First lady Michelle Obama shares video of ‘one
last walk’ through White House
The Doctor of Common Sense
Osama bin Laden showed disdain for al Qaeda affiliates, fretted about his organization’s image and was deeply worried about its security, according to documents seized from his hideout in Pakistan and released publicly on Thursday.
The Combating Terrorism Center, a privately funded research center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, posted on its website 17 declassified documents seized during the raid on bin Laden’s house in Abbottabad in which he was killed by U.S. commandos a year ago.
Bin Laden “was not, as many thought, the puppet master pulling the strings that set in motion jihadi groups around the world,” an analysis by the center said. Bin Laden “was burdened by what he saw as their incompetence.”
The al Qaeda leader, who was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, worried about operational security, advising against meeting on roads and then traveling in cars.
Bin Laden expressed concern about Muslims being killed in al Qaeda operations and wanted women and children kept away from danger.
In an undated letter in the summer or early autumn of 2010, bin Laden asked that two teams – one in Pakistan and the other in the Bagram area of Afghanistan – be tasked with spotting and targeting the aircraft of President Barack Obama or General David Petraeus, who was commander in the region at that time.
But they were not to target US Vice President Joe Biden because if Obama were gone, Biden would be “totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis.” But killing Petraeus “would alter the war’s path.”
The 17 documents are electronic letters or draft letters totaling 175 pages in the original Arabic, dating from September 2006 to April 2011. They do not all specify who wrote or received them.
Several of the documents contain signoffs that U.S. experts assessed to have been used by bin Laden himself, including variations of the names “Zamarai” and “Abu ‘Abdallah.” Bin Laden wrote about sending messages via thumb drives or telephone memory cards – the same Arabic word is used for both.
“Bin Laden was bothered by the incompetence of al Qaeda’s affiliates, such as their failure to win public support, their ill-advised media campaigns, and their poorly planned operations that led to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Muslims,” said Lieutenant Colonel Liam Collins, director of the Combating Terrorism Center and one of the report’s authors.
“Perhaps the most compelling revelation from the documents is that bin Laden was frustrated with regional jihadi groups,” he told Reuters. “He appeared to struggle to exercise control over the actions of the affiliates, as well as their public statements.”
Bin Laden appeared to have a low opinion of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born English-speaking militant preacher accused of instigating several violent al Qaeda attacks from Yemen who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last year.
WEEK BEFORE DEATH
In a letter dated April 26, 2011, a week before his death, bin Laden wrote about the “Arab Spring” revolutions that ousted leaders in the Middle East. He mentioned the need for “inciting the people who have not revolted yet, and encouraging them to get against the rulers and the methods.”
Afghanistan was also on his mind: he wrote that “Jihad (Islamic holy war) in Afghanistan is a duty.” He also expressed concern about “operations that the brothers in Yemen are intending to conduct using poison,” that there should be study of potential political and media reaction against the “mujahidin and their image in the eyes of the public.”
The week before he was killed in a secret operation by U.S. Navy SEALs, bin Laden offered instructions on how to handle French hostages held by “brothers in the Islamic Maghreb.” If the hostages had to be killed, it should be done after events in Libya, but he suggested it would be better to exchange a female hostage, and at a minimum keep the most important male hostage until French elections.
He wrote that a British officer captured by “our brothers in Somalia” should be traded for “our prisoners.”
Bin Laden also worried that children of militants who lived in cities were “one of the most important security issues” and advocated keeping control of them by not taking them out of their homes except for medical care. Parents were also urged to teach their children the local language so they would blend in.
In an earlier letter dated Oct. 20, 2010, bin Laden was worrying about militants’ cars being targeted, apparently for surveillance or attack.
“A warning to the brothers: they should not meet on the road and move in their cars because many of them got targeted while they were meeting on the road. They also should not enter the market in their cars,” he wrote.
He worried about the safety of one of his sons: “Regarding my son Hamzah and his mother, I wish you take all the security precautions that were mentioned before in order to disrupt surveillance on him. He should move only when the clouds are heavy.”
AFFILIATE DISDAIN
A main conclusion of the West Point analysis is that bin Laden regarded many of al Qaeda’s affiliated groups, including the ones feared by the West, with dismay bordering on contempt.
U.S. and European intelligence officials have said Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which operates from Yemen, has emerged as the most dangerous affiliate.
But seized correspondence shows that bin Laden worried about AQAP and urged its leadership to focus on attacking the United States rather than the Yemeni government or security forces.
The confiscated material also shows that the actions of another affiliate, Al Qaeda in Iraq, were of great concern to bin Laden, especially its ruthless attacks on Shi’ite civilians following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Bin Laden also apparently wanted to keep al Qaeda’s Somalia-based affiliate, Al Shabaab, at arm’s length, because he was concerned about its poor organization, management and brutality, the study said.
Bin Laden’s relationship with the TTP, one of the main Pakistan-based Taliban groups, was so strained that the group almost came into “direct and public confrontation” with al Qaeda’s central leadership over its indiscriminate attacks on Muslim civilians, the study said.
Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has made headlines for criticizing Democratic leaders including President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“This is a battlefield that we must stand upon. And we need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and my dear friend, chairman of the Democrat National Committee, we need to let them know that Florida ain’t on the table,” West said last Saturday at a Lincoln Day Dinner in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Rep. West went on to say that Democratic leaders should take their message of “economic dependency” and “get the hell out of the United States of America.”
Apparently, his comments proved too much for The Five’s co-host Bob Beckel.
“I’m going to try to be as calm here as I possibly can here in deference to my friends here at this table,” Beckel said.
“In my 30 years of politics, I have never heard anything more disgraceful in my life. I think that Allen West owes an apology to a lot of people. He’s lucky to have that seat in the first place. I’ll tell you this, Mr. West; When you start shooting your mouth off like that – and I admire the fact that you were in the military and you served your country. I understand that,” Beckel said.
“But before you start saying that, at the end of it, you said ‘Get the hell out of the United States,’ then you didn’t say the policies. Now, there’s 20 percent of us or 22 percent of us that happen to be Progressives, who believe in what Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi say. You go on to say 100 percent of America. We’re 20 percent of America and we’re not going anywhere whether you like it or not,” Beckel added.
“And you better be careful, my friend, because you’re getting on the edge there and you’re taking that Tea Party crowd with you,” Beckel added, wagging his finger at an imaginary Rep. West (isn’t that supposed to be the “ultimate insult”?).
Co-host Greg Gutfeld argued that Beckel’s righteous indignation was misplaced.
“During the break, I made a list of outspoken black liberals,” Greg Gutfeld said, “Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Black Panthers. . .Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Cornel West, Public Enemy, Eric Dyson!”
“In our culture,” Gutfeld continued, “We celebrate outspoken black leftists. So, now you have one, provocative, American, black conservative, and you liberals whine? I wanna’ see more Allen West. He’s not the first one, but he’s the beginning. And it’s refreshing–”
“You wanna’ see more of that hatred? You wanna’ see that kind of hatred in America?” Beckel interrupted.
“That’s not hatred,” Gutfeld shot back.
“It’s is hatred,” Beckel interrupted again, “It’s the worst most disgraceful, despicable, disgusting—“
“I just listed for you a dozen, black liberals who spoke in very extreme language in the last 20, 30 years,” Gutfeld said, putting an abrupt end to Beckel’s brief experiment with alliteration.
Later in the segment, as Beckel was trying to explain that Rep. West represents an extreme element in the Republican party, it was co-host Eric Bolling’s turn to interrupt.
“Let me just point something out,” Bolling said, “You’re calling him ‘Allen West.’ Either call him Representative West—“
“I’m not going to call him Representative anything!” Beckel responded indignantly, demonstrating that it’s perfectly acceptable for a TV personality to disregard “civility” when criticizing an elected official and war veteran, but that it is wholly unacceptable – indeed, “disgusting” and “despicable” — if that elected official and war veteran is not “civil” enough when criticizing Democratic leadership.
“–or call him Lieutenant Colonel West,” Bolling added.
“I’m not going to call him that either,” Beckel said, almost surprised that Bolling would suggest such a thing.
Despite repeated attempts to convince Beckel that Rep. West was not indeed a “hater,” as Beckel so eloquently put it, their efforts went unrewarded and the segment ended on this note:
“The Buffet Rule Is A Joke”
By: BEN FELLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the American dream under siege,
President Barack Obama delivered a populist challenge Tuesday night to shrink
the gap between rich and poor, promising to tax the wealthy more and help
jobless Americans get work and hang onto their homes. Seeking re-election and
needing results, the president invited Republicans to join him but warned,
“I intend to fight.”
In an emphatic State of the Union address, Obama said
ensuring a fair shot for all Americans is “the defining issue of our time.”
He said the economy is finally recovering from a deep and painful recession and
he will fight any effort to return to policies that brought it low.
“We’ve come too far to turn back now,” he
declared.
Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the
country than the one pressed by the Republicans confronting him in Congress and
fighting to take his job in the November election. He pleaded for an active
government that ensures economic fairness for everyone, just as his opponents
demand that the government back off and let the free market rule.
Obama offered steps to help students afford college, a plan
for more struggling homeowners to refinance their homes and tax cuts for
manufacturers. He threw in politically appealing references to accountability,
including warning universities they will lose federal aid if they don’t stop
tuition from soaring.
Standing in front of a divided Congress, with bleak hope
this election year for much of his legislative agenda, Obama spoke with voters
in mind.
“We can either settle for a country where a shrinking
number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get
by,” Obama said. “Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a
fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set
of rules.”
A rare wave of unity splashed over the House chamber at the
start. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, survivor of an assassination attempt one year
ago, received sustained applause from her peers and cheers of “Gabby,
Gabby, Gabby.” She blew a kiss to the podium. Obama embraced her.
Lawmakers leapt to their feet when Obama said near the start
of his speech that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, killed by a raid
authorized by the president, will no longer threaten America.
At the core of Obama’s address was the improving but deeply
wounded economy — the matter still driving Americans’ anxiety and the one
likely to determine the next presidency.
“The state of our union is getting stronger,”
Obama said, calibrating his words as millions remain unemployed. Implicit in
his declaration that the American dream is “within our reach” was the
recognition that, after three years of an Obama presidency, the country is not
there yet.
He spoke of restoring basic goals: owning a home, earning
enough to raise a family, putting a little money away for retirement.
“We can do this,” Obama said. “I know we
can.” He said Americans are convinced that “Washington is
broken,” but he also said it wasn’t too late to cooperate on important
matters.
Republicans were not impressed. They applauded infrequently,
though they did cheer when the president quoted “Republican Abraham
Lincoln” as saying: “That government should do for people only what
they cannot do better by themselves — and no more.”
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, offering the formal GOP
response, called Obama’s policies “pro-poverty” and his tactics
divisive.
“No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder
than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by
castigating others,” Daniels said after the president’s address.
In a signature swipe at the nation’s growing income gap,
Obama called for a new minimum tax rate of at least 30 percent on anyone making
over $1 million. Many millionaires — including one of his chief rivals,
Republican Mitt Romney — pay a rate less than that because they get most of
their income from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate.
“Now you can call this class warfare all you
want,” Obama said, responding to a frequent criticism from the GOP
presidential field. “But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as
his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”
Obama calls this the “Buffett rule,” named for
billionaire Warren Buffett, who has said it’s unfair that his secretary pays a
higher tax rate than he does. Emphasizing the point, Buffett’s secretary,
Debbie Bosanek, attended the address in first lady Michelle Obama’s box.
Obama underlined every proposal with the idea that hard work
and responsibility still count. He was targeting independent voters who helped
seal his election in 2008 and the frustrated masses in a nation pessimistic
about its course.
In a flag-waving defense of American power and influence
abroad, Obama said the U.S. will safeguard its own security “against those
who threaten our citizens, our friends and our interests.” On Iran, he
said that while all options are on the table to prevent Iran from acquiring a
nuclear weapon — an implied threat to use military force — “a peaceful
resolution of this issue is still possible.”
With Congress almost universally held in low regard, Obama
went after an easy target in calling for reforms to keep legislators from
engaging in insider trading and holding them to the same conflict-of-interest
standards as those that apply to the executive branch.
With the foreclosure crisis on ongoing sore spot despite a
number of administration housing initiatives over the past three years, Obama
proposed a new program to allow homeowners with privately held mortgages to
refinance at lower interest rates. Administration officials offered few details
but estimated savings at $3,000 a year for average borrowers.
Obama proposed steps to crack down on fraud in the financial
sector and mortgage industry, with a Financial Crimes Unit to monitor bankers
and financial service professionals, and a separate special unit of federal
prosecutors and state attorneys general to expand investigations into abusive
lending that led to the housing crisis.
At a time of tight federal budgets and heavy national debt,
Obama found a ready source of money to finance his ideas: He proposed to devote
half of the money no longer being spent on the U.S. military in Iraq and
Afghanistan to “do some nation-building right here at home,” to help
create more jobs and increase competitiveness. The other half, he said, would
go to help pay down the national debt.
Obama also offered a defense of regulations that protect the
American consumer — regulations often criticized by Republicans as job-killing
obstacles.
“Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the
rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the
same,” Obama said. “It’s time to apply the same rules from top to
bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no cop-outs. An America built to last
insists on responsibility from everybody.”
Obama will follow up Tuesday night’s address with a
three-day tour of five states key to his re-election bid. On Wednesday he’ll
visit Iowa and Arizona to promote ideas to boost American manufacturing; on
Thursday in Nevada and Colorado he’ll discuss energy, and in Michigan on Friday
he’ll talk about college affordability, education and training.
Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama’s overall
job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.
The speech Tuesday night comes just one week before the
Florida Republican primary that could help set the trajectory for the rest of
the race.
Romney, caught up in a tight contest with a resurgent Newt
Gingrich, commented in advance to Obama’s speech.
“Tonight will mark another chapter in the misguided
policies of the last three years — and the failed leadership of one man,”
Romney said from Florida.
http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9SFMK4G1%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1018
By: ALI AKBAR DAREINI
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a
new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading
hardline newspaper reported Sunday in another show of defiance against Western
pressure to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program.
Another newspaper quoted a senior commander of the powerful
Revolutionary Guard force as saying Tehran’s leadership has decided to order
the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route, if the country’s
petroleum exports are blocked. Revolutionary Guard ground forces also staged
war games in eastern Iran in an apparent display of resolve against U.S. forces
just over the border in Afghanistan.
“The supreme authorities … have insisted that if
enemies block the export of our oil, we won’t allow a drop of oil to pass
through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in
countering such threats,” Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Ali Ashraf
Nouri was quoted as saying by the Khorasan daily.
Iranian politicians have issued similar threats in the past,
but this is the strongest statement yet by a top commander in the security
establishment.
The latest statements are certain to fuel tensions with the
U.S. and its allies, which are trying to turn up pressure on Iran with new
sanctions to punish it over its disputed nuclear program. The West suspects
Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons, but Iran denies this.
The United Nations has already sanctioned Iran for refusing
to stop uranium enrichment – which can produce both nuclear fuel and fissile
warhead material. Tehran says its nuclear program is only for energy and
medical research, and refuses to halt uranium enrichment.
Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran’s ruling clerics, said
Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the
Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom.
“Kayhan received reports yesterday that show Iran has
begun uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility amid heightened foreign enemy
threats,” the paper said in a front-page report. Kayhan’s manager is a
representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the
final word on all important matters of state.
Iran’s nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, said late Saturday
that his country will “soon” begin enrichment at Fordo. It was
impossible to immediately reconcile the two reports.
Iran has a major uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in
central Iran, where nearly 8,000 centrifuges are operating. Tehran began
enrichment at Natanz in April 2006.
The Fordo centrifuges, however, are reportedly more
efficient. And the site better shielded from aerial attack.
Nouri said Iran’s leadership has made a strategic decision
to close the Strait of Hormuz, should the country’s exports be blocked.
One-sixth of the world’s oil flows to market through the Strait of Hormuz, at
the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
President Barack Obama approved new sanctions against Iran a
week ago, targeting the central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad.
The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months,
worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy
is already struggling. But the new sanctions nevertheless prompted a series of
threats from Iranian officials about closing the Strait of Hormuz.
The newspaper paraphrased Nouri as saying that a 10-day
naval war game which ended Tuesday was preparation for such a closure. The
Guard, which is Iran’s most powerful military force and which has its own naval
arm, has planned more sea maneuvers for February.
“The exalted leader (Khamenei) determined a new
strategy for the armed forces, by which any threat from enemies will be
responded to with threats,” Nouri said.
The U.S. and Israel have said that all options remain open,
including military action, should Iran continue with its enrichment program.
Tehran says it needs the program to produce fuel for future
nuclear reactors and medical radioisotopes needed for cancer patients.
The country has been enriching uranium to less than 5
percent for years, but it began to further enrich part of its uranium stockpile
to nearly 20 percent as of February 2010, saying it needs the higher grade
material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes
needed for cancer patients. Weapons-grade uranium is usually about 90 percent
enriched.
Iran says the higher enrichment activities – to nearly 20
percent – will be carried out at Fordo. These operations are of particular
concern to the West because uranium at 20 percent enrichment can be converted
into fissile material for a nuclear warhead much more quickly than that at 3.5
percent.
Built next to a military complex, Fordo was long kept secret
and was only acknowledged by Iran after it was identified by Western
intelligence agencies in September 2009.
Buried under 300 feet (90 meters) of rock, the facility is a
hardened tunnel and is protected by air defense missile batteries and the
Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force. The site is located
about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Qom, the religious nerve center of
Iran’s ruling system.
“The Fordo facility, like Natanz, has been designed and
built underground. The enemy doesn’t have the ability to damage it,” the
semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted nuclear chief Abbasi as saying Sunday.
By Jim McElhatton- The Washington Times
During two days of
recent congressional hearings into how as much as $1.2 billion disappeared from
MF Global customer accounts, the chief operating officer of the imploding
investment firm responded again and again that he did not know.
Yet as the House and Senate interrogated Bradley I. Abelow
and other top executives at MF Global Holdings Ltd., lawmakers did not mention
Mr. Abelow’s role as a financial adviser for the Environmental Protection
Agency, which as of Tuesday listed him as the chairman of its financial
advisory board.
Even as he finds himself the public face of a bankruptcy and
admitted to lawmakers that he had no idea how client funds disappeared,
Congress and the administration have voiced no public concern about Mr.
Abelow’s role advising the $8.6 billion government agency on its finances.
“EPA relying on Wall Street for financial guidance is like
the blind leading the blind,” said Jeff Ruch, president of Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in
Washington.
“In Abelow, you have a Wall Street executive who just
presided over the disappearance of $1 billion in investor funds purporting to
help guide federal infrastructure financing.”
The EPA did not respond to multiple messages concerning Mr.
Abelow’s status with the board, though the EPA’s website still reports that he
is its chairman and notes his job at MF Global.
When first questioned about Mr. Abelow’s ties to the EPA in
early November, just after MF Global declared bankruptcy, EPA officials issued
a short statement saying only that he was appointed as chairman of the board on
March 10, 2010, and that he is not paid for his position.
Officials declined to say whether they were reviewing his
continued service for the board.
An MF Global spokeswoman told The Washington Times shortly
after the bankruptcy filing that Mr. Abelow was reviewing all of his outside
commitments and obligations.
The EPA’s financial advisory board was chartered in 1989 to
“provide advice and analysis to EPA’s administrator on paying for the growing
costs of environmental protection,” according to the EPA’s website. The agency
says members include “prominent experts from all levels of government,
including elected officials, the finance and banking communities, business and
industry and national organizations.”
It’s unclear how Mr. Abelow landed the chairmanship of the
EPA financial panel, a position he noted in his biography on the MF Global
website, which has since been removed.
He has ties to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson through former
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Each served at different times as the governor’s
chief of staff. When Mr. Corzine lost his bid for re-election and later joined
MF Global, Mr. Abelow followed.
During his testimony to the House, Mr. Abelow said his total
compensation at MF Global was a guaranteed $3 million. He joined the firm in
September 2010 as chief operating officer, then was named president in March.
At appearances before House and Senate committees, Mr.
Abelow expressed sorrow for the company’s more than 2,500 employees who are
facing unemployment and investors who have been unable to recoup their funds.
“As the president and chief operating officer of MF Global,
I am deeply sorry for the hardship they have all endured,” Mr. Abelow told the
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on Dec. 13.
While I know that nothing I say can ease their pain, I hope
that through my testimony today, I can help this committee understand what
happened at MF Global and how we are attempting to unwind the company in a
manner that provides maximum value for all parties.”
He was asked repeatedly, along with Mr. Corzine, what
happened to missing customer funds. More than a dozen times in response to
lawmakers’ questions, he said he did not know, could not recall or wasn’t aware
of various details.
“We’re looking at the top people of the company who are
responsible for the overall internal controls of this company and so, Mr.
Abelow, where’s the money?” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Michigan Democrat, asked in
one such exchange.
“Senator, as I said in my statement, I do not know where the
money is,” Mr. Abelow replied.
Asked by Rep. Michael E. Capuano, Massachusetts Democrat,
the identity of the company’s biggest creditor 10 days before MF Global’s
bankruptcy, Mr. Abelow replied, “I apologize; I simply don’t know.”
Mr. Abelow’s role at the EPA never surfaced during his testimony
before either of the congressional committees this month.
MF Global declared bankruptcy Oct. 31 after telling
regulators that the company had about $6.3 billion in debt from Ireland, Italy,
Spain and other European countries and after credit-ratings services downgraded
the company’s status to “junk,” the company said in court records.
Bankruptcy filings describe Mr. Abelow’s role at the company
as overseeing day-to-day execution of company strategy and holding “direct
responsibility for risk, operations, client services,” among other corporate
activities.