STAY STRONG BOSTON FROM AFGHANISTAN

An awesome picture from Afghanistan -  Thanks to these Soldiers for their service and their solidarity with the people of Boston

September 11th - Remembering Michael Uliano

Michael Uliano was a star quarterback at Canton, MA High School, a budding Thespian and enjoyed fishing on Cape Cod. He was working on the 104th Floor of the North Tower at World Trade for Cantor Fitzgerald on 09/11/01. He was a good friend to many, left a wife Linda and many family behind.

Mike, we remember you today and always. Rest easy good friend.

It's a duck....

As the saying goes, " If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it is probably a duck...."

5 non-citizens from Morocco, breaking into a old courthouse in possession of "photographs of infrastructure including photos of shopping malls, water systems, courthouses and other public buildings which they say were taken in cities nationwide" sounds like these idiots were looking to do something that would not have ended well for our country and it's citizens. Glad that they were caught before they could act on their plans.

Have fun in GITMO guys as that will be the next destination on their travel plans....


Terror Link Downplayed in Courthouse Break-In
'Pictures of courthouses, water systems' from around the US found in the van used by five men believed to be Moroccan Muslims.
Jim Forsyth - WOAI San Antonion, TX

Five men in their twenties, described as French-Moroccan Muslims, are being questioned by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and by officials of the Department of Homeland Security after they were arrested inside the 120 year old Bexar County Courthouse in downtown San Antonio shortly before 2 this morning, 1200 WOAI news reports.

Officials say three of the men crawled through a window to get into the 120 year old Courthouse, which is a landmark in downtown San Antonio, and the other two were found in a van parked in front of the building.

Inside the van, officials say they found "photographs of infrastructure" including photos of shopping malls, water systems, courthouses and other public buildings which they say were taken in cities nationwide.

"They got travel documents, parking passes, they have been all over the country," one law enforcement officials who asked not to be identified told 1200 WOAI's Michael Board on the scene. "A lot of photographic equipment, a lot of documentation equipment inside their vehicle."

Officials say the five men entered the country legally on visas from Heathrow Airport in London. They didn't immediately know how long the men have been in the U.S., or what places they may have visited.

Officials immediately blocked off a two square block area of downtown San Antonio around the Courthouse, and bomb sniffing dogs fanned out throughout the building. About two hours later, the streets were reopened, indicating nothing dangerous was found in the building.

"They are going to be held for interrogation by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the joint terrorism task force," the law enforcement source said.

The men are described as in their early twenties. One law enforcement official said the men told him they climbed to the fourth floor of the courthouse at 2AM "to get a better view of the city."

There is a military intelligence convention underway at the city's Convention Center several blocks away, with top intelligence officials including White House officials set to speak, but investigators didn't say whether there was any connection.

Investigators were tight lipped about the incident this morning.

"All that, coupled with the fact why they can't explain why they are in the building at 1:22 in the morning raises questions," the law enforcement officer said

Pakistan - They've gone " a shade too far "

The " Whacky Pakis" have been playing a shell game/three-card-monty with us for years...It is only recently that we have decided to call them out in public. What happens when the day comes were the fools in charge in Pakistan can no longer control the "rabid dogs" they allow to live there and the terrorists get their hands on a few Nukes ? You want to talk about a real shite-storm.....

I have been and remain convinced that we need to keep up all due pressure on these feckless idjits as they are in league with terrorist and expose themselves and others to a large threat because of their stupidity...As long as they feel they can act out w/o consequence, we'll keep sending in the drones to eliminate the threats we can identify.


Pakistan Is the Enemy
We know that Pakistan's intelligence service is aiding terrorists. What are we going to do about it?
By Christopher Hitchens - Salon
Monday, Sept. 26, 2011


In Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Lt. Milo Minderbinder transforms the mess accounts of the American airbase under his care into a "syndicate" under whose terms all servicemen are potential stakeholders. But this prince of entrepreneurs and middlemen eventually becomes overexposed, especially after some incautious forays into Egyptian cotton futures, and is forced to resort to some amoral subterfuges. The climactic one of these is his plan to arrange for himself to bomb the American base at Pianosa (for cost plus 6 percent, if my memory serves) with the contract going to the highest bidder. It's only at this point that he is deemed to have gone a shade too far.

In his electrifying testimony before Congress last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has openly admitted to becoming the victim of a syndicate scheme that makes Minderbinder's betrayal look like the action of a small-time operative. In return for subventions of millions of American dollars, it now turns out, the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence agency (the ISI) can "outsource" the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and several other NATO and Afghan targets, to a related crime family known as the Haqqani network. Coming, as it does, on the heels of the disclosure about the official hospitality afforded to Osama Bin Laden, this reveals the Pakistani military-intelligence elite as the most adroit double-dealing profiteer from terrorism in the entire region.

Annoyed even so by the loss of "deniability" that Mullen's testimony entails, the Pakistani officer class has resorted to pretending that its direct relationships with al-Qaida and the Haqqani syndicate do not exist, and that in any case any action or protest resulting would constitute a violation of its much-vaunted "sovereignty." Both of these claims are paper-thin, or worse. If we employ Bertrand Russell's argument of "evidence against interest," for example, we can find absolutely no motive for Mullen— flanked as he was by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta—to have been making such an allegation falsely. To the contrary, they had every reason to wish to avoid the conclusion they have been forced to draw. It makes utter and abject nonsense of the long-standing official claim that Washington's collusion with the ISI has been conducted in good faith and directed for a common cause. It shows American prestige and resources being used, not to diminish the power of "rogue" elements in the Pakistani system, but to enhance and empower them. It makes us look like fools and suckers, which is what we have become, unable to defend even our own troops, let alone civilian staff and facilities, from deadly assaults not just from the back but—flagrantly, unashamedly—from the front.

As for Pakistan's arrogant and insufferable riposte, to the effect that this is all part of its tender concept of its own "internal affairs," it barely adds insult to injury. On Sept. 12 , 2001, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1368, condemning the attacks on American soil and asserting the universal right of self-defense. The terms of the resolution explicitly state that those found to be "supporting or harboring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of these acts will be held equally accountable." This unambiguous language, which secured the votes of Muslim countries like Bangladesh and Tunisia as well as those of the five permanent members of the Security Council and many other nations, deserves to get more repeated exposure than it has been receiving. Pakistan's provision of a military safe-house for the leader of al-Qaida is as comprehensive a breach of the spirit and letter of Resolution 1368 as could be imagined. Meanwhile the Haqqani gang, operating in open collaboration with the Taliban of Mullah Omar as well as other insanitary forces, easily meets the definition of an organization that helps sponsor and succor the original perpetrators.

Mullen's evidence, then, is one of those revelations that appears to necessitate action. Either the Pakistanis must permit an unobstructed run at the Haqqani bases that are used for the subversion of Pakistan as well as the re-Talibanization of Afghanistan, or they must at the very least lose their claim on the U.S. Treasury. At the most, they must take the risk of being identified as allies and patrons of those who deliberately murder coalition forces as well as Afghan and Pakistani civilians. This indictment would easily stretch to cover another gross violation of international law and diplomatic immunity, in that the ISI was also found culpable in the destruction of the Indian Embassy in Kabul in July 2008.

There was a time, when he was a presidential candidate, that Barack Obama was "clear" (as he so much likes to put it) about the way in which Pakistani actions might have real consequences for Pakistan. In early debates with Hillary Clinton and John McCain, he expressed a willingness to undertake some version of hot pursuit, if necessary into lawless regions of Pakistan, in order to deter and punish cross-border aggression. The raid on Bin Laden's home in Abbottabad, conducted in May under the radar of Bin Laden's overt protectors, gave expression to this determination. So what will President Obama do, now that the Pakistani political leadership has openly declared its whole state to be lawless, and outside the jurisdiction of U.N. resolutions, and available as a base for terrorist operations against our Afghan and Indian friends?

In this context, the murder last week of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan warlord-president who headed the country's so-called "High Peace Council," may not necessarily be the "blow" to any "peace process" that truly merits the phrase. We allow ourselves to forget that many Afghans are deeply suspicious of a negotiation that refers to the Taliban—in President Hamid Karzai's euphemistic words—as lost or alienated "brothers." In this skeptical camp belong many of the Hazara and Tajik populations, many independent women's groups, and some unsuccessful contestants, such as Abdullah Abdullah, of the scandalously bought and rigged elections of a few months ago.

These people see no reason why Pakistan's vicious proxies should be allowed, by surreptitious back channels, to gain what they have so far failed to get on the battlefield. But they do not feel that the United States is sympathetic to them, and they naturally wince when they see our embrace of their enemies. That is why the overdue decision to call these enemies by their right names is so potentially significant, and will, one hopes, soon be followed by a complete breach with those we have been so humiliatingly subsidizing to sabotage us.

Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair and the author, most recently, of Arguably, a collection of essays.

Southwest Jets - Vandalism or a much more serious issue?

Not sure what to make of this but this goes beyond the basic vandalism or something a fed-up employee does. I am glad they are investigating and until they are sure what to make of it, not sure I would want to be getting on a Southwest jet.


Feds Probe Possible Arabic-Type Markings On Southwest Jets
September 21, 2011 - KNX 1070 EXCLUSIVE

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Federal agencies were working with Southwest Airlines on Thursday to determine who has been vandalizing their aircraft with mysterious markings.

KNX 1070 investigative reporter Charles Feldman has learned that since February, several Southwest jets have been vandalized with mysterious writings that show up on the underbelly of their 737 passenger aircraft.

The writings — which some have interpreted as being either Arabic or Arabic-type symbols — appeared to have been done with a chemical process that reveals the text once an auxiliary power unit is turned on and heats up the outside skin of the aircraft, according to Feldman.

While it remains unclear how many aircraft are involved, the trend has reportedly increased in recent weeks.

Southwest Airlines has ordered its employees not to discuss the matter with the media, Feldman said.

In a statement to KNX 1070, Southwest said it is working with authorities to find those responsible for what the company called “vandalism”, but it’s not clear how many people are involved.

Both the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigations is working with Southwest, but the airline denied this is a safety issue and would not provide any more details

Taliban hang eight-year-old son of Afghanistan police chief

If the headline on this post doesn't cause you to be filled with an overwhelming feeling of horror, disgust and desire to stamp out these vile bastards, I am not sure what would.

The Taliban are Narco-Terrorists, plain & simple. They use the religious issue as a screen while they try to terrorize the populations of the AF/PAK region. Their main source of funding is Opium and they have no care for anything other than their own soulless & twisted version of reality.

I defer to USMC General James Mattis and his words on what we should do about this Godless Group of Murderers:

" You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. "

General James N. Mattis - Commander of the US Central Command (USCENTCOM).

ROGER THAT SIR. If they want to see their God, we'll be more than happy to arrange the meeting.

Taliban hang eight-year-old son of Afghanistan police chief
By Daily Mail Reporter
24th July 2011

Suspected members of the Taliban hung the eight-year-old son of a police commander after ordering his father to surrender, it was claimed today.

The Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency reported that the young boy was kidnapped by militants in the Greshk district of Helmand province last Tuesday.

He was hanged on Friday after they demanded his father give himself up or else the boy would be executed.

'The militants had warned his father to surrender with his police vehicle and weapons, otherwise they would kill his son,' provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi told the agency.

While child executions by the Taliban are not common, children often fall victim to Taliban militants when they carry out attacks.

Youngsters have also been used by the Taliban as suicide bombers.

Two months ago, four civilians were killed and 12 others were injured when a 12-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded market in eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban have always denied using children to carry out their attacks.

Just for clarification.....The "reality" of who we are fighting here in the AF/PAK region

I want to clarify something to the pointy headed idjits in the press and those inside the Beltway in DC. This is a subject that the US Military is clear on but the rest of the talking heads within the halls of Government are still kinda clueless on.....Especially those who talk about the subject when their only goal is re-election, not doing what is needed.

YES, we are fighting Al Qeada but we are also fighting the TALIBAN, Haqqani, and a whole collection of unaligned narco-terrorists who are roaming around on either side of the AF/PAK border...These evil bastards don't care about what we do, they want to keep control and terrorize the populace in Afghanistan & Pakistan. They want to inflict as much damage as possible (For example, see the Intercontinental Hotel raid on Tuesday) and try to wear down the support of the homefront as in that fashion, they win. We go home, they take over all over again.

These are the same heartless and souless bastards who hung a 7 year old child in AFGHN as a spy last July. They will kill anyone, at any time to further there own vile cause.

I feel about the same way as USMC General James Mattis - " You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot." - Roger that sir.

Just for clarification, the enclosed illustration paints 1000 words. I'm sorry Mr. & Mrs. America. I know you are tired of us being here in Afghanistan but these souless bastards are the 21st century version of the Nazis. We must elminate them as they will not stop doing what they do. Their goal is to inflict their twisted version of "reality" upon the entire Western World.

That flag stands for freedom. You know it always will...

This is worthy of posting.....Not something current but something that will stand for a long, long time - Kudos to U.S. District Court Judge William Young.....He hit the target "center mass" for sure....

Sentancing of The Shoe Bomber... Richard Reid
Ruling by Judge William Young

U.S. District Court Judge William Young made the following statement in sentencing "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to prison. It is noteworthy, and deserves to be remembered far longer than he predicts.

=================================================

January 30, 2003 United States vs. Reid.

Judge Young: Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General.

On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive with the other. That's 80 years.

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.

The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.
The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.

The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statues. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to you.

We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect.

Here in this court , where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice, you are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist.

To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist.

And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders.

In a very real sense Trooper Santigo had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and he said you're no big deal. You're no big deal.

What your counsel, what your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing. And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire record it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose.

Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom.

So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely.
It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their representation of you before other judges. We are about it.

Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden, pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.

Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.

The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten.

That flag stands for freedom. You know it always will.

US Navy Diver Robert Stetham's Killer gets what's coming to him....IN SPADES !

Ladies & Gents - There's GOOD NEWS tonite !!!!

Lebanese citizen Mohammad Ali Hamadeh has been killed in Saturday's U.S. drone attack on al-Qaida hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan, the German news agency DPA reported.

DPA has it that Hamadeh returned to Lebanon in December 2005 after being secretly released in Germany, where he was serving a life sentence for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of a U.S. Navy Diver Robert Stetham.

Hamadeh had been released from a German prison in 2005 on bail after spending nearly 19 years in prison.

DPA, citing intelligence information, said Hamadeh fought along Hizbullah before moving to North Waziristan where he joined "Islamic Jihad" which has links to al-Qaida.

A U.S. drone attack on Saturday destroyed an al-Qaida hideout in North Waziristan, killing 11 militants in the tribal redoubt on the Afghan border, security officials said.

AWESOME use of the technology Dude....radical !!!

The scene from the movie " The Peacemaker" resonates....George Clooney plays Col. Thomas Devoe, a bit of an old fashioned Rogue:

Col Devoe is tracking the bad guys and the run-away nukes when he calls the bad guy on this cell phone while surveiling him via satelite:

[Devoe phones Kodoroff, who is driving a truck loaded with stolen nuclear warheads]

Devoe: You watched CNN during Desert Storm. You remember all those television shots from the nose cone of the GBU missiles slammin’ into those trucks? Remember that picture? How it kept gettin’ closer and bigger on the screen…

You’d just about see the faces of those drivers and then… Zap! The picture went dead, we didn’t get to see what happened next. Well guess what, Alek? You will.

=================

To the SHITE-HEAD Terrorist bast-rd who got what was coming to him, have a nice time in Hades, where you will be spending the rest of eternity....getting what you deserve...IN SPADES.

A letter to Philip Alston, U.N. investigator on extrajudicial killings

News Item: Philip Alston, the independent U.N. investigator on extrajudicial killings reported today that "Governments must come clean on their methods for killing suspected terrorists and insurgents especially when using unmanned drones, because they may be committing war crimes " stated the New York University law professor.....

It reminds me of the conversation that Colonel Thomas Devoe (played by George Clooney) has with Dr. Julia Kelly (played by Nicole Kidman) in the movie, The Peacemaker:

Thomas Devoe: " Doctor, you can run your charts and your theories all you want. In the field, this is how it works: the good guys, that's us, we chase the bad guys. And they don't wear black hats. They are, however, all alike: they demand power, and respect...."

Enclosed is my response to the good Professor - I'm quite proud that I restrained myself from using the type of " Sailor Language" that he deserved when I sent him the enclosed message:

Sir -

I have read of your 29-page report to the U.N. Human Rights Council regarding the use of Drones on the battlefield, and specifically the way these drones are used. I am a retired US Navy Seabee and I was in Iraq for the Battle of Fallujah. Presently I work in Afghanistan, supporting US Military operations by working for a large military contractor. I have seen the effects of war, felt the heat of battle and understand the implications of what War means for both civilians and combatants. I have witnessed good men die and also what War does to the civilian population.

Sir, we are engaged with an enemy that does not recognize the " Rules of War ". They do not care for anyone, or anything and will kill women, children, old men and anyone else who in the area to accomplish their goal of killing westerners or anyone they consider as " Infidels". In fact, they will kill people of their own faith as a method of accomplishing what they want.

Here are the figures for the past month, May 2010

Monthly Jihad Report May, 2010
Jihad Attacks: 150
Countries: 14
Religions: 5
Dead Bodies: 729
Critically Injured: 1591

Sir, it must be easy to sit in your fine offices and pontificate regarding the use of drones, but the technology we utilize is the key advantage that we have over an enemy that hides among the populace and kills without hesitation, remorse or common decency. Our enemy does not wear a uniform and will hide among the populace and use them as human shields.

Sir, you need to spend some time on the ground in Afghanistan - visit a village where all the teachers were shot because they allowed young girls to attend school or where a shopkeepers and his family were murdered because they were thought to be cooperating with the Afghan Government & the US. Visit the wards of a few hospitals where the children who were wounded in a bomb blast at a market lie in beds, their lives forever changed because the terrorists wanted to run up a large body count to keep people in fear. Take a walk through a hospital ward at Bethesda Naval Hospital or Walter Reed where young warrior are trying to recover from roadside bombings or other attacks.

Our enemy is a group of murderous thugs who do not deserve any rights as they have deprived others of theirs. Once you have committed the unspeakable acts such as honor killings, beheadings, roadside bombings, hijackings, bombings of schools, Mosques and other place of worship, you have forfeited your right to be granted anything.

I include the words of Winston Churchill, who stood alone against another Terrorist. His opponent killed his own people by the millions. Churchill knew the heat of battle and I feel that may be the difference. You sit in posh offices while others, at the risk of their lives, pay for the very freedom you enjoy. Your freedom is provided by mainly 18-22 year old men & women who are out there, 24/7/365, defending our country and others against those who would wish us dead.

Sir Winston Churchill summed it up succinctly:

" We ask no favours of the enemy. We seek from them no compunction. On the contrary, if tonight our people were asked to cast their vote whether a convention should be entered into to stop the bombing of cities, the overwhelming majority would cry, "No, we will mete out to them the measure, and more than the measure, that they have meted out to us." The people with one voice would say: "You have committed every crime under the sun. Where you have been the least resisted there you have been the most brutal. It was you who began the indiscriminate bombing. We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst - and we will do our best."

Sir Winston Churchill – English Prime Minister
First delivered 14 July 1941

I challenge your point of view sir because I feel it is shortsighted and allows the terrorists to continue their wicked killing sprees and would seek to make our protective forces "criminals". Many sought to cast doubt on the use of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki at the end of World War II. I applaud President Truman for his Leadership, Courage and determination to put a stop to a war that had cost the lives of innocent millions.

I seek the same for our forces here and around the world. Ask Daniel Pearl's widow how she feels, or any of the families of those killed on 9/11. I am sure you will get the same answer that I have given you.

" We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst - and we will do our best."

I agree with the Late Winston Churchill 100% and will do my best to support all those who seek an end to these murderous thugs, by any means necessary.

Sincerely,

Middleboro Jones
US Navy Veteran OIF
Presently at Camp Leatherneck
Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

It's not a matter of if, but when...

Mirada rights for Terrorists

We grant the terrorists the appropriate level of "rights" they are entitled to...and no more.

To quote FDR,

" Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God."

The Holder Hangover

As I have stated before, posting other's words here are a good thing especially when someone else hits " the nail on the head" - I have been a long standing supporter of trying terrorists in a Nuremberg style trial instead of the administration's farce of allowing them to have access to our regular courts.

Or we could follow Sir Winston Churchill's advice, "that they be summarily shot" - cheap and effective - the simplest methods are sometimes the best.

Been busy here in KAF - neighbors have been sending us "love notes" if you know what I mean...Guess it is time we send them some back...with all due expediency.

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http://www.powerlineblog.com
The Holder hangover (and whence it comes)

January 31, 2010 Posted by Scott at 8:26 AM

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania during the presidential campaign in June 2008, Barack Obama addressed the Supreme Court's Boumediene decision granting Guantanamo detainees the right to challenge their confinement through habeas corpus proceedings in federal court. Obama asserted that the "principle of habeas corpus, that a state can't just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process -- that's the essence of who we are." He explained:

I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are but also the basic principles of rule of law. Now the Supreme Court upheld that principle yesterday.

Obama's comments derive from what I facetiously call "the higher wisdom" that fueled his campaign and that is now operative in his administration. Attorney General Eric Holder perfectly reflects it.

In designating the mastermind of 9/11 and his co-conspirators who are detained in Guantanamo for trial in federal court in Manhattan, cloaking them with the rights of American citizens under the Constitution of the United States, Holder sought to give them their "day in court." He also sought to "t[each] the entire world about who we are but also the basic principles of rule of law."

The only appropriate response to Obama's campaign comments on Boumediene is: "Not true." The higher wisdom is founded on false precepts. The Nuremberg trial was conducted before a military commission composed of representatives of the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Obama to the contrary notwithstanding, the Nuremberg defendants weren't brought before a federal court or cloaked with the protections of the United States Constitution.

The most prominent surviving Nazi leaders were brought for trial before the Nuremberg tribunal in late 1945. Winston Churchill had proposed, not unreasonably, that they be summarily shot. The victorious allies nevertheless subsequently agreed that they would be brought before a military commission to be convened pursuant to the London Agreement of August 8, 1945.

In Boumediene, the Supreme Court disapproved of the system of military commissions Congress had adopted at the Supreme Court's urging. Obama to the contrary notwithstanding, the Nuremberg defendants' "day in court" occurred before the kind of tribunal the Supreme Court found constitutionally inadequate in Boumediene.

The Nazi war criminals were given no access to American courts. Their rights before the Nuremberg tribunal were governed by the charter annexed to the London Agreement

. The charter's "fair trial" provision was extraordinarily brief. It required only the preparation of an indictment (to be translated into the defendant's language) and accorded defendants an explanation relevant to the charges made against them in the proceedings; the translation of the proceedings into defendants' language; the right to conduct their own defense before the tribunal or to have the assistance of counsel; the right to present evidence at the trial in support of his defense, and to cross-examine any witnesses testifying against him.

The charter provision on the appeal rights of the Nuremberg defendants was even shorter and sweeter. There were no appeal rights. The charter provided: "The judgment of the Tribunal as to the guilt or the innocence of any Defendant shall give the reasons on which it is based, and shall be final and not subject to review."

Following Obama's higher wisdom, Eric Holder established an insane protocol. It is titled "Determination of Guantanamo Cases Referred for Prosecution." The protocol adopts a presumption that explains the cases of KSM et al. and Umar Abdulmutallab.

The second paragraph of the protocol sets forth the "Factors for Determination of Prosecution." It provides: "There is a presumption that, where feasible. referred cases will be prosecuted in an Article III [federal] court, in keeping with traditional principles of federal prosecution."

The Obama administration's determination to give KSM and Umar Abdulmutallab their "day in court" is untenable. It is untenable as a matter of law and it is untenable as a matter of tradition. It is indeed, as Thomas Sowell holds, an obscenity. It is also untenable as a matter of politics.
Congress has adopted a system of military commissions for unlawful enemy combatants that conforms to the Supreme Court's requirements. That is where the trials of KSM and Abdulmutallab belong.

The planned trials of KSM and Abdulmutallab in federal court join related errors committed by the Obama administration. These errors include the announced closure of Guantanamo, the repatriation of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the termination of the CIA's program of enhanced interrogation, the release of Justice Department memos that had authorized the CIA interrogation program, and the reopening of previously concluded investigations into CIA officers.

As word comes that the Obama administration has abandoned its plan to try KSM et al. in New York City, it lies upon us to recall the source of the error and the related errors that afflict us. The "presumption" that unlawful enemy combatants are to be treated like American citizens is an offense against law, tradition and reason, but it does not stand alone, and it does not derive in the first instance from Eric Holder.