Gitmo and Climate Change - Two Greatest Threats To American Security! The Third -Obama's Arrogance! The White House Turkey Should Have Been Thoroughly Vetted!

The hapless Sergeant would be better than anyone Obama has appointed.
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Today Hillarious made an illuminating PC speech before The Council on Foreign Relations.

She told her audience we were not at war with Islam.

That has to be news. ISIS  thought they were beheading in the name of Islam.

What Hillarious did by parsing words was to validate my comments about the war we need to wage in order to end  PC'ism.

Hillarious needs to attend classes of Boaz Ganor the author of "Counter Terrorism" and meet with the Syrian Ambassador to India. 

In his excellent book, Boaz describes the difficulty of actually forming a depiction of your adversary and without it you cannot formulate a method of defeating them.

Obviously she must distance herself from Obama's failed foreign policy of which she was a key player/participant but not offend the 'monarch' she slavishly served in order to appeal to voters and convince them how brilliant she is. This will become an increasingly difficult balancing act because Obama still has another year to continue his pathetic destructive policies and Hillarious is anything but brilliant.  Devious, disingenuous yes, brilliant only when it comes to screwing up everything she undertakes.  (See 1 below.)
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Michael Goodwin is wrong if he believes Obama is capable of leading us!  (See 2 below.)
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This letter was sent to me by the brother of a very dear friend. Both are fellow memo readers. (See 3 below.)
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We now know GITMO has been added to Climate Change as the two greatest threats to American security. The third greatest threat is Obama's arrogance, petulance and incomparable love affair with himself. 

As Thanksgiving approaches the biggest turkey is the one who inhabits and struts the halls  of The White House!

Had Obama been vetted as seriously as he claims Syrian Refugees are, perhaps he would never have been elected!
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Dick
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1)

Over 20 percent of asylum seekers arriving in Europe may have ties with IS-affiliated groups, the Syrian ambassador to India told Sputnik Monday.

Police officers guard the street around the Noerrebro train station in Copenhagen on February 15, 2015 after a man has been shot in a police action following two fatal attacks in the Danish capital.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – In early September, media reported, citing an unnamed ISIL operative, that an estimated 4,000 covert ISIL terrorists had arrived to Europe disguised as refugees.

“Among the refugees, who went to Europe, maybe more than 20 percent belong to ISIL groups. Now Europe has received bad element into their ground. They will face further problems in future,” Riad Abbas said, commenting on recent deadly terrorist acts in Paris on November 13.

According to the diplomat, terrorism has penetrated everywhere in Europe.

“Now Europe is under the pressure. Although Syrian peoples are suffering, the fact is that since terrorism has no boundaries it can reach any country,” he said, adding that all the countries must unite to combat extreme violence against civilians.

Syrians who fled their homeland due to the ongoing civil war will return to their cities and their work, Abbas noted.

The Paris terror attacks left at least 132 dead and over 350 injured, 99 critically.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks in the French capital. According to media reports, at least two suspects have been in Syria at some time in the past.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2) It's time for Obama to make a choice: Lead us or resign

In any time and place, war is fiendishly simple. It is the ultimate zero-sum contest — you win or you lose.

That eternal truth is so obvious that it should not need to be said. Yet even after the horrific slaughter in Paris, there remains a distressing doubt about whether America’s commander in chief gets it.

President Obama has spent the last seven years trying to avoid the world as it is. He has put his intellect and rhetorical skills into the dishonorable service of assigning blame and fudging failure. If nuances were bombs, the Islamic State would have been destroyed years ago.

He refuses to say “Islamic terrorism,” as if that would offend the peaceful Muslims who make up the vast bulk of victims. He rejects the word “war,” even as jihadists carry out bloodthirsty attacks against Americans and innocent peoples around the world.

He shuns the mantle of global leadership that comes with the Oval Office, with an aide advancing the preposterous concept that Obama is “leading from behind.” He snubs important partners like Egypt, showers concessions on the apocalyptic mullahs of Iran, and called the Islamic State the “jayvee team” even as it was beginning to create a caliphate.

Having long ago identified American power as a problem, he continues to slash the military as the enemy expands its reach. In a globalized era, the Obama doctrine smacks of cowardly retreat and fanciful isolation.

In an accident of timing that captures his cluelessness, the president actually declared on Friday morning that the Islamic State had been “contained,” practically boasting in a TV interview that “They have not gained ground in Iraq and in Syria.”

What gall. What folly.

Paris is the final straw. Obama’s exemption from reality has expired. He must either commit to leading the free world to victory, or step aside so someone else can.

There is no more time to avoid the truth of war. America must organize the combined forces of the civilized world before the Islamic State makes good on its vow to “taste” more American blood.

As a top intelligence adviser told me yesterday, “What they did in Paris means they are coming here.”

In fact, they already are here. Law enforcement officials say the FBI has as many as 1,000 investigations open into Islamic State sympathizers inside the US.

Is America ready to stop multiple assault teams of suicide bombers? Is New York ready? Or Chicago, Los Angeles or Washington, DC?

Because Paris was a grand success to the terrorists, the propaganda value acts as an incentive for attacks on other Western cities. While sparing no effort to stop them here, we must simultaneously destroy them in their foreign bases.

World War III began when Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States, though we did not grasp the significance until 9/11. The collapse of the Twin Towers, a smoking hole in the Pentagon and a downed jetliner in Pennsylvania revealed the price of our inaction.

The single greatest attack ever against America galvanized the nation and defined a new generation of policymakers and warriors.

Yet Obama always remained curiously cool about the whole endeavor, denouncing the invasion of Iraq as dumb while holding up Afghanistan as a necessary war. Once he got to the White House, though, he showed no conviction about Afghanistan either, surging troops only to demand that they return home quickly.

The pattern has never changed, and his relationship with a rotating cast of military leaders remains rocky. Robert Gates, secretary of defense under both President Bush and Obama, said in his memoir that Obama’s distrust of the military was destructive of the very mission he had given the troops.

People in France light candles at a memorial for the victims of the Paris terror attacks. (Photo: AP)

After a heated 2011 meeting on Afghanistan, Gates concluded that Obama “doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”

Another former military leader, Gen. Jack Keane, notes that Obama never once agreed to the full request of his commanders. If they ask for 10,000 troops, Obama agrees to 5,000, 3,000 or none.

The raid that got bin Laden marked the high point of Obama’s commitment. He turned that achievement into political gold in 2012 and declared the “tide of war is receding” to justify his decision to withdraw from the field of battle.

It was a convenient figment of self-interest, as if his wish would make it true. Instead, the strategic dominos fell quickly as war metastasized. The hard-won gains in Iraq were reversed, Syria descended into hell and the Islamic State was born in the vacuum.

Its ruthlessness and success in capturing territory enabled it to supplant al Qaeda as the most dangerous terrorist network. It has become the proverbial “strong horse,” with each terrifying attack bringing more recruits and more financing.

In the last two weeks, it shot down a commercial Russian airliner over Egypt and carried out bombings in Beirut. And then came Paris.

Its ability to inflict unprecedented casualties in such far-flung locations marks a growing strength and sophistication. The terrorists smell weakness and have increased the pace of their aggressive expansion. Their aim of global conquest must be taken seriously.

Photo: Getty Images

French President François Hollande understands the meaning of Friday’s slaughter. He called it an “act of war” and vowed that “France will not show any pity” against those who carried out the barbaric acts. World leaders quickly expressed their condolences and condemnation.

Yet it remains doubtful if our side is truly committed to winning. The determination and unity the free world showed after 9/11 faded as casualties, mistakes and politics eroded the mission.

So we are back to square one again, facing a stronger and more emboldened enemy. The time has run out for half measures and kicking the can down the road. The enemy must be destroyed on the battlefield before there can be any hope of peace.

If Obama cannot rise to the challenge of leadership in this historic crisis, then, for the good of humanity, he should resign. Those are the only options and it is his duty to decide.

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3)Subject: LETTER FROM ISRAEL

On November 18, twelve members from our Palm Beach AIPAC community completed an exhausting, remarkable, inspirational ten-day Mission to Israel. Our goal was to both affirm support at a moment of unique stress and to learn first hand from experts about the latest challenges and responses. I'm confident we accomplished both.

The whirlwind itinerary was packed with high-level presentations from military, governmental and political leaders, and we also spent fascinating time with rocket scientists, innovators, legal experts, doctors, artists and in the line of fire residents.  Some of the star power, name-dropping names included Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Ya'alon, Ambassadors Oren, Prosor, Shapiro and Taub, Members of the Knesset Bar and Neguisse, Generals Nuriel and Dichter, and Rabbi Gordis.

We traveled from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to the Carmel Forest, and had first hand access to many special sites including tunnel training, Iron Dome batteries, Iranian war gaming, border defenses and crossings, a kibbutz next to Gaza and a K-9 unit. These Israeli realities added a cold, hard edge to the many hours of speeches and presentations.

Here are a few vignettes:

-- A green Iron Dome launcher, sat in an open field within sight of the Mediterranean and a local power plant, with launch tubes tilted towards Gaza and with its rotating, blinking "armed" light the only sign of readiness. Our young IDF expert, while answering some of our questions, safeguarded critical facts about its game changing capacity, range and target selection. The local Israel-based AIPAC staff related stories of how in 2014 they heard the air raid alarms and dived into ditches or scurried to shelters while Iron Dome destroyed incoming Hamas rockets. You sense their personal affection for this home grown technological marvel that saved countless Israeli lives.

-- Our bus pulled up next to one of Kibbutz Kfar Aza's many bomb shelters. It was small and stood adjacent to a colorfully painted school bus stop. And, a brass plaque revealed the shelter had been purchased by good friends, the ICEJ, the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Kfar Aza, about two miles or eight precious incoming warning seconds from the Gaza Strip, has been a frequent target of rocket and mortar fire. Over the next hour, Chen, a lifelong and third generation resident led us on a tour of the reinforced nurseries, the repaired shrapnel pock marks, the new razor wire topped electrified fence, the garden where Jimmy was murdered instantaneously by a Hamas shell and on to a pastoral overlook of Gaza. Chen is optimistic that someday the kids won't suffer from trauma and the parents won't have to choose which child to grab from the playground before sprinting for cover.

-- General Nuriel, tough and fit, stood with us on the helicopter pad set atop the cylindrical forty nine story Azrieli tower in Tel Aviv. Before his candid strategic  briefing one floor below, he wanted us to experience a 360 degree view of Israel's tight geography. Looking eastward, we easily saw Ben-Gurion Airport pinched in between Arab villages, and looking south we could see cities bumping up against Gaza. It was late in the day and the sky was perfectly clear and to the west the sun sat low and glimmered off the Mediterranean.  The Lebanese border and 100,000 rockets were north, just 140 miles away. The General would methodically dissect a wasp's nest of threats and complexities at all borders and across the Middle East. His steely confidence in the IDF was reassuring stating simply "...we are strong enough and there is no alternative."

-- We were encouraged by Ambassador Prosor, who witnessed endless anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, to vigorously fight "the battle of words", counter Israel's delegitimization and to regain the narrative. We saw many impressive examples of "Israel's moral clarity" providing us useful ammunition for this battle. A senior military official proudly reported that after nearly five hundred investigations of purposeful violence against citizens in the last Gaza war, none were found to be true. A junior officer described urban warfare tactics for close, dangerous surroundings and focused on the intensive training to avoid harming civilians. The Rachel border crossing, so often presented in unfavorable terms by the media was in fact clean and high tech, and reduced Palestinians transit time to an average of eight minutes. Syrian casualties cross the border to receive life saving  medical treatment and then return home without incriminating evidence of their Israeli aid. And, Avi, an Ethiopian Israeli IDF doctor led first on the ground rescues in Haiti and Nepal.

-- Our delegation rose in unison and heartily applauded as Prime Minister Netanyahu entered the conference room. In short order, he shared his satisfaction with his latest trip to the United States citing openness, post JCPOA agenda agreement and the alignment on many strategic issues. He described how events in Paris, Israel, Syria and the broader Middle East are forcing the world to finally wake up to the immense danger from radical, militant Islam. With pride, he talked about Israel's economy and innovation, and he railed at the outrage of the EU's unfair, shameful labeling practice. We heard the helicopter land that would transport him to a Ben-Gurion memorial near Beersheva. Before he left, he sincerely thanked us all for the important work of AIPAC to ensure the safety of Israel.

-- This was the thirteenth trip to Israel for Phylis and me, and in Jerusalem we felt a heightened sense of caution. The recent swarm of stabbings presents an insidiously primitive threat playing to our worst images borne of Alfred Hitchcock’s "Psycho." However, the calm of the individual Israeli’s “of course” attitude can lift anyone’s spirits ... “of course” this too will pass and “of course” everything will be all right. I had asked our driver from Ben-Gurion airport "...how is everything in Israel?" He replied "it's fine ... it's heaven". Who am I to argue?

During the presentations, the flow of information was distinctly one way - from the Israelis to us - and it was often like drinking from a fire hose. Yes, we asked lots of questions and we received rich, thoughtful, informed responses. While different speakers shared a range of candid viewpoints across many strategic topics, here are just a few takeaways:

-- Peace with Palestinians will come only when leaders from both sides are willing to take chances. And, more than negotiations over borders and land, they must accept that we, too, are a "tribe" who belongs in the neighborhood. The unsettling recent "pop up intifada" is difficult to control but progress is being made.

-- BDS, with its undeniable hypocrisy a manifestation of pure anti-Semitism, is being fought at every turn. Rabbi Danny Gordis spoke about how no other dispute anywhere else in the world receives similar treatment and he reminded us that Patrick Moynihan, when speaking about a UN resolution equating Zionism and Racism, said "a great evil has been set loose on the world".

-- The political shape of the Middle East has in the last few years has undergone dramatic change as countries, including Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, essentially disappear as religious and sectarian differences spill across old borders. The Western retreat has created a power vacuum and the Iranian emergence threatens Israel and other Arab states. In many ways the Sunni-Shia animus trumps the hatred for Israel and the West.

-- Lebanon, controlled by Hezbollah and funded by Iran is the most dangerous border. Hezbollah's focus on Syria is distracting them, but eventually a third war is likely to occur.  Missile defense and military readiness for an all out response are Israel's priorities.

-- Israelis have come to accept the reality of the JCPOA, with obtaining a qualitative military advantage and broad cooperation the next important steps. We, in AIPAC, now need to work with Congress on legislation to provide funding, new MOU for a Qualitative Military Edge, compliance, sanction, support in the international community and the UN, and a full range of cooperative initiatives.

Folks, know that every presenter expressed deep appreciation for what AIPAC does. We also spent a little time with relatives and friends, and they too expressed appreciation for AIPAC, for its battle to defeat the nuclear Iran JCPOA and for the US cooperation and financial support. Taxi driver Elan said simply when we identified ourselves as from AIPAC, "we love you guys." They all know we understand their isolation in a violent neighborhood, and they know AIPAC works tirelessly on behalf of Israel and to strengthen the US-Israel relationship.  Ambassador Oren attributed the success of the Prime Minister's recent meeting with President Obama to AIPAC and he predicted our prudent, principled and heroic stance on the JCPOA will help us in the future.

Beyond all of the above, we had time to appreciate the beauty of the land, the impressive economic growth and the everyday upbeat tempo that is still is a treat for the senses. Bustling street scenes still play out the remarkable combination of Israel’s chaotic diversity that for the most part unifies around common beliefs and practical interests. The din of Israeli-accented Hebrew surrounds you conveying intensity, passion and family. And, no matter how many times you see the young IDF soldiers walking together lugging their weapons, you are still overwhelmed with pride and prayerfulness. We know they are someone else’s kids and grandkids and we can imagine their family’s grinding anxiety.

Along with thousands, our Mission welcomed Shabbat at the Western Wall. The "surround sound" rhythmic prayers washed over a celebrating crowd dotted with tight clusters of soldiers, friends and ultra religious. Before leaving the plaza and returning to our hotel, we quietly separated for prayer, personal reflection or maybe to wedge a note into the Wall's crevices. You could tell each of us felt a familiar comfort and appreciation for one more time returning to our center.

Best to all, A- N-----

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