Obama's popularity in Afghanistan is surging

President Obama's popularity in Afghanistan is skyrocketing, as evidenced by the massive crowds in Kabul who came out in droves on Sunday, March 6, to express their support for him:

Robert Levinson's predicament: Obama isn't itching for a fight

Robert [Bob] Levinson, a former FBI agent-turned-private detective, who disappeared off the Iranian island of Kish in March of 2007, is apparently still alive, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.

Levinson traveled to Iran in 2007 to investigate a cigarette smuggling ring. Kish, a popular Iranian resort area is a hotbed of smuggling and organized crime. It is also a free trade zone: U.S. citizens do not need visas to travel there.

The New York Times reported [in 2009] that Levinson had vanished shortly after meeting with Dawud Salahuddin, an American convert to Islam wanted for the 1980 murder of Ali Akbar Tabatabai, an Iranian dissident in the U.S., who was a former Iranian diplomat under the shah and a fierce critic of the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

In an interview with former CNN host, Larry King, in September of 2010, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, feigned ignorance when asked if he knew of Levinson's whereabouts:

KING: What about Robert Levinson? This is the former FBI agent. He's been missing in Iran for three -- over three years, hasn't been heard from. First, can you tell us, is he alive? Is he OK?

AHMADINEJAD: I think we should ask that question from the FBI.

KING: But he's in your country

AHMADINEJAD: How would I know? How am I supposed to know? There are many individuals, many people who come to our country and then leave.

KING: So you have no idea where he is?

AHMADINEJAD: He came and he left. As usual. No.

The Iranian President, however, then had the following ominous exchange with Mr. King:

KING: You know, Mr. President, if it were your children -- if one of your children crossed the border of another country and were being held, you would be very concerned and you would press the issue, would you not?

AHMADINEJAD: If my child violates a law, justice must be served. Because law ensures security. And stability. And laws must be observed because if they are to be violated, there shall be no security....

VIDEO of the interview

[It is unclear what kind of 'laws" Ahmadinejad was reffering to; U.S. citizens do not need visas to travel to Kish.]

In December of 2010, President Obama, in defending his tax-cut deal with Republicans, emphasized the need to negotiate with hostage-takers.

"The middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts" by the Republicans, said Obama. "The hostage was the American people," he sadded. Obama went on to explain that he was forced to cut a deal with the Republican hostage-takers in order to free the American hostages, namely, the American people.

However, it seems the Iranian hostage-takers are considerably more difficult to please then the Republican hostage-takers, as evidenced both by Robert Levinson's captivity and other American hostages currently languishing in Iranian prisons.

Hence, the Appeaser-in-Chief may need to resort to some additional back-scratching if he is to win the hostages freedom. Ahmadinejad's back is apparently still itching for some more of Obama's highly popular scratching remedies.

Truth be told, that may not be a bad thing for the President, for indeed, appeasement is the crux of Obama's foreign policy and New World Order. Tough language is simply not part of his lexicon, at least when it comes to confronting the likes of Ahmadinejad. Bare in mind that the President, when defending his tax-cut deal with Republicans, pledged that he would confront the GOP aggressively in 2011.

“I will be happy to see the Republicans test whether or not I’m itching for a fight on a whole range of issues,” he said. “I suspect they will find I am.

I suspect that when it comes to winning the freedom of Robert Levinson and other American hostages detained in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad knows full well that Obama is not itching for a fight; and, in all likelihood, he isn't itching to bring the hostages back home any time soon. Ahmadinejad, it seems, is not deserving of a fight, the Republicans are.

Sebelius admits to 'double-counting' in Obamacare budget

During a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing Thursday, Republican Rep. John Shimkus asked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius whether $500 billion in Medicare cuts were being used to sustain the Medicare program or to fund the new health care legislation, the Daily Caller reported.

“There is an issue here on the budget because your own actuary has said you can’t double-count,” said Shimkus. “You can’t count — they’re attacking Medicare on the CR when their bill, your law, cut $500 billion from Medicare.

“Then you’re also using the same $500 billion to what? Say your funding health care. Your own actuary says you can’t do both... What’s the $500 billion in cuts for? Preserving Medicare or funding the health-care law?

Sebelius replied: “Both.”

More at the Daily Caller

Video

In 2010, then-House Minority Leader, John Boehner, issued a statement saying:

“Simple logic says that you can’t spend and save the same dollar – but logic doesn’t apply if you’re a Democrat in Washington. The trustees’ report confirms that Medicare’s future now rests on Washington Democrats’ accounting gimmicks and tricks, a risk America’s seniors are by no means eager to take.

"The chief Medicare actuary has already blown the whistle on the Obama administration for attempting to pass off cuts as ‘savings’ within Medicare when, in fact, the money is being used to establish a new federal entitlement and massive new bureaucracies."

In a report issued in April of 2010, the chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Richard Foster, stated that: "In practice, the improved [Medicare] financing cannot be simultaneously used to finance other Federal outlays [like the coverage expansions] and to extend the trust fund, despite the appearance of this result from the respective accounting conventions ["conventions" i.e. 'GIMMICKS'].

U.S. Unemployment surges in February: Gallup

From Gallup:

Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, hit 10.3% in February -- up from 9.8% at the end of January. The U.S. unemployment rate is now essentially the same as the 10.4% at the end of February 2010.

The percentage of part-time workers who want full-time work worsened considerably in February, increasing to 9.6% of the workforce from 9.1% at the end of January. A larger percentage of the U.S. workforce is working part time and wanting full-time work now than was the case a year ago (9.3%).

Underemployment, a measure that combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with those who are unemployed, surged in February to 19.9%... Underemployment is now higher than it was at this point a year ago (19.7%)....

This deterioration in the jobs situation combined with surging gas prices... and declines on Wall Street tend to explain the recent plunge Gallup recorded in consumer confidence....

In a related development, Reuters reported on Wednesday that "the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose in February to its highest level in 11 months as government and non-profit employers let workers go..."

Obamacare will cost taxpayers twice the CBO estimate

From Fox News:

A new report from a joint congressional GOP panel says President Obama's health care reforms will cost $118 billion through 2023 -- twice the estimate claimed by the administration... [and], more than twice the Congressional Budget Office estimate of $60 billion through 2021....

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate finance panel that joined the report, said... "It's time for Congress to peel this program back by putting states, not the federal government, back in charge."...

Mr. Hatch called the new health care legislation, a 'Dumb-Ass Program'.

Canadian infant denied medical treatment! End-of-Life Care, Too Costly?!

A hospital in Ontario Canada is turning a deaf ear to the pleas of Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, parents of a 13 year old child who is suffering from a fatal neuro-degenerative disease.

The parents pleaded with physicians at the London Health Sciences Center in Ontario to perform a tracheotomy on their son, Joseph, in order to prolong his life, but to no avail. The Canadian health care system ruled in favor of the hospital, saying the tracheotomy would needlessly prolong the baby's life. The couple had a child eight years ago with the same disease, who lived for six months after a tracheotomy. A hospital in Michigan also has refused to perform the procedure.

The Canadian hospital disingenuously claimed that the baby was in a vegetative state, however, videos of the infant clearly indicate otherwise. Watch the video here.

The Canadian death facilitators initially sought to remove the baby's respiratory tube in the hospital, but finally agreed to transfer the infant to his home before removing his life support. [The parents, however, said they first heard about this offer, not from the hospital, but from the media on Monday.] The hospital, nevertheless, still refuses to perform the tracheotomy.

Related: Daily Mail: Terminally ill baby would 'choke to death' if hospital wins right-to-die battle, claim parents.

Related Post: Obama 'End-of-Life Care', Too costly!

Related video: Christian organization unhappy with Obama, who said in 2008, that his biggest mistake was when he joined together with lawmakers to pass legislation that prolonged Terri Schiavo's life. [Joseph Maraachli's [the aforementioned infant's] non-vegetative state is non-debatable, however, Schiavo's parents also maintained that their daughter had shown signs of comprehension. (Nevertheless, even if Schiavo was indeed in a vegetative state, removing her life support and denying her fluids to drink - and ultimately facilitating her demise, was, at best, an extremely immoral and ignoble act.]

Related Video: Illinois Nurse, Jill Stanek, Talks About Her Experience With Live Birth Abortion and about Obama's support of the ghastly procedure

Related Post: Obama in '08: Oregonians, who approved Physician-assisted suicide, 'did a service for the country'

Qaddafi, or, Al-Qaeda?

Al-Qaeda’s North African arm, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, has reportedly expressed solidarity with anti-government forces in Libya and urged Muslims everywhere to support the uprising. “We will do whatever we can to help,” the group was quoted as saying.

Tough decision: Should the US back Muammar Gaddafi, or, Al Qaeda?

Muslim Brotherhood Senior Member extols Iranian leaders, scoffs at U.S.

Speaking at the International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Monday, Muslim Brotherhood Senior Member, Kamal el-Helbawy [el-Helbawi], praised both the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the current leaders of Iran. El-Helbawy derided the U.S. and western countries, and called "the [present] leader of Iran" the "number one figure of the Muslim world."

Rumsfeld on Obama's popularity abroad

Ghonim & Qaradawi

In a January 25 twitter post, Google's Middle East Marketing Director, Wael Ghonim - the Egyptian activist who helped organize the recent protests in Egypt - wrote:

"We just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him."

Initially, I had assumed that Mr. Ghonim was referring to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric [who, until recently, was] based in Qatar, who is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and who openly condoned the targeting of American forces and civilians in Iraq. Qaradawi has been banned from entering the U.S. since 1999 for his extremist views. In February 2008, he was denied a visa to enter Britain.

Based on the aforementioned assumption, I noted, in a February 9 post, that Mr. Ghonim's apparent admiration for Yusuf al-Qaradawi raises the question as to where Mr. Ghonim's 'real sentiments lie. Is he truly a voice of moderation? Or, is the Google executive/Egyptian activist, deep down in his heart - a radical who shares al-Qaradawi's extremist ideologies?'

However, after perusing the internet a bit, I surmised [either correctly or incorrectly] that Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi - who has resided in Qatar since being booted out of Egypt many years ago - had been in Qatar, and not in Egypt, on the very day that Ghonim had said he had "just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him." Hence, I reached the [perhaps faulty] conclusion that the Sheikh Qaradawi he had saluted in Egypt was not the radical Yusuf al-Qaradawi, but someone else. Consequently, I duly deleted the aforementioned post.

However, whether or not Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was actually in Egypt on January 25, and, whether he is the same Sheikh that Mr. Ghonim had saluted, is now of little import, because, according to media reports, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was clearly in Egypt this past Friday, where he delivered a sermon in Tahrir Square - and, Mr. Ghonim, in a twitter post on Friday, praised the aforementioned sermon. "I loved Sheikh Qaradawi['s] Khutbah [sermon] today", he twittered.

Hence, in light of Ghonim's outward show of affection toward the radical, jihadist-preaching cleric, I've decided to re-post the relevant sections of my February 9 post:

In 2004, Arab media sources quoted Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi as saying that the abduction and killing of American soldiers and civilians in Iraq is a religious obligation. The aforementioned statement was confirmed by the director of Al-Qaradhawi's office, who affirmed that Mr. Qaradawi had issued a Fatwa saying that there is an obligation to fight against American civilians in Iraq.

While a number of clerics at Al-Azhar University expressed support for Mr. Qaradawi's fatwa, the aforementioned fatwa elicited sharp responses from various Muslim journalists.

"Finally Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi has removed the veil from his true face," an Arab journalist opined, "the same face as that of all of the masked terrorists, and declared himself to be a religious authority and propagandist for the terrorists, without shame and without hesitation. This comes after a long period in which he tried to fool us, attempting to be considered moderate and religiously tolerant.

"Al-Qaradhawi issued a Fatwa calling to abduct American civilians and to murder them in cold blood... We, as Iraqis, were not surprised by the Fatwa of the propagandist of terrorism, for he is the religious guide for the Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera, which the Iraqis rightly call 'the satellite channel of the masked [terrorists]', and which makes great efforts day and night to encourage terrorism in Iraq.

"A question for the bloodthirsty, terror-mongering cleric Al-Qaradhawi and his supporters among the sheikhs of Al-Azhar [University]: Who gave you permission to force yourselves as custodians on the Iraqi people? Through the fact that bloodthirsty clerics publish terrorist Fatwas, and through their support for terrorists, they have turned Islamic thought into an ideology of terror..."

Another Arab columnist wrote: "It is possible that the Fatwa of the 'Sheikh' and the 'Imam of the [so-called] moderates,' Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, which permitted and even commanded the abduction and killing of American civilians in Iraq … will clear up the confusion … which we, the progressive intellectuals, have concerning 'moderation' and 'extremism' among the streams of political Islam, in all its various forms and gradations. It is possible that this Fatwa, issued by the 'Sheikh of moderation and compromise' comes to put to rest the debate among the progressives over the question as to whether … there exists some 'moderation' in the thought and discourse of some of the streams of political Islam, or whether this 'moderation' is merely something superficial, forced by specific conditions, or in modern terminology - it is merely a tactic...

"The Fatwa of Al-Qaradhawi, who carries the title of 'Sheikh and Imam of the moderates,' led to the near-complete collapse of moderation and destroyed the very foundations of the 'way of compromise.'... Sheikh Qaradhawi's Fatwa … causes us, the progressive intellectuals, to reassess the concept of the 'moderation' or 'extremism' of the prominent Islamic groups on the Arab scene..."

Another Arab columnist opined: "What kind of national cause is this that uses children like kerosene for igniting a total war of destruction in the name of national and religious liberty…? The Islamic-Arab terrorism has turned into the greatest danger in the world, and threatens civilization...Islamic terrorism is the outcome of 'moderate' political Islam, as it is generally described. The latest proof of this is Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi's Fatwa calling for the killing of all Americans in Iraq."

One Arab author raised the following question: "Is it [Qaradawi's fatwa] because the Americans are the reason why Al-Qaradhawi lost three million dollars that were in his 'Al-Taqwa' bank account, which belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and which was the main financier of the Al-Qa'ida organization, and which was shut down, and its assets and deposits confiscated, due to the U.S.'s efforts to trace [the activities] of this shady bank...?

"The vacuum in Arab political discourse..., the absence of a politically conscious Arab grassroots, the absence of an active public opinion capable of bringing about change … allowed those who wear turbans to take to the political stumps... and to lead the Arab political activity which has turned into an expression of the call for more and more bloodshed in the name of the new religion which Al-Qaradhawi brought, together with the rest of the religious fundamentalist terror groups. This is the clear proof that we have become a politically bankrupt nation. We inherited this from our fathers and we are bequeathing it to our children…"

And yet, despite of all the above, Wael Ghonim stated in his twitter post: "We just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him."

Mr. Ghonim's salute to the so-called moderate Sheik, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is perhaps indicative of where this Egyptian revolution is really headed. Ghonim's honorary gesture only compounds the anxieties of those who've expressed concern that the current uprising is, in essence, a precursor to a future fundamentalist and extremist government in Egypt.

And, while the demonstrators in Egypt accuse Americans of being opposed to their freedom for simply raising concerns about the direction and the eventual outcome of the current uprising, they themselves are marching hand in hand with the likes of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who've condoned the murder of American citizens. Ironic, indeed: The protesters are infuriated at Americans because of their reluctance to support a movement which is comprised, in part, by Jihadists who wish death upon the U.S.

Nevertheless, Mr. Ghonim, it seems, holds Yusuf al-Qaradawi in high esteem and believes he is worthy of an honorary salute. But what about Ghonim's employers at Google? Would they, too, salute Mr. Qaradawi - if he crossed their path?

Only they can answer that question.

Whether or not Ghonim saluted Yusuf al-Qaradawi is still unclear, but he did indeed praise the radical, Jihadist cleric this past Friday, saying, "I loved Sheikh Qaradawi Khutbah [sermon] today".

Google, on its main twitter account, recently sent out a tweet to Mr. Ghonim saying: “We’re incredibly proud of you, @Ghonim, & of course will welcome you back when you’re ready.”

Permit me to add my own two cents by saying that, 'I am extremely proud of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi; I love his [Khutbahs] sermons and I wish him the very best on - what I assume is - his permanent return to Egypt.'

Welcome home Sheikh Qaradawi, and keep up the good [jihadist-preaching] work!

Egypt Uprising - A Tribute

Mubarak: We don't take orders from anyone

Iran Warns Against Rally in Support of Egypt Protests

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday credited the [1979] Iranian Revolution with creating an "Islamic awakening" which, he says, facilitated the current uprising in Egypt. The Supreme Leader also offered words of encouragement to the Egyptian protesters.

HOWEVER, just because it's good for the goose doesn't necessarily mean it's good for the gander:

Iran issued a warning today, as opposition groups planned a Monday rally supporting protesters in Egypt. The state prosecutor said, the people of Iran are vigilant, and if necessary, they will respond.

Instead, he said people should attend an officially sanctioned rally this Friday. Iranian authorities crushed mass protests that erupted in 2009.

President Obama refused to back the Iranian protesters in 2009 because he said he did not want to meddle in Iran's internal affairs. The Egyptian protests, however, are a different story - as far as Obama is concerned - because Egypt's government is a secular regime which does not adhere to the basic tenets of the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates. And while Syria may be a secular regime, it, nevertheless, adheres to many of the Muslim Brotherhood's tenets. Hence, Obama eagerly appointed a new U.S. ambassador to Syria, the first U.S. ambassador to Syria since the Bush administration withdrew its ambassador in February 2005, in response to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.

The President's cozy relationship with Bashar Assad ultimately strengthened Syria's hand in Lebanon, which, in turn, helped facilitate the collapse of the Hariri-led Government, which consequently set the stage for a new Hezbollah-backed President.

Obama apparently believes that by strengthening the Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah regimes and dismantling the Mubarak government, a new sense of harmony will spread throughout the Middle East and beyond. The war on terror, in turn, will be a thing of the past, because in Obama's new world order, a war on terror will no longer be a viable option. And, as a result of Obama's unique foresight and his judicious foreign policy, the American people will, at long last, be able to drop the phrase "war on terror" from their lexicon as the Obama administration had done in 2009. The words "capitulation", and "surrender", no doubt, will supplant the antiquated and obsolete phrase, "war on terror."

Ah yes, how refreshing indeed. After countless years of convoluted foreign policies crafted by inept U.S. presidents, we finally have a President who understands the ways of the world.

Thank heaven for "Change."

Obama Invited Muslim Brotherhood; What About Coptic Christians?

From Yahoo News:

Coptic Christians in America, with the support of other Americans, are concerned for their counterparts living in Egypt. Also in danger could be people of other faiths, including Muslims of unpopular sects...

Coptics are concerned that while President Barack Obama invited the Muslim Brotherhood to participate in forming a new Egyptian government, neither he nor others in his administration specifically invited Egypt's Christian population or other religious groups to the table...

Voice of the Copts is a representative body of Coptic Christians in the USA. Its website criticizes Obama's refusal to admit the Muslim Brotherhood is not a threat while he himself states the Brotherhood is well-organized with anti-American ideas. Voice of the Copts informs that there are many kinds of people in Egypt and all must be considered.

By various reports, there are ten to twelve million Coptic Christians in Egypt. This is 15 percent to 20 percent of the population. The fear is, that if the Muslim Brotherhood turns out to want Sharia law (Islamic religious law) to become state government law, what will become of these Christians?

Severe persecution of Christianity and other faiths already happens under Islamic law in Iraq and Iran. Victor Davis Hanson... warned in a National Review article that with this call for a new government in Egypt, we could see a repeat of 1979 when the Shah of Iran was overthrown. Just when we thought there would be a "democratic" regime in Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini took over and made Iran into an Islam-governed state...

Over the American New Year's holiday, more than 20 Coptic Christians were murdered during a raid on their church...

The New York Sun reported in May 2010 that Coptic Christians have been unable to obtain an audience with President Obama to discuss religious persecution in Egypt. They don't mind Obama's hand extended to the Muslim community, but the fact that their own is ignored is extremely frustrating.

President Obama's overtures to the Muslim Brotherhood, including an invitation to members of the Brotherhood to attend his speech in Cairo in June of 2009, and a private meeting he had held with several members of the organization in Washington D.C earlier that year - which was kept under wraps at the request of the MB - was likely a result of the close kinship that he feels toward the Muslim Brotherhood.

It should also be noted that extending a hand to the Muslim Brotherhood may actually be a prudent move on the President's part.

Rather than antagonize the MB into waging a holy war, the President has opted to allow the Muslim Brotherhood to form an Islamic caliphate in Egypt.

The President, it seems, has reached the conclusion that a holy caliphate is more preferable than a holy war, and that the price of appeasement is well worth the investment.

Obama's strategy can only be descibed as a profound work of genius which will ultimately spread peace and tranquility to the the entire free world, and, at the same time, provide the Egyptian people with a religious experience they'll NEVER, EVER forget, until death do their country [a]part.....

Iraqi Al-Qaeda Group Calls For Holy War In Egypt

From My Stateline:

An Iraq-based al-Qaeda group is calling for holy war and jail breaks in Egypt.

In a statement posted on Islamist websites Tuesday, the Islamic State of Iraq urged Egyptian Muslims to topple Egypt's government as punishment for not imposing strict Islamic law.

The terror group said, quote, "If the people of Islam die trying to reach this goal, it is better for them than having a tyrant who rules them with laws other than God's Sharia law." It added, quote, "the doors of martyrdom have opened."

The statement came out the same day Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman revealed al-Qaeda-linked militants are among the many prisoners who have broken out of Egypt's jails since the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule began more than two weeks ago.

The Iraqi al-Qaeda group told Egyptian Muslims not to rest until all prisoners are turned loose and all the prisons are destroyed.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is still pushing the Egyptian government to disband and to create a vacuum that would allow rogue elements to fill the void and take control of the country.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday echoed a statement that President Obama had made last week, in which the President had insisted that an orderly transition of power, in Egypt, "must begin now."

"I think ... that an orderly transition must begin now," said Gibbs.

Vice President Biden on Tuesday, however, appeared to offer a tad bit of breathing room to President Mubarak.

Borrowing a word which he and President Obama had often used in the past, Mr. Biden told Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman that an 'orderly transition' must take place and that the Egyptian government should work with the opposition to develop 'a TIMETABLE for transition'.

And while we're on the subject of 'timetables':

From Xinhua:

A total of seven people were killed and 80 others were wounded in bomb attacks [in Iraq] on Wednesday, including three car bombings in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk...

From the Examiner - February 6, 2011:

The final 50,000 American troops are scheduled to leave Iraq on December 31, 2011... However, there are some in the Pentagon and elsewhere who say that US troops will need to remain after the December date.

Officials in the Pentagon are fearful that Iraq is becoming a “forgotten war” and is still too instable for US troop withdrawal...

Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of US Forces in Iraq said, “Sunni extremist groups like Al Qaeda will continue to target the government of Iraq, the Iraqi security forces...”

US Ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey also points to an Al Qaeda threat, "We will either step up to the plate, finish the job, and build on the sacrifice made, or we will risk core U.S. national security interests, be pennywise and pound-foolish, and cede the field to al-Qaida and other dangerous regional influences."

Even last month, Vice-President Joe Biden indicated that US troops may have to remain beyond the SOFA date.

Ah, yes, 'timetables"......

Please read the [original] updated post, here. Updated February 19.

Please note: The following will seem like gibberish to you if you didn't read the original post:

This post has been deleted for the time-being, for the following reason: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi lives in Qatar. He is banned from entering Egypt. Wael Ghonim, who is based in Qatar, traveled to Egypt, in late January, to join in the protests. However, it appears that Ghonim had aleady arrived in Egypt when he declared that he had "just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him". Hence, I'm inclined to believe that the Sheikh Qaradawi he had met was not the Sheikh Qaradawi of Qatar [who once lived in Egypt] but a different Sheikh. If anyone can shed some light on the matter, I'd greatly appreciate it. Until then, I will assume that I had erred.

Update: Qaradawi has a son currently living in Egypt. Perhaps it is Qaradawi's son whom Ghonim saluted.

Muslim Brotherhood Terrorists attack Egyptian security forces with guns and rocket-propelled grenades

Egyptian security forces came under attack Monday by members of the radical Islamic group, Takfir wal-Hijra, an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. A police officer and a civilian were injured during the two hour battle in the Ahrash neighborhood of Rafah. Several rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the security forces.

Muhammad Nabil, an Egyptian policeman, was injured as a result of gunfire which struck him in the leg. A local Bedouin, 20-year-old Muhammad Ahmad Mahmoud, also sustained a gunshot wound in the chest.

Members of this same group on Friday abducted three Egyptian police officers as their car left the Al-Arish district on patrol.

Takfir wal-Hijra was founded in 1971 by Shukri Mustafa, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who had been in prison with Sayyid Qutb, the leading Islamic theologian of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s, who advocated armed struggle to impose Islamic law. Mustafa become one of Qutb's radical disciples. The current leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, also spent time in jail with Sayyid Qutb. Badie was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1965 in the military case that included among the sentenced, Mr. Qutb. Mohammed Baidie, like Shukri Mustafa, also became a loyal disciple of Sayyid Qutb.

Mr. Badie is seen as "one of the most loyal leaders to the organization of Sayyid Qutb," according to the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayah.

The Longwar Journal notes: "Qutb is widely, and correctly, described as the intellectual forefather of al Qaeda, which still references his writings to this day...

"Ayatollah Khameini, the current supreme leader of the Iranian revolution, translated two of Qutb's most important volumes into Persian. Those two translated volumes have been widely read inside Iran and some say they are the most circulated Islamist tracts."

In June of 2009, various Arab news sources reported that the Obama administration had insisted that at least 10 members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood be allowed to attend Obama's speech [to the Muslim world] in Cairo.

In April of 2009, the Egyptian daily newspaper, Almasry Alyoum, reported that President Obama had met with members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who live in the U.S. and Europe, and that the members requested that news of the meeting not be publicized.

And now, Mohammed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood leader - who, like Shukri Mustafa, the founder of Takfir wal-Hijra, was a disciple of the intellectual forefather of al Qaeda, Sayyid Qutb - is paving the way for the formation of a new Egyptian government.

Good grief.

Mohammed Badie & Akef; Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

In January of 2010, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood named Mohammed Badie [Badi'] as its new leader. Mr. Badie was jailed for nine years in the 1960s because of his membership in a Brotherhood paramilitary cell that planned the overthrow of the government.

Badi' was an ardent disciple of Sayyid Qutb, the leading Islamic theologian of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s who advocated armed struggle to impose Islamic law.
[Source - AFP]

The Investigative Project notes:

Qutb called on Muslims to wage jihad to "liberate" the entire world from the servitude of man-made laws, which would be replaced by Shariah.

An article posted on the Brotherhood's English-language website notes that Badie "has been said to follow the conservative ideals of the late Sayed Qutb." Badie is seen as "one of the most loyal leaders to the organization of Sayyid Qutb," according to the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayah.

In an interview [with an Arab news service in November of 2009]...,, Badi' was stalwart in his opposition to the idea of a woman or a Copt assuming the presidency of Egypt, basing his decisions strictly and solely on Islamic law.

The interviewer [asked Badie] if the people have the right to choose what they want. Badie [replied] "If the people choose something against the Sharia, it is not proper to implement it. If there is a conflict with the Sharia, it must not be put into force."

But what else can we expect from someone who was imprisoned with Sayyid Qutb?

According to Al-Hayah:

"[Badie]... was sentenced in a number of cases, the most famous of which was a 15-year imprisonment in 1965 in the military case that included among the sentenced the fundamentalist leader Sayyid Qutb; [Badie] spent 9 years in prison on the basis of that sentence…

The Longwar Journal notes:

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood openly sided with Khomeini's revolutionaries as they overthrew the Shah.

One of the principal architects of jihadist thinking is Sayyid Qutb... Qutb is widely, and correctly, described as the intellectual forefather of al Qaeda, which still references his writings to this day...

Well, Qutb didn't just influence al Qaeda's thinking. Ayatollah Khameini, the current supreme leader of the Iranian revolution, translated two of Qutb's most important volumes into Persian. Those two translated volumes have been widely read inside Iran and some say they are the most circulated Islamist tracts.

All of this is a shorthand way of saying that the Iranian revolution and the Muslim Brotherhood share a similar political ideology... When Ayatollah Khatami roots for the protesters in Egypt, then, it is a safe bet that he and others in Iran are specifically cheering on the Muslim Brotherhood....

Throughout the 1990s Iran was allied with Hassan al Turabi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who helped orchestrate a military coup in Sudan in 1989. Turabi, in turn, was one of Osama bin Laden's main benefactors from 1991 through 1996. As was documented during the trial of some of the terrorists responsible for the 1998 embassy bombings, bin Laden was introduced to key Iranian leaders...

In 2010, Badie was quoted as saying that the U.S. "is experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading towards its demise."

In September of 2004, the head of the International Council of Muslim Clerics published a fatwa declaring that "it is an obligation incumbent on the Muslims to kill American citizens in Iraq, since they are in Iraq in order to assist the soldiers and the occupation forces."

Among the Signatories of that fatwa was Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood from 2004 till 2010. Mr. Akef supported Mr. Badie's bid to succeed him as the current leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In August of 2004, Mr. Akef published an open letter in which he expressed his support for the insurgency in Iraq:

"Islam considers the resistance to be Jihad for the sake of Allah and this is a commandment, a personal obligation...," he said. "[This commandment] takes precedence over all other [religious] duties. Even a woman is obligated to go to war, [even] without her husband's permission, and youth are permitted to go out and fight."

Some addtional quotes from Mr. Akef:

1) "I have complete faith that Islam will invade Europe and America, because Islam has logic and a mission."

2) "Without the betrayal in Iraq, the Iraqis would have tormented the Americans with all kinds of torments," and would have forced U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq.

3) "I expect America to collapse soon. The elements of this collapse in America [already] exist."

In October of 2008, the Muslim brotherhood's website reported that Akef had declared the following:

The change to which the nation is aspiring...can only be done through jihad... Akef asserted that [this] requires the raising of the young people on the basis of the principles of jihad so as to create mujaheddin who love to die as much as others love to live..."

Akef also called on the young people to understand... that their happiest moment is when they are received in heaven after being martyred...

Additionally, Akef was quoted as saying:

"[We are commanded] to wage Jihad. Jihad is a personal duty incumbent upon every Muslim man and woman. If you do not maintain your call, you will not be able to preserve Egypt. The precious Egypt of resistance and of culture - we are its owners. But, as for that accursed, Egypt, (run by) those accursed people..., we have nothing to do with them! We are among the owners of the great, respectable Egypt..., who proclaim the truth and who work toward its revival."

In 2008, Akef was asked by an Arab news service:

“Regarding resistance and jihad…do you consider Osama Bin Laden a terrorist or an Islamic Mujahid?”

Akef replied:

“In all certainty, a mujahid, and I have no doubt in his sincerity in resisting the occupation..."

A 1991 Muslim Brotherhood 'strategic memorandum' for North America states:

"The ikhwan [Muslim Brothers] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within, and sabotaging its miserable house by their [own] hands and the hands of their believers, so that it is eliminated and Islam is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad."

In June of 2009, Al Arabiya reported that, under pressure from the United States, the Secretariat-General of the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament invited ten members of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc to attend Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo.

An Al-Arabiya reporter speculated that Brotherhood members would be invited to a special meeting that Obama was to hold with writers, politicians and members of Egyptian civil society.

Similarly, the Atlantic cited various Middle Eastern news sources who reported that the Obama administration insisted that at least 10 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's chief opposition party, be allowed to attend Obama's speech in Cairo.

Scott Wheeler, director of the National Republican Trust PAC, at the time, criticized the administration for allowing the Muslim Brotherhood into the event.

"The American people did not vote for President Barack Hussein Obama to make peace with Muslim terrorists," he said in a statement.

Commentators noted at the time that President Obama never mentioned the word "terrorism" or "terror" in his speech.

In March of 2009, Hillary Clinton confirmed that the Obama administration had dropped the phrase 'war on terror' from its lexicon. The Muslim Brotherhood, however, continues to remain a vital component of Obama's lexicon.

In April of 2009, the Egyptian daily newspaper, Almasry Alyoum, reported that President Obama, in February, had met with members of Egypt's Islamist opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The newspaper reported that Obama met the group's members, who reside in the U.S. and Europe, in Washington, and that the members requested that news of the meeting not be publicized.

President Obama recently indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood would likely play a role in the forming of Egypt's new government.

Obama, no doubt, is sitting back in the Oval Office right now with a congratulatory smile on his face. For indeed the winds of "change", that he had promised to bring about, are sweeping all across the Arab world at an accelerated pace - at a rapid pace that even he could not have possibly envisioned.

"If I can achieve all of this in two years by simply reaching out to the enemy," Obama is likely thinking to himself, "then the sky is the limit as to how much I can accomplish over the next two to six years!"

Congratulations, Mr. President, on a job well done!

Ayatollah khomeini: Egypt must rise up against Mubarak government

Terrorists escape Egyptian jails, Obama reaches out to Muslim Brotherood

Thousands of prisoners have escaped from jails across Egypt since anti-government riots broke out in the country last week, including Hamas detainees who found their way back to the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.

According to ABC News, a senior official in the Hamas government confirmed that all eight escapees were on their way back to Gaza. Additionally, 34 members and leaders of the the banned Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, manged to escape the Wadi Natrun prison. One of their lawyers told AFP that the thugs left the prison after guards there abandoned their posts. However, according to unconfirmed reports, commando forces, comprised of members of Hezbollah, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hamas, stormed into the aforementioned jail and freed both the Muslim Brotherhood detainees and Hezbollah prisoners who were detained on charges of planning terrorist attacks last year.

The commandos exploited the current instability in Egypt and entered the country through the Sudanese border.

One of the escapees, Essam el-Erian, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, told the AP that he was heading to Tahrir (or Liberation) Square to meet with other opposition leaders Sunday.

“You can call this a revolution, you can call this an uprising,” he said.

Echoing el-Erian's sentiment, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Tuesday that the uprising in Egypt will help create an 'Islamic Middle East', the AFP reported.

"With the knowledge that I have of the great revolutionary and history making people of Egypt, I am sure they will play their role in creating an Islamic Middle East...", he said.

The Hezbollah leadership also praised the demonstrations.

And, in a related development, World Net Daily is reporting that "the U.S. embassy in Cairo secretly met with" El-Erian on Monday.

The meeting with El-Erian apparently afforded President Obama with a grand opportunity to fulfill his campaign pledge, namely that he would talk with, [i.e. appease], the bad guys, without preconditions....

El-Erian, who, as previously noted, escaped from an Egyptian prison last week, met with Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, who was dispatched over the weekend by the Obama administration to report to the State Department and the White House about the current situation in Egypt.

The U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny the report to World Net Daily.

ElBaradei - Change you can believe in!

Judge uses Obama's words to strike down ObamaCare

From the Washington Times:

In ruling against President Obama‘s health care law, federal Judge Roger Vinson used Mr. Obama‘s own position from the 2008 campaign against him, arguing that there are other ways to tackle health care short of requiring every American to purchase insurance.

“I note that in 2008, then-Senator Obama supported a health care reform proposal that did not include an individual mandate because he was at that time strongly opposed to the idea, stating that ‘if a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house,’” Judge Vinson wrote in a footnote toward the end of the 78-page ruling Monday.

Judge Vinson, a federal judge in the northern district of Florida, struck down the entire health care law as unconstitutional on Monday, though he is allowing the Obama administration to continue to implement and enforce it while the government appeals his ruling.

"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable," Judge Vinson ruled that "the entire act [health care bill] must be declared void.”

Egypt's Million Man March: Obama should attend the march

The Big Government blog on Saturday noted the following:

It is telling that the protests Friday in Egypt were dubbed by the Muslim Brotherhood, a “day of rage.”

The Brotherhood said its members will demonstrate “...so that... Friday will be the general day of rage for the Egyptian nation.”

“Days of Rage” is what the Weathermen [i.e. Bill Ayer's Weather Underground organization] called their violent, riotous protests in Chicago in 1969.

And, today, the AFP reported that demonstrators in Egypt - apparently, following in Louis Farrakhan's footsteps - are calling for a "Million-man march" [on Tuesday] to mark one week since the protests began.

In 1995, Louis Farrakhan organized, what was dubbed, "The Million Man March" in Washington D.C.

Along with other prominent black leaders such as Al Sharpton and Barack Obama, Farrakhan helped lead the Million Man March on Washington. A second march, called the Millions More Movement, took place in 2005.

If one were to ask President Obama why he chose to march with Mr. Farrakhan at the Million Man March, no doubt his response would be that he was merely endorsing the message [behind the march], not the messenger.

Likewise, it would behoove the President to attend the Million Man March in Egypt. While it is true that the demonstrations in Egypt are largely being fueled by the Muslim Brotherhood and by former IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei - previously a facilitator of Iran's nuclear weapons program - nevertheless, President Obama, by attending the march, would be endorsing the message, not the messengers. And, while the messengers, who are organizing the march, are indeed a band of thugs, this, in no way, diminishes their message - the message of piece, brotherhood, extremism and Jihad....... Obama should attend the event.

Medvedev vs. Obama on the role of Private Sector, Big Government

"Only government can break the cycle that is crippling our economy. The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life. It is only government that can break the vicious cycle."
President Barack Obama - 2009

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the most effective way to resolve a severe economic crisis is through the Private Sector - not big government:



Text:

"Simple and often populist solutions, in ninety cases out of one hundred, are wrong, or prove to be wrong, or perhaps even prove to be worst out of all the possible options. A vivid case in point is a tendency of trying to resolve economic problems through nationalization, including the nationalization of financial institutions.

"In the [recent era and] period of financial crisis, many states paused to think about that, and many states took that option, including states with well developed Liberal economies. Our economy is not developed well enough - I'm referring to the Russian economy - but we have exercised restraint, and we did not resort to that option. And I believe that we were right in doing that.

"I believe that, in most cases, crisis can be resolved through the efforts of private sectors, and, in the long term perspective, this is the most effective way of dealing with things."

"Only government can break the cycle that is crippling our economy. The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life. It is only government that can break the vicious cycle."
President Barack Obama - 2009

Michele Bachmann, Barack Obama and the disingenuous mainstream media

Why did Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann offer a rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address when Rep. Paul Ryan had been asked to deliver the official Republican response?

This disingenuous question is irking pundits all across the left-wing, mainstream media [and blogosphere].

They casually ignore the fact that Barack Obama, in 2008, had offered a response to President Bush's State of the Union address even though then-Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius had been asked to deliver the official Democratic response.

To be fair, however, the mainstream media - in raising the aforementioned question - is simply fulfilling its duty: to bash the Republicans and to try to create a rift within the party.

It's their job, it's what they get paid to do.

Incidentally, Barack Obama, during his rebuttal [i.e. Presidential campaign speech] in 2008, did not refrain from deriding Mr. Bush.

Civility, it seems, was not the order of the day back then.

Mitch McConnell: WH ignored us till now, administration had a different agenda

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday afternoon discussed President Obama's State of the Union address. McConnell said that Republican overtures to work with the White House on job creation were rebuffed.

"I'm not going to put [Obama] down for that," said McConnell, "he didn't think he needed us... They were busy trying to turn America into a Western European country as rapidly as possible. We had a referendum on that November 2. The American People don't want to be a Western European country..."

Obama State Of The Union Address - A Coercive Unity

Obama, Nasrallah Promoting Bipartisanship

In his weekly radio address, several weeks ago, President Obama said, "I'm willing to work with anyone, of either party, who's got a good idea and a commitment to see it through." The aforementioned statement stands in stark contrast to some of Obama's earlier partisan rhetoric.

Nevertheless, the President is in good company, for, as the video below illustrates, he is not the first leader, in recent weeks, who's expressed a willingness to work in bipartisan fashion. Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, in a televised speech on Sunday, also indicated that he'd be willing to work with any political party:

Iran to supply gas to Europe via Syria

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji announced on Thursday that Iran and Syria have signed an agreement to build an "Islamic gas pipeline" to transfer Iran's natural gas to Europe.

The gas pipeline to Europe will pass through Iran, Iraq, Syria, southern Lebanon, the Mediterranean basin, and will provide 110 million cubic meters of natural gas, per day, to Europe. The Pipeline will also provide Iraq and Syria with additional sources of energy.

Just one more indication that Obama's no-nonsense foreign policy - including the weak sanctions imposed on Iran - is having the desired effect.