Free Republic

"Hezbollah started out as purely a terrorist organization back in the early ’80s and has evolved significantly over time. And now it has members of parliament, in the cabinet. There are lawyers, doctors, others who are part of the Hezbollah organization... And so, quite frankly, I’m pleased to see that a lot of Hezbollah individuals are in fact renouncing that type of terrorism and violence and are trying to participate in the political process [in Lebanon] in a very legitimate fashion. " AUDIOWhite House counterterrorism adviser and nominee for Director of the CIA, John Brennan

In the wake of last week's tragic shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the White House on Monday said that President Obama would seek some stricter gun-control measures as part of a "comprehensive solution" to curb gun violence. The question arises, however, why didn't President Obama seek stricter gun-control measures in Libya? The Eurasia Review reported last week: President Barack Obama secretly approved an arms transfer to Libyan rebels through Qatar at the height of the rebellion against Moamar Khadhafi... Some of those U.S. weapons ended up in the hands of radical Islamists, including associates of...

U.S. and NATO officials have acknowledged that, in the rush to implement the President's politically calculated troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Afghan troops were not properly vetted, which resulted in the deaths of 45 coalition members - most of them Americans - at the hands of their supposed Afghan allies. Hence, in an extremely belated response, the senior commander of U.S. special forces in Afghanistan has finally decided to suspend training for all new Afghan recruits until they can be re-vetted... The spike in green-on-blue attacks has forced NATO officials to concede the 'painful truth': Many of the attacks might have...

President Obama addressed a crowd of supporters at a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa on Wednesday. The President, who was introduced to the audience by his wife, Michelle, said that the First Lady was a tough act to follow: "Because let's face it, on the charisma rankings in my household, you got her [Michelle]; the girls; Bo; and then my mother-in-law and then me" [laughter]... The President quickly added, "Actually my mother-in-law-is before Bo..." Question: How is it even possible for Bo to have more charisma than the President? See the video... for the answer...... VIDEO

The city of Newport Beach, California says it may seek out the assistance of a collection agency to retrieve $35,000 the Obama campaign owes the city for providing police protection during a February, 2012 fund-raising event. The bill was sent in May and was due in June. The city recently emailed the campaign a reminder. The DNC told the city about three weeks ago to deal with the Secret Service. However, [Secret Service] agency spokesman Max Milien [said] that it won't pay. Councilwoman Leslie Daigle says the city intends to apply its usual policies and send the bill to collections....

ZTE USA, a U.S. subsidiary of the Chinese telecom firm, ZTE, has allegedly sold banned U.S. surveillance equipment to Iran, essentially bypassing current U.S. trade restrictions and embargoes imposed on Iran. ZTE USA reaped substantial profits from the stimulus funds. In January of 2010, US regional operator, Commnet Wireless contracted with ZTE USA to build broadband infrastructure network covering parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. And, at the time, ZTE USA and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority were reportedly in discussions for additional US Broadband Stimulus funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. And, indeed, the National Telecommunications...

The AP reported last year that, contrary to President Obama's disingenuous claims, secretaries do not pay a higher tax rate than their bosses. "The data tell a different story [than Obama's]," the AP noted. "This year, households making more than $1 million will pay an average of 29.1 percent of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay 15 percent of their income in federal taxes. Lower-income households will pay less [5.7%, 12.5%, 15%]." Hence, it should come as no surprise that the President has finally confessed that he was twisting the facts all along....

Speaking at a U.S. Conference of Mayors convention on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said that President Obama was exaggerating [prevaricating] about Mr. Biden's so-called 'blue collar' roots. "My dad never worked in a Food Fair," Biden said. "My dad never wore a blue collar, although Barack makes me sound like I just climbed out of a mine in Scranton Pennsylvania carrying a lunch bucket. No one in my family worked in a factory." Biden emphatically denied that he has blue collar roots - despite the President's claims to the contrary. It should be noted, however, that Obama is not...

From the Chicago Sun Times via Ace of Spades: In a new afterword to his 2001 book ["Fugitive Days"], Bill Ayers, former leader of the 1960s radical group Weather Underground, describes President-elect Barack Obama as a family friend.... “We had served together on the board of a foundation, knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fund-raiser at my house, where I’d made a small donation to his earliest political campaign,” he writes.... Okay, so now Mr. Ayers has confirmed that he and Obama were "family friends". However, there's another point that needs to be made: On...

Addressing the graduating seniors of Joplin High School during a commencement speech on Monday, President Obama praised the selfless response of the Joplin community, and other kindhearted individuals, in the aftermath of the horrific tornadoes that struck the city last year. But the President cautioned the students that "as you begin the next stage in your journey, you will encounter greed and selfishness; ignorance and cruelty. You will meet people...who believe looking after others is only for suckers." "But", the President added, "you [the students] are from Joplin. So you will remember, you will know, just how many people there...

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday rejected as groundless some earlier reports saying it had held a meeting with some U.S. officials, Xinhua informed. The Islamic movement, which has been boycotting dialogue with the United States after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, is still sticking to its position, said Jamil Abu Baker, spokesperson of the movement, in a statement posted on its website. "The Muslim Brotherhood received several messages from the Americans through mediators asking for a dialogue but no such meetings (between the two sides) have happened," he said in the statement.

Three and a half years after a rally by then candidate Barack Obama in Springfield, city officials in the state capitol say they are left holding the bill for police overtime. On August 23, 2008 the Obama campaign rolled through central Illinois to announce Joe Biden as its Vice Presidential running mate... Thousands turned out in the square by the old State Capitol to witness the announcement. But before the event could begin, the city of Springfield had work to do, said Alderman Frank Edwards. “There are a lot of things that they asked for,” Edwards said. “Extra police, move...

Vice President Joe Biden asserted, in a recent interview, that the Taliban is not an enemy of the United States. But, ironically, in 2008, Mr. Biden had a completely different view of the Taliban than the one he currently espouses. In fact, in 2008, Biden made the claim that both Al Qaeda and the Taliban had attacked us on 9/11. VIDEO

No doubt about it, President Obama deseves credit for the Iraq "surge". The AP reported on Tuesday that, "Attacks in Iraq have 'surged' since the U.S. troops left. [Because Obama refused to leave a residual force of U.S. troops in Iraq.] More than 160 people have been killed since the beginning of the year." Clearly, Obama deseves credit for the "surge" in Iraq.....

... In November of 2011, the Washington Post reported that the Iranian government had mastered the critical steps needed to build a nuclear weapon after receiving assistance from foreign scientists. The Post went on to say: An intelligence update will be circulated among International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] members... It is expected to focus on Iran's alleged efforts towards putting radioactive material in a warhead and developing missiles... Julian Borger of the Guardian-UK reported in November of 2009: The UN's nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design......

President Obama bypassed the normal Senate confirmation process on Wednesday and appointed Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [More on Mr. Cordray and his past misconduct later on this post.] [snip] During a press briefing on Thursday, the President said the consumer protection agency would also monitor the banks to ensure that they are not issuing mortgages to borrowers who can't afford to make the monthly payments. Ironically, it was Obama and his fellow Democrats [and ACORN] who forced the banks to make loans to high-risk borrowers - who then defaulted on their loans. This,...

The AP reported last week that "U.S. officials from the State Department and White House plan to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives." The AP report went on to say that "one member of the Taliban negotiating team has been publicly identified as Tayyab Aga [Agha], an emissary of Pakistan-based Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar." But sadly, and ironically, while the Obama administration is desperately reaching out to Mullah Omar, Mr. Omar is strengthening his resolve to kill US troops and to wreak havoc upon Afghanistan. From the Times of India: Taliban militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan...

Seattle Police are investigating an armed robbery on Broadway Ave early this morning. Police say around 4:20 a.m. one of their officers was flagged down by a man near 1700 Broadway who said he’d been robbed of his iPhone at knifepoint. The man reportedly told police he knew the other man with the knife and after robbing him that man fled into the Occupy Seattle camp at Seattle Central Community College... Some parents who's children attend a daycare at SCCC have raised concerns about reported drug use and criminal activity at the camp.

On Sunday, the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces, General Babaker Zebari, called for the expansion of military ties between Tehran and Baghdad during a meeting with the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, Gen. Mohammad Pakpouron. The meeting came in the wake of President Obama's announcement, in October, that all US forces would be withdrawn from Iraq by year's end, and on the heels of the President's failure [and apparent unwillingness] to negotiate a deal with Iraq that would enable a residual US force to remain in the country to help train Iraqi troops and...

Despite the fact that Iranian and Iraqi military leaders met on Sunday to discuss the expansion of military ties between the two countries, and despite the fact that Iran has been steadily exerting its influence in Iraq, Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, assumed a superb poker face and insisted that the Iraqi government was rejecting Iran [Iranian influence]. VIDEO below. Mr. Panetta was clearly attempting to defend President Obama's failure to negotiate a deal that would leave a residual US force in Iraq beyond the scheduled date for the US troop withdrawal. But...