Friday, February 20, 2015

Secret Service Guards Obama, Taking Unusually Early Step

Secret Service Guards Obama, Taking Unusually Early Step

Doug Mills/The New York Times
When Barack Obama debated Hillary Rodham Clinton last month, his campaign was relying on its own security. On Thursday, that changed.
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: May 4, 2007
Correction Appended
Senator Barack Obama, whose crowds at political rallies across the country have often numbered in the thousands, was placed under Secret Service protection yesterday, a spokesman for the agency said.

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The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, authorized the protection for Mr. Obama after consulting with a Congressional advisory committee that reviews security for presidential hopefuls. The decision to assign agents to Mr. Obama, nearly nine months before voting begins in the Democratic primaries for president, is the earliest the Secret Service has ever issued a security detail to a candidate.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Eric Zahren, said the agency was not aware of any specific threat against Mr. Obama. Mr. Zahren declined to provide details of what had prompted the elevation of security for Mr. Obama, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, is the only other presidential candidate who receives Secret Service protection, Mr. Zahren said. But her security comes through her role as a former first lady.
Presidential candidates often resist security protection until the last possible moment, saying it restricts movement and prevents them from campaigning directly with people. But since Mr. Obama announced his candidacy nearly four months ago, he has been accompanied by a private security detail hired by his campaign.
Aides said the guards, some of whom were former federal agents, were a response to the large crowds and the historic nature of his candidacy, which, if successful, would make him the first black president. The aides have declined to discuss whether Mr. Obama has received specific threats.
In an interview yesterday, Michelle Obama, the senator’s wife, said the Secret Service protection underscored the notion that “we are moving to the next level” of the presidential campaign. The 2008 race is accelerated in every respect, Mrs. Obama said, including unusually large crowds and attention.
“Security was one of many issues that I have and will have in the course of this campaign,” said Mrs. Obama, who has talked openly about fearing for her husband’s safety. “But I’ve thought through in my mind all the possible scenarios and how we’re going to handle it.”
Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, declined to comment on whether the security decision had been made in response to a specific threat, but said several criteria were taken into account before authorization was made.
“That includes things like the candidate having certain financial standings, pre-eminence in public opinion polls and actively campaigning,” Mr. Knocke said. “We’re not going to comment on the timing or the details.”
Generally, candidates are placed under security protection around the time they receive their party’s nomination. In the 2004 election, Senators John Kerry and John Edwards received their secret service details in February 2004, as the Democratic field narrowed and they emerged as the leading two candidates.
While Mr. Obama’s detail comes well ahead of that, with about a year and a half to go before the presidential election, he is not the first candidate to receive security in early stages of a race. The Rev. Jesse Jackson drew early Secret Service protection because of threats during his campaigns for president in 1984 and 1988.
Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.
Correction: May 5, 2007

An article yesterday about Secret Service protection provided to Senator Barack Obama referred imprecisely to such protection given to Senators John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004. While they indeed were each provided with the Secret Service detail in February, it was while they were both still seeking the presidential nomination; they were not being protected as the Democratic nominees at that time.

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Obama invites known members of Muslim Brotherhood to his "extremest" summit. What is Obama's definition of an extremest? A Bible believing, Conservative who supports The Constitution of The United States of America.

Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization.
Obama invites known members of Muslim Brotherhood to his "extremest" summit. What is Obama's definition of an extremest? A Bible believing, Conservative who supports The Constitution of The United States of America.
We have Obama with his Muslim Brotherhood friends appointed in forein and domestic policy managment. Do you trust Obama's "Extremest" foreign policy? Wake up America.
— with Robert Minier Sr. and 63 others.
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DHS intelligence report warns of domestic right-wing terror threat

DHS intelligence report warns of domestic right-wing terror threat

By Evan Perez and Wes Bruer, CNN
Updated 10:59 AM ET, Fri February 20, 2015

Source: CNN
Terror threats in the U.S.

Story highlights

  • Intelligence assessment focuses on domestic terror threat from right-wing sovereign citizen extremists
  • Some law enforcement groups view domestic terror threat as equal to threat from Islamic terror groups
Washington (CNN)They're carrying out sporadic terror attacks on police, have threatened attacks on government buildings and reject government authority.
A new intelligence assessment, circulated by the Department of Homeland Security this month and reviewed by CNN, focuses on the domestic terror threat from right-wing sovereign citizen extremists and comes as the Obama administration holds a White House conference to focus efforts to fight violent extremism.
DHS Secretary: ISIS reaching into U.S. to recruit

DHS Secretary: ISIS reaching into U.S. to recruit 03:30
PLAY VIDEO
Some federal and local law enforcement groups view the domestic terror threat from sovereign citizen groups as equal to -- and in some cases greater than -- the threat from foreign Islamic terror groups, such as ISIS, that garner more public attention.​
The Homeland Security report, produced in coordination with the FBI, counts 24 violent sovereign citizen-related attacks across the U.S. since 2010.
ISIS burned up to 40 people alive in Iraq, official says
The government says these are extremists who believe that they can ignore laws and that their individual rights are under attack in routine daily instances such as a traffic stop or being required to obey a court order.
They've lashed out against authority in incidents such as one in 2012, in which a father and son were accused of engaging in a shootout with police in Louisiana, in a confrontation that began with an officer pulling them over for a traffic violation. Two officers were killed and several others wounded in the confrontation. The men were sovereign citizen extremists who claimed police had no authority over them.
Among the findings from the Homeland Security intelligence assessment: "(Sovereign citizen) violence during 2015 will occur most frequently during routine law enforcement encounters at a suspect's home, during enforcement stops and at government offices."
DHS has documented examples of violence by sovereign citizen extremists since 2010. They range from incidents that occurred in the home and at traffic stops to attacks on government buildings.
DHS has documented examples of violence by sovereign citizen extremists since 2010. They range from incidents that occurred in the home and at traffic stops to attacks on government buildings.
The report adds that "law enforcement officers will remain the primary target of (sovereign citizen) violence over the next year due to their role in physically enforcing laws and regulations."
The White House has fended off criticism in recent days for its reluctance to say the words "Islamist extremism," even as the conference this week almost entirely focused on helping imams and community groups to counteract the lure of groups like ISIS.
Absent from the White House conference is any focus on the domestic terror threat posed by sovereign citizens, militias and other anti-government terrorists that have carried out multiple attacks in recent years.
An administration official says the White House is focused on the threat from all terrorists, including from sovereign citizen and other domestic groups.
The ISIS terror threat
The ISIS terror threat 47 photos
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"I don't think it's fair to say the (White House) conference didn't address this at all," the official said, adding that President Barack Obama addressed the need to combat "violent ideologies" of all types.
An official at the Justice Department, which is leading the administration's counter-radicalization effort, says many of the tactics aimed at thwarting radical Islamic recruitment of young people can also be used to fight anti-government extremist groups.
While groups like ISIS and al Qaeda garner the most attention, for many local cops, the danger is closer to home.
A survey last year of state and local law enforcement officers listed sovereign citizen terrorists, ahead of foreign Islamists, and domestic militia groups as the top domestic terror threat.
The survey was part of a study produced by the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
In 2013, a man who held anti-government views carried out a shooting attack on three Transportation Security Administration employees at Los Angeles International Airport, killing one TSA officer. Last year, a couple killed two police officers and a bystander at a Las Vegas Walmart store.
Officers inspect a car outside Los Angeles International Airport in 2013 after three TSA employees were shot.
Officers inspect a car outside Los Angeles International Airport in 2013 after three TSA employees were shot.
EXPAND IMAGE
Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that by some estimates, there are as many as 300,000 people involved in some way with sovereign citizen extremism. Perhaps 100,000 people form a core of the movement, he said.
The federal government's focus on the domestic groups waxes and wanes, Potok said, in part because the threat from foreign groups like al Qaeda and its affiliates.
Potok says sovereign citizen groups have attracted support because of poor economic conditions. Some groups travel the country pitching their ideology as a way to help homeowners escape foreclosure or get out of debt, by simply ignoring the courts and bankruptcy law.
The Homeland Security report's focus on right-wing terrorists is a subject that garnered political controversy for the Obama administration in the past. In 2009, a Homeland Security report on possible recruitment of military veterans by right-wing militia groups prompted an outcry from veterans groups.
The report was produced by staff members during the Bush administration but wasn't published until then Homeland Security Janet Napolitano had taken office. Napolitano criticized her own agency for the report.
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U.S. Embassy: Turkey, U.S. sign deal to train and arm Syrian rebels

U.S. Embassy: Turkey, U.S. sign deal to train and arm Syrian rebels

By contact the reporter
U.S. Embassy: Turkey, U.S. sign deal to train and arm Syrian rebels
Turkey and the United States signed an agreement Thursday to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, said the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
The two countries have been in talks about such a pact for several months. The deal was signed Thursday evening by U.S Ambassador John Bass and Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, said Embassy spokesman Joe Wierichs. He gave no further details.
Sinirlioglu called the deal "an important step" in the strategic partnership between Turkey and the United States, according to Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish government has said the training by U.S. and Turkish soldiers could begin as early as next month at a base in the central Anatolian city of Kirsehir, and involve hundreds of Syrian fighters in the first year. The U.S. has said the goal is to go after the Islamic State group, but Turkish officials have suggested that the trained rebels could also target the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
With its 750 mile border on Syria, Turkey is a key part of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group. But negotiations with the U.S. over what to do about the Islamic militants have been fraught with disagreement — with Turkey insisting that the coalition needs to also target the Assad government.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a press conference that Turkey expected that the trained rebels will also fight the Syrian regime. Turkey is already training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Northern Iraq, who have been battling Islamic State militants.
It is not clear who will decide which rebels will receive the training. U.S. and Turkish officials have not always been in agreement about which of the disparate rebel groups in Syria should be considered moderate.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Defense Department said that the U.S. has screened about 1,200 moderate Syrian rebels to participate in training in Turkey, Saudia Arabia and Qatar. The U.S. Congress passed legislation authorizing the training and providing $500 million for training about 5,000 rebels over the next year.
Associated Press
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Obama Opens Day #2 Of His Summit On Violent Extremism With Islamic Prayer To Allah

Obama Opens Day #2 Of His Summit On Violent Extremism With Islamic Prayer To Allah

| February 19, 2015 | 23 Comments

Islam the only religion represented at Obama’s Summit On Violent Extremism

“Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” Psalm 109:8 (KJV)
President Obama loves to mock and taunt the American people, and what happened at the start of Day #2 of his phony Summit On Violent Extremism is just the type of wicked irony he derives so much pleasure from.  A Muslim prayer was recited at the start of the second day of the White House summit on “Countering Violent Extremism,” but no other religious text was presented during the portion of the event that was open to the press.
obama-summit-on-violent-extremism-opens-with-muslim-islam-imam-prayer-february-19-2015
Opening a meeting about combating violent extremism with Islamic prayer is like having morbidly obese people giving the keynote address at a health conference or having a pedophile as the principal of a child’s nursery school. Read below the inane nonsense spouted by the imam where he says that “mosques serve as a beacon of hope”! Honestly, is there anyone, anywhere that believes that?
Obama is grooming America, like the spiritual pervert that he is, to make the shift to accepting Sharia within the United States government. 
Imam Sheikh Sa’ad Musse Roble, president of the World Peace Organization in Minneapolis, Minn., recited a “verse from the Quran” following remarks by Obama administration officials and Democratic members of Congress.
“In translation those verses of the Quran mean ‘Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it’s as if he has slain mankind entirely, and whoever saves one life, it’s as if he has saved mankind entirely,’” Adam said.
“Mosques serve as a beacon of hope,” Adam said. “While imams’ provide moral compass for the Muslim community in navigating life.”
Adam said “religious leaders” want to have “dialogue” with the U.S. government about “issues of concern” and said that Muslim imams have spoken out against terrorism.
“The peace, safety and security of the United States are of fundamental importance to the Muslim American community, and we oppose any form or shape of violent extremism that threatens peaceful coexistence,” Adam said.
“We believe in the right of all people to live in peace and security,” Adam said. “Muslim imams have condemned and continue to denounce anyone who tries to use the religion of Islam to support terrorism.”
Roble spoke in English on behalf of his organization, asking people to “make peace.”
“Make peace in yourself, in your family, in your friends, in your neighbors, in your state, in your country and of the war because you are brothers and sisters,” Roble said. “And God bless you.” source
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U.S. and Turkey Agree To Train And Arm Syrian Rebels Who Want Islamic Caliphate

U.S. and Turkey Agree To Train And Arm Syrian Rebels Who Want Islamic Caliphate

By on February 20, 2015 in Featured, General
The Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS both want the same thing – an Islamic Caliphate. In fact, it was recently revealed by Shoebat.com that members of ISIS are actually beginning to support the return of the Ottoman Empire. This reality puts ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood on the exact same page. Despite this, the U.S. is moving ahead with a plan to arm and train rebel fighters in Syria.
Whether the fighters are ISIS or Muslim Brotherhood-backed rebels, all want the same thing – a Caliphate.
As the U.S. claims the agreement is intended to fight ISIS, Turkey is claiming Bashar al-Assad is the target. In reality, ISIS is not really a target of Turkey at all.
According to one report:
Turkey and the United States signed an agreement Thursday to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, said the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
The two countries have been in talks about such a pact for several months. The deal was signed Thursday evening by U.S Ambassador John Bass and Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, said Embassy spokesman Joe Wierichs. He gave no further details.
Sinirlioglu called the deal “an important step” in the strategic partnership between Turkey and the United States, according to Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish government has said the training by U.S. and Turkish soldiers could begin as early as next month at a base in the central Anatolian city of Kirsehir, and involve hundreds of Syrian fighters in the first year. The U.S. has said the goal is to go after the Islamic State group, but Turkish officials have suggested that the trained rebels could also target the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
With its 750 mile border on Syria, Turkey is a key part of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group. But negotiations with the U.S. over what to do about the Islamic militants have been fraught with disagreement — with Turkey insisting that the coalition needs to also target the Assad government.
As Shoebat.com reported, both the U.S. House and Senate last year voted to arm Syria’s rebels.
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Judicial Watch Forces Obama Administration to Release Pentagon Benghazi Attack Documents

Judicial Watch Forces Obama Administration to Release Pentagon Benghazi Attack Documents

FEBRUARY 19, 2015
U.S. Africa Command records – heavily blacked out – show military gathered forces to support “anti-terrorist” actions in Benghazi day after attack
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that the Obama administration finally turned over hundreds of pages of documents about the military response to the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound and other facilities in Benghazi.  The documents, which are heavily blacked out (redacted), confirm that the U.S. Military, through its U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) drafted orders for a military response to the attack, specifically “to protect vital naval and national assets.”  Other documents suggest that the military, hours after the attack, tied the assault to a group supporting “an Islamic state” that wanted to attack U.S. interests in Libya in retaliation for a drone strike on an al-Qaeda leader.
The Pentagon produced a total of 486 pages in response to a federal court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit Judicial Watch filed against the U.S. Department of Defense asking for “any and all” records produced by the U.S. Africa Command Operations Center concerning the terrorist attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia on September 4, 2014, (Judicial Watch v. Department of Defense (No. 1:14-cv-01508)).  Almost all of the documents had been previously classified as secret, and the Defense Department has redacted a large percentage of the material in order to protect “military plans and operations,” “intelligence” activities, and other exemptions.
Included in the production was a September 13, 2012, draft cable, “US Africa Command Request for Forces,” which sought an “immediate” response from the Joint Chiefs of Staff for “additional forces” for the mission to “provide limited duration military and expeditionary antiterrorism and security forces in support of USAFRICOM commander in order to protect vital naval and national assets.”  The planning document was approved by “VADM [Charles] Joseph Leidig, Deputy CDR, Africa Command.”  The name of the military’s Benghazi operation was Jukebox Lotus.
The Obama administration blacked out the specific mission information in the final deployment orders for Operation Jukebox Lotus.  The orders (EXORD) detail that, ultimately, several components of the military, including Special Operations Forces, were deployed to support limited security and evacuation operations in Libya, including support for “BPT” (Be Prepared To) included, from the U.S. Army in Africa, “BPT support with mortuary affairs.”  The Pentagon has previously released other orders with virtually no redactions, including an operation in Libya in 2004 and an Obama administration operation to attack Muammar Gaddafi’s government forces in Libya in 2011.
Other documents show that, early on September 12, 2012, the day after the attack, top Pentagon leadership received intelligence briefing slides reporting that a June 6, 2012, attack on the Benghazi Special Mission Compound was tied to a group promoting an Islamic state in Libya, “came in response to the 5 June [2012] drone strike on al-Qaida senior leader Abu-Yahya al-libi.”
The documents also confirm that the military used a photo from a Twitter post to try to ascertain the status of Ambassador Stevens.
The Obama administration produced no documents showing communications from the State Department to AFRICOM.
The records do show that U.S. military officials were keenly aware of the terrorist threat in the region. “The DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] terrorism threat level for Libya is significant,” one email message says. “The DOS [Department of State] residential criminal threat level for Libya is high and the non-residential criminal threat level is high. The political violence threat level for Libya is critical.”
Judicial Watch dismissed its lawsuit on February 12, 2015, after it succeeded in finally obtaining these AFRICOM Benghazi documents.  The Vaughn index, which describes why the documents have been withheld, is also publicly available for congressional and other investigations into the scandal.
Islamic militants attacked the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi on the evening of September 11, 2012.  U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith were both killed. Just a few hours later, a second terrorist strike targeted a different compound about one mile away. Two CIA contractors, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were killed and 10 others were injured in the second attack.
“It is extraordinary that we had to wait for over two years and had to force the release of documents that provide the first glimpse into the military response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “There is no doubt that the military considered this to be terrorist attack tied to a group allied with al Qaeda. Why does the Obama administration continue to black out history in these military documents?  If there were no embarrassing facts, there would be nothing to hide.  This lack of transparency is an insult to those in the military and other deployed U.S. government personnel whose morale has been decimated by the breach of trust caused by President Obama’s Benghazi lies and failures.”
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