Pascrell, Rothman (whose old district was dismantled in redistricting) is a liberal Democrat who entered Congress in 1997.

But the two men have very different records on Israel. Rothman is a strong supporter of the Jewish state.

Pascrell, by contrast, was one of 62 lawmakers, including them Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Loretta Sanchez D-Calif., who signed a January 2009 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggesting that Israel was to blame for denying critically needed aid to Palestinian residents of Gaza. CAIR's New Jersey chapter (CAIR-NJ) issued an "Action Alert" urging supporters to thank signers of the letter for "their support of human rights" by "address[ing] the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."

The letter neglected to mention the role played by Gaza's ruling Hamas regime in creating the humanitarian crisis by provoking war with Israel and exacerbating the situation through its extensive use of civilian human shields.

Pascrell was one of 54 House members (including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison), who signed a one-sided letter in 2010 to President Obama accusing Israel of imposing "de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."

The Hill reported that after Pascrell signed the 2010 letter, Rothman (at that time a political ally) defended his colleague's record on Israel. These days, Rothman and his supporters are singing a different tune about Pascrell.

Although Pascrell has portrayed himself as pro-Israel, his efforts to do so in the current campaign have been marred by missteps. He won the endorsement of New Jersey real-estate mogul David Steiner, who formerly served as president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), only to learn that Steiner resigned in disgrace after exaggerating the organization's power to choose President Clinton's cabinet.

"I'm not sure why Pascrell proactively calls attention to how little support he has within the pro-Israel community," one New Jersey Democrat told the Washington Free Beacon. "First, he bragged about the endorsement of a one-term, 80-plus year-old congressman (former Democratic Rep. Herb Klein) and now the endorsement of a former president of AIPAC who embarrassed AIPAC so much when he was president that they forced him to resign."

Pascrell's bid for Jewish votes has been further undercut by his refusal to denounce local Arab-American activist Aref Assaf, who responded angrily to reports that Orthodox Jewish Republicans might change their party registration in order to vote for Rothman in the Democratic primary.

"As total and blind support for Israel becomes the only reason for choosing Rothman, voters who do not view the elections in this prism will need to take notice: Loyalty to a foreign flag is not loyalty to America's," wrote Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum (AAF) which posted the op-ed on its website.

Rothman supporters demanded that Pascrell disavow Assaf's comments, but he refused. Assaf subsequently termed complaints about his column "Islamophobia" and "deplorable blanket racism." He published another op-ed on the primary suggesting Pascrell was under fire from "Jewish sources" because he is not regarded as "a perfect example of an Israeli loyalist."

"While some of Rothman's supporters put the flag and the security of another country above ours, we place America first and unconditionally," Assaf wrote. "While they put Israel first, we place America second to none."

Asked about Pascrell's refusal to repudiate Assaf's comments, veteran Democratic Party activist Joshua Block didn't mince words.

"The unwillingness to directly confront and condemn this anti-Semitic invective and bigotry is despicable," said Block, a former spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "Silence in the face of this kind of hate speech says it all."

But Passaic County Democratic Party leaders view the matter differently. On March 24, party executive leaders unanimously endorsed Pascrell. He "was the best choice and had the most experience on the diverse issues that affect Passaic County," said county Democratic Party Chairman John Currie.

Assaf is not the first political ally Pascrell has refused to condemn for making anti-Semitic comments. Speaking at a Pascrell fundraiser in 2002, Lebanese-American businessman Sami Merhi likened then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Adolf Hitler and said he "can't see the comparison" between the 9/11 hijackers and Palestinian suicide bombers.

When Merhi ran for a seat as Passaic County freeholder in 2006, senior New Jersey Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez repudiated his remarks and said they couldn't support his candidacy. Pascrell called the comments a "mistake," but refused to abandon Merhi, a friend who has raised money for the congressman's previous campaigns.

"He's a well-vetted candidate," Pascrell said of Merhi. "I believe he's a good man, and he'll represent all the people of Passaic County."

But Pascrell's support wasn't enough to save Merhi. One week after endorsing his nomination, the Passaic County Democratic screening committee reversed itself, voting 20-3 to withdraw its support.

"Political lynching of Arab Americans is now an accepted practice," Assaf said. "Every Arab American is now Sami Merhi."

Assaf accused a Jewish official who supported Merhi's ouster of seeking "to transform (sic) the conflict between Arabs and Jews from the streets of Jerusalem to the streets of Passaic County."

Connections with Assaf and CAIR are not just an embarrassing problem for Pascrell. Gary Schaer, a prominent Democratic state assemblyman whose endorsement prompted 15 local Orthodox synagogues to back Rothman, blasted Assaf last month for impugning the motives of Jewish voters.

But as recently as December, Assaf and Schaer were on much friendlier terms. They appeared together at CAIR-New Jersey's annual banquet, where Assaf made a "special presentation" to Schaer – giving him the "CAIR-NJ 2011 Public Leadership Award" for "his dedication to protecting the civil and religious rights of all citizens."

While he has avoided repudiating anti-Semites and conspiracy mongers, Pascrell has shown less reticence about criticizing the New York Police Department (NYPD) for using "religious profiling" in surveillance at New Jersey mosques. He suggested the NYPD had conducted surveillance without communicating with New Jersey officials despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

Considers CAIR "Preeminent"

Pascrell is a leading congressional ally of CAIR, which has established roots in the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), an organization found to be a front group for Hamas. Prosecutors designated CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in prosecuting senior officials with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). CAIR was designated because of its associations with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee.

The Palestine Committee was created to provide Hamas with financial and political support in the United States, prosecutors said. Five senior HLF officials were convicted of all charges for funneling approximately $12 million to Hamas and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.

The FBI cut off contact with CAIR in 2008 based on evidence in the HLF case, writing that "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner."

But longstanding concerns about CAIR's radical record haven't prevented Pascrell from forging close ties with the organization.

CAIR's website contains this glowing testimonial from the New Jersey lawmaker:

"With over 30 CAIR Chapters spread throughout the United States and Canada it is clear that CAIR has become the preeminent organization representing the concerns of Muslim Americans. I want to personally commend CAIR for its work on issues including civil liberties and opening dialogue with various communities in America."

Pascrell was one of 23 members of Congress who printed proclamations in the program at CAIR's 12th annual national banquet in November 2006.

He was one of nine members who printed proclamations at CAIR's 2008 national banquet. "Since 2003, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' New Jersey Chapter has encouraged progressive dialogue throughout my district and throughout many New Jersey communities. The New Jersey Chapter's hard work does not go unrecognized by this office," Pascrell wrote. "I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations … to wish you the same success in the future you have had in your past."

Pascrell joined three other members of Congress in publishing proclamations at CAIR's 2009 national banquet.

In March 2007, Pascrell created a stir after he reserved a conference room in the U.S. Capitol for a CAIR panel discussion entitled "Global Attitudes on Islam-West Relations: U.S. Policy Implications." The panel included Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, who analyzed polls on relations between Muslims and the West, and CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.

Pascrell spokesman Caley Gray said the forum "opens up an important dialogue about global public opinion concerning the United States."

"We see it as a simple room request," said Gray. "We did receive a room request and evaluated it and approved it."

Not everyone on Capitol Hill regarded it as an ordinary request. "It does happen all the time, but usually it is the United Way or some constituent group or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, not a group with supposed ties to terrorism – in the Capitol no less," a Hill staffer said at the time.

"We know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, a member of the party's Senate leadership. Schumer criticized CAIR for having "intimate links with Hamas."

In February 2004, CAIR's New Jersey office issued a statement praising Pascrell and Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., for condemning New York Republican Rep. Peter King's assertion that most American mosques were controlled by radicals.

Pascrell and Corzine both spoke at the Annual Community Brunch held by the American Muslim Union (AMU) on Feb. 21, 2004, which was cosponsored by 10 other organizations, including CAIR-NJ and the Islamic Center of Passaic County (ICPC).

Magdy Mahmoud, co-founder and president of CAIR's New Jersey chapter, was another cosponsor of the AMU brunch, Joel Mowbray reported in the Boston Sun the following month.

Mahmoud served on the executive board of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) from 1993-98 and directed MAYA's chapters committee. During Mahmoud's tenure, the organization hosted a 1995 event in Toledo where Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi praised Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"Our brothers in Hamas, in Palestine, the Islamic resistance, the Islamic Jihad, after the rest have given up and despaired, the movement of the jihad brings us back to our faith," Qaradawi declared.

In the same speech, Qaradawi advocated the killing of Jews. He said that "the balance of power will change, and this is what is told in the Hadith of Ibn Omar and the Hadith of Abu-Harairah: 'You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone and the tree will say: Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!' The resurrection will not come before this happens. This is a text from the good omens in which we believe."

Qaradawi vowed that Muslims would conquer Europe and the United States. "Islam will come back to Europe for the third time, after it was expelled from it twice," Qaradawi said. "We will conquer Europe; we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da'wa [proselytizing]."

The Dar-ul-Islah Islamic Center also sponsored the brunch. Co-founder Waheed Khalid has defended Hamas and declined comment when asked whether he believed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were forgeries. Asked about Hamas activities by the Bergen Record in 1998, Khalid replied: "They are trying to get the occupiers out of their home."

Mohammed El-Mezain, one of the five HLF officials convicted in 2008, co-founded the Islamic Center for Passaic County in 1989 and served as its first imam. According to a memorandum written by former FBI Assistant Counterterrorism Director Dale Watson, Mezain (serving a 15-year prison term for his HLF conviction) claimed in a 1994 speech at the mosque that he raised $1.8 million in the United States for Hamas.

In February 2003, the ICPC reportedly hosted Islamist militant Abdelhaleem Ashqar, later sentenced to 11 years in prison for criminal contempt and obstruction of justice after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Hamas support in the United States.

Pascrell described as "pure crap" allegations that any cosponsors of the February 2004 community brunch were radical Islamists or linked to terrorist organizations. Asked by Mowbray if he believed that he was providing legitimacy to radical organizations by appearing at the event, Pascrell replied: "I'm not going to deal in rumors. The rest is crap. I know these men as fine family men."

A Pascrell spokesman later clarified that his boss was not referring to Alaa al-Sadawi, former imam at El Tawheed Islamic Center in Jersey City (another sponsor of the event), who was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to five years, three months in prison for attempting to smuggle $659,000 to Egypt. Sadawi raised money for the Global Relief Foundation, designated a terrorist financier by the Treasury Department for its links with al-Qaida. (He later pleaded guilty to lying in order to obtain U.S. citizenship).

"That guy should be in jail," the spokesman said of Sadawi. "But you can't hold the members of the mosque responsible for his actions."

Another imam at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, Mohammad Qatanani, was accused of lying on his U.S. immigration documents when he failed to disclose his confession to Israeli authorities that he was a member of Hamas, and his Israeli court conviction for membership in the terror group. A federal immigration judge ruled in favor of Qatanani in 2008, but the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned part of the order the following year, holding that Judge Alberto Riefkohl had erred in downplaying Israeli evidence showing Qatanani's links with Hamas.

Qatanani spoke at a November 1999 IAP conference. Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas official, gave the organization $490,000 and is a former IAP board member. Evidence at the HLF trial showed the IAP played a central role in the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee – in essence Hamas' U.S.-based infrastructure.

In a September 2004 article in the New Jersey Herald-News, Qatanani advocated supporting the children of suicide bombers. During the HLF trial, he publicly prayed for the Hamas-linked defendants and delivered a sermon condemning Christians to eternal hellfire. In another sermon, Qatanani suggested that all of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza were part of "Greater Syria" and that fighting to conquer these lands is a divine commandment for Muslims. These sermons were available in English on the mosque's website.

None of this stopped Pascrell from praising Qatanani and lobbying on his behalf. When the imam faced deportation, Pascrell submitted a court affidavit calling Qatanani "peace-loving" and "magnanimous."

"As a religious leader, Imam Qatanani has had an enormously positive impact in my district," the congressman wrote. "Our community would suffer a serious loss should he be required to leave."

Hours after federal immigration Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl's 2008 ruling that Qatanani could remain in the United States, Pascrell joined Gov. Chris Christie and other officials in paying tribute to the imam. At a breaking of the Ramadan fast in Paterson that evening, Pascrell gushed about Qatanani.

"You put so much time into bringing peace for all of us," Pascrell told him. "Thank you imam, for all you've done for America since you've come here."

Others attending the celebration included Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano and Weysan Dun, FBI special agent in charge of the Bureau's Newark office; the director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security; and various sheriffs and county prosecutors.

The Board of Immigration Appeals overturned part of the order the following year, holding that Judge Riefkohl had erred in downplaying Israeli evidence showing Qatanani's links with Hamas. Qatanani remains in the United States pending the outcome of deportation proceedings.

A Reliable Ally for Islamists

In 2008, Pascrell defended controversial New York City subway ads promoting Islam financed by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). The ads featured phrases like "Head Scarf?" and "Prophet Muhammad?" on one side, with the words "You deserve to know" and "WhysIam.org" on the other.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., cited the high-profile role in promoting the ad campaign played by radical Imam Siraj Wahhaj (a former CAIR advisory board member and a frequent speaker at the group's events) in urging transit officials not to run the ads.

Wahhaj was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1995 federal trial of Omar Abdel Rahman (AKA "the Blind Sheik"), who was convicted of conspiring to bomb New York landmarks and is serving life in prison.

Wahhaj testified in defense of the sheik, who he called a "respected scholar" and "bold, as a strong preacher of Islam." Abdel Rahman was convicted of charges that included conspiracy to bomb the New York FBI headquarters and to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Wahhaj has also called for the establishment of an Islamic state in the United States and urged Muslims to get involved in American politics because "politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam."

After King pointed to Wahhaj's radicalism, Pascrell expressed disappointment that "any public official" would oppose the subway advertisements. Wahhaj's ad campaign "is exactly the kind of dialogue we need," one that would "bridge the gaps in our collective knowledge," Pascrell said.

CAIR's New Jersey chapter sent out a July 31, 2008 action alert urging American Muslims and "other people of conscience" to thank Pascrell for "standing up to those who seek to marginalize the American Muslim community."

Pascrell can sound strident when the facts don't completely match his political narrative. When ABC Television announced plans to broadcast a "docudrama" criticizing the Clinton administration's handling of the al-Qaida threat, Pascrell denounced the film at a September 2006 Capitol Hill press conference, suggesting it was little more than fiction aimed at advancing the Republican Party. He said the

9/11 Commission

found no evidence of "retreat or negligence" by the Clinton administration.

Pascrell neglected to point out that the commission's report was sharply critical of both the Bush and Clinton administrations' handling of the threat. It found that the Clinton administration had as many as four chances to capture or kill bin Laden from December 1998 to July 1999 but failed to act.

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on radicalization within the Muslim community last year, witnesses discussed the dramatic increase in jihadist terror plots on American soil. Pascrell attacked the premise that radical Islamic terror deserved any special focus, stating that "some pretty bad people come out of Catholic churches."

One witness at the hearing was Melvin Bledsoe, whose son, Carlos (AKA Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad) was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting to death one soldier and wounding another outside a Little Rock, Ark. military recruiting center in June 2009.

Melvin Bledsoe testified about his family tragedy – specifically about his son's transformation from a normal American teen-ager into a jihadist. The elder Bledsoe's call for Americans to unite against jihadist recruitment efforts drew a sharp rebuke from Pascrell, who denied any divisions existed. "When you say 'the other side,' I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Pascrell told Bledsoe. "We are all in this together."

There is no public polling data to indicate whether Pascrell faces any political backlash for collaborating with CAIR or treating with contempt a father who lost his son to Islamic radicalism. But there are indications that Pascrell's pro-Islamist views could be helping attract more Jews into the Rothman camp in this Democrat-dominated district.

The website NorthJersey.com reported earlier this month that voter registration data from six Passaic County towns in the new district show that since New Year's Day (shortly after Rothman announced he would run against Pascrell) more than 900 voters previously registered as Republican or unaffiliated switched to the Democratic Party in those towns, with less than 200 switching from Democrat to Republican.

In an effort to continue this trend, a recent letter paid for by the Rothman campaign urged Orthodox Jewish Republicans to switch their registration so they could vote for him in the June primary.

A Pascrell spokesman suggested Rothman's efforts to encourage GOP party-switching constituted disloyalty to the Democratic Party, terming it "a slap in the face." But many in the local Jewish community may conclude that Pascrell's own behavior (and in particular his refusal to repudiate anti-Semitic slurs from prominent supporters like Aref Assaf) may be spurring Jews to cross party lines to vote against him.

In an op-ed last month, Assaf suggested that opposition to Pascrell from the local Jewish community threatened to undermine what had been a "cordial and cooperative" relationship with Paterson's Arabs and Muslims. He hinted that Jewish opposition to the congressman would be regarded as evidence of anti-Muslim bigotry.

Assaf claimed that Pascrell "is being condemned for failing to be 100 percent on the side of a foreign country (Israel)" and for "sleeping with a suspect community (Arab/Muslim) whose vote will most likely determine the outcome of the elections."

"Sadly, politics, money, lobbying and disinformation are about to spoil whatever semblance of friendship and hope there are," he added. "The turf war has begun, and while we did not start it, the community of Arabs and Muslims in the district gave Pascrell victory. Jewish and now some mainstream newspapers have framed the June 5 primary as a litmus test for the survival of Israel."