Did Anthony Weiner Convert to Islam and who is Huma Abedin
Hightlights in Red are added by Randy McDaniels for additional insight into this article.
Did Anthony Weiner Convert to Islam?
By Ben Barrack WebToday (June 8, 2011)-- The New York Times reports that Rep. Anthony Weiner's wife – Huma Abedin – is a “practicing Muslim” who was raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 2007, the New York Observer wrote – article no longer available but cross-posted at Free Republic – that her mother is a professor in Saudi Arabia and that her father was an Islamic scholar before his death.
Who is Huma Abedin and what does she do????? Hint... she works for Hillary Clinton
Secretary Hillary Clinton 7th Floor - State Department
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Huma Abedin 202-647-9572
Islamic law forbids any Muslim woman from marrying a non-Muslim man. Weiner was raised Jewish but admitted to growing up in a non-religious household. Sacred Islamic Law Manual/Umdat Al Salik Book of Marriage M.4.2 (2) and M. 4.3 forbids a Muslim from marrying an apostate or corrupt man.
If Abedin remains a practicing Muslim and her religion forbids her from marrying a non-Muslim, which of the two of them is the mostly likely convert?
Known as the Shahada, the Islamic testimony of faith is very short. Weiner would have been required to say it according to Islamic law.
Otherwise, Abedin would have violated a primary tenet of her religion. Here is what Weiner would have had to say in order to be able to marry Abedin according to Sharia law: “There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.”
Curiously, the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York (ICC), of which Ground Zero mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a trustee, is a man named Sheik Omar Abu-Namous. He is calling for Abedin to stand by Weiner.
Why would an imam encourage a Muslim woman to remain married to an unfaithful, Jewish man?
Feisal Rauf mentioned above also has a long history of Muslim Brotherhood ties to include;
§Rauf Friends of spiritual chief Yusuf al-Qaradawi via al-Taqwa Bank who champions shariah Law.
§Perdona Global Peace Org (MB, Hamas, AQ)
§ Jamal Barzinji MB Leader is a partner in Cordoba Initiative
§ Farouk Kahn – Daisy Uncle, Board member of ISNA, IMANA, and ICNA & Westbury Mosque Chair until 2006(MB)
§ Rauf's Manhattan ASMA offices at 475 Riverside Drive occupy the suite next door to (CAIR)
§ Alwaleed Bin Talal funds over 300K to Raufs Muslims Leaders of Tomorrow.
Hisham Elzanaty -- an Egyptian-born businessman from Long Island -- provided a big chunk of the $4.8 million needed to buy the building that will be demolished to make way for the mosque. Donates to HLF an organization which was shut down in the largest terrorism funding trial in U.S. history in 2008, which resulted in CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood member being sentenced up to 65 years in prison.
Feisal Rauf Sr. who;
Ø Taught at Al Azhar Univ. CAIRO Egypt
Ø Al Azhar approves Umdat Al Salik/Reliance (Islamic Law re: Jihad, Apostasy, Homosexuality, gender Equality)
Ø Contemporary of Hassan Al Banna (Founder of Muslim Brotherhood) & attended
Al Azhar University together
ØExpanded Islam in UK, Indonesia, and U.S.
Funded his Mosques by state sponsors of terror and Muslim Brotherhood members/entities, which Feisal Rauf Jr. now runs.
He is calling for Abedin to stand by Weiner.
Why would an imam encourage a Muslim woman to remain married to an unfaithful, Jewish man?
Compounding this matter further is the fact that Abu-Namous was quoted in 2001 as saying: “A unified Muslim state would be the ideal instrument to convince the world that Islam is the last version of God's word. God meant his word to be obeyed.”
In 2007, Abu-Namous spoke alongside the director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at the First National Summit of Imams and Rabbis. Abu-Namous is on record as having said there was no conclusive evidence that Muslims were responsible for the September 11th attacks. Ironically, Abu-Namous's predecessor (Feisal Rauf) at the ICC blamed the Jews for 9/11.
ISNA is a Muslim Brotherhood group.
There is a question that needs to be answered. Did a secular Jewish man convert to Islam or did his (still) practicing Muslim wife abandon her religion by marrying him?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hotline for Muslims after 911 offering Pro Bono services apparently scrubbed from Saint Pete Times archives?
The article below was first printed in the Saint Pete Times.... it appears it has now been scrubbed.
This coincidentally occured after an article by ACT Jacksonville exposed Kharrum Wahid of CVA-PAC and Emerge USA and their ties to CAIR/HAMAS and it's attempt to influence local elections for the Jacksonville City Council, which was also immediately scrubbed from the CVA-PAC site once this went public.
CVA-PAC endorsed members who were not just sympathetic or voted for Parvez Ahmed (Former CAIR/HAMAS National Chairman) for Human Rights Commissioner, but who acted as advocates, like John Cresembeni and Bill Bishop (now V.P. of City Council).
ACT Jacksonville also shined light on the fact Kharrum Wahid acted as the CAIR/HAMAS Lawyer in Florida and Nationally as well as his Hotline in the article below, which has been dubbed by some as the Terrorist Hotline. His most famous case was that of Abu Ali, who is serving life for the attempted assination of President Bush and is currently representing Imam Khan of south Florida in a current terrorism case.
Kharrum, seems to be the Go To lawyer for the most high profile terrorist cases and is a frequent speaker at KNOWN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD FRONT GROUPS, which is a disturbing pattern when his bias become evident.
This purpose of this re-post, is the so this information is not lost due to the apparent attempt to scrub this information from the web.
SAINT PETE TIMES
Hotline assists those who face terrorism queries
Volunteer lawyers offer legal advice to anyone who may be questioned about the Sept. 11 attacks.
©Associated Press
December 10, 2001
________________________________________
Volunteer lawyers offer legal advice to anyone who may be questioned about the Sept. 11 attacks.
TALLAHASSEE -- A toll-free hotline offering legal help became available Sunday for individuals sought by Florida authorities for questioning about terrorism activity.
The 24-hour toll-free phone number provides advice to people of Muslim, Arab and South Asian descent targeted for questioning about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Hotline calls were forwarded to volunteer attorneys, Florida American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman Alessandra Soler said Sunday.
"We want anybody who has been contacted by any law enforcement agency to know they're entitled to legal representation," Soler said. "Anybody who knows somebody who has been contacted, a family member or friend, should put us in touch with them."
The ACLU and Council on American-Islamic Relations are also distributing brochures in English, Spanish and Arabic advising people about their rights.
Working with the U.S. Justice Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is seeking "voluntary" interviews with 546 men in the state on nonimmigrant visas who "fit the criteria of persons who might have knowledge of foreign-based terrorists."
"We want to make sure that once they're there and cooperating there's someone looking after their interest as well because clearly the investigators have their own agenda," said Khurrum Wahid, director of civil rights for CAIR's Florida office.
The FDLE also promised that its agents wouldn't bring INS agents with them and wouldn't question individuals about their immigration status.
"None of the individuals to be interviewed are suspected of involvement in any crime, and they will not be treated as criminals," FDLE Commissioner James T. "Tim" Moore said in a letter to community leaders. "Interviews will be consensual and our officers will respect each individual's rights, culture and religious beliefs."
The U.S. Justice Department provided the state with a list of men ages 18 to 33 who come from the Middle East and other countries and entered the United States after Jan. 1, 2000.
But the state has experienced difficulty getting more information from the INS, which said local officers do not have the authority to detain someone just because they are in the country illegally.
"We have suspended way too many civil rights already," said John Ovink, a Tampa immigration attorney.
© Copyright, St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
This coincidentally occured after an article by ACT Jacksonville exposed Kharrum Wahid of CVA-PAC and Emerge USA and their ties to CAIR/HAMAS and it's attempt to influence local elections for the Jacksonville City Council, which was also immediately scrubbed from the CVA-PAC site once this went public.
CVA-PAC endorsed members who were not just sympathetic or voted for Parvez Ahmed (Former CAIR/HAMAS National Chairman) for Human Rights Commissioner, but who acted as advocates, like John Cresembeni and Bill Bishop (now V.P. of City Council).
ACT Jacksonville also shined light on the fact Kharrum Wahid acted as the CAIR/HAMAS Lawyer in Florida and Nationally as well as his Hotline in the article below, which has been dubbed by some as the Terrorist Hotline. His most famous case was that of Abu Ali, who is serving life for the attempted assination of President Bush and is currently representing Imam Khan of south Florida in a current terrorism case.
Kharrum, seems to be the Go To lawyer for the most high profile terrorist cases and is a frequent speaker at KNOWN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD FRONT GROUPS, which is a disturbing pattern when his bias become evident.
This purpose of this re-post, is the so this information is not lost due to the apparent attempt to scrub this information from the web.
SAINT PETE TIMES
Hotline assists those who face terrorism queries
Volunteer lawyers offer legal advice to anyone who may be questioned about the Sept. 11 attacks.
©Associated Press
December 10, 2001
________________________________________
Volunteer lawyers offer legal advice to anyone who may be questioned about the Sept. 11 attacks.
TALLAHASSEE -- A toll-free hotline offering legal help became available Sunday for individuals sought by Florida authorities for questioning about terrorism activity.
The 24-hour toll-free phone number provides advice to people of Muslim, Arab and South Asian descent targeted for questioning about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Hotline calls were forwarded to volunteer attorneys, Florida American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman Alessandra Soler said Sunday.
"We want anybody who has been contacted by any law enforcement agency to know they're entitled to legal representation," Soler said. "Anybody who knows somebody who has been contacted, a family member or friend, should put us in touch with them."
The ACLU and Council on American-Islamic Relations are also distributing brochures in English, Spanish and Arabic advising people about their rights.
Working with the U.S. Justice Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is seeking "voluntary" interviews with 546 men in the state on nonimmigrant visas who "fit the criteria of persons who might have knowledge of foreign-based terrorists."
"We want to make sure that once they're there and cooperating there's someone looking after their interest as well because clearly the investigators have their own agenda," said Khurrum Wahid, director of civil rights for CAIR's Florida office.
The FDLE also promised that its agents wouldn't bring INS agents with them and wouldn't question individuals about their immigration status.
"None of the individuals to be interviewed are suspected of involvement in any crime, and they will not be treated as criminals," FDLE Commissioner James T. "Tim" Moore said in a letter to community leaders. "Interviews will be consensual and our officers will respect each individual's rights, culture and religious beliefs."
The U.S. Justice Department provided the state with a list of men ages 18 to 33 who come from the Middle East and other countries and entered the United States after Jan. 1, 2000.
But the state has experienced difficulty getting more information from the INS, which said local officers do not have the authority to detain someone just because they are in the country illegally.
"We have suspended way too many civil rights already," said John Ovink, a Tampa immigration attorney.
© Copyright, St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
Monday, June 6, 2011
"Courting DIsaster" CIA Book exposes Obama... more damage to National Security in 1st 100 days than any president in history!!!
CIA book review
For the historical record...
As President George W. Bush's top speechwriter, Marc Thiessen was provided unique access to the CIA program used in interrogating top Al Qaeda terrorists, including the mastermind of the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM).
Now, his riveting new book, "Courting Disaster", How the CIA Kept America Safe (Regnery), has been published.
Here is an excerpt from "Courting Disaster":
Just before dawn on March 1, 2003, two dozen heavily armed Pakistani tactical assault forces move in and surround a safe house in Rawalpindi . A few hours earlier they had received a text message from an informant inside the house. It read: "I am with KSM."
Bursting in, they find the disheveled mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in his bedroom. He is taken into custody. In the safe house, they find a treasure trove of computers, documents, cell phones and other valuable "pocket litter."
Once in custody, KSM is defiant. He refuses to answer questions, informing his captors that he will tell them everything when he gets to America and sees his lawyer. But KSM is not taken to America to see a lawyer Instead he is taken to a secret CIA "black site" in an undisclosed location.
Upon arrival, KSM finds himself in the complete control of Americans. He does not know where he is, how long he will be there, or what his fate will be.
Despite his circumstances, KSM still refuses to talk. He spews contempt at his interrogators, telling them Americans are weak, lack resilience, and are unable to do what is necessary to prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their goals. He has trained to resist interrogation. When he is asked for information about future attacks, he tells his questioners scornfully: "Soon, you will know."
It becomes clear he will not reveal the information using traditional interrogation techniques. So he undergoes a series of "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved for use only on the most high-value detainees. The techniques include waterboarding.
His resistance is described by one senior American official as "superhuman." Eventually, however, the techniques work, and KSM becomes cooperative-for reasons that will be described later in this book.
He begins telling his CIA de-briefers about active al Qaeda plots to launch attacks against the United States and other Western targets. He holds classes for CIA officials, using a chalkboard to draw a picture of al Qaeda's operating structure, financing, communications, and logistics. He identifies al Qaeda travel routes and safe havens, and helps intelligence officers make sense of documents and computer records seized in terrorist raids. He identifies voices in intercepted telephone calls, and helps officials understand the meaning of coded terrorist communications. He provides information that helps our intelligence community capture other high-ranking terrorists, KSM's questioning, and that of other captured terrorists, produces more than 6,000 intelligence reports, which are shared across the intelligence community, as well as with our allies across the world.
In one of these reports, KSM describes in detail the revisions he made to his failed 1994-1995 plan known as the "Bojinka plot" to blow up a dozen airplanes carrying some 4,000 passengers over the Pacific Ocean.
Years later, an observant CIA officer notices the activities of a cell being followed by British authorities appear to match KSM's description of his plans for a Bojinka-style attack.
In an operation that involves unprecedented intelligence cooperation between our countries, British officials proceed to unravel the plot.
On the night of Aug. 9, 2006 they launch a series of raids in a northeast London suburb that lead to the arrest of two dozen al Qaeda terrorist suspects. They find a USB thumb-drive in the pocket of one of the men with security details for Heathrow airport, and information on seven trans-Atlantic flights that were scheduled to take off within hours of each other:
* United Airlines Flight 931 to San Francisco departing at 2:15 p.m.;
* Air Canada Flight 849 to Toronto departing at 3:00 p.m.;
* Air Canada Flight 865 to Montreal departing at 3:15 p.m.;
* United Airlines Flight 959 to Chicago departing at 3:40 p.m.;
* United Airlines Flight 925 to Washington departing at 4:20 p.m.;
* American Airlines Flight 131 to New York departing at 4:35 p.m.;
* American Airlines Flight 91 to Chicago departing at 4:50 p.m.
They seize bomb-making equipment and hydrogen peroxide to make liquid explosives. And they find the chilling martyrdom videos the suicide bombers had prepared.
Today, if you asked an average person on the street what they know about the 2006 airlines plot, most would not be able to tell you much.
Few Americans are aware of the fact al Qaeda had planned to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11 with an attack of similar scope and magnitude.
And still fewer realize the terrorists' true intentions in this plot were uncovered thanks to critical information obtained through the interrogation of the man who conceived it: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
This is only one of the many attacks stopped with the help of the CIA interrogation program established by the Bush Administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Editor's Note: For other foiled terrorist plots, see page 9 of "Courting Disaster."
In addition to helping break up these specific terrorist cells and plots, CIA questioning provided our intelligence community with an unparalleled body of information about al Qaeda Until the program was temporarily suspended in 2006, intelligence officials say, well over half of the information our government had about al Qaeda-how it operates, how it moves money, how it communicates, how it recruits operatives, how it picks targets, how it plans and carries out attacks-came from the interrogation of terrorists in CIA custody.
Former CIA Director George Tenet has declared: "I know this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots. I know this program alone is worth more than what the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said: "The facts of the case are that the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer. It really did work."
Even Barack Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, has acknowledged: "High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."
Leon Panetta, Obama's CIA Director, has said: "Important information
was gathered from these detainees. It provided information that was
acted upon."
And John Brennan, Obama's Homeland Security Advisor, when asked in an interview if enhanced-interrogation techniques were necessary to keep America safe, replied : "Would the U.S. be handicapped if the CIA was not, in fact, able to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities? I would say yes."
On Jan. 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, closing the CIA program and directing that, henceforth, all interrogations by U.S. personnel must follow the techniques contained in the Army Field Manual.
The morning of the announcement, Mike Hayden was still in his post as CIA Director, He called White House Counsel Greg Craig and told him bluntly: "You didn't ask, but this is the CIA officially nonconcurring". The president went ahead anyway, over ruling the objections of the agency.
A few months later, on April 16, 2009, President Obama ordered the release of four Justice Department memos that described in detail the techniques used to interrogate KSM and other high-value terrorists. This time, not just Hayden (who was now retired) but five CIA directors -including Obama's own director, Leon Panetta -- objected. George Tenet called to urge against the memos' release. So did Porter Goss. So did John Deutch. Hayden says: "You had CIA directors in a continuous unbroken stream to 1995 calling saying, 'Don't do this.'"
In addition to objections from the men who led the agency for a collective 14 years, the President also heard objections from the agency's covert field operatives. A few weeks earlier, Panetta had arranged for the eight top officials of the Clandestine Service to meet with the President. It was highly unusual for these clandestine officers to visit the Oval Office, and they used the opportunity to warn the President that releasing the memos would put agency operatives at risk. The President reportedly listened respectfully-and then ignored their advice.
With these actions, Barack Obama arguably did more damage to America's national security in his first 100 days of office than any President in American history.
But how many people know this???
For the historical record...
As President George W. Bush's top speechwriter, Marc Thiessen was provided unique access to the CIA program used in interrogating top Al Qaeda terrorists, including the mastermind of the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM).
Now, his riveting new book, "Courting Disaster", How the CIA Kept America Safe (Regnery), has been published.
Here is an excerpt from "Courting Disaster":
Just before dawn on March 1, 2003, two dozen heavily armed Pakistani tactical assault forces move in and surround a safe house in Rawalpindi . A few hours earlier they had received a text message from an informant inside the house. It read: "I am with KSM."
Bursting in, they find the disheveled mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in his bedroom. He is taken into custody. In the safe house, they find a treasure trove of computers, documents, cell phones and other valuable "pocket litter."
Once in custody, KSM is defiant. He refuses to answer questions, informing his captors that he will tell them everything when he gets to America and sees his lawyer. But KSM is not taken to America to see a lawyer Instead he is taken to a secret CIA "black site" in an undisclosed location.
Upon arrival, KSM finds himself in the complete control of Americans. He does not know where he is, how long he will be there, or what his fate will be.
Despite his circumstances, KSM still refuses to talk. He spews contempt at his interrogators, telling them Americans are weak, lack resilience, and are unable to do what is necessary to prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their goals. He has trained to resist interrogation. When he is asked for information about future attacks, he tells his questioners scornfully: "Soon, you will know."
It becomes clear he will not reveal the information using traditional interrogation techniques. So he undergoes a series of "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved for use only on the most high-value detainees. The techniques include waterboarding.
His resistance is described by one senior American official as "superhuman." Eventually, however, the techniques work, and KSM becomes cooperative-for reasons that will be described later in this book.
He begins telling his CIA de-briefers about active al Qaeda plots to launch attacks against the United States and other Western targets. He holds classes for CIA officials, using a chalkboard to draw a picture of al Qaeda's operating structure, financing, communications, and logistics. He identifies al Qaeda travel routes and safe havens, and helps intelligence officers make sense of documents and computer records seized in terrorist raids. He identifies voices in intercepted telephone calls, and helps officials understand the meaning of coded terrorist communications. He provides information that helps our intelligence community capture other high-ranking terrorists, KSM's questioning, and that of other captured terrorists, produces more than 6,000 intelligence reports, which are shared across the intelligence community, as well as with our allies across the world.
In one of these reports, KSM describes in detail the revisions he made to his failed 1994-1995 plan known as the "Bojinka plot" to blow up a dozen airplanes carrying some 4,000 passengers over the Pacific Ocean.
Years later, an observant CIA officer notices the activities of a cell being followed by British authorities appear to match KSM's description of his plans for a Bojinka-style attack.
In an operation that involves unprecedented intelligence cooperation between our countries, British officials proceed to unravel the plot.
On the night of Aug. 9, 2006 they launch a series of raids in a northeast London suburb that lead to the arrest of two dozen al Qaeda terrorist suspects. They find a USB thumb-drive in the pocket of one of the men with security details for Heathrow airport, and information on seven trans-Atlantic flights that were scheduled to take off within hours of each other:
* United Airlines Flight 931 to San Francisco departing at 2:15 p.m.;
* Air Canada Flight 849 to Toronto departing at 3:00 p.m.;
* Air Canada Flight 865 to Montreal departing at 3:15 p.m.;
* United Airlines Flight 959 to Chicago departing at 3:40 p.m.;
* United Airlines Flight 925 to Washington departing at 4:20 p.m.;
* American Airlines Flight 131 to New York departing at 4:35 p.m.;
* American Airlines Flight 91 to Chicago departing at 4:50 p.m.
They seize bomb-making equipment and hydrogen peroxide to make liquid explosives. And they find the chilling martyrdom videos the suicide bombers had prepared.
Today, if you asked an average person on the street what they know about the 2006 airlines plot, most would not be able to tell you much.
Few Americans are aware of the fact al Qaeda had planned to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11 with an attack of similar scope and magnitude.
And still fewer realize the terrorists' true intentions in this plot were uncovered thanks to critical information obtained through the interrogation of the man who conceived it: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
This is only one of the many attacks stopped with the help of the CIA interrogation program established by the Bush Administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Editor's Note: For other foiled terrorist plots, see page 9 of "Courting Disaster."
In addition to helping break up these specific terrorist cells and plots, CIA questioning provided our intelligence community with an unparalleled body of information about al Qaeda Until the program was temporarily suspended in 2006, intelligence officials say, well over half of the information our government had about al Qaeda-how it operates, how it moves money, how it communicates, how it recruits operatives, how it picks targets, how it plans and carries out attacks-came from the interrogation of terrorists in CIA custody.
Former CIA Director George Tenet has declared: "I know this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots. I know this program alone is worth more than what the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said: "The facts of the case are that the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer. It really did work."
Even Barack Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, has acknowledged: "High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."
Leon Panetta, Obama's CIA Director, has said: "Important information
was gathered from these detainees. It provided information that was
acted upon."
And John Brennan, Obama's Homeland Security Advisor, when asked in an interview if enhanced-interrogation techniques were necessary to keep America safe, replied : "Would the U.S. be handicapped if the CIA was not, in fact, able to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities? I would say yes."
On Jan. 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, closing the CIA program and directing that, henceforth, all interrogations by U.S. personnel must follow the techniques contained in the Army Field Manual.
The morning of the announcement, Mike Hayden was still in his post as CIA Director, He called White House Counsel Greg Craig and told him bluntly: "You didn't ask, but this is the CIA officially nonconcurring". The president went ahead anyway, over ruling the objections of the agency.
A few months later, on April 16, 2009, President Obama ordered the release of four Justice Department memos that described in detail the techniques used to interrogate KSM and other high-value terrorists. This time, not just Hayden (who was now retired) but five CIA directors -including Obama's own director, Leon Panetta -- objected. George Tenet called to urge against the memos' release. So did Porter Goss. So did John Deutch. Hayden says: "You had CIA directors in a continuous unbroken stream to 1995 calling saying, 'Don't do this.'"
In addition to objections from the men who led the agency for a collective 14 years, the President also heard objections from the agency's covert field operatives. A few weeks earlier, Panetta had arranged for the eight top officials of the Clandestine Service to meet with the President. It was highly unusual for these clandestine officers to visit the Oval Office, and they used the opportunity to warn the President that releasing the memos would put agency operatives at risk. The President reportedly listened respectfully-and then ignored their advice.
With these actions, Barack Obama arguably did more damage to America's national security in his first 100 days of office than any President in American history.
But how many people know this???
Friday, June 3, 2011
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