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MARCH 26,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET:  

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – Some members of Congress should give back their salaries, in embarrassment.  From Mediaite:  "The controversial letter that 47 Republican senators sent to the government of Iran earlier this month has landed them in hot water with critics who say they were trying to undermine President Barack Obama‘s foreign policy goals. Besides openly chiding Republicans for sending the letter, Democrats have yet to respond with any real action, legislative or otherwise — that is, until now.  Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) proposed an amendment that would essentially defund electronic communications between the legislative branch and a foreign government that could undermine 'the role of the President as Head of State in international nuclear negotiations on behalf of the United States.'"  I'm sure the Republicans are trembling. 

SENATE SPEAKS ON IRAN – From The Hill:  "Senators unanimously approved an amendment Thursday that backs bolstering sanctions against Iran if President Obama can't verify that the country is following a nuclear deal.  The wave of support came after the amendment, offered by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), was amended. The Illinois Republican's amendment originally supported restoring rolled-back sanctions, as well as applying new sanctions, if Iran violated the interim deal currently in place or a long-term agreement on its nuclear program.   The final amendment supports reimposed and new sanctions against Iran if Obama 'cannot make a determination and certify that Iran is complying' with an agreement.'"  Just a first step, and not a strong one.  Obama would never admit that he could not make a determination.  But at least the Senate has spoken.

OUR NEXT PRESIDENT? – The corruption and greed of the Clintons know no end.  From the Washington Free Beacon:  "The Clinton Foundation refused to return more than $50,000 of contributions from a group described by federal government investigators as a 'front' for the 'Mullahs who dominate Iran.'  The Alavi Foundation contributed $30,000 to the Clinton Foundation in 2006, and again contributed between $25,000 and $50,000 in 2008.  The Washington Post reported in 2003 that federal law enforcement officials said that Alavi was 'closely tied to the mullahs who dominate Iran' and 'funds a variety of anti-American causes.'  U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara filed a lawsuit in 2009 to seize a New York City building partially owned by The Alavi Foundation alleging that it had been acting as a 'front for the government of Iran' for two decades.  'For two decades, the Alavi Foundation’s affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors at the United Nations, in violation of a series of U.S. laws,' said Bharara."  This alone should disqualify Hillary Clinton from becoming president, but won't.  The media will dutifully line up behind her as "the first," as it did with Obama.

EVEN LONGER THAN ROUTE 66 – From Fox:  "One of Russia's most powerful tycoons and a close pal of President Vladimir Putin has proposed a long and winding road that theoretically could connect Great Britain to Alaska, via Mother Russia. And while a nearly 13,000-mile highway sounds like a stretch – a really long stretch – the major roadblock is likely money, not feasibility.  'This is an inter-state, inter-civilization, project,' Russian Railways boss Vladimir Yakunin told the Russian Academy of Science, where he presented his plan for the Trans-Eurasian belt Development, which he acknowledged would cost 'trillions' of dollars."  First, who would drive 13,000 miles.  Second, how good could the restaurants be?

March 26,  2015     Permalink

HILLARY, WHERE ART THOU? – 11:09 A.M. ET:  There seems to be a bit of bother in the Clinton camp, and it may delay her announcement that she's a candidate for something.  From the Washington Times: 

Many of the key figures cited in a scathing inspector general’s report this week are allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, marking the latest in a series of stumbles for the former first lady and secretary of state that likely forced her to delay her planned presidential campaign announcement.

A Democratic strategist familiar with her team’s thinking said they are scrambling to limit the damage and readjust the campaign rollout schedule after the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general revealed an apparent cronyism scandal that ensnared Mrs. Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, and two of her political confidants, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell.

The accusation that a top Obama administration official did favors for the three politically connected Democrats follows other damaging revelations swirling around Mrs. Clinton, including that the Clinton Foundation pocketed foreign donations while she was secretary of state and that she exclusively used a private email account that concealed official business while she was in office.

“She is being tarnished before the race starts. It’s kind of like if you’re a race horse having a leg broken on a regular basis and the wound never heals,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic campaign adviser who worked for President Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign.

“Every time there is a piece of news like this, it delays the announcement,” he said. “You can’t announce when you’re facing that kind of controversy and you have to respond to those kinds of questions rather than deal with what you intend to do with the campaign and talk about the issues you want to discuss.”

COMMENT:  There's also a lot of scrambling going on in the Democratic Party to find an alternative to Clinton should she be scandaled out.  The bench isn't very deep.  I mean, when you're down to Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, who couldn't even get his anointed successor elected in a heavily Democratic state, you're in trouble. 

Al Gore anyone? 

March 26, 2015       Permalink

THE TALKS – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:   John Kerry, who holds a U.S. Government position, is now engaged in intensive talks to reach an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program by March 31st.  That is the presumed deadline for this stage of negotiations. 

Kerry and his boss are aware that, if the talks collapse, Congress may step in and demand a role, through legislation, in any future nuclear negotiations with Iran.  It may also impose new sanctions. Obama has threatened to veto any Congressional action, which would set up a historic confrontation with the House and Senate.

Iran is also proving its usual difficult self.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Talks over Iran’s nuclear program have hit a stumbling block a week before a key deadline because Tehran has failed to cooperate with a United Nations probe into whether it tried to build atomic weapons in the past, say people close to the negotiations.

In response, these people say, the U.S. and its diplomatic partners are revising their demands on Iran to address these concerns before they agree to finalize a nuclear deal, which would repeal U.N. sanctions against the country.

“Progress has been very limited,” Yukiya Amano, who heads the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Wall Street Journal this week. “No more new issues” have been addressed.

Secretary of State John Kerry is resuming talks on Thursday in Lausanne with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, in pursuit of a nuclear agreement.

The two diplomats—who are expected to be joined later in the week by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, U.K., China, Russia and the European Union—are seeking to forge a political understanding by a March 31 deadline that would constrain Iran’s nuclear program in return for a lifting of Western sanctions. Key U.S. allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, have publicly spoken out against the Iran diplomacy. And Congress could move to implement new sanctions on Iran if no political deal is reached this month.

U.S. and European diplomats have voiced guarded optimism that the deal could be reached by the late March deadline.

But Iran’s refusal to implement the IAEA work plan threatens to undermine the prospects for this comprehensive agreement, say diplomats involved in the talks. The ability of the IAEA and global powers to verify whether Iran is abiding by any future deal to prevent it from racing to develop a nuclear weapon depends, in part, on an understanding of its past work, according to these officials.

COMMENT:  There is some informed speculation that our pathetic diplomats will modify our demands to make it easier to reach an agreement with Iran.  I don't doubt it.  The only important thing to the man in the White House is his legacy, especially his legacy on the political left.

What is remarkable is that we have almost all our Mideast allies against us on this negotiation, and Obama doesn't care. 

March 26, 2015       Permalink

EXCELLENT – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:   We reported last night that Saudi aircraft are in action over Yemen, trying to reverse the takeover of that country by pro-Iranian militias.  Saudi Arabia sees Iran as a dire threat.

The Times of Israel has done an excellent analysis of the new relationship between the United States and the Mideast, and it is chilling.  It is a story of betrayal of old allies, and stark appeasement of Iran, one of the most dangerous countries on Earth.  Here is the heart of the piece:

Decision makers in Israel have come to an understanding that the Americans have no intention of imposing demands on Iran with regards to halting military operations and even terrorist attacks in other countries as part of the agreement over Tehran’s nuclear program.

But Israel’s concerns regarding the Houthi takeover of Yemen are nothing compared to the profound discontent of Riyadh and other Arab countries, in light of Iran’s rampage throughout the Middle East and the blatant inaction on the part of the US.

The outcome of the Saudi military operation may not be decisive, but reflects much Saudi, Jordanian and Egyptian frustration. The anger of these regimes is not directed at Iran, which is more or less engaged in the kind of hostile activity expected of it, but mainly at Washington.

It is slightly hard to believe, but at a time when the White House is intensively negotiating with Iran in an attempt to reach an agreement on the nation’s nuclear program withing the next five days, the Shiites in Tehran have helped topple a majority Sunni regime and made significant territorial advances.

Yemen is a state with a long and unmanned border with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s number one regional rival. Yet Washington remains silent.

Yes, Saudi Arabia and the US claimed the overnight operation in Yemen was carried out with intelligence assistance by the Americans, but Arab leaders and decision makers in Israel are still struggling with the White House’s insistence on demonstrating exceptional weakness in its ongoing talks with Tehran.

The expectation by Sunni Arabs and Israel is that the world’s major powers will at least try to pressure Tehran to halt its military operations in a variety of destinations in the Middle East, as part of any future agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Such pressure against Tehran over its involvement in Yemen or Iraq, such as leaving economic sanctions in place, could inspire the ayatollahs to reconsider their advances in the region.

But for now, under the White House’s zero action policy, Iran can continue doing whatever it wants without having to miss a beat.

COMMENT:  That says it.  Perhaps, someday, probably when it's too late, we can get elements of the mainstream media to do their jobs and tell us who Barack Obama really is, where his real loyalties lie, and why so much of his life has been blocked from public view.

There were grave questions about Obama raised in 2008.  They were either ignored or ridiculed.  We are starting to pay the price.  That price will only increase over the years.

March 26, 2015        Permalink

IT WAS DELIBERATE – AT 9:13 A.M. ET:  A French prosecutor announced this morning that the downing of the German airliner two days ago in the French Alps was a deliberate act on the part of the co-pilot.  From Reuters: 

The co-pilot of a Germanwings jet that went down in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing 150 people, appears to have crashed the plane deliberately, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said on Thursday.

The German citizen, left in sole control of the Airbus A320 after the captain left the cockpit, refused to re-open the door and pressed a button that sent the jet into its fatal descent, the prosecutor told a news conference carried on live television.

The prosecutor said that the co-pilot, who he identified as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was not known as a wanted terrorist. Despite the fact that the crashing of the plane appears intentional, the prosecutor said that there was no grounds to consider it a terrorist event.

Asked whether he believed the crash that killed 150 people was the result of suicide, he said: "People who commit suicide usually do so alone....I don't call it a suicide."

Robin said the black-box cockpit recording recovered from the wreckage of the disaster suggested passengers did not realize what was happening until the last moment.

A German state prosecutor said earlier on Thursday that just one of the two pilots of the airliner was in the cockpit at the time it went down.

The statement came after the New York Times reported that "black box" recordings showed one of the pilots had left the cockpit and could not get back in before the plane crashed, killing all 150 onboard.

COMMENT:  That first news report is a bit rudimentary.  We've learned that the steps required to put the plane into a descent could not have occurred accidentally, not could it have occurred as a result of a man collapsing onto the controls.  The steps had to be taken precisely and intentionally.

We do not yet know anything about the co-pilot except his name and age.  We do not know his religion.  We do not know if he was facing any personal challenges.  All the rest is speculation at this point. 

But it was a wilful act. 

The cockpit voice recorder, we learned, picked up the voices of passengers screaming as the plane went into its final descent.

Obviously, we'll be following this story.  When the prosecutor said that there were no grounds for calling the crash a terrorist event, he of course meant that there was no evidence yet of that possibility.

March 26,  2015     Permalink

MARCH 25,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – at 11:55 P.M. ET: 

MYSTERY – The mystery of yesterday's plane crash in the French Alps, which killed 150 people, continues to deepen.  We now learn that one of the plane's two pilots was actually outside the cockpit as the plane began its fatal descent, and could not get back in.  Reports say that the cockpit voice recorder picked up sounds of this pilot trying to knock the door down to re-enter the cockpit.  This development has forced investigators to consider the possibility that foul play of some kind was at fault.

SAUDI MILITARY ACTION – When was the last time we saw the Saudi military in action?  From Fox:  "Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen early Friday, one day after the U.S.-backed Yemeni president was driven out of the country.  President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the military operations, National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said late Wednesday night. She added that while U.S. forces were not taking direct military action in Yemen, Washington was establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate U.S. military and intelligence support."  Looks like the usual half-hearted Obama effort.  You can't win battles entirely from the air.  Notice, however, how many Mideast countries are in flames on Obama's watch, and we're not doing well in any of them.

RICE CAKES – Today's announcement that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was released by the Taliban in exchange for five of the most dangerous prisoners we held at Guantanamo, will be tried for desertion, brings to mind events surrounding his release.  Field Marshal Obama held a photo op on the White House lawn, with Bergdahl's rather weird mother and father.  Daddy spoke in Pashto, the Taliban language.  And serial liar Susan Rice was sent out to tell TV interviewers that Bergdahl "served the United States with honor and distinction."  You'll recall that Rice was also shipped to TV studios after Benghazi to assure us that the whole episode was caused by a YouTube video.  It is rumored that Rice chopped down a cherry tree last week and said, "I cannot tell a lie.  Bush did it."

CRIMINAL JUSTICE NEWS – From The Smoking Gun:  "A jury today found a Michigan woman guilty of firing a shot into a McDonald’s drive-thru window after employees failed to put bacon on a cheeseburger she ordered.  Shaneka Monique Torres, 30, was convicted of a felony firearms charge after only an hour of deliberations by the panel. Torres faces a minimum of two years in state prison when she is sentenced next month."  From what I hear, prison cheeseburgers are very good, especially if you order them cooked.

March 25, 2015       Permalink

FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER 9/11; PATHETIC – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  A new, authoritative, report tells us that the FBI is not ready to fight terrorism in the United States.  From The New York Times: 

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. urgently needs to improve its intelligence capabilities and hire more linguists to counter the rapidly evolving threats to the United States, according to a report released on Wednesday that examined the bureau’s progress since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The report by the F.B.I. 9/11 Review Commission said that the bureau had made great strides in its intelligence collection and sharing, but that its ability to gain information from people and to analyze it lags “behind marked advances in law enforcement capabilities.”

“This imbalance needs urgently to be addressed to meet growing and increasingly complex national security threats, from adaptive and increasingly tech-savvy terrorists, more brazen computer hackers, and more technically capable, global cyber syndicates,” the report said.

The F.B.I. has enough linguists in its large offices, but they are in “short supply” throughout the rest of the country. Often, linguists use a virtual system to communicate remotely with agents and analysts working on cases.

“Hiring additional linguists and integrating them should be a high priority,” the report said.

The review commission was created by Congress in 2014 to assess the bureau’s progress since the attacks. In particular, the panel examined how the F.B.I. put the put into effect the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which released its report in 2004.

“Many of the findings and recommendations in this report will not be new to the F.B.I.,” the report said. “The bureau is already taking steps to address them. In 2015, however, the F.B.I. faces an increasingly complicated and dangerous global threat environment that will demand an accelerated commitment to reform. Everything is moving faster.”

COMMENT:  It is very easy to fall behind.  We are all familiar with the cliché about armies that are fighting the last war.

Hiring linguists is critical.  It is also problematical.  Intelligence and law-enforcement agencies have found that not all "linguists" can be trusted.  They are often from the very countries or cultures that we are fighting, and being assured of their loyalty is not easy.  A linguist can change a word here, a phrase there, and mislead an agency without the agency suspecting a thing.

Oh, but it doesn't matter, does it?  The war on terror is over.  I know, because Sherlock Obama told me.

March 25, 2015        Permalink

ANOTHER FAMOUS VICTORY – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   Ah, let us praise the strategy of Field Marshal of the United States, including depressed neighborhoods in Chicago, Barack Obama.  Why, the man has victory written all over him.  Or maybe it's something else.  From Fox: 

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's embattled president fled his palace in Aden for an undisclosed location Wednesday as Shiite rebels offered cash bounty for his capture and arrested his defense minister.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi left just hours after the rebels' own television station said they seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against Al Qaeda militants. That air base is only 60 kilometers (35 miles) away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital.

Witnesses said they saw a convoy of presidential vehicles Wednesday leaving Hadi's palace, located at the top of a hill in Aden overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Presidential officials said Hadi was in an operations room overseeing his forces' response. They declined to say where that facility was located. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to brief journalists.

The advance of the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, threatens to plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Already, Hadi has asked the United Nations to authorize a foreign military intervention in the country.

COMMENT:  Obama shows little interest.  He's far more interested in making campaign trips around the country to boost his domestic agenda.

Compare our situation in the Mideast to the day Obama took office.  The situation wasn't perfect, but we had allies, the surge in Iraq had worked, our alliance with Egypt and Israel was strong.  Today the Mideast is in flames, we are losing everywhere, and the president's main target isn't Al Qaeda, but the freely elected government of Israel and the pro-American government of Egypt.

Change we can believe in.

March 25, 2015        Permalink

ANOTHER STUNNER – AT 9:22 A.M. ET:  We have been warned repeatedly that, as Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear weapons, other nations in the Mideast will seek their own nuclear programs as a precaution.  Now consider this, from the Jerusalem Post:   

The Jordanian government is set to sign a nuclear agreement with Russia later this month in order to build its first nuclear power plant, Jordanian media reported.

Russian state-owned Rosatom will build two nuclear power plants and the spent nuclear fuel could be sent back to Russia, which is what made the Russian offer attractive, said Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Agency, Jordan’s Petra news agency reported Saturday.

Toukan said Rosatom agreed to supply the plant with nuclear fuel for 10 years for the station, which has an operational life of 60 years.

After 10 years, Jordan can choose another supplier.

Rosatom will be responsible for 49 percent of the plant’s $10 billion construction and operation costs while the Kingdom will maintain 51%.

Earlier this month, The Korea Herald reported that the leaders of Saudi Arabia and South Korea agreed to cooperate to build more than two small and medium-size nuclear reactors in projects worth as much as $2b.

COMMENT:  These are legitimate energy projects, but the knowledge gained, and facilities built, could be used to begin weapons programs.

Oh, by the way, notice that the United States isn't getting any of this business.  Yet, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are American allies.  I'd love to know the story behind that.  But, bottom line, it may well be true that the predictions of a Middle East nuclear arms race will be accurate.

Obama, though, will be out of office by then, probably campaigning to be secretary-general of the UN, and bashing his own country.

March 25, 2015        Permalink

APPALLING – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  Obama does it again.  At the same time that he's bashing Israel, our closest ally in the Mideast, the great and powerful Oz, or Obama, is showing utter contempt for America's most important alliance.  From ace reporter Josh Rogin at Bloomberg: 

President Barack Obama has yet to meet with the new head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and won't see Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this week, even though he is in Washington for three days. Stoltenberg’s office requested a meeting with Obama well in advance of the visit, but never heard anything from the White House, two sources close to the NATO chief told me.

If only Stoltenberg was a rap star with a name like Jens Baby, he'd be at the White House in a minute.

The leaders of almost all the other 28 NATO member countries have made time for Stoltenberg since he took over the world's largest military alliance in October. Stoltenberg, twice the prime minister of Norway, met Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa to discuss the threat of the Islamic State and the crisis in Ukraine, two issues near the top of Obama's agenda.

Kurt Volker, who served as the U.S. permanent representative to NATO under both President George W. Bush and Obama, said the president broke a long tradition. “The Bush administration held a firm line that if the NATO secretary general came to town, he would be seen by the president ... so as not to diminish his stature or authority,” he told me.

In other words, Obama broke protocol.  Didn't he accuse Netanyahu of that recently when Bibi addressed Congress?

America's commitment to defend its NATO allies is its biggest treaty obligation, said Volker, adding that European security is at its most perilous moment since the Cold War. Russia has moved troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine, annexed Crimea, placed nuclear-capable missiles in striking distance of NATO allies, flown strategic-bomber mock runs in the North Atlantic, practiced attack approaches on the UK and Sweden, and this week threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Denmark’s warships.

“It is hard for me to believe that the president of the United States has not found the time to meet with the current secretary general of NATO given the magnitude of what this implies, and the responsibilities of his office,” Volker said.

Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, declined to say why Obama didn’t respond to Stoltenberg’s request. “We don’t have any meetings to announce at this time,” she told me in a statement. Sources told me that Stoltenberg was able to arrange a last-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

According to White House press releases, Obama didn’t exactly have a packed schedule. On Tuesday, he held important meetings and a press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House (Ghani will meet with Stoltenberg while they are both in town). But the only event on Obama’s public schedule for Wednesday is a short speech to kick off a meeting related to the Affordable Care Act. On Thursday, he will head to Alabama to give a speech about the economy.

COMMENT:  Obama is the man the Free World depends on.  There must be genuine fear in the foreign ministries of many European countries as they contemplate their own fate in the time of Hussein Obama.

March 25,  2015     Permalink