A Rookie's Finger Will be Poised Over the Nuclear Button

"The president of the United States now for 50 years is followed at all times, 24 hours a day, by a military aide carrying a football that contains the nuclear codes that he would use and be authorized to use in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States." "He could launch the kind of devastating attack the world has never seen. "He doesn't have to check with anybody. He doesn't have to call the Congress. He doesn't have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in."

(Vice-President Cheney-Dec 21,2008)
Awesome power to be passing on to a rookie!

In an interview yesterday on Fox News Sunday Cheney "mocked Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grasp of the Constitution, defended former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and said President Bush 'doesn't have to check with anybody' before launching a nuclear attack."

The Vice-President was combative and unapologetic regarding the Bush administration's vigorous actions which have kept the nation free from further attack these eight years.


Tags:war on terror,dick cheney,joe biden,presidential powers,president's nuclear button,

November 22, 2008: Victory in Iraq Day!

On this November 22, 2008, join us in observing Victory in Iraq Day.

Let us honor the sacrifice, dedication and sheer determination of American, coalition and Iraqi troops who have brought freedom to the nation and people of Iraq.

Although our governments have chosen to not name any official day marking the end of this war, we the people have taken it upon ourselves to commemorate November 22, 2008 as the day of victory over the forces of tyranny, oppression and terror in Iraq.

Join fellow bloggers and other members of the public in this virtual ticker-tape parade for our brave troops, to celebrate their success, to remember the fallen, and to declare, in the words of President John F. Kennedy (RIP):

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

Zomblog has done a masterful job of organizing so many bloggers in creating and establishing today, November 22 2008, as Victory in Iraq Day. Hundreds have signed on publicizing this event. Of the many comments describing what Victory in Iraq means I like this one from Who is John Galt:

Blogger Zombie has taken upon itself to do what our current President should have done.

Declare Victory.

We have enforced the UN mandate. We have deposed, tried, and executed Saddam Hussein and brought justice to his henchman. We ended Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programs. We have exposed the mass graves. We have made it possible for a representative government to form. We have made possible free and fair elections. We have trained new Iraqi security forces. We have sent untold terrorists to their virgins. Stores are open, girls are learning, there is a future.

War's over. We, the supporters of liberty, won, and so did the Iraqi people. Our troops have done the impossible.

Does that mean Iraq is a perfect example of parliamentary democracy? Of course not. Name a war that we won where the immediate postwar situation was all smiles and sunshine. Iraq has a long way to go, but it now has a fighting chance to get there.

In a sane world, President Bush would be organizing tickertape parades, days of thanksgiving, etc. He won't. Mr. Obama certainly won't.

We need to do it for them.

Below are a number of photographs from the past few weeks that vividly demonstrate the markedly changed situation in Iraq. Anyone notice the lack of alarmist news lately? That's because we won!










Tags: victory iraq,iraq victory,iraq vets,bloggers for victory iraq,war on terror

Vets For Freedom: Finish the Job....

This is the new ad from Vets for Freedom. This is going out nationwide. You can help defray the cost here.


Tags: iraq war,war on terror,vets for freedom,finish the job,afghan war,iraq war surge

The Patriot Microchip....

THE PATRIOT MICROCHIP, which is to be implanted in terrorists. The implant is specifically designed to be installed in their foreheads; when properly installed it will allow the implantee to speak to God instantly. It comes in various sizes: The implantee may or may not be allowed to choose the size. The implant may or may not be painless. Some bleeding and or swelling may occur at the injection site. Please enjoy the security we provide for you. Best regards, U. S. Marine Corps Tags: us marines,terrorist microchip,killing terrorists,war on terror

Treachery 5, Rule of Law 4: Defeat for the Nation....

Making law from the bench, five out of control, radical leftist Supreme Court justices* ignored the constitution and precedent to allow overseas detained terrorists, "unlawful enemy combatants",access to civilian courts here at home. Never before in our history as a nation have prisoners of war been entitled to constitutional protections. Constitutional scholar, and one of our best legal minds, Mark Levin has this to say about the tragic decision:

"....what was once considered inconceivable is now compelled by the Constitution, or so five justices have ruled. I fear for my country. I really do. And AP, among others, reports this story as a defeat for "the Bush administration." Really? I see it as a defeat for the nation."

I am publishing the entire Levin piece below; it is deserving of a wide audience.

The Gitmo Defeat [Mark R. Levin]

While I am still reviewing the 5-4 decision written by Anthony Kennedy, apparently giving GITMO detainees access to our civilian courts, at the outset I am left to wonder whether all POWs will now have access to our civilian courts? After all, you would think lawful enemy combatants have a better claim in this regard than unlawful enemy combatants. And if POWs have access to our civilian courts, how do our courts plan to handle the thousands, if not tens of thousands of cases, that will be brought to them in future conflicts?

It has been the objective of the left-wing bar to fight aspects of this war in our courtrooms, where it knew it would have a decent chance at victory. So complete is the Court's disregard for the Constitution and even its own precedent now that anything is possible. And what was once considered inconceivable is now compelled by the Constitution, or so five justices have ruled. I fear for my country. I really do. And AP, among others, reports this story as a defeat for "the Bush administration." Really? I see it as a defeat for the nation.

UPDATE: The 5-4 GITMO decision brings to the front, yet again, John McCain's position on judges versus his own policies. McCain undoubtedly supports the 5-4 decision, yet the justices who voted against it, and argued strenuously against it, are of the kind McCain claims to want on the bench. We have seen the same issue arise respecting campaign finance. This is not to say that McCain won't nominate originalists to the bench. But if he does, he will be nominating to the Court individuals who are better adherents to the Constitution than he is.

Meanwhile, the always predictable Bush hating New York Slimes editorializes today with the heading: Justice 5, Brutality 4!

*Ginsberg,Souter,Kennedy,Stevens & Breyer
This post also appears today at Steady Habits.
Tags: u.s. supreme court,terror detainees,habeas corpus,guantanamo,rule of law,p.o.w's,unlawful enemy combatants

Romney Out....

In a speech to be delivered at the CPAC meeting in Washington, Mitt Romney will announce that he is retiring from the field and will not continue his quest for nomination.
A.P. is reporting:

WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney will say at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Speech transcript here.
Excerpts follow:

Our prosperity and security also depend on finally acting to become energy secure. Oil producing states like Russia and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran are siphoning over $400 billion per year from our economy—that’s almost what we spend annually for defense. It is past time for us to invest in energy technology, nuclear power, clean coal, liquid coal, renewable sources and energy efficiency. America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, Chavez, and Ahmendinejad.....

Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign.” You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today… we are a nation at war ....

.... Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

Peggy Noonan and NYPD:
The Homegrown Jihadist Threat

We make it too easy for those who want to hate us to hate us. We make ourselves look bad in our media, which helps future jihadists think that they must, by hating us, be good. They hit their figurative garbage bin lids on the ground, and smirk, and promise to make a racket, and then more than a racket, a boom.
Peggy Noonan (Wall St Journal 8/17/07)

In the above linked article columnist Peggy Noonan takes note of the New York Police Department's Intelligence Division report on the radicalization of Muslim youth and the growth of jihadism in our homeland. (The 90 page report titled "Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown threat" (PDF} can be found here ) Ms. Noonan comments on the report:

The report suggests an evolution in thinking. "We're very good at capturing these guys after a terror incident," John McLaughlin, former deputy CIA director, told me, "but in the past we haven't spent as much time at the front end--how do they get to be terrorists." He said terrorists "are changing their profile. . . . Al Qaeda knows what we're looking for. They're not dumb." The terrorists of our future will likely be more credentialed, and here legally; they will be "integrated into American life."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told me, "I want a better understanding on the part of all law enforcement as to how radicalism takes place. This report connects the dots." It is also meant to heighten awareness. If the terror of the future is homegrown, local eyes will see it first. Cofer Black, former director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, told me that an important message of the report is similar to the signs on New York subways and in train stations: "If you see something, say something."

Here is an excerpt from the NYPD report:
The NYPD’s understanding of the threat from Islamic-based terrorism to New York City
has evolved since September 11, 2001. While the threat from overseas remains,
terrorist attacks or thwarted plots against cities in Europe, Australia and Canada since
2001 fit a different paradigm. Rather than being directed from al-Qaeda abroad, these
plots have been conceptualized and planned by “unremarkable” local residents/citizens
who sought to attack their country of residence, utilizing al-Qaeda as their inspiration
and ideological reference point.

Some of these cases include:
• Madrid’s March 2004 attack
• Amsterdam’s Hofstad Group
• London’s July 2005 attack
• Australia’s Operation Pendennis (which thwarted an attack(s) in November 2005)
• The Toronto 18 Case (which thwarted an attack in June 2006)
Where once we would have defined the initial indicator of the threat at the point where a
terrorist or group of terrorists would actually plan an attack, we have now shifted our
focus to a much earlier point—a point where we believe the potential terrorist or group of
terrorists begin and progress through a process of radicalization. The culmination of this
process is a terrorist attack.

Where once we would have defined the initial indicator of the threat at the point where
terrorist or group of terrorists would actually plan an attack, we have now shifted our
focus to a much earlier point—a point where we believe the potential terrorist or group
terrorists begin and progress through a process of radicalization. The culmination of this
process is a terrorist attack.

Understanding this trend and the radicalization process in the West that drives
unremarkable” people to become terrorists is vital for developing effective counterstrategies
and has special importance for the NYPD and the City of New York. As one
of the country’s iconic symbols and the target of numerous terrorist plots since the
1990’s, New York City continues to be among the top targets of terrorists worldwide.
In order to test whether the same framework for understanding radicalization abroad
applied within the United States, we analyzed three U.S. homegrown terrorism cases
and two New York City based cases:
• Lackawana, New York
• Portland, Oregon
• Northern Virginia
• New York City - Herald Square Subway
• New York City – The Al Muhajiroun Two

The same radicalization framework was applied to a study of the origins of the Hamburg
cluster of individuals, who led the September 11 hijackers. This assessment, almost six
years after 2001, provides some new insights, previously not fully-grasped by the law
enforcement and intelligence community, into the origins of this devastating attack.

Newt Gingrich at National Press Club 8/8/07

I am really deeply worried. We have two grandchildren who are 6 and 8, and I believe they are in greater danger of dying from enemy activities than we were in the Cold War. There are thousands of people across this planet who get up every morning actively seeking to destroy the United States. They are spreading their poison by sermons, by the Internet, by a variety of recruiting devices......I believe we are on the edge of a precipice. The Iranians are desperately trying to build nuclear weapons, and they will use them. This is a state — look — read what Ahmadinejad says. He writes poems about the joy of being a martyr nation. He gets to wipe out Tel Aviv; maybe the Israelis use nuclear weapons and wipe out Tehran. He would accept that in a minute because he believes everybody in Tehran goes to heaven and everybody in Tel Aviv doesn’t.....We are in trouble, and somebody had better start talking about it in a blunt way.....We are simply not prepared today to be a serious country. I’ve been at this a long time. I am genuinely afraid that this political system will not react until we lose a city, and nobody in this country’s thought about the threat to our civil liberties the morning after we decide it’s that dangerous and how rapidly we will impose ruthlessness on ourselves in that kind of a world. I think those of you who care about civil liberties had better be thinking through how we win this war before the casualties get so great that the American people voluntarily give up a lot of those liberties.

Above are a few excerpts from the Gingrich speech relating to national security and the war on terror. He also had a great deal to say about our national political discourse which I hope to cover in a later posting. Meanwhile, the entire speech transcript is here and the complete video is here. The video is a 155 MB MPEG download.

Lieberman Urges Tough Action On Iran:
On Face the Nation Today



The United States should launch military strikes against Iran if the government in Tehran does not stop supplying anti-American forces in Iraq, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday on Face The Nation.

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman told Bob Schieffer. "And to me, that would include a strike into... over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."



Audio file Here (MP3)